[nitrous9200]

If your old phone can beam contacts via Bluetooth, that's the easiest way to do it. Hopefully you can make it work because BT can be very iffy/temperamental.
You can disconnect the data connection by tapping the signal strength icon and pressing Disconnect in the bubble. You will see the arrow icons change into a cell tower and go white. There are two CAB files attached to this post that you can install on the phone which will automatically disconnect the data connection after being inactive for one or five minutes. Also, if you are connected via WiFi, that connection will take precedence over the EVDO data so it will not be used. You can tell by looking at the color of the signal bars; if they are gray, the data is inactive, white means it is active.