Great phone...in some places

I purchased the Nokia 5100 after destroying my phone, figuring that buying an older but rugged phone was better than investing in a newer, more fragile one. Initially, I was pleased with the 5100--it's definitely sturdier than most of the fashionable phones marketed right now. Given that it's somewhat out of date with features, memory and battery life, the phone was what I was expecting. The lack of camera was also a plus--it's getting very difficult to find a new phone that doesn't try to masquerade as a camera, videocamera, PDA, personal chef and surrogate parent. You can purchase replacement cases for the phone--the phone itself is unusable without the two-part plastic outer case. Many people have commented that the phone is difficult to turn on, due to the thick plastic coverings on the buttons, but I had no problem turning the phone on and off. The thing does use one of the strange, proprietary accessory/charging jacks cell phone makers like to install, so you may have to do some searching to find appropriate headsets and chargers. The included headset is worthless and the phone has no bluetooth, so you'll have to locate a wired one online. Stores are highly unlikely to have one.

However, the phone was built for European markets and was never designed for US use. As such, the three bands it uses are the two European bands (900 and 1800 MHz) and one of the US bands (1900 MHz). If you live where that one band is used, you're in good shape. As I discovered, however, there are significant portions of the US that operate only on the 850 MHz band. After discovering that my new phone was useless where I was going to be living, I returned it for a refund.