Gadgetastic mobilerifficness

I think I need new gadgets. Yeah I know, #firstworldproblems and all that.

I've had a 3g modem for a few years now; 2 years to be precise since this is the last month of the 24mth data contract I had to sign to get it. The modem is one of the soap-on-a-rope things, and well, the rope isn't so good anymore. The solution? Find a new 4" USB cable, or find a new modem.

Since there are new modems out now with better signal and speed ratings, I'm inclined to go that way. Further to that, there's also wireless 3g hotspot modems, but I don't really understand how these work. I mean, can your average smartphone connect to them as though they're a normal wifi network? If so, then I can probably drop my phone off the monthly un-plan it is currently on to a 365 day recharge option and save pennies.

Speaking of phones, I'm finding that I'm at the end of my tether with the e71. Nokia's default email client is probably the single worst email client I've ever used in the history of ever, and I realised a while ago that the single main reason I talked myself in to coughing for a proper smartphone was so I could access my email from it. Obviously that isn't working out. Besides, I really really really want an Android. I'm not wanting to ditch having a physical keyboard, so I'm limited to a choice of a G1 or a Motorola Dext (528MHz) Milestone "Droid" (1GHz). I can't seem to find the Samsung physical keyboard models for sale in .au, so they're not really much of an option.

Dear lazywebs, which gadgetastic solutions should I take?