dmoore189

Is it possible to rent a cell phone at the Istanbul airport when arriving from the US?

Sue878

You can buy one for use in Europe for $49.00 at Mobal Rental or $99.00 for use in US & Europe.

http://www.mobalrental.com

(I forgot to add they have a list of countries where they can be used)

Robespierre

You can buy one for use in Europe for $39.00 at telestial.com - and it's unlocked, so you can use local SIMs.

Alec

That phone is cheap at $39 because it's a very basic Siemens, sold in Europe about 5 years ago and now obsolete. Will still work, but you won't see anyone using it.

Robespierre

For those who think they should be carrying a Multi-media Extravaganza in their pocket - and don't mind paying through the nose for it - Alec's advice is sound.

If you want to converse with people, go with telestial.com

(BTW: in my lexicon, "obsolete" means "doesn't work any more" - which is not the case with the Siemens A55.)

Alec

My phone is 2008 model, with lots of features - and free, with an annual contract.
Siemens A55 is obsolete because it's long ceased production. It's a 5-year old model which, while still works for calling and texting, is woefully inadequate in terms of battery life, portability (it's quite big), ease of use, reception and sound quality.

Robespierre

You're changing the terms of the debate.

For anyone who wants to sign a contract to get a "free" 2008 phone, knock yourself out.

The A55 is perfectly adequate for its intended purpose. Yeah, it's really huge: 3.9 x 1.7 x .8 in. And, it's heavy: 84 g. Plus, its battery life is fleeting: 250 hours.

GMAFB

Alec

Still a crap phone!

Alec

Because being such an old model, it's probably refurbished, with the original battery - which won't hold 250 hours of charge by any stretch of imagination.

brenda66

I was in Teknosa the other day and saw cell phones starting as cheap as 59 liras and 64 liras..

similar to as seen here;

http://www.teknosa.com/Cultures/tr-T...talog=_TELEKOM

http://www.teknosa.com/msib21/formla...gory=_NOKIA220

also some models here;

http://www.bimeks.com.tr/kategori.as...2&sirala=2

also if the phone works and you can make calls it should not matter how cheap it is...

if you are travelling to turkey from more than say 3 weeks it is a good investment...

xyz123

Look, when I'm home, it's nice to have a phone with all sorts of bells and whistles which I use constantly...

When I'm on holiday, I need a phone for voice communication and texting and that's it.

The most basic model will work perfectly for those purposes.

As I keep upgrading my main phone, and I use T Mobile USA so they're gsm phones which are either tri band or quad band, I simply get them unlocked and then have a phone for use in Europe.

T Mobile USA, on my plane for example, allows me to send free picture messages to e mail addresses (so called mms) no charge while the prepaid local and international sims do not so I use my regular T Mobile USA phone for that purpose while the phone I'm using with a local sim or international sim, depending on circumstances, is used for what mobile phones are for, namely voice and text communication. (It is necessary to set the T Mobile USA phone to voice call diversion to my home landline which is then set to forward to my local or international sim to avoid the rebound affect into voicemail that can cause me to be billed for a 2 minute call, the call never reaches Europe, it simply diverts to my home landline before getting there so no roaming charge)...I receive text messages for free, only pay 35¢/message to text while in Europe (free in the USA(, receive all my alerts on my regular phone (including the baseball score alerts I have set up) so big deal I have two phones in my pocket...not such a price to pay for the convenience all around.

I am certainly with Robespierre for once on this, for 99% of people desiring cell phone service while on holiday, the most basic of models will do very nicely thank you.

Alec

All I wanted to do was to alert people what sort of phone they are getting. Phones for many people aren't just a communiation device, but many other things besides. Like cars, even a ten-year old bangers or fender-benders can get you from A to B (if well maintained), but not everyone is happy travelling in one or owning one. It's all about choice and what you are comfortable with. More modern phones, which can be picked up remarkably cheaply, are easier to use, more versatile, more stylish and perform better.

propertravel

Its better to buy a pay as go cheap phone with Turkish sim card.

If you have a Blacberry or Iphone or such device and you are travelling on own but have someone to contact when needed is a good choice. To be able to communicate, send or receive messages will be a good plus point. Give your number o your contact person, travel agent so you will be informed if anything changes or you can refer back for further inquiries.

Murat

xyz123

Alec....

Again what we're talking about is a phone for a trip of a week or two...prices are falling very very true...although getting a really top notch phone cheaply generally involves a contract and a committment for a 2 year contract.

Of course, it's nice to have a phone with an MP3 player (no need for an ipod), a 3 megapixel camera, a web browser and whatever and perhaps in the near future that will be the standard; technology marches on and on.

But I stand by the idea that for a phone to roam with a prepaid sim, 99% of people will be perfectly well suited by the cheapest model available.

sshephard

Such a friendly and loving bunch of people here. I haven't been beaten up lately, so Alec, take a few swings at me. . .

I used the Siemens A55 Mobal phone this summer for 5 weeks in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Croatia and it worked beautifully. Battery life was excellent. Call clarity was perfect. Price was exactly what I expected it to be for the kind of calling I did. I could have bought a spare battery for $5 but really didn't need to. Size: very small. Would I do it over again? Yes.

For the record, I am in to high end electronic gizmos back here in the US - a Blackberry Curve, an iPod Touch 32 gig. A dual quad core MacPro tower. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I agree with Robbes - Obsolete means it doesn't work. The A55 worked very well. I would tell all my friends to buy one if they wanted a phone to call home once and a while while almost anywhere in the world. But, Alec, I wouldn't give you that advice.

Alec

A55 doesn't work anywhere in the world. Japan, South Korea for example. You need W-CDMA (UMTS) phone or CDMA-2000.
You can't buy A55 brand new in Europe, having ceased production at least 3 years ago. Any phones sold are refurbished, used.
For £20 ($35), you can get up-to-the-minute phone with better quality and reliability. Mostly locked, but can be unlocked fairly easily for £5-£10.
If anyone is happy with A55, fair enough, it's their choice. But almost anywhere in Europe, you can get a better, more versatile and more stylish phone for the same price US firms are charging for a 5-year, used model.

Robespierre

The only reason anyone should invest in a fancy-schmancy phone is if they were planning to use it when they got back from Europe.

But if i could be used it in the U.S., they would need to be subscribed to T-Mobile or AT&T, in which case they would probably already have a quad-band.

So the whole question is moot.

d_claude_bear

Out pre-departure purchase of 2 phones to use in Paris worked well. The "basic" inexpensive phones were fine, but we were surprised (and slightly inconvenienced) to learn they did not have voice mail--so you should check on features like that if they are important to you.

Robespierre

Phones don't have voice mail. (Most) cell service providers do. So if you didn't get it, it wasn't the handset's fault.

d_claude_bear

Correct, Robespierre--Our cell phone purchases included the France SIM cards, and the combination didn't include voice mail.