New Cell Purchase
 

I have had the Mobal $49 for several years. It works fine,but kept looking at others.

I have just bought from Range Roamer
www.rangeroamer.com

A good package price..a Siemens A70 phone.

You get 2 phone numbers a US toll free number and a European number. With the toll free # it allows people in US to call you free..you pay the .69 per min. If you have them call your Eur. # they pay the the Intl call and you receive the call free.

The toll free # is free for 1 month..you can then drop it til your next trip..add it on again and pay $3.99 per month. It would be a different # each time.

Voice messages and Text messages, too. Text messages can be sent to/from free from RangeRoamer website. You can send from phone for .49 from wherever.

Anyway, I decided to do it. It will be operating when I get it. Can check it all out before leaving. Within US the rates are not good..don't use it..or get cheaper SIM if you intend to use in US.

The website will tell you much more, IF you have any interest.

I find calling cards so easy to use in Europe and such great valuethat a phone plan has to be extraordinary to entice me enough. Thanks for the info, though.

....see the thread on public phone rip offs to see what can happen even with a calling card....

I don't have a RangeRoamer sim, but I've been at their office in Chicago. They were extremely helpful. I think their sim is a rebranding of TravelSim, a well known and well regarded international sim card. You made a good choice.

xyz, that thread about public phone ripoff was using a credit card, not an international calling card.

SusanP..

Here's the point, though.....

Public phones are starting to become more and more obsolete....the OP, I believe, made the point that her B&B did not have a phone and went out to use a public phone and her calling card did not work.....hence the credit card and the result.....

I still believe given the many alternatives that exist today that phone cards, public phones and whatever represent 20th centurhy technology that is starting to become obsolete...this would not have happened if she had a cell phone.

sjj

Thanks for your reply. You are obviously far more knowledgeable about these things than I am.

I looked at many sites, reviews of the Siemens A70 and then compared the prices for what you were getting. I did not want the fanciest or most expensive..just something good, easy to use etc. I feel that I have that.

A question: I have a Sun Com US cell and plan. Is there a way..a SIM or whatever to just use the Siemens A70 phone for my normal use in the US? Or should I just continue with my Sun Com/Nokia phone plan and use the A7 only for Intl. travel??

If your SunCom phone is GSM, you can take the SIM out of it and put it in your A70, and it will probably work. If SunCom uses 850 mHz, it won't - because the A70 doesn't.

Anyone planning to use a phone in North America <u>and</u> Europe should get an <b>unlocked quad-band</b> model. That will cover all of the equipment compatability issues - but the NA carrier must use GSM.

Which SIM you should but depends on how you will use the phone, what countries you will visit, and a number of other factors.

xyz, of course you're right. I just didn't want gracejoan to think that an international calling card was the thing causing the ripoff. I'm in the process of trying to finally get a cell phone (per that other thread).

SusanP

Check out the one I got..sure sounded good to me.

I do also have the $49 Mobal..I have used it for about 4 trips..does what it is supposed to do.

gracejoan, my problem is I wanted one phone to use in both the US and Italy. I was set to go with T-mobile, but they don't have service in my area, so I can't get the deal on wirefly.com where you get a free phone with a contract. I may still get one by going to one of their stores. It would still work in my area on roaming, which is free.

I'm pretty sure Sun Com uses 850 mhz as well as 1900, so I don't think your A70 phone will work with their service. You might try calling them and seeing what they say.

I will check with Sun Com tomorrow.

I am also going to speak with the Range Roamer people tomorrow.

Thanks all for your input.....

It seems that I probbly could remove SIM from my Nokia phone with my Sun Com paln and put it in my Siemens A70 and use it in the US. Range Roamer thought so..said to double check with SunCom.

The RangeRoamer people are really great. Phone on the way via FedEX. My account already set up with both telephone numbers. I can have automatic addition to minutes or manually do it myself on phone.

I will be able to play with everything before travel. Make calls to see if everything works..just don't answer. I can send text messages. Anyone from US can get onto RangeRoamer and send a free text message..

It all looks pretty good...anxious to play with it....

Robespierre's comment is still appropriate and I wouldn't count on a clerk to answer it...

What frequency does your sun com sim operate on? You have to check that and be careful...I believe the A70 is an international tri band phone which will not have 850 mhz and if son com operates on 850 mhz you will be up the creek without a paddle so to speak..

BTW just read that sun com is being bought out by T Mobile.....probably will not take effect to help you in the near future but it could be interesting.

I think the buy out might have bben part of the reason that the Range Roamer person thought it might work.

I really don't care. I have all the stuff in my Nokia phone with SunCom and know it well. Probably will just continue to use it here and keep my GSM for when I travel. It certainly has a lot of great things. I have printed out everything about how things work. Seems very simple to use..that is what I want!! I will get to know it well before I leave!

