Yea, you need to check out which carrier is strongest in your area. You mentioned Verizon, but compare coverage maps for all carriers to make sure you get the best. You don't want many min, so are you looking for a phone for data use only?

What i would do is ask the people around you what cellphone provider they have. And look up the reviews of potential phones you want. Theres a lot of researching to do, but trust me, its worth it

I moved this post from the "Getting Started" forum as that is used for new users that need help with the forum and questions pertaining to the forum only.

I am going to be getting a cell phone. This is the FIRST cell phone I have ever owned. I have a lot of questions I would like to have answered.

1. What service provider should I choose? I have heard recommendations to Verizon.
2. What phone should I get? I really want a nice phone and am wondering how the sync features work. I have an iPaq HX4700 and know that the sync features are limited to anything except Outlook, which I do not use. Are there any phones that would allow me to sync contacts with Thunderbird? I really want the phone books where you can add photos for each contact and that would be even nicer if when/if Thunderbird adds a photo feature that it would sync with it, too.
3. I really want a cheap plan because I do not plan on using the phone a lot--perhaps 300 minutes, which seems to be the smallest plans available.
4. I know certain features are disabled on phones, such as copying photos from the phone, so I would like a phone that doesn't stop this--or at least give me the open source tools that get around the issues.

Thanks!