Okay. I want to be sure I don't screw this up.

I currently have a phone number with Virgin prepaid. It is in the 248 area code. My intent, if possible, is to use a borrowed ESN to port in my number and put it on a Sprint-branded HTC Touch Pro on either PAYGO or the $50 unlimited plan (probably the former based on my usual usage. I'm mainly looking for the $0.35/day data).

Questions:

Is it possible to port a number using a borrowed ESN like this? If so, how long should I expect it to take? Would I be better off/safer buying a cheap Boost CDMA phone off of eBay to do this?

I tried putting a Mirro in the shopping cart on Boost's website. It asked for my zip code, then said coverage wasn't available in my area. It then added the phone to the cart anyway. I did this mainly to see if the zip code would be accepted. Since it wasn't, will this present any problems to the process of porting in the number, or to the prospects of having any coverage? My location is in Oakland County, MI.

If a problem should occur, how likely is it that my number could be lost? I have had this number for nearly 7 years, and it would be a major inconvenience to have to change it.

Is a newer Sprint phone on Boost CDMA (like the TP) likely to have any better reception than a 3-4 year old Virgin Mobile-branded phone, even though they're essentially on the same network?

Hopefully I haven't missed finding any of these answers in searching the forum, but if I have, I apologize and would appreciate a link to relevant info.

Thanks in advance!

clark1mt