how can I get faster SMS notifications?

[schettj]

Literally you're seeing normal cellphone behavior. The only difference being WinMo needing to turn on all the lights after it gets the wakeup command from the tower.

Lower your SCI (slot cycle index - google it) to reduce the lag between the checks for tower wakeups (incoming call, incoming sms)

Also remember that if you've got an active EVDO connection, the tower and handset have to negotiate breaking that link and switching back to 1X - that can introduce additional lag - again that's not WinMo specific...