LG VX-8300

It seems it's pretty similiar to the 8300 just with a slider form factor. I personally like flip phones, so I'm not interested.

I'm glad I bought the 8300 and did not wait for the 8500.

I'm dying for a new phone(I still have a Kyocera SE47 and I'm not loving it) and the 8500 looks great. I'm not a fan of clamshells so I've been waiting to see what comes out before my NE2 expires. If the 8500 doesn't pan out(or anything else that may be coming out), I'm going to try out the 8300 because it's pretty neat for a clamshell.

It looks great, but I think that the VX8300 has advantages. First, I believe that the 8500 doesn't have a speaker phone. I could be wrong, as I got this from a cnet UK review of the European version. I have never used a slider, but it seems like the 2 different key levels (numeric keys at lower end of slider) would make it difficult to work the phone with one hand. Another thing I like about the flip style is inherent protection of the main screen and keys. The slider has the screen exposed.

LOoks way too thick ??

What are the thickness specs ?

Looks thicker than 1"