Dingo:
I've had great reception with Sprint PCS all over the country. The only trouble I had with it was for a 15 mile strech of roads in the boonies of Iowa [not interstate or major highways]. A friend of mine that is an elite on Delta and does a lot of flying switched from T-Mobile to Sprint and says his coverage is MUCH better with Sprint than it ever was with T-Mobile.
Another major advantage, in my case, was with certain plans that allowed the unlimited Sprint PCS to PCS calling. Since many of my friends and co-workers have Sprint PCS, it's great to be able to call them whenever and not have those minutes count towards your anytime minutes.
In terms of recommended phone, I would either go with the latest Sanyo PCS phone or Samsung phone. I personally have the Sanyo 4900 and am quite satisfied with it. I would recommend the Sanyo or Samsung as they hvae speaker phones, which make it safe to talk on one's cell phone in the car; be sure to verify with your Sprint PCS sales agent to see which models offer speaker phones. A friend of mine repaired cell phones last summer and said that flip phones tend to need more repair than non-flip phones.
If you decide to go with Sprint PCS let me know via E-Mail, and I can get you a one-time $10 referal credit, and I get a referal bonus too... it doesn't matter which you sign up with Sprint PCS - via phone, online, or at the store... all ways are eligible for getting the referral credit.
No catches or obilgations; you just have to enroll in the referal program within 60 days of activating your Sprint PCS phone.
As for cell phone number portablility, I read in the most recent issue of Kiplingers magazine that they said around November 2003 you'll be able to transport your cell number from one carrier to another.
For more detailed information on Sprint PCS stuff, check out
http://www.sprintusers.com/
Hope this helps.