Dunno if this is a bit late. The Optimus's really glaring flaw, imo, is the resistive touch screen which would make it a pain in the neck to use. (Although most phones in that range comes with resistive touch screens anyway) I haven't really looked at lower-end Android phones so I don't have much to say regarding alternatives in that price range. The Huawei Ideos seems to be getting rave reviews for an Android in that price range (even has a capacitative touch screen) but the release date seems to have been pushed back indefinitely in the UK. The ZTE Racer seems to come with very similar specs to the Optimus but seems to fare slightly better in many reviews, so might want to look into that.