I've also got the Cingular Sony-Ericsson (Z500a). For a long time I had nothing but Alltel and Motorola phones and never had a problem with them, but I got a deal with Cingular that was much better. My first Sony-Ericsson crapped out shortly after I got it, but they replaced it within 24 hrs and the new one has worked flawlessly. I had some reception problems with Cingular when I first switched, but it seems to have improved significantly. Alltel was great, but a little more expensive. Cingular is pretty cheap and my experience with them has been above average. I'd recommend either. The Motorolas I used were fine. The Sony-Ericsson I have now is fine - it has a lot of features for the price, and as long as you don't take pictures or play games on it the battery life is very good.