I don't have a cell phone here at home in NY, but I do want to rent one for use overseas in SE Asia. I heard about renting a T-Mobile phone, being given a US phone number, and then being able to carry the phone along for use overseas. Has anyone here on the board tried this before? The cost doesn't seem too high, but I am wondering whether the phones actually work. I am not a techie, and can't figure anything out if it's too complicated. Any experiences, or thoughts the board might share with me? Thanks much.

$10 shipping + $4/day or $80/month + usually $1.99/minute talk time in SE Asia. To me that's very expensive whether you use the phone a lot or if you use the phone very little.

You may want to consider buying an unlocked tri-band phone on eBay and the get a local SIM card after you arrive. Keep the phone, or eBay it out. Only thing you won't get is a US phone number for people here to call you.

Rkkwan is right. Getting an unlocked tri-band phone and using a SIM card with a prepaid card is the way to go. You get a local number and people from the US can call you but they have to pay international long distance rates. But it definitely will not cost them $1.99/minute if they have an international long distance plan.(verizon charges $4.99 a month,don't know what your carrier is. You can sign up for the time you will be away and cancel it when you get back)

What we did when we were is Asia was used the texting feature. Very convenient and cheap too.

With the unlcoked tri-band phone, you can use this phone also in the US and Europe and just buy a SIM card for that country and you can use it with a prepaid card so it won't be a waste of money to buy the phone.

John, When are you going? If it is more than 3 months away, get a one year contract with T-Mobile. Choose the free GSM phone they offer. The cheapest plan is $19.99 a month. After 3 months, ask to get a code to unlock that phone by calling their customer service. They will send you the code by e-mail and it is very simple. You will have an unlcoked world phone that you can use any where, except Japan or Korea. You just purchase the local sim card of the country you visit and put it where the US sim card is.

Don't bother waiting for 3 months. If you want to sign up for T-Mobile for a US plan, then that's okay. Check the phones available with "World Class" service and then go to eBay and do a search for unlock service of that phone. Some phones are easy with just a code, some requires a computer cable and software, and some like the "free" Samsung 225 cannot be unlocked (or at least I haven't found anybody who can do it).

Thanks much, all: rkkwan, martinan, and georgiegirl! I appreciate the good suggestions and the kind thoughts you all shared.