I am open to it being from Sprint, Cingular, Verizon, or Tmobile, but I do need a pretty large coverage area. I'd like to get as fast a speed as possible, for as cheaply as possible. Any suggestions or recommendations?

Ooh. I just saw an article about that... lemme see if I can find it.

Basicly, you want a provider that has a digital connection option. (Not sure if that's the terminology.) Failing that, you should be able to connect a cellphone to a regular dialup ISP like in olden times....

I think most new cellphones are cabable of doing a digital connection to the provider's data network. Many cellphones come with drivers for various computers; others require you to download a driver.

eta: Here's the article: [link]

From previous experience, the Ericsson t616 works, and I currently use a Razr for same. The Razr is faster for me, all other variables being static. My carrier is Cingular.

tommy, I read the article, but I don't know how to figure out if a phone is CDMA? Am I being stupid?

ita, you like the RAZR? Hmm.

but I don't know how to figure out if a phone is CDMA? Am I being stupid?

Well, if you are then I am too.

I like the Razr, although the Bluetooth is sometimes flaky (I reboot the phone once a week). One friend hates hers with a passion, and another has never ever had a Bluetooth problem with his. Inconsistent stock.

Above all, I like its typing dictionary thing. Much better than the Ericsson.

CDMA is one sort of cell phone technology. GSM is another. Each carrier uses only one sort of technology. Sprint is CDMA, I'm not sure who else uses it. GSM has a similar way of using a phone to connect a computer to the Internet, so it doesn't really matter for this issue whether you go with a CDMA provider or a GSM provider.

I've noticed recently that some of the phones that you can get from Sprint list "Phone as Model" as a feature. I'd go for one of those, and make sure you tell the person activating your phone that you want that feature and ask them how much it costs. You'd hate to be suprised by your first bill.

Also, I want this phone. I wish they'd ship it already.

My main 'puter died a mysterious death last night, and I'm hoping the Buffistas can help me diagnose the problem.

I usually leave my computer on all the time, but I powered down last night because there was a lightning storm. It was running fine right before I powered down, and I unplugged the power and the cable modem, so I don't think the storm caused any trouble. But when I tried to power it up later, I got nothing. No beep, no fan, nothing. I thought maybe the power supply had died, so I swapped in an extra I have laying around, but the problem remains. One odd thing I noticed: If I plug the big main thingie into the motherboard, but not the small squarish "aux" thingie, then the fan starts and the CD light goes on (but it doesn't boot).If I plug in the squarish thingie, then it's totally dead (no fan, no CD light).

Any thoughts?

Rob, thanks. Do you mean "Phone as Modem?"

Sprint and Verizon are CDMA. Cingular and T-Mobile are GSM. Most popular phones come in either flavor.

Any thoughts?

I would've said power supply. Is it possible it's a problem with the outlet? Some of the outlets in my house are on circuits that also have GFI's installed. Should one of the GFI's trip, I tend to lose things I wouldn't normally expect to lose.