You get 15 days to try Verizon and can return if you are not happy. Any Bluetooth phone works. LG 8100 or LG9800 or Motorola 815 all work, and others too if bluetooth. Family plan fine, thats what I have, I could use it as dialup modem to an ISP but nothing would ever give me the broadband speed until I went for their data plan, which they just started in Feb I think, maybe late January. With the axim just pair the phone to Axim, set up new modem connection, set number to dial as #777 and user name of
your10digitnumber@vzw3g.com and for the password use vzw. open any application that needs internet and connection should be automatic, but if not go to start/settings/connections/manage existing/then press and hold verizon (if you named it that) and click connect. That is for the Axim. I also tether the phone to my laptop, and get the same type of speeds (400-700 KB/s) with USB cable and my LG phone. $59 doesn't seem that harsh to have high speed access in so many places. I even get coverage and broadband speeds at Catalina Island as well as Los Angeles, and in Hawaii, too.
Since all the companies give you 15 to 30 days to try, you can experiment with each of them if you want and judge speed and coverage for yourself in your area. I am with Verizon because other than ATT (Cingular) the rest have poor, if any, coverage on the ocean, and very limited coverage in Hawaii. Verizon works better for me, because of their coverage, but some of the others have less expensive plans, I think.