[Lil' Hannah]

I have one on my work phone and I pretty much only use it for work. Sometimes if I'm going out with some people from work I'll hit them up to make plans, but I would never actually have a conversation on one. I was at my brother's football game the other weekend and a woman was having a real conversation on one, and it was so annoying. On Nextel phones you can turn the speaker off so not everyone hears the other side of your conversation or the beeping. I don't know about the new Verizon ones.

It can be cheaper to use the walkie-talkie than making a call, depending on your plan. Our work plan has unlimited walkie-talkie use, but I know my sister has a Nextel and has a certain number of minutes she can use. It's not really better than making a call though, because if the person isn't there to answer your call, they won't be there to respond to your alert.

Finally, I have the Nextel for work and a regular Verizon phone for personal use. I find that the Nextel service is horrible...I lose signals all the time. But, more people are on the Nextel walkie-talkie network than Verizon's, but that could change soon, since Verizon's technology is brand new.