I need a cell phone that can call to the US from China and receive calls from the US. I have a new LG which Verizon says can do that, but there is a charge of about $1.29/min from Verizon PLUS whatever China charges which they don't know what that is. They said my phone can't use a Sim card. As I recall I looked into buying a cheap cell phone that would work in China made by Mobal (?) Any suggestions on how to get a cheap phone?

I read that there is locked phone problems, etc. Not sure what is the best way to keep communications open.

Thanks!

Modal is expensive. Go to ebay.com and do a search on "Motorola V66 unlocked". That will give you 100's of phones to bid on. You should get one for about $40 with shipping. Any so called "world phone" should work, but I know this one does fine. The charger, usually included, works on both 120 and 220 Volts. You need to change the "Network" in the phone in the menus to 900/1800 MHz for use in anywhere but the western hemisphere. Buy a SIM card with minutes in China, should be cheap. If you want to test the phone in the US, buy a t-mobile SIM card for $10 on ebay that will have 150 minutes of airtime, but you need to use the 900 MHz "network".
You may want a "phone card to call the US at a discount also.

Thanks for your info. I was looking at www.mobal.com and they advertise a GSM phone for $49. That seems pretty cheap. Does the Mobal phone work well, your objection was just to the cost? I guess this phone could use a SIM card to make the rates cheaper? I've never used eBay before, so would need to learn the ropes.

I think Mobal locks you into their system of buying SIM cards, that's why the phone cost for a new phone is low.
The V66 or whatever generic world phone will work in the US, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia with "local" SIM cards and can be used for other trips years later. If you have a visitor or guest who has no cell phone you can get them a t-mobile SIM card and they are in business. I don't think Mobal can do all that.
If you use Paypal to pay for stuff on ebay it's very safe. Set up a Paypal account before bidding. The seller never knows anything about your credit card or bank accounts. I bought 7 Motorola V66 phones for people we shared a villa in Italy with and they worked great for keeping in touch with each other and to call the US. The SIM card seller in China can help you get started.
Try http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/
for more information.

Correct. While you may be lucky and get an unlocked phone from Mobal, they are usually locked.

Just get one from ebay, like jdh449 says. Search for "Unlocked GSM Tri-band" and "Unlocked GSM quad-band" and you'll get lots of choices. If you get a tri-band phone, make sure two of those are 900 and 1800. You don't want a 850/1800/1900 one. And probably stay away from the cheap Siemens. They seem to have poor qualitiy.

You can get Chinese SIM cards everywhere in China.

I reread my reply. The network you want in the US is 1900 MHz, not 900 MHz as I stated. The reason I specified the Motorola V66 is it is a small basic flip phone that fits in the pocket. The phone will work in the US on the Cingular and t-mobile networks, but t-mobile thru ebay is much cheaper. You buy a SIM and call t-mobile to change the area code and number to your area.

Last year I bought a good used Motorola V180 unlocked quad band (850/900/1800/1900 mhz) phone, without bidding, for about $50 including shipping from Ebay. I also bought a Shanghai sim card for about $20-25 from Ebay. In May, 2006 as soon as I got off the plane in Shanghai, I was able to call a local friend. Sim card pre-assigns you with a local telephone number. So your local friends can call you as soon as you are in Shanghai. I was also able to call US.

If you are comfortable in doing business on Ebay and if you want to explore this route, let me know and I'll be glad to provide you with much more details. I believe this is the cheapest way to go.

Thanks for all of your replies-very helpful. I guess I'm a little leary to go on eBay since I'm constantly getting what is probably fraudulent email saying my paypal account has problems, email back with all this info or they will close my account. I don't even have an account. I just report it and delete them. So, that makes me leary of actually getting one since someone has me on their list already. I guess I never got onto the eBay track because I'm never sure of what I'm buying really works. Anyone can put something on there, right? They could sell you something that doesn't work and I won't know until I'm in China. Do I have the wrong impression? That's why I was looking into something new. I see the downside of Mobal though. At first it sounds like a good deal with a low cost phone. I might be using it quite a bit while in China to call the US, so would need to have something with a decent rate.

ebay is a legitimate channel to buy stuff. The paypal emails you get are all fraudulent, but that doesn't mean paypal/ebay are. I get fraudulent emails that pretend to be Chase or Citibank all the time. So, should I not use Chase or Citibank ever?

Many stuff you get on ebay are brand new. Just look carefully the description. And you don't have to bid. Many items you can buy right away. Buy stuff from vendors with many many (like thousands) reviews and at least 99.5% positive feedback.

You can test your phone easily here. Just find someone with a Cingular and T-Mobile SIM card, and the phone should work. Best is to try BOTH a Cingular and T-Mobile. That way, you can be certain it's an unlocked phone.

I've bought dozens of items on ebay - new and used. Haven't had a problem yet.

You could ask someone you know who has used ebay to bid/buy for you. I think though, you are worried about nothing. Just ignore phishing emails from "paypal" saying your account has problems.

LostinChina
Motorola online store <www.store.motorola.com> offers a brand new, plain, flip type phone (V235) for $100 + $4 for economy shipping. This is an unlocked quad band (850/900/1800/1900 mhz) cell phone.

Thanks for all your responses. Looks like I gotta figure out eBay. I was hoping to get a phone for about $50 or less.

http://www.cellhut.com/phone-2603-So...son-J220i.html

900/1800 GSM unlocked, new $68.98. The site says 1900 as well, but I doubt it. But 900/1800 is enough to use anywhere outside N. America (and Japan).

No need to bid, but today only.

When I got off the plane in Guangzhou there were CHinese kids selling SIM cards in the airport. I got a 500 minute card for $20US and they put it in the phone for me.

Just get any unlocked GSM phone on eBay and it will work.

I have the same need for a cell phone in China rom which I can make and receive phone calls. I found a website "www.pandasim.com" that has cell phones for rent and for sale. The Motorola V66 can be rented for $20 for the first week and $2 for each additional day. They also sell SIM cards to which you can add airtime as you need it. Has anybody used this company? By the way, I share your trepidation about EBay. I have never used it either.

Tippie,
I'm interested to hear the responses you get to your post. I actually stopped at T Mobile yesterday since some have said their phones work in China. They do, but buying a phone would be $29 (not much) but having the network is $30/mon for minimum of 2 years. Yikes! Then $3/min to send or receive from China. Not a good option.
I let this issue of a cell phone go since I was busy buying plane tickets and arranging the trip and getting insurance. Now, I need to revisit this issue.

Sorry, rkkwan, I missed the deal you posted.

I'm still hoping to get one for under $50. Might have to tread into the unknown (to me) land of eBay...

LostinChina,

Thanks for your reply. I've yet to hear from anyone else about "pandasim.com" for cell phones. Forget T-Mobile! I'm going to wait until the last minute before I go on Ebay. I would appreciate any other information you obtain, including your experience with Ebay. Good luck with it!

Tippie,
I also looked into Mobal.com. They sell a "cheap" phone for $49 but the posters say that is because they lock the phone onto their service and they charge a higher/min charge. You can check them out and see what you think. They used to give a phone away for free, no longer.

If you have a triband phone already (look at your manual), you can pay to get it unlocked. I bought the service through ebay or Amazon (I forget), then went to a Dallas suburb and the guy programmed it. Cost about $20 to do so, now I'll buy a SIM card when I arrive in China.

Here's the latest deal.

Tigerdirect.com has the unlocked Motorola C381p quad-band GSM phone for $54.99.

Go to that site and search for that model. It's in-stock and I don't know how long the price/stock will last.