I managed to break my Samsunp SPG i500 after three years. I have tried a refurb i500 but it is not working and I need to return it.

Now that I see the 7135, I am thinking this might be the better bet - more features and I can get one advertised as "new" and unlocked.

First of all, please expect to be contacted for extra gear (and I will post my goodies on the i500 list so the gift keeps going).

Second, I am guessing that since Sprint supports CDMA, I might be able to get set up there and finish out my existing contract. I wonder if anyone has any pointers on that?

I am expecting that this will hot sync to my Palm desktop and pick up all the goodies/data I have from my old buddy there.

Headed to the FAQ section...

Please send encouragement and good thoughts. I am a technical igmo and love great tech more than I understand it.

Unless you have some very good connections within Sprint, they will only activate Sprint-branded phones, and since Sprint never carried the 7135 this could be rather hard to get around.

OK, so it's Verizon.

I am reading that dr. Smartphone was made by Verizon to give his up? Is there something going on with that system wide?

"made to give it up" is perhaps a little misleading. The thing is that Verizon will not activate the 7135 anymore, but if you have one active now, you can keep it indefinitely. However, if you need to switch phone boards (or the entire phone) for any reason, you may have a hard time getting the new one put on to your account (they hide behind the supposed e911 non-compliance, which is a lie, but there are many threads about this already). I believe Alltel still activates the 7135 without restrictions, so that might be your best bet.

I just phoned the local Verizon store today and was assured that, since it has GPS, they sure can (in a "youbetcha" tone of voice) so I went ahead and bought one on ebay today.

Let us know how it went. Many people reported not being able to activate 7135's with Verizon anymore. Maybe you can slip through the cracks. Good luck!