Over 2 months into switching from my iPhone 3GS to my HTC Incredible, by Verizon and I am loving it**. Here are 10 things that I can do now that I couldn’t do with my iPhone (and that I’m pretty sure you can’t do with the new iPhone4):

1. Make calls whenever I want.
2. Receive calls when they come in.
3. Stay connected on calls both made and received.
4. Read my voicemail with Google Voice on my phone and/or at my computer,(if you haven’t used it as your voicemail you don’t know what you’re missing).
5. Customize my screens.
6. Create custom widgets and icons for the tasks *I* need most.
7. Sync my Google accounts (gmail, contacts and calendar) straight from the cloud, instantly, to my phone, for free.
8. See all notifications (missed calls, facebook messages, twitter replies, calendar reminders, etc) in a single view.
9. Take 8.0 mp pictures. 
10. Look at my iPhone carrying friends with bewilderment and wonder as I watch them cringe with each dropped call. 

**Disclaimer. I recently switched from a PC to a MAC for work and am LOVING it. I also have an iPad. Apple makes great products. Phones? Not so much…

It’s been a little over 4 weeks since leaving the iPhone (3GS) and AT&T and movin’ on up to the HTC Incredible on Verizon. We hit an inflection point at week 2 and the HTC Incredible has gone from “sufficient” to “sometimes awesome and mostly Incredible”.

Here’s the overview:

Phone: iPhone4 Antnnna? This phone makes and receives calls with 100% confidence. I haven’t dropped a call yet - honest! And I’m using it in parts of the Bay Area that had previously been dead zones. Bravo.

Speed: Incredible. As fast Faster than my 3GS

Google Integration: I continue to be impressed. Mail, calendars, contacts - the cloud is awesome. Google Voice takes visual voice mail to an entirely new place with transcription that is fairly accurate and eliminates the need for many a wasted call back.

Customization: Incredible. I have icons for frequently accessed tasks such as calling someone (wife, work, sister) texting someone (wife) and so on. I have widgets, weather, and a home screen calendar icon that tells me what my next appointment is. 

Incredible. 

Ok, 5 days in and the key issues seem to be:

1) In any amount of sunlight the phone is barely useable. It should be called the HTC Vampire.

3) Battery life is ABYSMAL. Change the name from HTC Vampire to HTC Abysmal. With minimal calls and data I have not made it 12 hours on a single charge. #Fail.

3) Speed is an issue. I assume this is processor based and will be fixed when I upgrade to the Incredible. Ambitions name, so I hope so.

4) Bluetooth seems to need to be repeatedly paired with my car. This is a hassle. I’ve entered the password multiple times and it is not storing it. Deal breaker long term.

5) Verizon DEFINITELY has coverage in areas that AT&T simply doesn’t. This is nice. I can use my phone as…a phone!

Day three. I need visual voice mail. The act of calling in to Verizon, entering a PIN and listening to my voice mails is outdated. Here’s the thing - it’s not that my phone isn’t doing everything it needs to do, it’s just that after living with an iPhone for over a year, the expectations are so much higher. Thinking about upgrading to the Droid Incredible to make it a fair comparison. Steve, if you’re listening, can you speed up the new Verizon version?