Well up here I am with Rogers ( AT&T) for about 9 years now. I just upgraded my phone recently Nokia 8390. I usually stick with Nokia for so reason. The one I picked up is fairly small but does have the backlit in blue, ( bright too).

As for down in the US, I'm not much help.

I have a Nextel. There'* good and bad about it. Like you Gordy I had a bad impression with Nextel'* billing. I was charged for two phones and two service contracts. It took FOUR FREEKING MONTHS before everything got cleared up. That left a huge negative impression with me, I don't think the billing departments had good communication.
As for their batteries lasting longer? That depends on brand. I had a Motorola i95cl and the battery discharged for no reason. Dealing with Motorola was easier than dealing with Nextel'* billing snafu. The reception seems better than the local cell provider I had before. Nextel won't bump your phone to analog since their tower use a different technology than other cell companies. I also really like the Direct Connect feature, that saves a ton of minutes.
I'd suggest finding a phone with a SIM card and USB port.

Well im poor and have Sprint PCS and i have the phone just for you, its silver/blue with a blue backlight. its also a flip phone. the brand name is LG. it gets good reception.

I have Verizon and love the service and the phone. The motorola V60 is a great choice, but I do have to agree that Samsung also makes a good phone. You will be able to get the Samsung phone a little cheaper than some other brands because Verizon normally has some pretty good deals going on them.

If you are looking for local and/or national coverage I would say that Verizon is definately the way to go.

I still have an old Verison with Verison as service provider. The phone it self shows its age (large phone with a huge antenna), but I just changed my plan and its really good.

I get 300 regular minutes and unlimited night and week-end minutes for like $25 dollahs a month.

Well, out of the blue my company upgraded out portable capabilities today. We found out about 2 weeks ago that we may be moving to cell phones vs our current Nextel 2-ways. Today we got out brand new Nokia 3560'* and they are looking good. So now there is no need for me to spend any money on a cell phone and service (they gave us the go-ahead for personal use, within reason). WooHoo!!! :P

Around here, Cell One is the best. Verizon'* coverage and system uptime suck.

Up here in CAN, I support my buddy Drifters' new employer Telus

I know this is kinda old, but I have Verizon. Never had a problem with thier service. Right now, they don't have the greatest phones, but you should be able to use just about any tri-mode.

I had a link to an article where it said they'd be getting the Nextel style walkie-talkie phones soon, tho.

I have the Motorola V120e. It is chrome and has a blue backlight. Great phone for the money.