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This fall I will be in Italy for 2 weeks ,6 days of which will be in Rome. I want the use of a cell phone while I am in Rome. My question is am I better off renting a cell phone from CONTEX at 7 euros per day plus the cost of a prepaid card or am I better off purchasing a phone when I arrive in Venice? I would appreciate your comments.
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In a very nice way, let me say this has been discussed to death very recently.
The simple answer is with the cost of mobile phones so cheap this day, renting a mobile phone is rarely the best way to go...Italian prepaid plans are very cheap, very easy to get and for the most part, as long as it is a gsm provider you deal with and not a 3g one, most Italian gsm phones sold are unlocked and pretty cheap.
For other info, click on my name above and read the many valuable and clear explanations I have given to others.
Hope that is helpful to you.
Assuming you're in North America, why not buy one here before you go? Overstock.com has them -- stock varies -- and so do many other vendors over the net -- including eBay if you are comfortable with that. Most will come with English manuals that way.
Otherwise, http://www.saturn.it/ (Italian only) or marvin (marvin.it) are good local places to buy phones in Italy as are Carrefours (a French-based Target-like chain). You can also get them in TIM stories. When I was last in Italy (March) you could buy a perfectly fine low-end phone for about 60 euros.
If you are going to buy a cell phone, buy it before you leave so you will get a manual in English. Make sure it is
GSM
Unlocked
Has the European frequencies 900 and 1800 (or at least one of them)
Buy your SIM card there. You'll need to take your passport to do this.
Research the different rate plan in Italy on www.prepaidgsm.net.
You can also get a Codice Fiscale number ahead of time (this is the reason for taking your passport when you buy a SIM card) by following the directions on www.prepaidgsm.net