Time to buy a new cell phone. Constraints: no flip-phones, must work internationally, protruding antennae are a minus. The following models look interesting and/or were recommended by friends: Orange SPV e200, Sony/Ericsson T610, Nokia 6600 . I have no idea if any of these can be used in the US.
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Try looking at t-mobile. I use them and like them, and it’s all GSM phones.
Some people like t-mobile less because their coverage in the US is less comprehensive than, say, AT&T or Verizon. I’m generally in and around Boston, so it’s not really an impediment to me.
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Out of curiosity, what do you have against flip-phones?
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I use a P800, but the T610 is supposed to be pretty good. Be sure to get an unlocked version.
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I’ve got a phone I don’t particularly like (so I won’t suggest it), but it’s not the phone that matters, it’s the service. You want a GSM phone because that’s what they have in Europe. I use AT&T in the US because at the time (about 9 months ago) I couldn’t find any other US GSM providers. The nice thing about AT&T is that when I’m in Europe the phone will ring anywhere I am. The downside is the cost — fairly expensive to call or be called oversears (1.99 a minute I think…).
But once you’re overseas, if you’re going to stay somewhere for awhile you simply buy a local GSM chip for your phone, swap out the AT&T chip, and talk locally. I bought the O2 service (but should have bought Vodaphone instead…), and it was something like 29 pounds for the chip (includes voice mail). Instead of buying a monthly plan I use the “top up” service they have here where you pull into any gas station and buy more minutes with a swipe of a topup card and your credit card. Much much cheaper that way.
In summary, when I go to the US I put in the AT&T chip, and when I return to England I put in the O2 chip. And if/when we move to Italy I’ll buy a local chip for there as well.
Good luck,
— Frank
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Wes is right, be sure to buy an “unlocked” phone, or you’ll pay through the nose for unlocking (if it’s possible at all).
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Motorola V600 !! 🙂
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Highly recommending my (sorry, flip-phone — you never hit the keys by mistake) Samsung S105 with T-Mobile.
I researched quite a bit online and I discovered that 99.9% of the people were very happy with it; it is indeed an amazing phone.
It ships “locked” (so it’s “tied” to the SIM card T-Mobile gives you) but the fine folks at T-Mobile will unlock it for free — just email them at SIMUnlock at t-mobile.com (I had it unlocked the next day!).
Want to know how many minutes you’ve got left? Just dial #646# and the report will appear on the screen.
I bought SIM cards in the UK and Italy and used my phone there with great satisfaction. The only manual thing you will need to do is to go under Network Services -) Band Selection and switch to the other GSM standard. Same when you get back to the US.
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I have a T-Mobile Nokia 3650. I’m in NYC, so no coverage issues.
When overseas, the best plan is to swap out the SIM card for a local pay-as-you-go deal. T-Mobile phones are bound to one SIM by default, so you have to contact T-Mobile or consult the Internet to unlock your phone.
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I travel to Europe constantly, so I’m rather an expert at triband phones. I found that the best US provider with GSM is Cingular, at least on the West Coast.
As for the cell phones, the SE T610 (T616 in the US from Cingular) is fine, but its camera is really bad (if you care).
I’m going to switch from the T610 to a Nokia 6600 because the screen is bigger, the camera better, and my T610 is starting to act up after 9 months of heavy usage.
As for unlocking the phone, don’t sweat it. You can buy on ebay for $3 software that will unlock your phone. Too good to be true? No, I did it and it works as advertised.
Good luck!
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Andrew, I have the O2 XPhone, which is a rebranded version of the Organge SPV e200. I use it with TMobile, in the US as well as in Europe and Asia. The phone has all the hardware you want. Works perfect, althought the ‘cool’ synchronization stuff is only available if you have access to a MS Exchange Server 2003 somewhere. No JavaVM for it as far as I know but has the .NET CF in ROM.
TMobile’s coverage is spotty in the more rural areas, but urban is pretty good and in Europe they are excellent.
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We just came back to Europe from USA and I have a Nokia 3660 and my friend has a Nokia 6600. We both have an European SIM-card (sonera) and it worked just fine in USA. We mainly used Cingular’s network during the trip but you can change it to AT&T or others. Also Nokia N-Gage works with both European AND US sim-cards (at least Cingular’s in states).
There was nothing to set up, both of our phones just worked and connected automaticly when arrived to USA (california).
I recommend either 3660 or 6600. Cheers & Kippis!
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On OperationGadget.com, I have covered the major GSM carriers’ handset unlocking policies. If you take a look at the article called “The Importance of the Handset Unlocking Policies of U.S. Mobile Phone Carriers”, you’ll see links to the policies of T-Mobile, Cingular, and AT&T Wireless:
http://www.operationgadget.com/2004/04/the_importance_.html
I think you can probably find a solution at T-Mobile and Cingular that will meet your needs. Regarding phones, I know that T-Mobile has a Sony Ericsson model like the T610 (can’t remember if the model number is different or not) and it currently has the Nokia 6600 exclusively in the U.S.
Dave Aiello
OperationGadget.com
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Verizon is the best carrier in the US for coverage, but they are CDMA. That has always been a problem for travelers. Later this year it will no longer be an issue as Motorol rolls out it’s world phone – a combo GSM/CDMA phone that will be sold by VZW. I don’t remember the model number, but it should rock the travelers market. One phone for the whole world!
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I have T-Mobile’s sidekick – it’s not (quite) a flip phone, has a nice qwerty keyboard, and has an ssh client 🙂
Haven’t tried it internationally though.
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I would recommend either the Nokia 6600 or the SonyEricsson 610. I own the former and have been very happy with it. As for carriers. Pretty much T-Mobile and Cingular are the two choices. I prefer T-Mobile as they have better customer service. Coverage typically isn’t a problem as they have cross roaming agreements so typically you end up using the other network in some parts of the country.
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can i buy an unlocked 3660 from the philippines and use it in the U.S.? some people say yes…. some say no…. pls help asap…..
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can i buy an unlocked 3660 from the philippines and use the sim cards in the U.S.? some people say yes…. some say no…. pls help asap…..
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