I hear the walkie talkie feature on the nextels is nice and effecient, however the cell service depends on a variety of different issues.

As a electronics broker I supply material to firms like Motorola, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, etc...Over the years I have realized one thing.... All phone are basically the SAME..

I hear people saying things like, " I need a new phone, this one stinks"...what they do not realize is there is a frequency crystal inside every phone, for the most part they are the same so service in the US really depends on infrastructure saturation. IE, if you phone is a 200 dollar phone but the service area is mountanous and towers a sparse then you are in the weeds... You can have a 10 dollar phone but you are in a saturated zone and it will perform better than an expensive Blackberry.

A Blackberry, Moto Q, or any other PDA/Cell is loaded with features and applications, therefore they are more money but the service, depending where you are is really hostage to coverage.

I suggest you check that first, don't go to the cell store and ask them for help either, there in the business of selling plans. Ask friends, people in the area that you know have phones, that is the best measure.

I have two plans, one with Verizon, which through aquisitions have a VERY strong infrastructure and one plan with Cingular . The cingular plan has better features due to rollover minutes as opposed to Verizon that keeps unused minutes. Both services are ideal for me in florida, but when I travel to the midwest the verizon keeps working even if I am in Juarez, Mexico and the Cingular doesn't..it's hit an miss...

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