Well you would want to check with other people to see if they have good service or not. I have Verizon and get good service where I live, but Nextel and Alltel are crappy in my area. Also, the plan you go with depends on how many minutes you think you'll use per month. I have 450 anytime minutes, and free Verizon to Verizon (and some Alltel), which means that if someone I know has Verizon, I can call them for free without using any minutes. I pay about $50 a month, but that is with texting (at $10 a month), which you don't have to add if you don't text. Once you figure out what provider you want, then you want to go in and check out phones. There are different phones for different people. Some you can download music, some are for the more business savy, and some are just plain (no texting, no music, just calling). You'd be amazed at the type of phones that are out there. It just depends on what you are looking for. If you have only used trackphone, then I would suggest getting a 1 year plan, as to a 2 year plan. i do the 1 year because I can upgrade my phone if I don't like it after 1 year, as to 2. I pay a little bit more for the phone but for me, it's worth it.