HP Veer vs. Dell Streak Mini 5

So, next month, my contract is finally up for renewal. I have become annoyed with the iPhone (3gs) and don't really want to pay for a 4, even tho it might, in theory, fix some of my complaints. I want to move on, if for no other reason that variety is the spice of life.

So, to survey the field, there are currently iOS (Apple), Blackberry, Android, WebOS and Windows Mobile 7. I'll deal with the ones I'm not looking at first.

I have had a Windows Mobile device, running 6.5, and it was horrid. I hear 7 may be better, but am not yet willing to find out. Blackberry is in the same boat, although I did look long and hard at the Torch. I currently have an iOS device, and my problems with it are by now well known.

So, that leaves Android and WebOS. I was pretty much set on the HP Veer until I picked up a Dell Streak Mini 5, which is a 5" Android handset. Sure, it's massive, but I'm pretty large, so the size never bothers me. It also doesn't have a hardware keyboard, which is a major reason to not be interested. It will, however, run flash very well, has a large screen and will soon run Netflix. It would be a unified device, giving me little reason to buy an iPad.

However, on the other hand, there's the HP Veer, which is a very small smart phone that is nearly on overgrown feature phone, providing a select set of services, such as email, messaging and facebook, while missing some of the other things, such as Netflix. It does, however, have a serviceable slide out keyboard.

I guess it broke down to HP vs. Dell. I have never liked Dell machines, generally preferring HP in any bracket where they compete. I think, more than anything, that is what is tipping the scales. That and the fact that the HP Veer does only messaging pretty much. When I'm carrying my phone, messaging and light browsing are all I do with it. I will eventually get an iPad if I get a Veer. The iPad will take over the media jobs and the heavy web browsing.