Deleting message threads = slow and troublesome

[Sentrix]

Whenever one of my message threads gets around 300 texts total, it takes forever to load... yet deleting entire threads takes even longer, and often times causes the stock 'Messages' application to freeze. There also doesn't seem to be an adjustable limit on the number of texts per each thread as there is on my friend's Motorola Droid.

Is there any way to set a limit that I don't know of?

And is there a third-party app anyone would recommend to replace the stock Messaging app?

Thanks

[Woehoss]

I use Handcent SMS, but there still is not a way to set a limit to the text messages stored in each thread. Just keep an eye on it and delete it when it gets over 100, that's what I do.

[Bowtie]

I let one thread get over 1500 texts before dumping it. It took the phone about 10 minutes to finally delete all of it.

[Woehoss]

Of course it will, that's a lot of data to get rid of. Try to keep the threads from getting that large.