I've had this model of phone for a little over six months and I am now on my FOURTH phone. The first one lasted about a month before the external display completely quit working. On the replacement phone they sent me (phone# 2) the keypad wouldn't light up at all. So, I immediately got a replacement sent to me (phone #3) and the keypad would only light up from time to time. It was able to make and receive calls so I decided to just put up with it. The phone worked well enough for about three months (a record for these phones I'm sure) and then it suddenly stopped being able to make or receive calls. After I was able to convince Cingular that, yes, there was something wrong with my phone they sent me a replacement phone (phone #4) which I've had for about a month now. I just noticed yesterday that the external display is starting to not work from time to time. I'm sure that I'll be on phone# 5 within a few weeks.If there is any possible way you can avoid getting one of these phones, please do! They are absolute pieces of junk.