CELL PHONE SUGGESTIONS?
(Wednesday) My cell phone contract is up in two weeks and I'm looking around to see what's the current best deal. Right now I am with Verizon ($40/month for 300 min month, no charge for long distance, no charge for after 8 p.m. night and week-end calls) and have been for probably 8 years (or at least with one of the companies that was folded into Verizon). The service is pretty good. My phone is getting pretty worn and I would like to replace it but it would cost me about $120 to do so with a one year contract and about $70 with a two-year contract. (Whatever happened to free phones?)

I've tried some of the comparison sites but they can't really tell me who currently has the best coverage in the area. Nor do they tell me where the big gaps are in national service.

So, I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on companies or rate plans. As best I can tell the choices for the Central Valley of California (my zip code in 95380) are AT&T, Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, and Nextel. Any other ideas?