tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
Jan 5th 2010, 4:30 pm
#1
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tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
Does u.k tri band phones work in new zealand?
Son has a (samsung) vodafone pay as you go, and wants to keep his phone, but is nervous of it not working, if not he will buy a new one that is quad band. I am just hoping that we can buy vodaphone sim cards to pop into the phones that we all have.
Many thanks
Tina. x
Son has a (samsung) vodafone pay as you go, and wants to keep his phone, but is nervous of it not working, if not he will buy a new one that is quad band. I am just hoping that we can buy vodaphone sim cards to pop into the phones that we all have.
Many thanks
Tina. x
Jan 5th 2010, 5:16 pm
#2
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Re: tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
Yes, all GSM networks are 900MHz here which is "single band" in UK terms
The phone will need to be unlocked though
The phone will need to be unlocked though
Jan 5th 2010, 5:48 pm
#3
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Re: tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
Hi Tina,
The user most of the kids use here is Telecom XT because it is the cheapest unlimited text but they use a different wave length to a lot of Triband phones. ($30 to buy the sim and then $12 a month for unlimited texts).
DD's samsung would not work with this. However vodaphone and 2 dedrees work on same wave lengths as the UK, so your son's will work with a local vodaphone sim. But as the already mentioned it must be unlocked. I remember reading somewhere that UK vodaphone is not the same as NZ vodaphone.
OH and I have Treos which are quad band and do work on the Telecom XT band but we use 2 degrees which are fairly new out here and very cheap.
Hope this helps
Maria x
The user most of the kids use here is Telecom XT because it is the cheapest unlimited text but they use a different wave length to a lot of Triband phones. ($30 to buy the sim and then $12 a month for unlimited texts).
DD's samsung would not work with this. However vodaphone and 2 dedrees work on same wave lengths as the UK, so your son's will work with a local vodaphone sim. But as the already mentioned it must be unlocked. I remember reading somewhere that UK vodaphone is not the same as NZ vodaphone.
OH and I have Treos which are quad band and do work on the Telecom XT band but we use 2 degrees which are fairly new out here and very cheap.
Hope this helps
Maria x
Jan 6th 2010, 6:12 am
#4
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Re: tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
Thanks for the comment about Treos Maria 
. My OH was in the UK last June & it sounds like he severely tested the patience of several Carphone Warehouse staff trying to find a phone compatible with the XT network (he'd got all the necessary details of XT requirements from a friend who works for Telecom)....but failed dismally. My children use the XT unlimited text deal, just how anyone can send 2000+ texts in a month defeats me, but my 2 darlings manage it every month, so XT is, without question, the best deal for them. Problem is there's a limited range of affordable phones on that network & of course they don't come with all the bells & whistles that they were used to in the UK 
. Son is heading back for a holiday at Easter, so I'll point him in the direction of the Treo.
We've found that our UK phones, even a couple of really cheap, really basic ones that we bought for £10 each for emergencies, work fine on vodaphone & 3 degrees, which is great, but you pay per call or text for those. As far as I'm aware you can't get good text packages on monthly pay as you go top ups. 3 degrees are massively cheaper than vodaphone/ telecom for individual calls/texts..... which is ideal for me (because I don't send that many messages), I'm currently with 3 degrees btw, but for serious texters I reckon Telecom XT is the way to go.
. My OH was in the UK last June & it sounds like he severely tested the patience of several Carphone Warehouse staff trying to find a phone compatible with the XT network (he'd got all the necessary details of XT requirements from a friend who works for Telecom)....but failed dismally. My children use the XT unlimited text deal, just how anyone can send 2000+ texts in a month defeats me, but my 2 darlings manage it every month, so XT is, without question, the best deal for them. Problem is there's a limited range of affordable phones on that network & of course they don't come with all the bells & whistles that they were used to in the UK . Son is heading back for a holiday at Easter, so I'll point him in the direction of the Treo.We've found that our UK phones, even a couple of really cheap, really basic ones that we bought for £10 each for emergencies, work fine on vodaphone & 3 degrees, which is great, but you pay per call or text for those. As far as I'm aware you can't get good text packages on monthly pay as you go top ups. 3 degrees are massively cheaper than vodaphone/ telecom for individual calls/texts..... which is ideal for me (because I don't send that many messages), I'm currently with 3 degrees btw, but for serious texters I reckon Telecom XT is the way to go.
