My Employer made us go to Nextel for some stupid reason, and I hate the service. The i730 is a good enough phone not great, very heavy, and the battery life is VERY SHORT!!! One or two business calls and you better find a charger quick. Direct connect is worthless. Want a walkie talkie buy a walkie talkie. All other carriers have free mobile to mobile calls. I think this is much better then a walkie talkie. Call someone, talk normal (No push to talk and both people can talk normal) or leave message. The Nextel coverage and quality is horrible here in south Louisiana. I have had more dropped calls, busy systems, and crappy quality then I ever had with cingular. Don't even think Nextel will care or do any thing about it. I can not recommend Nextel service to any body.