We had 3 Samsung Alias phones in the family until I lost mine at the junk yard last month. They have been very rugged/durable. There was the one that got run over in the driveway, broke both screens, but was still functional enough to pull out my phone book. The replacement (from Ebay) even survived being run over by the lawn mower and getting a bit of a nick in the case from the blade. We have also had Env (didn't survive the "baptism") Env2 (replaced 2x under warranty by Verizon) and the wife has a 6 month old Env3 that the hinge spring recently broke so that it doesn't snap and stay closed . The Env's are nice, esp. if you text a lot, but don't seem to be as rugged as the Alias's. I'm eligible for a replacement come Jan 7 and I'll probably go with the Alias 2. I prefer the smaller size of flip phone over the candy bar format and the "soft" keyboard of the Alias 2 is pretty cool. The screen on the Droid is real nice, but I also won't pay and extra 40-50/mo for a data plan. Those blood suckers already get ~ $200/mo from me and that is plenty; I never miss an opportunity to tell Verizon so.<br>
<br>Now when someone comes out with an Android phone with CDMA + GSM + Wimax + WiFi + SIP + 5MP camera (supporting video capture, of course), qwerty keyboard and a battery that last all week for say $300, why that would be nearly nirvana! I'm guessing 2-3 yrs. max till such a beast can be had (I'm willing to be flexible on the price but as rough as I am on phones its gotta be sub $500).<br>
<br>GC <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 8:29 PM, Paul Cartwright <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ale@pcartwright.com">ale@pcartwright.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="im">On Tue December 15 2009, Chris Fowler wrote:<br>
> Well that sucks. I have no need to pay them $30/month for sub-standard<br>
> Internet. I guess I'll just upgrade to a phone with a keyboard so<br>
> texting won't be such a pain.<br>
<br>
</div>I got an LG Env2 when my phone died. It has the flip-open full-keyboard, and I<br>
love it.<br>
<a href="http://phones.verizonwireless.com/lg/env3/?CMP=KNC-PaidSearch&rf=google.com" target="_blank">http://phones.verizonwireless.com/lg/env3/?CMP=KNC-PaidSearch&rf=google.com</a><br>
<br>
no data plan, shared minute family plan..<br>
<font color="#888888">--<br>
Paul Cartwright<br>
Registered Linux user # 367800<br>
Registered Ubuntu User #12459<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Ale mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Ale@ale.org">Ale@ale.org</a><br>
<a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale" target="_blank">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</a><br>
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at<br>
<a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo" target="_blank">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>