I would like to offer you a great way to save money on this whole calling back to the USA deal-buy a 5 Euros phone card(international to US) from ANY Tabac store in Italy and its good for about 200-300 minutes.You simply call the 800 number on the back/give them the pin numbers and then dial 001(for the USA) and your number. You can use it at ANY phone(in your hotel without a charge) or payphone or even if you had a cellphone that works with you.The one that I LOVE is by VECTONE and called the Europa call card to Europe,Canada and the USA. Its purple on the top of the card with a map of the world in blue and green.I cannot tell you how many calls I have used this card from in various parts of Italy and Sicily-I use one of these every week for work when I go to Italy. The connection is perfect and all the prompts are in English.(My son got me using this card when he was studying in Torino last year as his cell phone he bought there was charging him and "arm and a leg" to call home.) Good luck!

I have a Motorola V600 quad band and I'm happy with it (had previously Siemens). It has a nice bluetooth ear set and it's very nice to dial (voice recognition) and talk without even touching the real phone.

Well, if you're still checking for replies: There is an ad in an L.A. Times travel-to-Europe supplement today for rental phones. Here is the entire text of the ad:

Traveling Abroad?
Rent a cellular or satellite phone.
Now with FREE incoming calls in many countries!
Stay in touch worldwide.
ONE WEEK FREE RENTAL
Mention code: FWF-EU-05
TravelCell
Global Cellular Rental Solutions
877-CELL PHONE
www.travelcell.com

My daughter just moved to Italy for at least 3 months. She researched which kind of phone to get and wanted a phone that she could use upon returning to the states. She got a Sony Ericsson K5081 GMS World Phone (Unlocked) along with and Italy Sim Card. The phone cost was $239.95 and the Sim card through the company was $59.95. She purchased through US Tronics in NY. Phone was shipped over night. She did have a problem with the SIM card when getting to Italy and we were told that it would not work, a problem with the system there and she was given a credit and she purchased one there and was up and running. She did have to fax a copy of her passport (do a black and white copy-easier for them to read) It is a requirement for security. Phone # for UStronics is 212-840-6299. They were great for me to deal with regarding the non working SIM card. Good luck

Sorry nb - she is doing hers through cingular - but is buying pre-paid mins in Italy which you can do right on your phone. Good Luck -

I checked my recently-received Mobal Nokia 3410 - I inserted my local T-Mobile SIM and got this message: Insert SIM, which I assume means the phone arrived "locked" to Mobal's SIM.