flyer

I live in the US and travel back and forth to Europe often. I'm looking to purchase an unlocked GSM phone with 3G that I can use with country specific SIM cards throughout Europe for both voice and data. I may not be able to get what I need in the US as I don't want to end up with a US-version of a phone, which doesn't support the European 3G frequency. I tried eBay.de but most folks don't want to ship to the US.

My next trip takes me to Dresden in September. Would anyone know where I could get an unlocked phone when I get there?

Of course, if anyone has any ideas of how I might purchase one before I leave, I'd love to hear that too!

Thanks!

Ingo

A friend of mine has cell phone shop. I will look up the address and ask him about your questions.

I.

flyer

Thanks Ingo!

Mainhattengirl

I would just go to any of the large electronic chain stores such as Saturn, Media Markt, or Conrad and then you can pick and choose whatever you want. Any decent size city in Germany will have these stores.

Ingo

I asked my friend yesterday. He recommends a SIM card that works all over Europe. I didn't remember the name, sorry, will ask again (the heat is killing my brain cells, LOL). He also said an unlocked cell phone plus this SIM card would cost 65 Euro incl. charged 10 Euro for making calls etc. The cost for calls is 9 ct. per minute in Germany, 4.5 ct. per minute outside Germany (odd IMO). You can recharge the SIM card in any European country.

The shop of my friend is located at Fetscherplatz, not exactly centrally (10 minutes from Hauptbahnhof by tram #10), but I am sure you can get the same deal at Conrad Electronics right behind the Hauptbahnhof, exit south "Bayerische Strasse".

J62

There are plenty of unlocked 3G cell phones on ebay.com.

Any quad band phone will work in US and Europe - just look for the 4 frequencies 850/900/1800/1900, or dual band with just the European frequencies of 900/1800.

It looks like the going rate is ~$65 US for something like a Samsung Propel., so when you add on the cost to buy a SIM card the cost Ingo quoted comes out about the same.

Non-3G quad band phones are going on ebay for about 1/2 that price.

SIM cards are everywhere around Dresden - gas stations, drogeriemarkt, supermarkets, and phone/electronic stores.

The best rate in Germany tends to be from fonic.de and congstar (10 Euro card w/ 10euro preloaded, and 9c/min. Recharge cards are also ubiquitous, but beware that not all SIM cards can be recharged online with a US credit card.

A warning about congstar though - it can take 24hrs for the SIM card to be activated once you go through the steps online. You also need to buy a congstar recharge card at a local retailer as you can't recharge online without a EU bank account (been there). Try to get it activated on the spot, which is another advantage of going to a place Ingo recommends where you can get real help.

flyer

Thanks everyone for all your help.

Ingo, I've heard from friends how hot it is in Germany right now. It is very hot in NYC today too.

The voice part is easy. (I've been using a quad band phone in Europe for ages with a Blau SIM. Their internet service was terrible, though, so I'm thinking of switching to Fonic.) It's the data that gets tricky. I have to be sure that phone has 3G compalibilty with European frequencies-- 1800 or 2100. I don't care so much about surfing the net but need to be able to check e-mail.