Well, so far my cell phone usage has been considerably greater than I had thought. I've had the phone for 70 days now, and have already used up 22 whole minutes of time. [In my defense, 4 minutes were used to set up my voice mail, two minutes were used when I foolishly answered the phone when it was a wrong number, six minutes when SWMBO used it because hers wasn't working right, and I think another two minutes when someone left two voice mail messages.] Only two people know my number, and usually I am in the physical presence of one of them, so now if it rings I just look and see if SWMBO is nearby and if so, I ignore it.

However, I have a complaint about the phone. From the Tracfone website:

Motorola W260g Features:

* Features text messaging, voice mail, free caller ID, free call waiting*
* Color display with screen savers and wallpaper
* Compact Flip Phone
* Crystal Talk™ Voice Enhancement
* Contacts in phonebook stored on SIM
[color: orange]* Battery life with up to 6.5 hours of talk time and up to 18 days of standby time[/color]
* 35 pre-loaded ringtones
* Handsfree speaker
* Vibration Alert
* Phonebook with up to 500 entries
* Alarm Clock
* Games
* Calendar, currency converter and stop watch
* TracFone Airtime Balance Display shows you how much airtime you've used and how much is left
* Includes up to 20 minutes of starter airtime upon activation**

I have yet to get even six days of standby time, and 6.5 hours of talk time? Don't make me laugh. From the tiny little bit I have used the phone, I would estimate my talk time to be in the vicinity of 40-60 minutes maximum. There are three bars of charge status on the battery icon, and every time I have ever talked on the phone, at least one of those bars goes away.

Is this normal, or surprising? Are there variables that affect battery life? Is my battery or phone possibly defective? Should I contact someone about this and complain? Or do cell phone makers routinely make grossly exaggerated claims?

tanstaafl.