Jan 6th 2010, 7:25 am
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Re: tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
My samsung phone would`nt work here, was told it was unlocked but it was`nt.
We all use 2 degrees too!!!
We all use 2 degrees too!!!
Jan 6th 2010, 7:40 am
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Jan 6th 2010, 9:04 am
#7
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Re: tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
Hi
I bought sony ericsson w580i before we came which had virgin sim cards and they worked. The kids round here use mostly vodaphone sim cards as they use text 2000. This gives them 2000 texts for $10 a month. Actual calls are quite expensive, though you can get best mates for $6 a month. This allows you to select a phone number which you can call at any time. My OH has this for me and eldest daughter.
Hope this helps.
I bought sony ericsson w580i before we came which had virgin sim cards and they worked. The kids round here use mostly vodaphone sim cards as they use text 2000. This gives them 2000 texts for $10 a month. Actual calls are quite expensive, though you can get best mates for $6 a month. This allows you to select a phone number which you can call at any time. My OH has this for me and eldest daughter.
Hope this helps.
Jan 6th 2010, 10:18 am
#8
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Re: tri band (question from 16 yr old son)
Thanks for the comment about Treos Maria . My OH was in the UK last June & it sounds like he severely tested the patience of several Carphone Warehouse staff trying to find a phone compatible with the XT network (he'd got all the necessary details of XT requirements from a friend who works for Telecom)....but failed dismally. My children use the XT unlimited text deal, just how anyone can send 2000+ texts in a month defeats me, but my 2 darlings manage it every month, so XT is, without question, the best deal for them. Problem is there's a limited range of affordable phones on that network & of course they don't come with all the bells & whistles that they were used to in the UK . Son is heading back for a holiday at Easter, so I'll point him in the direction of the Treo.
We've found that our UK phones, even a couple of really cheap, really basic ones that we bought for £10 each for emergencies, work fine on vodaphone & 3 degrees, which is great, but you pay per call or text for those. As far as I'm aware you can't get good text packages on monthly pay as you go top ups. 3 degrees are massively cheaper than vodaphone/ telecom for individual calls/texts..... which is ideal for me (because I don't send that many messages), I'm currently with 3 degrees btw, but for serious texters I reckon Telecom XT is the way to go.
. My OH was in the UK last June & it sounds like he severely tested the patience of several Carphone Warehouse staff trying to find a phone compatible with the XT network (he'd got all the necessary details of XT requirements from a friend who works for Telecom)....but failed dismally. My children use the XT unlimited text deal, just how anyone can send 2000+ texts in a month defeats me, but my 2 darlings manage it every month, so XT is, without question, the best deal for them. Problem is there's a limited range of affordable phones on that network & of course they don't come with all the bells & whistles that they were used to in the UK . Son is heading back for a holiday at Easter, so I'll point him in the direction of the Treo.We've found that our UK phones, even a couple of really cheap, really basic ones that we bought for £10 each for emergencies, work fine on vodaphone & 3 degrees, which is great, but you pay per call or text for those. As far as I'm aware you can't get good text packages on monthly pay as you go top ups. 3 degrees are massively cheaper than vodaphone/ telecom for individual calls/texts..... which is ideal for me (because I don't send that many messages), I'm currently with 3 degrees btw, but for serious texters I reckon Telecom XT is the way to go.
Just a bit extra info on the Treo's for your lad. We now have the Treo Pro, which are a tad big in comparison to the usual mobile but we can do everything with them. We have NZ Sat Nav installed and it has its own GPS which works really well. This Treo uses windows mobile as its operating system, which from all accounts has not been as sucessful as the old Palm platform. I have to say though, we haven't had any probs with ours. Cost here in NZ for this Treo is $999
We bought ours from ebay UK about a year ago for around £300. They will be way cheaper now.Just as we were leaving the UK they were bringing out the new Treo Pre and they have reverted back to the Palm software. I think it was only O2 who were offering this as a contract phone. It is smaller as the screen slides up to access the keyboard and should have all the bells and whistles of the Pro. I bet this is a great phone.
Re: the limited availability of phones for the XT system. We bought our princess a $99 mobile from the Telecom shop for and she loves it
