Originally Posted by angelman

Watch out for cingular prepay because they charge you an extra daily usage fee (I think its $1) even if you just send or recieve one text.. rip off.

I have the k750i.. bought on ebay from france. Sony erricsson phones rule.. even if they are quite rare here still.

Originally Posted by BritGuyTN

actually thats not correct. there are two cingular pay as you go plans - one charges a $1 per day if you use it and you get a reduced call cost. the other there is no daily cost but you pay a higher flat rate cost for calls.

I like sony ericsson phones, loved my w810i, but just upgraded to a nokia e65 since SE did not have any new good quad band phones

here is a cheap cingular phone on pay as you go

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-pho...9301j13f0n4200

if you use your phone a lot then pay as you go works out very expensive.

depending on where you are you may find tmobile to be crap - I did personally, and their main project to expand coverage has been by setting up roaming agreements with cingular using the 850mhz band - that your k800 can't use anyway....

If you use your phone for more than 10 mins a day I would do what it takes to get a cingular contract and get a euro-style quad band phone...

I personally have a cingular contract, but i have a gophone phones for my property manager and a screening phone for tenants

Originally Posted by BritGuyTN

If you use your phone for more than 10 mins a day I would do what it takes to get a cingular contract and get a euro-style quad band phone...

Originally Posted by Terminal

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but aren't tri-bands sufficient for the US?

Originally Posted by snowbunny

Not a stupid question, but short answer no, long answer is further up the thread.

Originally Posted by Deedee13

isnt there a phone out there that u can switch sims for here and keep using the same phone in europe?

I got a 29 euro phone in europe and a pay as u go mins... but i dont want to have a handbag of phones when i start this job. How do others do it that travel a lot?

Originally Posted by Terminal

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but aren't tri-bands sufficient for the US?

Originally Posted by snowbunny

Yep, I accidentally did it by switching SIMs between Toon's Dutch (Oranje) phone and my phone (Cingular) while we were in Amsterdam! Both phones worked and I know mine was bought from Cingular and not certified as "unlocked."

You still need the quad band though so that the SIM you put in will work.

FWIW I am going to buy an iPhone but they predict price drops so I'll wait a bit. For a while demand will exceed supply, and when that's over I'll buy. I've been looking for something to replace my existing phone and I believe it'll be an iPhone.

Originally Posted by BritGuyTN

no - they used to be but not anymore

there are two main gsm providers, tmobile and cingular (att)

they both used to use 900 mhz band (compatible with tri-band) but att has been rolling out masts based on 850 mhz (only compatible with triband)

so tri band phones that do not have 850mhz support (most of the phone in the UK) are screwed... like all my SE tri-band....

Originally Posted by angelman

tmobile all the way if you can..especially if you want prepay which you probably will unless you want to put down a hefty deposit or you have isntant good credit. If your other half though insists on say verizon because all her family is verizon assuming she is USC then you may be screwed.
I use tmobile though and my wife is on verizon. If youre prepay youre not going to get internet though.
Watch out for cingular prepay because they charge you an extra daily usage fee (I think its $1) even if you just send or recieve one text.. rip off.
tmobile is great here in LA at least, no problems with reception. To add minutes you just go to their tzones website or call them from the phone, no need to use stupid cards.
I use about $50/month which is fine for me. If youre a heavy user then of course it will get much more expensive. After the first $100 or so of credits you get more minutes for your money, works out around 10cents/minute.
When you add up all the ripoff surcharges, taxes, bogus fees etc. and the 2 year lock period for most cell phone plans it really doesnt work out too bad I think, especially if you call people on all different networks.
I have the k750i.. bought on ebay from france. Sony erricsson phones rule.. even if they are quite rare here still.

Originally Posted by BritGuyTN

my last two phones have been the se w810 and the new nokia e65, both quad band and have no issues...

Originally Posted by snowbunny

how do you like the new Nokia?

I want:
decently sized and reasonably arranged numeric keys
block/brick phone (no flipping/twisting or other gymnastic moves)

Seems like in the rush to miniaturise and add "far out way cool" looks to phones, the basic functionality has been broken.

Originally Posted by snowbunny

The SE 810i is looking pretty good in that it gets good reviews and is a quad-band block phone.

I *think* it does Wi-Fi (WAP anyway).

Bah, I wish I could start designing bloody mobiles, I think I'd be better at it!