I actually find the iphone pretty easy to type on. I played with a friends and didn't have any problems. As well, I have the ipod touch and absolutely love it. The phone is a little bigger, but the screen size is a good trade off for the extra weight that you have to carry.
Yeah I have read many reviews about the iphone and many people seem to like the touch screen QWERTY key pad. My phone also has one but I find it works much better than the iphone's. The iphone does not give you the option to use the QWERTY in landscape mode so you have more screen space and that seems stupid to me. You have to use it in portrait mode for texting so there is less screen space. You can use the QWERTY in landscape mode for entering web addresses in the browser though. It's a flaw with the iphone IMO.