cell phone
 

I promise that I have searched and read all of the threads here about this subject and I appreciate all of the helpful information. With that said, I have decided to go with a United Mobile sim card for $49 because I can keep it for future trips as long as I keep it active. I will use callbackworld service with it as they still have rates of .14/min to the US from Lichenstein mobile. My question is about purchasing the phone. I'm trying to avoid ebay and have a question about the cingular pay as you go phone. Was told by Cingular that these phones are not locked. Saw a cingular pay as you go Motorola V190 in Radio Shack on sale for 59.99. This is a quad band phone but the radio shack people think that it is locked and it is in a plastic container that has to be cut to open. Any experience with the pay as you go phones or does anyone else know of another option?

I really don't think on this one anybody can help you...perhaps the radio shack guy has a demo and you can insert your um sim to check it out...

What is your aversion to ebay? Lots of merchants there sell unlocked new phones and you don't necessarily have to go the auction route but you indeed have all the salient points down pretty pat.

Thank you for not only the quick reply but for all of the information on this subject, which btw, is the ONLY reason I have a grasp on this. I guess that I am just overwhelmed by all of the options on ebay and I would rather just buy a phone and not pay $15 in shipping. This seems like a good deal. They don't have a demo but they said that I can return it within 30 days. I saw the Motorola v190 on radio shack and it says that it is quadband but the same phone on the suncom site says that it is triband? Since you are our resident expert could you offer a couple of suggestions of particular phones I should search for on ebay that would be the cheapest options. I have also thought about buying the Mobal phone but they say that it is locked. I found an unlocked Motorola v180 on craigslist for $55 also. Thanks again.

It might not be a bad idea to get a mobal phone....I am most partial to nokias....I use a nokia 3100 for my European travels but you have to be careful....nokia 3100A is tri band 900/1800/1900 and has the 2 European frequencies needed to be safe and sure in Europe, the Nokia 3100B is 850/1800/1900 and is really meant for North American consumption and while having the 1800 frequency would probably be okay in Europe, there might be remote locations where not having 900 could be a problem.

If you can get the 3100 for $100 with shipping, it will be an okay buy but again make sure it is the 3100A not the 3100B (or the 3120A is an update of the 3100 but again make sure it is the 3120A not the 3120B0...also the 3220 has a camera but again watch it is the 3220A not the 3220B...sorry I am not all that familiar with motorola phones.

We have 2 cingular quad band phones. From my knowledge you have to be a long time customer of cingular for them to let you use your phone in Europe. We have been with them 16 years so it was not a problem for me to get what they call International Service. It is free but calls cost .30 cents more than if you hacve a monthly plan. I don't see how you could possibly use a pay as you go Cingular phone in Europe.

Mike

1) I have two Cingular "pay as you go" phones. They are all locked. I am pretty sure that neither Cingular nor T-Mobile sell unlocked phones.

2) You can get a good used quad band unlocked phone - Motorola V-180 or V-188 (a bit more expensive) for $80 to
$100 including shipping from Ebay using the "Buy Now" feature.

3) 3-4 months ago, I purchased a good used quadband unlocked Motorola V-180 for a total of $55 by bidding.

4) They do make Motorola V-180 or V-188 in triband and quadband

If you buy a Treo PDA/phone directly from Palm it will come unlocked.

There are many unlocking services in London and Paris.

Thanks you all for the feedback. Just thought others might like to know that you can purchase a brand new, unlocked Motorola V188 from Ebay seller, L'enchantement, for $64.99, shipping included. Says he has 2,000 of them. That is what I decided to go with. I've visited Europe many times but have never taken a cell phone and had no idea that it could be this economical and easy. Thanks again for all of your advise.

21st century technology is neat...isn't it.

bigtrain, please let us know that you received your phone as ordered... always good to confirm that a seller is 'up and up'.

As you requested: I did not order the $64.95 phone yesterday and got on this morning to purchase and found that the price has been changed to $79.95. I emailed the seller and he said that he sold 700 on Friday at that price and he wanted to make more so... Now I have to start over and find something else. May just buy the v190 at Radio Shack and return it if it is locked. The only problem with that is we don't have tmobile here so it will be hard to test it.

Have you looked at www.mobalrentals.com?
I saw it recommended on Frommers. We want to buy two phones so we can talk to each other if we need to. My husband and I have no reason to make or receive calls from home. If we do, we will just use our Costco phone card which I used very easily and cheaply in Spain to call home when I was there without my husband. The phone are $49 each and there is no annual fee. The calls are expensive, I think, but we go to Europe a couple of times a year and like the idea of just having a phone with a European number than can be used in 140 countries. If you use it at least once every 18 months, there is no reactivation, and then it is done at no fee. This might work for you.

I haven't purchased any phones using ebay's "Buy It Now" feature, but have purchased lots of other stuff. It's no sweat, as long as it's a seller with a good approval rating, etc. Also, don't be turned off by the shipping fees charged by some of the ebay sellers. Consider the TOTAL cost of the deal; i.e. the total cost of the phone plus shipping. I think you'll usually find that the ebay "Buy It Now" phones are cheaper than just about any other unlocked, multiband, GSM phones out there. I can't imagine the Radio Shack phone isn't locked to one of the U.S. carriers (Tmobile, Cingular, etc.), but heck, what do I know?! Just make sure it's not locked, a GSM phone, and it uses the frequencies used in the countries where you'll be traveling.

I could not agree more with MarkM's statement that "I can't imagine the Cingular Motorola V190 phone for sale at Radio Shack is not locked"

Yesterday, I saw on Ebay a new quad band unlocked Motorola V188 selling for about $80 TOTAL using the "Buy Now" feature from a supplier with 100% satisfaction feedback rating.

Yes, "bigtrain333" you could buy this phone from Radio Shack and have it unlocked through one of the unlocking services from Ebay. It's another hassle.

If you already have a cell phone for US use, you could buy an unlocked dual band (900/1800 frquencies) cell phone. It will be cheaper than a quad band. phone

Thanks for all the help. I found an unlocked Motorola V66 on craigslist for $10 here in my town so I'm just going to buy that. One other question: I've been searching all of the call back services in case callbackworld decides to change the Lichenstein mobile rates. Does anyone know if there is another callback service that would work economically with the UM sim? I haven't found one if it exists. Hard to believe that callbackworld can continue to offer .14/min when compared to all of the other prices I've seen.

Somebody on this very message board about a month and a half ago spoke to Barry at callbackworld and from his response and from info on the authoratative forum at www.prepaidgsm.net it is obvious that um is a major part of cbw's business and they are very acutely aware that if they raise rates, they will lose many many of their customers. I don't think there is any danger, in the short term at least, of any major raise in the rates because I do believe cbw knows where it's bread is buttered.

Here's the deal, I don't know about Cingular pay as you go, but T-Mobile allows you to call in to unlock the phone after 90 days of usage. I just called and had no problem. The sales person at T-Mobile actually volunteered this information to me. My experience with cingular sales people have not been as good but you can ask certainly them.