While I probably should have separated the two questions I have into separate threads, I didn't want to blast the forum with a bunch of posts from a newbie. Possibly you can just point me in the right direction for answers that I haven't come across as of yet.
1) I own a Fascinate from Verizon purchased in the States, but I plan to see family in Canada during the winter holiday season. This poses some concerns for me, namely, my ability to have the phone operational while in a different country. Since this is my first smartphone, I don't have much knowledge about the charges that might be incurred from data sending while out of the home country.
-----Is there a way to turn off 3G, but leave WiFi active? I think this will solve most of my problems, if this is available on the phone. I worry that I'll have to pay by the kilobyte while in a different country.
-----Does the GPS part of Fascinate cost anything to use (or work at all) in Canada? I've become somewhat dependant on GPS in the past few months, and my travels in Canada will probably take me to some places that I don't know very well.
2) Many of my coworkers speak highly of rooting their phones, and I value their opinion, but I'm not convinced that it will be worth my time to research and set up a rooted Fascinate. While I do have some qualms with the stock UI, I have found work-arounds for searching (Skyfire homepage), voice commands (Vlingo), accessing computers (PocketCloud and Tonido). I would find overclocking the processor to be worthwhile, but not until Froyo arrives. I have only mild interest in tethering my phone since I live in a fairly metropolitan area and I don't have a laptop.
----What are the benefits of rooting a Fascinate? What do you, as a user, find most appealing and comforting when you turn on your rooted Fascinate?