[Tfug] New phone/provider...

[Adrian]

<rant>
OK, so I am absolutely disgusted with Sprint, despite having an account in 
good standing and paid for phone/etc. outright, they have been (what I 
consider to be) overcharging me for years with high "taxes and fees" that go 
directly into their pocket. Then, in response to my inability to use my phone 
as a modem on my laptop (it kept dying with bit errors connecting), they 
upgraded the flash, making my phone even less useful, and said they couldn;t 
even test the data function... Now it seems that they have completely disabled 
data service on my phone, my phone says it's in data mode, calls the number, 
and then immediately drops the call as soon as Dakotacom's modem picks up. (I 
can voice call the modem just fine.)

In the mean time, they have been stuffing adverspam in every months bill 
telling me how much I'll "save" by renewing my contract with a new phone and 
$60/mon bill, as opposed to my current $40+ bill.

So... I'm looking for a new provider and a new phone.... Why is it so hard to 
find a cell phone with decent battery life?!?!? I couldn;t care less about 
cameras or video or MP3s. Where the hell are the PHONES???
</rant>

My requirement are simple:
1) A GSM phone, something I can use and or buy unlocked, possibly to pull the 
SIM card for use in a dedicated modem.
2) Good battery life. 6+ hours talk time, ~2 weeks standby (Why is it that 
people accept 2-3 hour talk times and recharges every 3-5 days?!?!).
3) Ability to use as a modem/network connection for my laptop.
4) A headset jack... (What is the purpose of a BT headset besides cutting the 
already sucky battery life in half?).
5) Something relatively well built, that can stand being dropped.
6) Preferrably something with uploadable ringtones so I can load something 
less annoying.

These requirements ought to be very simple, yet all I can find is phones with 
craploads of features I'll never use and ~3 hour battery life... The phones 
available through providers completely miss these marks. Of the general 
aftermarket phones, the following Ive found seem closet but don;t meet all 
the requirements (all Motorola):

RAZR V3 - Decent battery life ~5 hours, seems well built based on customer 
reviews, no headset, one other problem I can;t seem to remember now.

SLVR L7 - Same as the V3, but no headset, ringtone/etc. only accepted in 
iTunes format.

V190 - The new update of the V18x models (said to be of poor quality in 
reviews). Seems to meet most/all of my requirements, claimed talk time of 10 
hours and 3 weeks standby! But several reviews say it sucks at 2-3 hours.

V360 - Seems to meet most requirements, claimed talk time of 7 hours can that 
be true? Only 10 days claimed standby. Has EDGE data format instead of GPRS 
that T-Mobile supports, but T-Mobile does have it as an available model on 
website?

I'll probably go T-Mobile as there plans seem resonable ($30/mon for my 
current equivelent Sprint plan plus $6 for unlimited data) and they will 
unlock phones/fine with alternative phones. Is there something else I should 
be looking at for a phone/provider combination?

Adrian