on a related note, does anyone have any suggestions for verizon-compatible rather durable cell phones? It would be nice if it had a camera. Mostly it needs to be able to withstand some occasional salt water splashes.

What happened to the one that fell into the bilge?

In my experience, salt water + electronics = death of electronics. Get a dry pouch for your cell phone, and put it in there, every time you step aboard a boat. They are way worth it, just to forestall the aggravation of changing phones.

Sony Ericsson and LG have waterproof cell phones, but I'm not sure what "verizon-compatible" means, or if these fit that criteria. I'm sure the case is cehaper, though.

my verizon motorola razr is pretty darn durable. i'm the biggest abuser of electronics ever. it rides around in an exposed celly holster on my messenger bag in rain, snow and subzero temps, has been dropped repeatedly, including an ejection off a moving bicycle without showing any signs of wear, even. being as i live in colorado i kinda dont have much practical saltwater durability testing to report, tho. i could give a rat's ass about it being fashionable or whatever, but the metal casing on the thing is the shiz. it doesn't seem to dent, scratch or fingerprint easily so even after all the beating i've been giving it, it still looks new.

oh and it was a free upgrade for me, but i've got verizon's new-every-2 program, so... ymmv and all.

I'm up for a new phone, too. (Cingular). No idea what to get. I want a camera. With a flash (since, well, I see no point otherwise, but the makers of my roommate's phone disagree).

Any suggestions?

wow, that's a testimonial, lfr! If I keep buying new cell phones anyway, maybe it's worth it just to pay for a Razor.

mudpuppie- I tried the alcohol then distilled water then dry out technique recommended but it didn't revive. Although I was able to make one more phone call on it. The screen was long dead, though.

I will definitely get a waterproof case for my next phone, but in this case I was using when I got splashed so it wouldn't have helped. (The bilge one was just stupid on my part.)