Many Android phones will not let you set up the phone without a Google account, tho whether you use that account for anything later is up to you; everything will still work even if you don't (including the market).

Other phones--the Cliq is the one I'm most familiar with--do not have that requirement. My wife uses a Cliq and it is tied to her Yahoo mail and her Exchange (work) mail, with no Google account tied to it at all.

That said, integration with Google's services is one of Android's great features and one of the things that differentiates it from other mobile platforms. If you're not comfortable using Google's services, Android may not be for you. My advice, tho, would be to trust that they will not be evil and dive in. They do a great job, and you can always get your data out if you want to.

It depends on the specific phone, but in general the phone will remain usable. To answer your specific questions:

• The phone should still work, although I can't speak to the Nexus One. Most phones allow you to skip adding a Google account, but given that it's designed by Google I don't know if that is an option.
• The calendar will work, but by default won't synchronize with anything.
• Same as the calendar, you will still have a phone book/contacts list
• You could use an exchange server or some other synchronization service, but that would be dependent on a specific implementation. Exchange and Google are the most used services.

You won't have access to the Android market. You won't have access to GMail/GTalk and the other Google applications as well. You can use Android phones without using a Google Account, the main drawback is not having access to the Android market and the third party applications that are available.

The "Overall" stuff seems to be covered well with the 2 answers above, so I will add that =

1. Verizon's Moto-Droid requires a Google Gmail account for initial set up. But... like what was already said, it does not mean you have to use that Gmail account for email, tasks,&/or contacts.

2. There are 2 Calendars that come "Native" with the Droid. One is called "The Calendar" & the other is called the "Corporate Calendar" which allows the user to configure an Exchange Account (no gmail required). From the start (if I remember correctly) The Calendar is so integrated with Google that I question how functional it would be otherwise . I have 4 Gmail Calendars funneling really well right now to "The Calendar", so I am not willing to play around with it & see. * There are numerous options for calendars, back ups, contacts etc... in the Market, but that does require using your initial Gmail account that much.

3. I think the contacts would be fine & function just as well. The only issue I see arising is that the easiest way to add mass multiple contacts is by importing into Google then syncing to phone. I guess you could do that once then turn the sync off. I also prefer entering new contacts through Google when I have a computer & full sized keyboard available.

4. I use 3 different things currently to back up outside of what is synced to Google. All 3 are apps from the Market; Astro (which is also a file manager), My Backup Pro, & Lookout. They vary in what they each back up. Together they are the most comprehensive back up I have found. There are other options, but there is nothing that I have found (thus far) that is like Palm's HotSync.

As a firm believer in that you can't have too much info when making this type of decision, I hope it helps. Unfortunately as someone who is not a huge fan of the "cloud" it does appear to be the wave of the future. Even the new Palms with the Web OS doesn't use HotSync or something similar.

My HTC Hero works fine without a Google account attached. Actually, because of a bug somewhere, I can't attach a Google account to it at all because I didn't do it when I first set the thing up :)

All the HTC calendar, mail etc apps work (in fact I get mail via IMAP from er, Google) Not having the Market is a pain, but there are alternatives like AndAppStore which just about suffice. Or some Android developers provide .apk packages which you can install yourself.

I haven't seen a good backup solution available outside the Market though.

If youdon't trust google you do not want android