tvtome.com was very slow, but useful. I swear there's not as much info on tv.com, and what there is is more mouse-clicks away.

They took down all my articles. They are dead to me. And now I'm not even certain if those pieces belong to them. I gave TVTome permission to use my work when ScoopMe went bust. And now I just don't know. I hate that.

My plea for tech help is this:

I need a new cell phone. I like my Sprint plan, but the contract is up so I wanna just go with that, again.

I don't need a phone that does much more than call people, and receive calls from people. I don't give a rat's ass about cameras or bluetooth or if my phone can unfold into a DVD player. Those features won't get used.

Any ideas? I know nothing about cell phones and when i went to get this one, I needed Polgara to do it all for me. My battery is dying, and I figure getting a new phone cheap and renewing my plan is just fine.

What phone do you have now? I'm looking at phones Sprint offers for your zipcode -- have you checked to see how much each one costs? From looking at the range, I'd just get the cheapest one to upgrade to. They all have more than you need, but that's the market today.

It's an LG, if that makes any sense. It's pretty and just the right size.

Do the batteries last longer, now? I find mine drains after ten minutes, right now, because you know, old. But I remember being able to use it for a couple hours before it got all, "beep, welcome to disconnect death."

Yours isn't that told, is it? I mean, you've gotten it within the last three years or so? That's funky about the battery. It shouldn't be doing that. But I don't think it's worth fixing.

Still -- the cheapest one they have will probably both do, and be an upgrade.

And when I go they just transfer my old numbers into the new phone and then there's no worries, right? I see one that looks fine, and is free if i just pick up my contract again.

The transfer bit does depend. You may be able to beam them, or they may have another magic -- depends on the phone you have now, and the one you get.

So I should write all this shit down, then?

Do the batteries last longer, now? I find mine drains after ten minutes, right now, because you know, old.

My cellphone is ancient, but I like it. When it started not holding a charge, I went to Batteries Plus and got it a new battery and now it's fine.

I got this teeny Motorola C115 for $39.95 with $30 of call credit. Of course, Vodafone ran out of the phones within a few weeks and aren't getting any more in. Plus, in Australia, so not as much help to Allyson as one might think.

So I should write all this shit down, then?

That's safest.

And Ginger has a good point -- replacing the battery (I've never done it with a mobile, and when I did it with my cordles the phones ate the new one too anyway, so I replaced the whole thing).