For a while now, I've been working with a Verizon Treo 700w owner who bought his gadget without a data plan, but with an unlimited MMS picture-messaging plan. There are a bunch of other folks I noticed on the HowardForums bulletin board in the same straits. They were rightfully surprised to find themselves socked with huge data charges for sending picture messages, because they thought their unlimited MMS plan covered that.

Contrary to Verizon's previous marketing language which was shown on their Web site, though, there's a "hidden" charge when sending or receiving picture messages with a PDA/phone. Along with the 25-cent MMS charge, you're charged for the data transfer -- and without a data plan, that can be several dollars per picture message.

Verizon says they're solving the problem by changing their marketing language to make it clear that sending picture messages incurs data charges. They've also changed their Web site to require that new PDA/phones be purchased with unlimited data plans, which solves the problem there. But they've been reluctant to offer a blanket solution for people suckered in by the earlier MMS-plan language, telling them only to call customer service to get a credit on their bills. I'm still trying to work towards a resolution where the folks who signed up for an unlimited MMS plan can get just that.

Here's my word of advice for the future: Do NOT buy a Verizon EV-DO PDA/Phone, such as the Palm Treo 700 (either w or p) or Motorola Q (shown at left), without an unlimited data plan. The device will try to touch Verizon's data network at times that may surprise you, and you will get charged up the nose for it.

Do not try to put a Wi-Fi card into a PDA/phone and think it will save you, unless you hack the phone to totally disable cellular data. (And then, really, there's no point in getting a PDA/phone.)

If you can't afford Verizon's data plan rates, or you want a PDA and a great phone without using Verizon's EV-DO service, get a Motorola E815 phone and a Palm TX or Dell Axim X51v PDA. Both PDAs are terrific devices, with built-in Wi-Fi to access the Internet, and the E815 has the best reception and voice quality I've ever tested on a Verizon phone. You'll pay a lot less and be a lot happier than if you struggled monthly with Verizon over data charges.

Paul Saucido, the saucy Chicano comedian whose "La Migra" ringtone caused a national furor, hasn't hung up the phone on his budding cellular career. He's used the newfound celebrity to launch a range of voice ringtones starring parody Latino characters, available now from Spanish-language portal zukamovil.com.

I am way too Anglo to understand this round of Saucido's satire, because all of his ringtones this time are in Spanglish -- possibly a way to insulate himself from the criticism that followed his parody of a Texas border-control agent.

But new spoofs of anti-immigrant forces are on their way, Saucido said, including a new "La Migra" ringtone and a parody of the Minutemen, the volunteer civilian border-patrol group.

Even Saucido's edgiest jokes are likely to find less controversy on Zuka's deck than on Cingular's. When the original "La Migra" ringtone was discovered by journalists at the Brownsville Herald, they didn't think it was satire and took its overblown anti-immigrant posturing at face value. But Saucido's new tones are sold under his own brand, so those who buy them will know they're getting humor.

The unspoken question is, will listeners? It depends. Brownsville Herald reporters found that local Latino teenagers got the joke, while the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens didn't.

Saucido also said his ringtones will be available at dalevida.com, a portal currently selling ringtones to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Venezuela. So while some folks may disapprove of Saucido's kind of funny, it looks like actual Latin Americans are giving it a thumbs up.