Cell phone again

My contract with Sprint is expiring this month. Having had much with the poor Sprint signal at home and office, I'm going to switch to another carrier after 7 years with Sprint PCS. Verizon was on top of my list until I read some reviews today about the Motorola v710 phone. It looks like a great phone on paper, but what quickly made this phone + Verizon tasteless to me was the alleged Verizon crippling the phone's functions in order to drive customers to paid services. The reviews can be found through the links below:
1. "The Motorola v710: Verizon's New Crippled Phone" by Jonathan A. Zdziarski
2. FAQ on Howard Forums
3. Reviews on amazon.com
Now the search is on again.