Ready for New Phone!

I have been totally excited since the E71 was released almost a year ago. I currently own the dinosaur that is the E61 and love everything about it. I do not need touchscreen, rich media, GPS, yadda yadda, I just want a phone that gives me flexibility with WiFi, email, word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, easy-installable apps, a way to play music, a full QWERTY keyboard that doesnt slide out from under the screen, and not WinMo. The E61 has been all that, but at almost 4 years old now (I have had it almost a year now), it is outdated considering the phones being offered, and I have my eyes set on the AT&T branded E71x by Nokia.

I have read a lot of reviews recently, some that were great, some that were not, yet a lot of the negative reviews seemed rather silly, or was contradicted by another review. For instance, one reviewer said syncing contacts to outlook wasn't possible because of AT&T firmware, yet another reviewer said it syncs contacts, just not groups. Another review was "SMS text threading, no time of text info, no call history for a particular number", which is rather odd, because my version of S60, a tenth of a version below, had text info and call history. SMS threading is available via a third-party. And this one: Very limited peripherals -- apparently no cases available; Nokia says only Nokia-brand Bluetooth devices will pair; sound through wired earbud only passable;
Hah, I highly doubt Nokia has a proprietary Bluetooth frequency, and there are millions of listings on ebay for cases. And whatever that last part is about, who knows...

This could go on, and I could pick apart lackluster reviews all day. I want to know specifics, because I pretty much know the ins and outs of Symbian S60, so the OS is nothing new to me, and with all the AT&T software installed, it may seem somewhat different. If anyone owns a E71 (or 71x) I have a few questions:

Keyboard - is it proficient for typing out 2-3 SMS texts or does it get very painful, or just something you get used to with a new phone?

Is the screen just too small to bear, or does that also get settled in?

Battery life - is it getting you through the day or are you constantly in need of an outlet? (just heard a few complaints, want to clear up)

The OS - if you have used a previous S60 phone (E61, 61i, 62) does it differ that much?

Third-party apps - what are some of the best ones you have installed?