[dwittmier]

Just read through this forum, especially the stickys at the top, to get a good feel for what you can do with it. Actually you will be miles ahead of the two phones you mentioned. I went from a Dare to this and I can't imagine going back. Even if you manage to totally screw things up, a hard reset will bring you back to day one and you can just start over. Just don't start flashing roms yet. That's still a work in progress.

Oh, regarding battery life, remember that all smart phones are battery hogs. A couple of simple things can help. Turn off the wifi and bluetooth except when you need them. Doing that gives me a full day of moderate use using about 40% of the battery.