I just posted the following a few hours ago on a sprintpcs group...I'd
appreciate any comments you may have:

Still using a qualcomm qcp-2700 since 1999, but maybe time.....for a
new phone.  Anyone else using such an old phone??
(nah, i can't imagine that......)....
But one of the reasons I've hung onto it is that I ordered an extra one

(for about $20)
in 1999, and sprint even sent me an third one by mistake (which i think

said refurbished on
the box...can't remember exactly).  So, i've had 3 batteries to use,
and it's been convenient.
But.......one of the three was just stolen.    Then, when I tried to
swtich the service over
to the second one (which i think may've been "refurbished")  i
discovered  the phone to be
broken (more on that later).     So that leaves me with one working
phone, which isn't
good enough (for various reasons..but basically, i want a backup).

Some questions I have related to keeping my old phone, but possibly
buying a new one):
(1) I often need to charge it (overnight) in some "public" places,
where it possibly can get stolen.
  (don't ask why...trust me, it's true).
I've been using one of my spares as a charger in these cases.   But
since I NOW don't have a spare,
where can I get a charger.   Do I need to buy a charger specifically
designed for that phone?
Sprint store?, or just a walmart kind of place?

(2) I wonder if the "broken" (but never used) phone (mentioned above)
can act as a charger.  It does turn on, but nothing appears on the
screen.  Actually, when I turned it on last week, the screen was
working, but some of the keys didn't work.  Then it went downhill from
there, showing garbage on the screen, then nothing on the screen at
all.     And all this trouble started after a sprint rep tried to tell
me over the phone how to program it (to transfer service from the
stolen phone to that one)....not sure if it's just a coincidence or
not.   So i wonder if the broken phone can work as a charger?  (yes, i
know...i'll try it,  but it'll be a bit hard to really know since i'll
never see the "charging is complete" message.

(3) I do have a car charger for it, but never really used it because i
rarely drive for more than an hour at a time and this phone seems to
require at least 8 hours to charge.

(4) Now,  if I'm going not going to be able to find a charger for this
phone,  I'm going to want to buy a new phone, plus an extra battery for

it and a charger.    I have no idea where to buy a new phone.  I do NOT

plan to sign a contract with sprint to get a discount (i'm currently
month-to-month on an excellent retention plan....350 minutes, 4000
night/weekend minutes, for $30.
I went to the spcs website, and I see the phones there, with the
discounts etc. for signing contracts, but that's not for me.   So,
where would i buy a phone?...I really only want the most basic and
cheapest phone (obviously, since the qualcomm 2700 is still OK for me,
though smaller would be better!!).   Any suggestions for brands/models?

(5) There's also a slight chance I'm going to change my mind and want a

phone that will also work in Mexico, since i plan to do some travelling

there...so would i need a quadband??, and then switchout the sim card
for a mexican one when i get there?   Or would I just get a quadband
and use the roaming feature?    When I travel in Asia, I use a cheap
Nokia 1100  i bought there for about $60, and just switch out the SIM
cards in different asian countries, which works well,  But i don't know

if i can do the same in mexico, or whether it would be as cheap.... i
doubt it.