Well, the Storm and Storm 2 can only be activated on the Verizon Wireless network. Please note that they are also the only two touch screen Blackberrys in existence, at least in the United States.

The best (and often the cheapest) option is to purchase the phone directly from the respective wireless carrier. If you go through a vendor like amazon or eBay, you may get a phone, but you won't necessarily know what you're getting and the return/warranty policies may not be good...or may not even exist.

When you get a plan, particularly with Verizon, you will have to have a voice plan of $34.99 or higher + a data plan of $29.99 per month.

Personally, I'd choose the Motorola DROID or even the HTC Droid Eris. They are both reasonable touch screen smartphones and operate on the fairly new Android operating system. The apps are limitless and most of which are free. Most people have rated the DROID very high.

http://vzw.com/droid
http://vzw.com/storm2

If you have additional specific questions, please feel free to post those here!

Hi folks!

I need to buy a smartphone, and for reason I won't get into, it needs to be a blackberry. I've never owned a smartphone, and I'm not familiar with plan options, which is why I've come here.

Here are my requirements for the phone and plan:

• I'd prefer a touch screen, but only if it's easy to use and reliable (I've read many bad things about the Storm1 and some good/some bad regarding the Storm2)
• I'd be using the phone almost exclusively for data access; email and web access
• I'd make very few phone calls (just a handful a month)
• I'd like a phone that can utilize the local wifi network, if it's available

Given that, can anybody point me at an inexpensive vendor for the phone and monthly plan?

Thanks!