Here's my opinion:
I hate phones that have a keyboard that slides out from the side, just this one, and the TouchPros. First, it makes the phone unnecessarily bulky. Second, it makes it really hard to do one-hand texting.
In general, i hate slideouts. One exception is the Palm Pre which I had owned previously before the EVO. The keyboard on the Pre slides down vertical and it's small enough for me to hold and text using one hand (while driving
). Second, the Pre's design is still much more thin than the other phones with slideout keyboard
If i were to want a phone with sideway keyboard that has all the bells and whistles, i miight as well just get a notebook computer. Prolly not much of a price difference when compared to the regular price of the phone.