ZDNet reader says he's returning his new Moto Q9m due to lock-ups

In response to my latest Tech Shakedown where I complained about how my Motorola Q and other smartphones might be too PC-like in that they often crash so badly that the only way to restart them is to remove and reinsert the battery, one ZDNet reader wrote in to say the situation isn't much better with Motorola's newest smartphone, the Q9m. Joe McLean of McLean/Clark LLC wrote the following note to me (and with his permission, I reprinting it here):

Very interesting piece on the Q. I’m a long-time smartphone user who travels and really uses the functionality of the units, including editing document and spreadsheets on the fly.

I just moved from a Palm 700p to the new Q9m. In about a week, it has frozen up several times. I really like the form factor and bright screen, but for overall usability and reliability, the Palm software is still much superior to the Windows Mobile platform. I also miss the convenience of the touch screen.

I’m probably going to take advantage of Verizon’s 30-day “no questions” return policy and go back to the old reliable 700p.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment. Love c-net.

Joe McLean

Thanks Joe. We love you too for sharing your thoughts with us here at ZDNet (a CNET Networks Property).

I guess the good news is that, as smartphones go, he had better luck with his old Treo (although I've people tell me about those crashing too).  But his note really speaks to the difficulties that smartphone makers have in a building a device that has so much going on inside of that tiny little place while also connecting to a pretty complicated network.