Thank you, yes we are with Verizon at the moment, but they want an arm and a leg for a basic plan, and Sprint is offering 50% off for 2 years to switch. Instead of 45.00 a month, it would be 27.50. Of course then you add all the extortion fees, bribes etc.

I was a late adopter of cell phones, about 7 years ago. I only got one when I was going to live in Honduras, and that was the only choice for a phone there. IIRC, I have bought 4 phones in all, every one a used phone from ebay (or trademe, the NZ version of ebay.) Shopping for such on ebay can be time consuming however. Every phone has been reliable and I used each one about 2 years before deciding to "upgrade" for one reason or another. I used the site I sent to select each phone I bought (along with other online reviews to inform about any user problems.) I have had no problem with durability. The 3 I still have all still work. All of them are HTC brand phones.(1. HTC Touch Diamond, 2., HTC HD2, 3. HTC Incredible 2) One reason I chose them in particular is that they would work easily in the US and overseas with sim cards. Perhaps I have been lucky or I am less demanding with them than others. I get as much or more utility from mine for GPS, music playing, camera as for use as a phone. I am not one who has a constant addiction to my phone, and I think texts are a waste of time with very specific exceptions when talking is not an option.