I decided to visit some cell phone provider stores to help me figure out what type of phone to get and what I would get or wouldn't get with various plans.
I went to a Verizon store and the guy there was friendly and attentive, but he didn't really give me a whole lot of information. He asked what I was looking for, and when I said I wasn't sure yet. I think I want a smart phone, but if I can find a really light weight and functional phone that did calendars and memos, that would probably suit most of my needs. He showed me one smart phone (Blackberry Curve) and one non-smart phone, and that was it. When I asked him about the plans, he just showed me the brochure and skimmed over some details.
When I tried to ask more detailed questions, he either didn't have the answer or his answer wasn't very satisfying. I did find out that with Verizon you are required to get the Blackberry data plan with your service if you get a Blackberry. This bumped the price up to iPhone levels, so it wasn't very encouraging. Verizon seems to have among the highest subscription prices to go along with their good coverage. I was definitely turned off by the lack of information in what you get or don't get with each subscription level, especially with the Blackberry plans.
I found out later that pretty much all providers are pretty vague about what you get with the Blackberry plans. You have to go to sites like crackberry.com to get any real info it seems.
I didn't totally discount Sprint, and since they were good to me a number of years, I decided to at least give them a try to talk me out of switching to a different provider. I also considered repairing my Treo 600 rather than going to a new phone. I have a $50 deductible, but it would mean I wouldn't have to make a new 2 year commitment in case another phone comes out that's a better fit.
The first Sprint Store I went to told me that they didn't have any technicians on site any more and there was only one store, the one at Lawrence and Steven's Creek Road, that had technicians. So I went to that store, and they were actually somewhat helpful. They took a look at my phone and told me that the antenna was broken, so that's probably why my reception was so bad. They were confident that a new phone would solve my reception problems.
When I told them that my wired earpiece is really flakey, they said that Treo's were notorious for wearing out the earpiece connections. He cleaned out the connections, but he said that was all that they could do there, and that I would have to go through my insurance to get a new phone if I wanted to get it fixed.
When I asked him about current phones, he showed me both the Blackberry Curve as well as the new Treos. I think he mentioned that I could get a Treo for free if I signed up for another two years. The Curve would cost a bit more. He also said that the GPS service from Sprint was the best of any service and you can get turn by turn directions as you drive. The Blackberry Curve from Sprint has GPS, but no WiFi.
Given how helpful they were, it put Sprint back on the map for phones I would consider. The other nice thing about Sprint is that their nighttime hours start at 7pm vs. 9pm for everyone else. They also are among the cheaper plans, and their plans include more things, like text messaging.
It must cost so little for these companies to support text messaging, since the bandwidth is so little, that it annoys me when they try to charge extra for it, especially when I don't use it very often. It will probably be cheaper for me in the long run not to subscribe to text messaging and just pay the per message charge if I decide to go with a non-Sprint carrier.
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