date versus datetime?

Hi folks,

Would anyone have any recommendations for choosing the date type versus
the datetime type for storing date information? I think the date type is
probably sufficient for my needs, and it seems a bit simpler and handier;
for instance, it seems I can do this with the date type:

select * from table where date_field < some_date_I_specify_here

However, if my reading of the manual and my experiments are correct, I
can't perform that sort of operation with the datetime type. Is my
understanding correct?

Sorry for my newbie-ness...

eric

_______________________
Eric McKeown
ericm(at)palaver(dot)net
http://www.palaver.net