Dagny, don't be caught in the iPhone hype. You will regret leaving Verizon very soon. I did that last year and now desperately waiting for my current contract to expire (or go through the first year to lower the penalty at least) to get back to Verizon with its fantastic coverage and reception, real 4G internet, and fantastic Android smartphones.

I suggest against the iphone and vote for a Android based phone. Everyone I know in RL that own iphones are in some major form of denial. They Tell me at the same time that they love the iphone with no reason behind it then how much they hate the iphone with many many reasons behind it.One friend of mine infact stated its the worst phone she has ever owned and wished she never bought it.....and how she was gonna buy the new iphone....Its just amazing and makes no sense. On the other hand everyone i know with androids have a pure love relationship with um, Not much left to say on that pretty straight forward.

I do not own a Iphone but i do own a Ipod touch and i have to say its not the most fantastic wonderfull magical thing its made out to be. Im constantly loosing money with it and 99% of the lower priced apps are Poorly made and useless toys. How many fake gun and lighter apps can one person need? Most of the Calculation apps i had Didnt work right at all such as the tip calcs or tax/sales calcs. After the initial OMG look at all these apps they do everyting! wears off its more like wow look at all the useless half working apps and how i never use them anymore why did i spend money on these. Its Much like a quick burst of entertainment most of them even the ones with some form of use. Also Making me pay To unlock features they held out on and making me pay to fix crippling errors on their fault is not good business. I still think they have not unlocked FM radio for pete and petes sake! And To make things worse The Dumb thing Does not even play music that well with multiple GUI errors including a volume bar that barely works right.

I'll throw in my $0.02 worth.

I have destroyed several phones at work including a couple of the first generation motorola razrs. My current phones (yes plural) are a fairly cheap samsung SGH-a237 and an iphone 3GS. Both are on the ATT network and in my area I get good performance from both of them (as a phone that is). So far both of these phone have stood up pretty well to my fumbling. Both have been dropped, kicked, stepped on and generally subjected to a lot of accidental stress tests. So far the worst damage is to the samsung which has a couple of deep scratches in the plastic. I do have a (thin) case for the iphone and that may help it some.

For what it is worth I really like the iphone and have not had bad luck with apps for it. Of course I tend to read a lot of reviews and don't just grab "cool" looking apps. The phone has been great when traveling with my son since we need to be able to find gluten free restaurants and groceries as we travel, this makes is almost literally a life saver for us. The other apps I have tend to support my work (engineering type stuff). Like all things in life, YMMV

- Eric

Nthing the Casio G'zOne. I've had one of the older ones for four years now - I keep refusing to upgrade.

I worked as a canoe guide for awhile, and at one point dropped the phone into the water while disembarking from a canoe - into the muddy, nasty, stirred up water of the boat launch. I couldn't see it through the silt at all. By my good fortune, a friend of mine called a few seconds later. The thing lit up like a Christmas tree and began to ring underwater. I fished it out, dried it on my shirt, and answered the call. Worked perfectly, no problems whatsoever.

Hopefully the newer ones are keeping up the quality!

I have a Sanyo 7050 and have found it to be a tough phone, I built a Mini-Survival Kit around it.

I am watching your Post closely as I will be in the same situation soon.

Thanks,

Mike

I really miss my Sanyo 7050. I unfortunately bought the sales pitch on the present phone that I've been living with for close to two years, so giving myself a couple of months this time to do some research. For my lifestyle, I’m fairly certain I want one of the rugged phones.

I'm not leaving Verizon. Verizon now does the i-Phone, but I still need to wait for my current contract to expire.

Everyone I know with an i-Phone loves their i-Phone. And the peops I know with the Androids like those, too.

Dunno, I'm overwhelmed by options. But I do so love my MacBook that I'm now an Apple devotee.