Software
Set-up
Set-up on the Magic was relatively painless. There was still a few things left from the previous reviewer on the device, and it wasn’t immediately apparent how to sync things up with your Google account if another one was already specified. (If you happen to be in a similar situation, don’t wipe your device and go through the initial set-up all over again; all you have to do is go to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> Google Apps -> Clear data to restart the Google account, but keep anything interesting that’s already on the device.) There was also an HTC Sync app available to let your Magic communicate with your computer, but only after shipping the device back did I realize you needed to install a separate set of USB drivers for anything to work. It’s unfortunate that the process was that complicated, I would have liked to give HTC Sync a shot.
Luckily, I didn’t have to transport anything from my BlackBerry over to the Magic, since I had been running the Google Sync utility all the while on my usual handset, the BlackBerry Bold, and to be honest, this was the first time Google Sync actually paid off. After logging into any of the numerous packaged Google services, the login info spread across all others without any issue whatsoever; my Latitude and GTalk got hooked up as soon as I gave GMail my username and password, and all of my contacts and calendar items imported seamlessly without having to push a single button.