I had originally gotten a Verizon Tab at Costco for $399 - then I found that Sprint has it for $299 (on contract) so I returned to Costco and went w/Sprint. The Sprint plan is $30/month for 2 Gb of data but it has unlimited text messaging as part of $30.

Since the Tab has a phone number sending texts to and from the Tab is very straightforward using the built-in Android messaging app.

Now, you just get a dumb phone for voice at little cost (even prepaid) and get email/texting on the Tab.

Overall, I save many $$$$$