Hi wynmorgan.
I guess the direct upgrade would be the 9790 - similar spec to the 9780 but slimmer & lighter.
The size of the 9900, for me, took some getting used to. Although it's much slimmer than the old Curve I was used to, it's wider & taller by about 1/4" (= 6mm) ... doesn't sound much, but it feels a handful to begin with.
Both the 9790 & the 9900 have touchscreens. I was rather anti-touch too and still prefer to scroll, etc. with the touchpad but it is very useful at times - a swipe between pictures, emails, etc. & pinch to zoom.
The 9790 screen is the same resolution (480*360) as the 9780 but the 9900 has a larger screen (640*480) with around 10% higher pixel depth. The clarity of the 9900 screen is nothing short of beautiful!
The battery of the 9900 is too small ... there's no way around it. Faster processor, larger screen with touch & higher definition and RIM opt for a smaller battery in order to make the 9900 the thinnest phone in their range.
(Marketing over-riding engineering, me thinks?)
Other things being equal, you will clearly not get the same life from the 9790/9900's 1230mAh battery than you are getting from the 9780's 1500mAh.
Having said that, OS7.1 is considerably better than 7.0. I can make three days between charges but there does seem to be a variation between one phone/battery & another - there are some on here that are still struggling to make a day. As with any phone, the battery life depends heavily on how you use it.
If you are dead-set against a touchscreen - another option would be the Curve 9360, which is a lovely phone. It's very slim & light with decent battery life (even on a 1000mAh).
Hope this helps.
