[plug] phone synchronisation

[home at oranges.id.au]

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking about experimenting with some sort of handheld device
(which is also a phone), and synchronising it with some computer. I am
a phone luddite, so I'm looking for ideas.

I have a preference for all things Free, but functional may trump Free
if it must. I am happy to spend a few dollars to get Free, but of
course would be delighted to download a free copy of a phone (: I'm
with Telstra, and coping with NextG would be a bonus but not required
- GSM is fine.

Should I be (avoiding) looking at an Android based phone? Will it
synchronise with my Thunderbird Lightning calendar in some fashion?
I'm not utterly committed to Thunderbird, but It Works.

Synchronisation with my Gentoo machine is probably the most attractive
option - it physically has Bluetooth but I have no idea how good is
the support thereof. USB is good. Sync with WinXP would be a bonus.

I'll stop before I waffle. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Greg.


-- 
Gregory Orange