Casio GzOne Ravine 2 Verizon 3G

First, a couple words about the Amazon vendor Wireless4Cheap: Exceptional service! At their price - compared to eBay prices - I was concerned about the cosmetic condition of the phone. They were quick to respond with detailed images of the like-new phone, screen protectors still in place. And then they were quick to ship...it arrived FOUR DAYS EARLY. On to the phone itself: Smartphones, though I've used them for several years, simply don't meet my needs. Dragging my sometimes cruddy fingers across a screen just to answer a call seems stupid to me. I've long preferred just opening the flip. Nor do I need to get on FB, email, games, maps, apps, etc., every waking moment. I have a life. For the Interweb, I'm perfectly happy with a 4G mobile hotspot and a tablet (or lappy). And, golly, I can talk, surf, upload, etc., simultaneously. I'm still paying less for all that flexibility than most of my friends who have 4G smartphones alone. Current generic flips, imo, are just that. Generic. And, for my use, more fragile than I'd like. I don't worry about dropping this one, getting it wet or dirty. Rinse it off. Done. Among the tough phones there have been a few decent choices like the Motorola Brute i686 Rugged PTT For Sprint (now obsolete since Sprint pulled the plug on iDEN 07/01/13) or Sprint Kyocera DuraXT No Contract MIL-SPEC Rugged PTT 3MP Camera Cell Phone Series. Alternatively, a not-so-tough VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE MOTOROLA BARRAGE V860 V 860 NO CONTRACT REQUIRED WORKS ON VERIZON WIRELESS or Samsung Rugby 2 A847 Unlocked GSM Ruggedized Phone PTT GPS 3G, etc. Most of them stick to dull clamshell designs (Moto Barrage, MOTOROLA TUNDRA VA76r UNLOCKED PTT GPS RUGGED AT&T UNLOCKED with stubby, Samsung Convoy 2 Verizon). When I had the original Casio G'zOne Type-V Verizon Cell Phone years ago, I loved it and sometimes regretted selling it for a smartphone. This one caught my eye about a year ago. For my tastes, it looks like a MotoRAZR on steroids - considerably more so than the Motorola V750 Adventure PTT Rugged Grey Phone Verizon - and actually rugged. Yes, most of it rubberized. No mistaking it for a Moto, however. It's more like a "What-Is-It". Hey, I still have to use this...in public! Ravine 2 is not for everyone. Unlike the legacy Casio GzOne Ravine Verizon (which I'd considered, except for the weird offset keys difficult to dial by feel), no MP3 player. That's fine. Got a 16GB Walkman with FM. This G'Zone has a healthy, for a flip, 3.2MP camera while most others got stuck at 2MP. Dedicated cam button. Easy. Dedicated speaker buttons inside and out. Easy. And, okay I'll admit it, the LED flashlight is very cool. And a very useful tool I've missed since the Type V. (Already used it this afternoon while digging into the back of someone's computer). The 1150mAh battery (4½ hours/21days) is perfectly sufficient, but I like having the option of an affordable OEM 1430mAh extended battery and cover. Finally, I'll note I used Page Plus (Verizon MVNO based in the U.S.) for activation. Boost (Sprint MVNO) severely restricts types of Sprint devices it will accept (i.e., nothing with PTT), Not surprisingly in my experience, Virgin (also Sprint MVNO) customer service hasn't even a clue it's even on Sprint's BYOD list...or even what BYOD is! The Page Plus plan (talk/text) is at a fraction of any Verizon plan. Activation - ported my old number - is a little convoluted, but worth it. I'm still on Verizon's network which has a particularly robust signal here in hurricane country. Everything I need. Nothing I don't.