Cell phone contacts... how to save?

I'm considering taking the plunge on a Chocolate, RAZR or KRZR but I have some misgivings about how to retain my contacts.

I know that if I step up to a PDA-like cell phone (Q, Treo, etc) I can sync with my desktop to retrieve my contact lists stored there. My question is, what do you have to do to sync these contacts without a PDA phone? I know Verizon offers some sort of "backup" plan that has a monthly fee, but I'm already giving Verizon too much money. It would make sense to have some way to populate the cell phone contact list with what is found in Outlook or some other program... right?

Any suggestions?

TIA

I think you can use blue-tooth with your computer, or you can use back up assistance for free as long as your a my account member online for free.

Best way I've found so far is with BitPim, if it'll work with the phone you want. I wish I knew of a more hands-free automatic way of doing it but what I do now is:
- export the contacts from the app that's storing them (Palm Desktop, Outlook, whatever) as a vcard file.
- import that file into BitPim.
- tell bitpim to send all those contacts to your phone.

If they're already in your phone and you need to get them out, you can also do that, then export them from bitpim and import into Palm Desktop, etc.

(If anyone knows of a better way, please let me know! This way's a bit annoying so I don't sync often.)

Just use Verizon's Backup Assistant application from Get It Now. It's free is you use My Account or $1.99 per month otherwise.

What's My Account? Does it cost money?

How's this Backup Assistant work and what's it do?

My Account is Verizon's online bill view/pay portal. It costs nothing to use, and gives you access to all aspects of your account. Simply set up your username and password on the Verrizon Wireless homepage.

Backup Assistant copies your contact list to a secure remote server, giving you access to the contacts on your phone and online (add/edit/delete contacts right on your PC). When you upgrade your phone or get a new unit under warranty, instead of having to do a phonebook transfer for $10.00 in the store, you can simply download the Backup Assistant software to your new phone and bring your contact list back to that phone.

The service is normally $1.99 per month, but if you use My Account, it is free.

Definitely go with the Backup Assistant. It's a little child-like, and it's a pain to enter everything in the first time, but it's worth it. I'm already glad I did it after one phone-switch.