Just giving an update to my post to help you out, as well as others who may be in the same situation.
I went ahead and extended my plan another 2 years and got a Motorola V325i. I did some research, and spoke with the representative at the local Verizon store. Turns out, the V325i is just as good with reception as the E815. If anything, it has Better reception. This is important to me, for reasons I gave in my first post. But there ARE some major drawbacks, if you ask me. Well,...I'll just post a mini review for you:
V325i Positives:
-Aesthetics: The V325i is a nice bit smaller than the e815. It's comfortable, and sleek. And I Love the material they used on the outer parts of the phone(The Dark gray). It has a nice "Grip" to it without feeling rough. The e815 feels very slippery in comparison (5' drops to the concrete driveway anyone?). I also love the material they used on the center Oval part of the phone(Both Sides). It gives off a nice reflective shine without being gaudy. Very nice feel, and nice conservative design. Not too flashy like a modern phone for young kids, but not dull like the e815.
-Has a neat Ring Light feature. You can customize the ring to light up with different colors and speeds when the phone rings. Very cool
-BLUETOOTH
-Speaker phone works decent. But not quite as well as e815.
-The Reception is Excellent! Every bit as good as the e815, if not better. I have the perfect test for this, as my room is in a basement that NO ONE gets good reception in, if at all. Works great.
-There is a mirror next to the camera for taking pictures of yourself. Neat, albeit unimportant, feature.
-It has a Navigation feature. I believe it's $2.99 for one day. Or something like $10 per month. I tried to use it this past weekend, but it wouldn't work properly. Still cool, nonetheless.
-And for the Kicker, it has a USB charging port. FINALLY! A Motorola with a sturdy port design.
Now for the bad:
-The User Interface is hot garbage compared to the e815. Everything is slow, and difficult to navigate. You can hardly customize the phone at all. You only have control over the "Down" Home Key. The Soft Keys, Up, Left, and Right, are Not customizable. Terrible Display options. Going to "Settings" on the e815, you are graced with a plethora of options. The settings list on the V325i is pathetic.
-The display is also smaller, and not as good as the e815. And the camera sucks. As if the screen wasn't small enough(in comparison) there is also this stupid red bar across the bottom, and top of the screen. Making the screen even smaller. For those familiar with the e815 user interface, here's an example of what to expect,....
You know how on the e815, you don't have to wait for the animations? Like when you delete a recent call entry, and you see an animation showing that the phone is deleting it. You can hit "End" and the animation with stop immediately, but your entry will still be deleted. So the user interface on the e815 is much faster than some people might realize. I Loved this about the e815. Everything was Fast, and easy to navigate. I could navigate the user interface with the phone in my pocket, it was so easy. NOT SO with the V325i. Not only do you HAVE to wait for the animations, but they are a good bit slower than the e815 also. UGH.
I haven't had TOO much time with it. A few days. But I always feel like I'm "Fighting" the user interface. NO Customizable options. No MP3's, unless you hack. Just a huge step down in every department other than those listed in the "Positive" section above.
I may be nick-picking. But the BAD, is a real pain in the *** to me. So much so that I, personally would rather deal with the e815's charging issues.
But if you don't mind the "Bad" things I listed. Or if the e815 charging port issue is too much to handle, and you want good reception,...Then the V325i is great.
My e815 is completely shot. I took it apart to see if I could fix it. But the port is completely detached from the phone. And is also missing some pins. They must have come loose from all the jiggling of the cord to get it to charge. I'll look for a new/used one and just be extra careful with the port this time around. Or my girlfriend might want to trade me her e815 for this V325i, as she doesn't use the features, and she wants a smaller phone.
I sure wish Moto would release an e815 with the new charging port design.
I hope this helps you man. Good Luck.
