Considering that you're "Notiaink...honest", you have remarkably similar opinions to the sorely missed denizen of Quinte.

Welcome back Iain

I did this simply becuase I wanted to be ahead of the game for things like job hunting, apartments etc which can all be done from the UK, so I totally understand this request, makes perfect sense.

rgds


John

Be aware that Virgin Canada's phones cannot be used outside Canada (at present). We have one Virgin PAYGO phone and one fido contract phone as I regularly have to be in the US. The Virigin phone was excellent to get started with and if it wasn't for the US business trips I wouldn't have bothered with fido.

edit: it is actually cheaper for us to run on two different networks than to get two fido phones.

When you look at the cost of the phones on the US virgin site ($10 and up) I wonder if it wouldnt be better to get a US Paygo phone too for those trips "dahrnsarf"?

If you can get a slick phone in the states for $50US or less, why are the Canadian ones so much more I wonder.

Dunno what/ who you mean....just passing through anyway (I think)

That's what you said last time. Don't worry, only 9,996 to go.

Good to hear from you.

Cheers Steved61,
nice one mate, will have a look. Can you buy a two week pay as you go, or do you just get the simm with a one off payment?
Anybody know how much calls and text is out there please?
regards,
carl

We just paid i think $29 for the sim card then we needed to put credit on the phone

i can't give you figures but it wasn't particulary cheap

regards

steve

Depends who you go with and how much you pay in, but Ive never heard of a 2 week expiration, a month is the minimum on a $10 balance AFAIK. Pay in more, it wont expire as soon. $100 gets you a year with Virgin. Rates are in the 25-40c per minute range in broad terms, but it depends also on the plan you choose...some are the same rate all the time, some are more expensive day time with cheap weekends/ evenings. Texts are ~15c each, not that texting is nearly as prevalent in Canada as it is in the UK where everyone seems to text.

Note that long distance rates are in addition to the regular per minute rate, calling to the next town can sometimes be long distance..depending where you are.

Im not sure the data here
http://www.comparecellular.com/compa...&CategoryID=20
is up to date, virgin is soon to go up to 30c/min, and there are several options not listed here (maybe its sponsored by Rogers ), so go to provider websites and get rates from the horses mouth.

Even if Rogers was cheaper than Virigin, wild horses would still not drag me back to the fold now.

Expiration periods and carry over of balances should also be a factor in your decision, cheaper rates mean nothing if your balance expires before you get to use it. Watch out for system access and 911 charges that eat your balance with some providers too.

Thanks, I looked at it, but I need to be in contact with/contactable by clients and colleagues in the US, Canada and the UK during these trips and I really wanted to avoid looking like the sort of kn0b that is so important that they need 3 cell phones with them at all times! Fortunately my company is picking up the tab for the roaming charges.

Hey if its business they should be buying the phone and paying for a monthly contract if you ask me. I was thinking personal usage / security primarily. FWIW my rogers paygo was supposed to roam to the US, but they never did sort that out. Not that that surprised me by the time I was done with them. Virgin are allegedy trying to sort out a roaming deal in the US, although thats been the case for at least a year now.

Just an update I manage to buy a rogers pay as you go sim from a cool seller out there on ebay. They are also setting the sim up with anytime $10 and then posting it to me. So will have a ready to go sim card which will just pop into my phone when I land. Thanks for advice guys.

No problem....makesure to go to rogers web site and register an account for yourself.

rgds,


John

Hi all,
just had a word with o2, and they said they can put my mobile to use while over there, but it will cost £2.99 month international calls service, with this they will drop call rates to 90p min, with 45p call charge to rreceivea call, then 25p a text or 4 of my bundle text to every 1 text I send in Canada So I think I will sort something out when we get over there.

Rogers looks a good bet, because we are only going for two weeks and need mobile because I am having a few interviews while over there and need to keep in touch with the wife. So she will need hers sorted to, so we think we will go for pay-as-go?????? What ya reckon?

Cheers all,
Carl

Daft question probably, but here goes...

If I buy a PAYG phone in one part of Canada, will I get the same service at the same rates in other provinces?

Just as one bought in Scotland would be the same deal if used in England, as Canada is just a bit bigger I thought that this may be different.