UC Gal, I too, have resisted any add-ons to my cell phone service (cheap, voice only) and have been “out of contract” for more than two years. My “Walkman” phone is still great (for me) cuz it is my “i-pod” and camera too, and is brand new still because it has been in a case since I got it (over 4 yrs. ago). However, some of the new phones do look appealing to me for the wi-fi access so I will probably end up purchasing an UNLOCKED one thru e-bay by the end of the year and just moving my chip to it. Then I will enjoy the wi-fi for e-mail, etc. wherever I can hook up for free, incl. my home. It’s not worth it to me to enter into another contract where AT&T blocks the true capabilities of the phone so they can charge you a min. of $720 (for a 2 yr. contract) to get SOME OF them back.
If you already have the phone you want and it is out of warranty, you can buy the software to unlock your phone for a nominal fee and simply “flash” it. This voids your “warranty.” Actually, I have never known any who ruined their phone by “flashing” it to strip it of the carrier’s proprietary operating system. After flashing, you can load it with any operating system compatible with it.
