Thanks to product review coordinator P.J. Jacobowitz for this story!

I have a love/hate relationship with Verizon: I love the reception but hate the steep prices. Fortunately, the company offers free calling between Verizon Wireless customers. To keep my bill as low as possible, I do the bulk of my calling after 9pm and on weekends. I've pressured my friends and family members to switch their service, and I only date women who are on Verizon (like I need any limits on my dating pool).

My newest Verizon love/hate predicament involves the Motorola V3c. I love its conveniently slim shape but hate that Verizon has removed the Motorola user interface and loaded its own (Verizon is putting its own interface on every phone it sells now).

If you're interested in getting back the Motorola UI (with lots more features, more Bluetooth profiles, faster responses, and no ugly Verizon red bars) check out this tutorial. Big props to Wikipedia and the entire Howard Forums community.

I found the tutorial is straightforward and easy to understand. I needed about an hour and a half to finish it. Other benefits of putting the Moto UI back on the V3c, besides the ones I wanted, are listed in the tutorial. For example, one of the most common complaints I've heard about this phone is that it's very slow to respond to keystrokes. Once I installed the Moto UI, my phone moved like a Porsche! If you've never hacked before, this is a great first project.