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Dear Lazyweb,

It's that time of the season again, just two short years after the last time! Yep, the cell phone contract has expired, and lady_curmudgeon and I are looking at new phones and carriers. It's going to be a mix of plan cost and finding phones we like. Curmudgeon wants a phone with a full QWERTY keyboard and a camera. I don't care about a camera, myself. QWERTY is a requirement, virtual or real I don't care.

So I'm not even going to poll this time around, and instead just invite you to comment with your thoughts. Here's where we stand:

• I love my iPod Touch, so I'm naturally biased towards the new iPhone 3G S, but I hate AT&T. Their plan is sorta meh as well, and Curmudgeon didn't see anything she liked phone-wise since she's not sure an iPhone is the device for her.
  
• I'm alright with T-mobile, I could put a jailbroken iPhone on there, but she sees no phones that she's down with (doesn't think she likes the SideKick). On the plus side, we could do a month-to-month no commitment plan.
  
• I have Sprint right now on month-to-month, and get a 15% discount. No iPhone there (duh) but the new Palm Pre is out and the reviews seem fairly positive so far. I haven't had a chance to play with one but I'd consider it as an alternative to the iPhone. Curmudgeon likes the LG Lotus that they carry. Their prices are better than AT&T. We have yet to see if the Pre catches on and apps come out of the woodwork like they have for the iPhone.
  
• Verizon's not shown me or Curmudgeon anything that we're interested in thus far.
  

So, recommend away. I know warphammer is twitching hard at the thought that I might join the iPhone ranks, so I'm curious

Last night I dropped by my local Sprint/Nextel store. I've been using a Samsung A900 (aka the "Blade") for my personal cellular service over the last year and it's served me pretty well. However, there was some things about it I didn't like -- I don't generally need or use the camera that's built into the phone (and it can be a pain in protected areas that confescate any camera phones) though it has come in handy in the past. It's a solidly built phone with a metal exterior but I've still managed to scratch it up fairly well. The media features are okay-ish but I don't use them (Seriously, I have an iPod... I don't need MP3s on my phone as well). All told I was happy but wanted something better or, at least, different.

Sprint/Nextel recently announced the general availability of their Motorola ic502 hybrid phone (aka the "Buzz") that accesses the Sprint CDMA network for voice and accesses Nextel's iDEN network for walkie-talkie. When I heard it was out to the general market I had to look into it. Back in 1999 I was hooked on Nextel when I came to the corporate office of $EMPLOYER and everyone in the IT department carried the i1000 Nextel phone. The walki-talkie feature was exceedingly handy, the phone was solidly built and while the service area lacked in some regions (it was still being built out) I had unshakable coverage in Chicago and the suburbs I work and live in. When I took a look at the ic502 I decided to go ahead and purchase it.

I have to say, thus far, I'm liking this rugged little thing. And despite costing more than a few dollars to carry it out the door I think it was money that well-spent. Just by converting from my old plan to the new Nextel plan I'm actually gaining "anytime" minutes and cutting the cost of my monthly bill by $20/month.

My personal cell number was ported over to the new phone, so if you know my cellular number don't worry... it hasn't changed.

If you have a Nextel phone (I know some of you out there on my friends list use them for service) please drop me a line and let me know what your walkie-talkie ID is so I can program it in. Alternatively you can just leave a note asking me for my ID and I'll be sure to share it with you.