Gracejoan:

Thanks for the info. I just ordered the same phone. I like the idea of the 2 phone numbers.

Weekender,

I checked some other sites for the phone and they had much higher prices. I think we got a good deal!!

Print out all that info that is online ..tells you everything you need to know in using it.

You immediately have an account set up with them. I didn't know it until I talked with someone. Both phone numbers there along with my $20 of minutes.

I will be using mine for my trip leaving here on 10/14. How about you, sooner or later?

Joan

I am leaving for Rome on the 3rd of October and will take it to Buenos Aires in November. I also have the Mobal Nokia phone which has also been fine. I plan on using the top-off feature and will just pay to keep the same toll-free number. Will print out the details. Thanks!

Joan: I will only be in Rome for a few days so will let you know how it works before you leave on your trip.

Weekend:

Thanks. I will look for your update.
Joan

Weekender:

My phone is already on FedEx truck &quot;out for delivery&quot; to me.

Ordered online on Sunday..they processed order Monday. I did not ask for special shipping.

I can start playing with it today!!

I just bought the Mobal one on Monday and it arrived today. However this one sounds so much better than I am considering returnig the Mobal one and getting it.

One correction. I called to check on the toll-free number to make sure it wasn't the surchange on top of U.S. charges. It isn't - but it is on top of the local incoming charge. So, for Greece for example, an incoming toll-free call would be 19 cents plus 69 cents for a total of 88 cents per minute. However people calling me from the US wouldn't have to pay anything. I think with the Global number, they'd be paying for a European call - I haven't used it though so am not sure.

Debbie

...you're right about the charges but bear in mind one thing when looking at long distance rate charges...the charge to call a mobile phone is always much higher than to call a landline...

Secondly, I don't know what country this sim's origin is but the internationals sims invariably come from the UK or Liechtenstein or Iceland or Estonia....the extra charge to call a mobile number over the land rate is called a termination fee and in the case of the last 3 can be very very high so even if you're in Greece, when they call the actual number of the sim they will pay the rate to whatever country the sim belong to plus its termination fee which could bring it to as much as 50 to 60 cents a minute...a better idea could be getting a toll free number from callbackworld where they will get the free call to a US toll free number and you will pay callbackworld's price for a call to whatever (although callbackworld has reported troubles to Estonia)....

Ah ha....it's country code 372 which is Estonia...check out with ld carriers the charge to call an Estonian mobile number...you will be most unpleasantly surprised. (Not meaning to demean the package BTW but it is something you have to be aware of!)

Yes 372 is Estonia....

The charges vary for different countries, of course. I am using it in France, only..If I have friends call me froim the US using the toll free number, they will call free, I will be paying .69 per minute. If I have them use my 372 # they pay and I receive the call free. All my incoming calls in France on my #372 are free, my outgoing France local and national are .69 per minute.

I can have US friends log on to RangeRoamer and send an immediate text message free..all incoming text messages are free...text messages back to the US are .49 per minute.

This explains most of what has been asked....

I am very pleased.

40 countries in Europe have only the .69 charge....the website has all countries listed and you can check them out...

All my travels are pretty much France, so mine is simple..no extra charges..only the .69.

The website really has all the info there...

FedEX delivered it, I put the SIM in along with battery. I then charged it..about 2 hours.

Then, I played with it. I called my landline phone. I called it from my landline. I checked out many other menu items. I got online and could even look at calls made.

I think I have a pretty good understanding of how it works. I am very pleased and feel I made a very good choice after looking at all the various sites and options out there.

Anyone looking for a new GSM should add this site to their list of places for checking.

Joan:
My phone, which I ordered on Tuesday, arrived yesterday. I will get it charged and try it out as well. Thanks for the tips.

Weekender:

To change the date/time on the display, go to the Security menu..bottom right...it is there. I had a hard time finding it! Rememeber it is day/month/year.

Enjoy..........

After checking out this subject line, reading their website, and talking to a customer service person, I ordered a phone yesterday. It arrived today. I haven't installed the card or charged it yet though.

Debbie

If it's free for you to use your phone in Europe, only a fee for person calling your international number, tell them to sign up for Skype. They can call phones in western Europe from their computer for 2.1 cents a minute. Talk to them for an hour for total cost to them of about $1.50:

http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/rates/

How do you make calls from your computer? You need a microphone but otherwise you can use your computer's speaker and use it as a speaker phone. I bought a webcam to do Skype video calls (free computer to computer) but it has a microphone too and works great as a plain-old speaker phone for calling regular phones, with no video, using Skype. Or buy a cheap headset that plugs into your computer's microphone and headphone jack for under $10.

traveler2005

Debbie,
I think you will like it!! I printed out all the literature from the FAQ at bottom of site.
All my test calls are on &quot;my account&quot; on the website. You immediately have an account set up. They seem to be very well organized and customer helpful.
Enjoy....