I spent a week in the Equator recently and came away with the impression that if decided I needed a mid-size pickup, this would work just fine. Interior quality isn't spectacular, but it's decent enough and seems fairly long-wearing. The bed is pretty short, but with the extender it appears adequate for most items. Some clever arranging allowed me to haul home a new glass cabinet that was around 6-ft tall. The bed extender also has the side advantage of taking up space in the cargo bay to keep smaller items from moving around. I did a monthly recycling run and the bins I use were snugged up perfectly in the back with a little adjustment of the extender. The rear seat seems roomy enough for the occasional use it would likely get, and the Equator's V-6 seems peppy enough.
Personally, I like the size/power/ride combination of the Equator. It seems like all the truck 80% of Americans would ever need, and it comes in a package that is small enough that it's not intimidating to drive or very hard to maneuver. I may be in the minority, but I also like the way it looks -- kind of reminds me of Toyota's sporty-looking 4WD models in the '80s when I was growing up. It looks like a truck that you could use to haul a dirt bike out to the hills, then thrash the truck around for a while too.
One thing to note: I tended to forget that the portable Garmin nav unit was there, as it was often stowed in its flip-down compartment. I found it worked well when I needed it though, and it has the obvious advantage of being able to be taken with, should one park a few blocks away from the final destination.