Hmm, that's too bad you returned everything. I have the same setup as you, and while i don't use the tethering all that much, I have used it successfully. I know what you are talking about, Sprint's data connections have always "disconnected" multiple times during a connection. The thing is, it is not really a disconnect, more like a sleep mode. As soon as your web device needs a connection, the phone should be right back up and connected in a matter of 2-3 seconds or so.

All of my Sprint phones have done this, on every handheld or laptop I have used, and it is perfectly normal. I think the reason they gave you about saving battery life is incorrect, though. The reason they do this constant switching on and off is to probably save data bandwidth on their network.

An easy solution is just to open something in the background that constantly "polls" for a connection, such as an instant messenger or an audio stream. I have done this and it does the trick, but usually I just let the phone do its thing and reconnect.

As for you returning the 770, i can understand the frustration with the memory issues. I for one am very happy with my 770, and I am sure it will improve gradually with firmware updates...

Good luck and i hope you find a device that meets your needs...one suggestion might be a small laptop like an OQO handheld or a Toshiba Libretto U105. I have the latter, and I love it - about the size of a DVD case and about the thickness of a book, plus it has wifi, BT, and runs WinXP Pro. It's actually more powerful than some of my desktop machines...