Which cell phone in Europe?

[imbues]

Here's an informative page on slow travel about cell phones in Europe. Do any of you have advise on what one to buy?




Cell Phones in Europe



Message Edited by imbues on 03-29-2008 03:30 PM

[maylinglai1]

Hey Imbues,

I definitely always try to get the local SIM card to the extent it is available. Actually your posting inspired me to search further for sites that sell the SIM cards of foreign companies. Apparently, it's a newer business, but it is available for many countries, though not the one I'm going to next.

In my personal experience, having a local telephone number does wonders to improving your experience in a city. You can be much more in touch with your concierge if you need some travel information. If you meet friends, they can get in touch with you quickly and easily. If you are in a country where you do fluently speak the country's language, you can have your concierge or a friend input addresses into your phone. They totally save my life in China. Even though I speak Chinese! If you say the name of a street even slightly off (wrong tones, etc) you could end up on the other side of town.

However, before one goes and spends a ton of money on an unlocked phone, considering looking to get your current phone unlocked. I have not had a chance to unlock my new phone, but there are places in NYC where friends have had this taken care of. Alternatively, perhaps someone can comment on their experience with the websites that are listed and their ability to unlock phones. The SIM card itself is usually fairly affordable. Particularly in Europe, you can easily get a 5 or 10 Euro card in most cities. In China & HK it's very cheap and readily available.

If you do not have a phone with a SIM Card and are on a budget, I would suggest using a phone that predates 2003-ish from one of the GSM carriers (T-Mobile, Cingular, etc). Locking is a new-ish phenomenon, though I can't remember the exact year they started doing it. If you've always been with a non-GSM phone service, though, I'm sure that on Ebay or something, you can find someone who will part with their unlocked, ancient ultra cheap phone, or perhaps you know a pack rat in your local area that will sell you theirs.

[jashermd]

Hello,

You can buy an unlocked pay as you go phone for about 10 in the UK (and cheaper in other countries) -- this may be the most straightforward option. The phones are very basic, but perfectly usable for a few weeks occasional use on holiday. I bought one to lend out to visiting friends and relatives, and it's worked great.

Cheers,
Julian

[imbues]

Hi Julian, That is what I'm looking for a pay as you go phone. I could live without one if it was just me, but I want my mother to have one. She's almost 70 with hypertension and a bad knee, so I want her to have a phone just just in case there is an emergency.

I think, I'll post on the slow travel board to ask what brand works best in Italy. They have many more European posters over there and quite a few from Italy. I'll let you all know what response I get from them.

Thanks

jashermd wrote:
Hello,

You can buy an unlocked pay as you go phone for about 10 in the UK (and cheaper in other countries) -- this may be the most straightforward option. The phones are very basic, but perfectly usable for a few weeks occasional use on holiday. I bought one to lend out to visiting friends and relatives, and it's worked great.

Cheers,
Julian

[imbues]

Hi Maylinglai, as usual you have a comprehensive reply, wow. hehehe... This is good information for the world travellers that post here. Unfortunately I'm lucky if I get to leave the Northeast for a couple of weeks. If I traveled frequently for business then buying SIM cards would be the best option.

Thank you for your reply

maylinglai1 wrote:
Hey Imbues,

I definitely always try to get the local SIM card to the extent it is available. Actually your posting inspired me to search further for sites that sell the SIM cards of foreign companies. Apparently, it's a newer business, but it is available for many countries, though not the one I'm going to next.

In my personal experience, having a local telephone number does wonders to improving your experience in a city. You can be much more in touch with your concierge if you need some travel information. If you meet friends, they can get in touch with you quickly and easily. If you are in a country where you do fluently speak the country's language, you can have your concierge or a friend input addresses into your phone. They totally save my life in China. Even though I speak Chinese! If you say the name of a street even slightly off (wrong tones, etc) you could end up on the other side of town.

However, before one goes and spends a ton of money on an unlocked phone, considering looking to get your current phone unlocked. I have not had a chance to unlock my new phone, but there are places in NYC where friends have had this taken care of. Alternatively, perhaps someone can comment on their experience with the websites that are listed and their ability to unlock phones. The SIM card itself is usually fairly affordable. Particularly in Europe, you can easily get a 5 or 10 Euro card in most cities. In China & HK it's very cheap and readily available.

If you do not have a phone with a SIM Card and are on a budget, I would suggest using a phone that predates 2003-ish from one of the GSM carriers (T-Mobile, Cingular, etc). Locking is a new-ish phenomenon, though I can't remember the exact year they started doing it. If you've always been with a non-GSM phone service, though, I'm sure that on Ebay or something, you can find someone who will part with their unlocked, ancient ultra cheap phone, or perhaps you know a pack rat in your local area that will sell you theirs.

[lhbrown]

Hi imbues,

The pay as you go phones with a SIM card work just great if you make and receive calls in the country you are traveling in. It becomes more complicated, if you travel through more than one European country. Beware, that if your mother calls you from the States, let's say in Italy where you are traveling, the roaming charges can be more than $25 in receiving a call on your phone and you could wind up with a negative balance.

We had purchased two mobile phones in Germany a little more than 2 years ago. The phones with an initial 5 Euro starting balance cost 9.95 Euros each, which was a pretty good deal. They worked fine while we were in Germany. However, we could not use the phones in Austria or Italy to make calls or to purchase another SIM card since the phones were locked for 2 years we were told. However, these phones are supposed to let you make free emergency (SOS/911) calls anywhere in the world. Except, when we tried to test this, we found that in the high mountains, we could not get any reception or dial tone whatsoever.

Last year while in Germany, we added another 15 Euros to our balance to keep the phones alive. This year, while we are spending a month in southern Germany, when we brought the phones back to a Vodafon agent to add to our balance, we were told that since we had not used the phones in over a year, the SIM cards and balances had expired and we needed to buy new SIM cards. We did so, and for 20 Euros a piece we got two new SIM cards, with new phone numbers and a 10 Euro starter balance each. The fellow who was installing the new cards for us then found that the phones were still locked and needed to be unlocked. He unlocked the phones for us, installed the new SIM cards and sent us on our way. However, he did caution us about receiving calls from the States on our cell phones with their limited starting balances, saying, that the roaming charges from the US can easily exceed $25 a call not counting the actual call.

We have found that we get along very well without the phones, but it is good to know that we can make a call when there is an absolute need - except when hiking in the high mountains.....