I resisted the 80's and 90's cell phone trend, and even skipped the turn of the century crackberry bandwagon. But finally there is a device that might just nicely solve a few 'problems' I have.

My land line sucks (well, actually, it hisses, crackles and pops). After 3 years of trying I have given up on Bell.

I need an emergency cell, I want and MP3 player and it would be really nice to be able to remotely control Media Monkey from anywhere in my apartment (I was looking at an Archos for this originally).

So, has anybody had experience with both an android 2.2 and 2.3 device. Is there anything the newer devices like the Nexus S has over a previous gen device like the LG Optimus One that makes it worth an extra 2 bills?

I'm looking at Koodo's 'Canada Wide' service as it is contract free, and for about the cost of a land line plus emergency cell, will probably give me all the air time I need. It also helps that they will knock $100 - 150 off the cost of a phone for a new activation.

I would say there isn't a significant difference (for most people) between Android 2.2 and 2.3. If you do prefer Android over iOS I wouldn't even worry too much about the apps that come with it since they are all basically equal once you start using the Marketplace. Just focus on the hardware you like best. I don't think its absolutely necessary to have "4G" or dual core but those two options are more future proof than 3G and single core.

Thanks Ben. All the apps I am looking at run on 2.2 so it sounds like I'll go that route as the handsets are more reasonably priced.

Update. I picked up the LG optimus one.
I had some (wasted as it turns out ) time on my hands so I picked up a wifi hotspot and did some surfing. It works, but is far from ideal. I think the screen will be big enough for the things I want to do regularly.

Now if you'll 'scuse me, I need to sign my soul, firstborn and a large sack of gold over to Google so I can download some apps.