Am I "really, really happy" with the reception? Nope. But, I suspect, I won't ever be, because a big part of the reception issue here is in the cell site location, operation and sparse coverage.

Is it better than what I had before? Yes, absolutely. The reception in Reno is perfect, no complaints when I was back there last month.

Understand, I've gotten into rather, um, heated debates with the Cellular One (now AllTel) technical support reps when they were trying to tell me how cell phone reception works. I listened to about 90 seconds of their pablum, then cut them off and explained how cellular telephones actually work, how RF propagates, how I can see the cellsite here in Eureka, that I've measured the distance and exactly what the distance is, that there is nothing between the cell site and me but clear Nevada air, etc, etc.

Suffice to say, the technical support has definately improved since AllTel bought out Cellular One. Cellular One's support used to be horrible -- arrogant, ignorant and stubborn all in the same breath. Calls to AllTel support have gotten a thumbs-up from both me and the Flower Goddess. Cellular One support once had me wondering if the Flower Goddess was going to take a bullwhip to the Cellular One clowns, she was so mad.

I have not used the BlueTooth interface. My phone does have it, but my PeeCee's don't. I'm waiting on the data cable to arrive to interface it via USB. We initially ordered the "data package" from AllTel, but it didn't support uploading/downloading pictures, only phone numbers and call logs. Same price as the Motorola package, just fairly useless. I'm now in the process of getting the Moto data package.

BlueTooth is what engineers are calling a "PAN" or "Personal Area Network" -- it is a very short range network, or at least it is supposed to be very short range. I don't have BlueTooth enabled on my phone because I'm a paranoid sort, and I don't want someone twiddling with my phone when I'm in big city areas. BlueTooth is now used for everything from keyboards and mice to cameras, cell phones, MP3 players, headsets, etc. Here is some background on BlueTooth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

I've been haying non-stop for a week now, and am getting kinda punch-drunk and that's why I forgot to tell you of some minor issues I have with the Razr, just so you know the full story:

1. I can't set the time to 24 hour mode, the way I did with the Nokia phones. I don't like "AM/PM" time formats, never have, never will. When you enter a time, you can't simply punch in "1230" for 12:30 -- you have to enter the 12, then jump to the minutes field and enter "30." Small nit, but it is annoying.

2. The UI for entering names attached to the phone numbers in the Razr's directory has an auto-complete feature. This can be helpful once you get more names entered into the phone, but when you first start, it is kinda annoying, because it is completing common names for you (eg, "John") and it isn't always correct.

3. The calculator tool has a much-improved UI over the Nokia calculator, but far fewer functions.

4. The indicators for the signal strength, battery condition, voice mail, network status, etc are all so small and use so few pixels that they're nearly useless.

5. When you're entering a phone number into your directory, be sure to pay attention to the UI. I've entered all the info for a number, only to plow out of the mode I was in during number entry and "cancel" the editing of the number. You'll see if you get one -- you'll be slapping the right soft key several times in quick succession, and when you're done, you slap the right soft key, even tho to save the number you needed to press the left soft key.

On the upside:

The big increase in memory on this phone allows you to keep long lists of numbers dialed, missed and received. The Nokias would store only 10 or 20 numbers for each type in a ring -- ie, the least recent was the first one to be dropped. The "vibrate, then ring" ring mode works really well for farming, because the ring tone on a Razr can be turned up to some hefty volume levels. The "vibe then ring" gives you two rings on a silent vibrate before going audible, so it is really handy when you want to get the phone out and deal with it before everyone in the room has to hear your phone go off.

When I finally get the data cable for this phone (and the s/w to upload pictures), I can entertain the folks here with my tales of widespread death to varmints on this outfit. I have pics of everything from meadow voles to squirrels on the phone, shots of trap placement, poison placement, etc.