I read this thread with some interest as my wife and I were trying to decide what to do about our phones over the last few weeks. We both had Verizon, but on separate plans, and both of our phones/plans were well beyond the two-year contract point. I was initially sold on the Storm, but after playing with it in the store I too found the interface a little awkward and at times frustrating to use. I was significantly more frustrated, however, when I found out that Verizon charges a $30/month fee on EACH BlackBerry phone that you have on your plan. In our case I wanted a Storm for the internet and email, but my wife wanted a Curve just because she liked the look (didn't need or want the internet or email services). But it doesn't matter what you want, it's $30 per phone per month either way. I'll admit I was probably a little naive about the costs, but still it was a shock to think I'd be paying $60 per month on top of a $90 per month family plan. OUCH.

So we considered switching to AT&T and getting iPhones, but it was the same drill with the $30 fee per phone. We did think about it however, as the wife loves her iPod and let's face it, it is THE leading-edge phone out there regardless of what you think of AT&T. But from talking to lots of friends that own them (and reading/watching reviews on www.PhoneDog.com - bad *** site btw) they seem to be pretty fragile. Don't flame me, I'm sure if you buy the right case/screen protector/jacket etc. you don't have a problem, but I'm tough on my phones so I need something pretty sturdy. Plus I've heard a lot of horror stories about Apple and AT&T refusing to help you out if the phone breaks, which I guess makes sense when you have people lining up outside your store to buy them.

So after watching several reviews on the afore-mentioned PhoneDog site, we settled on LG Dares. It's last year's technology, but I like the interface and the browser/VCast work pretty well (certainly a dramatic improvement over my now 2 1/2 year old flip phone), plus it's a pretty tough design. Unlimited internet is only $15 extra per line, and it's optional for the Dare, so we're only paying for exactly what we need. As the reviewer said on PhoneDog, it's pretty good for a "dumb" phone.