Direct connect works for some, but it is important to remember that it is not a 2 way conversation like a cel phone. You say something and wait for a long verbose answer back, then speak again.

The nextel service is weird, although here in NY my nextel is streched for signal inside buildings, and when it does get signal inside it bounces all over the place.

While nextel support is alright you said it best when you said Tmobile support is second to none. you get an expensive bill you are pretty much out of luck expecting help, credits are hard to come by. If you do decide to go with a nextel though let me recommend the i530. It is ugly, and not packed with features by any means, but it takes a beating, and as far as i can tell has the best signal out of all of them. Most customers with nextel problems switch into that phone and say it is the lesser of 2 evils.