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Mobile Phone for America. best solution. |
maxiem39
Joined: Feb 20, 2003
Posts: 8
From: Manchester England
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Hi, I'm sure you will all have plenty of ideas , to advise me. My son is going to America & I want him to be in contact. I have Sony ericsson T68i which is triband that he can take. I'm one a contract with Vodafone & have been told it's 80p a minute to phone home but if I phone him I am charged £1.25 a minute. No wonder Chris Gent got such a massive pension!!. My son is traveling on a different flight from his friend, but much the same time, and they need to contact each other. the question is do I let him take my phone & suffer a heart attack when I get the bill or buy a sim card in US if they do PAYT ? & it would be compatible with the T68i. Anyone know if mobiles are cheap in US?. T.I.A Max
A closed mind will condemn me to a life of ignorance. |
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Vlammetje
Joined: Mar 01, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Den Haag
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you DON't want to purchase a sim card only prepaid package in the US, coz you'd be able to get prepaid pack including phone for the same money.
http://www.attws.com/gophone/
http://www.cingular.com/refresh/common/estore_zipcode?selinfo=Prepaid
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701
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Romania
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@Vlamm-what do u mean?
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Vlammetje
Joined: Mar 01, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Den Haag
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A prepaid sim card in US (only avlbl from T Mobile) costs US$ 100.00 for the sim and activation and there's only about 135 min balance on it when u purchase. Funny enough they advertise it at US$ but I went to a store (orlando FL) 3 weeks ago and it was US$100.00
Whereas for US$ 99 you can get a prepaid pack INcluding phone from Cingular (i believe) or ATT........
Finally...... roaming in US really is a killer, my bill was enormous  I for 1 will never do that again.
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[ This Message was edited by: Vlammetje on 2003-06-15 16:36 ] |
brokenrecord
Joined: Jun 10, 2003
Posts: 3
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Quote:
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On 2003-06-15 17:34:53, Vlammetje wrote:
A prepaid sim card in US (only avlbl from T Mobile) costs US$ 100.00 for the sim and activation and there's only about 135 min balance on it when u purchase. Funny enough they advertise it at US$ but I went to a store (orlando FL) 3 weeks ago and it was US$100.00
Whereas for US$ 99 you can get a prepaid pack INcluding phone from Cingular (i believe) or ATT........
Finally...... roaming in US really is a killer, my bill was enormous I for 1 will never do that again.
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I have no clue what T-mobile card you bought... My EasySpeak card was like $54 total with $30 of airtime. Roaming also is not that much more expensive than local with prepaid. You were ripped off.
[ This Message was edited by: brokenrecord on 2003-06-16 18:43 ] |
maxiem39
Joined: Feb 20, 2003
Posts: 8
From: Manchester England
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Hi, thanks for the advice. I did'nt think it would be cheap to buy in USA, though I have'nt given up hope it looks like my son will have to take my phone & use it only if necessary. I certainly won't phone him at £1.35 a minute. I'm sure there will be more advice. I'm not sure if there are regional differences in the states.
thanks
Max |
moodswinger
Joined: Dec 10, 2001
Posts: 78
From: New York, USA
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It really depends on where you buy the prepaid SIM-card. ATT does NOT have a prepaid GSM, Cingular and T-Mobile will each charge you around $70 for a SIM-card and some initial minutes (usually $50 worth of airtime).
However, the retailers in my neighborhood (Brooklyn, NY) give some really good deals - a friend of mine just yeaterday bought a T-Mobile prepaid SIM-card with >$60 airtime for only $50.
Another friend bought a T68i (unlocked) and they threw in the same prepaid service for free.
The moral of the story: do not buy directly from the retailers. Alternately, go with any prepaid cellular service (like Verizon or Virgin).
And another great idea: why don't we establish a prepaid SIM-card bank to loan each other prepaid SIM-cards when visiting all these countries that have GSM? I have a T-Mobile card that I loaned to friends visiting from Europe and we found it to be extremely convenient - they pay only for the time they spend and I have a SIM-card that I can lend to my other guests. Besides, everyone knew in advance what their mobile # was going to be, so that added some extra cool to this situation.
So, what do you guys think? |
brokenrecord
Joined: Jun 10, 2003
Posts: 3
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Quote:
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On 2003-06-16 21:20:23, moodswinger wrote:
It really depends on where you buy the prepaid SIM-card. ATT does NOT have a prepaid GSM, Cingular and T-Mobile will each charge you around $70 for a SIM-card and some initial minutes (usually $50 worth of airtime).
However, the retailers in my neighborhood (Brooklyn, NY) give some really good deals - a friend of mine just yeaterday bought a T-Mobile prepaid SIM-card with >$60 airtime for only $50.
Another friend bought a T68i (unlocked) and they threw in the same prepaid service for free.
The moral of the story: do not buy directly from the retailers. Alternately, go with any prepaid cellular service (like Verizon or Virgin).
And another great idea: why don't we establish a prepaid SIM-card bank to loan each other prepaid SIM-cards when visiting all these countries that have GSM? I have a T-Mobile card that I loaned to friends visiting from Europe and we found it to be extremely convenient - they pay only for the time they spend and I have a SIM-card that I can lend to my other guests. Besides, everyone knew in advance what their mobile # was going to be, so that added some extra cool to this situation.
So, what do you guys think?
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That is a very smart idea. I rarely have international visitors, but would be smart even for any visitors, or if you are going out of town you can give your kids or friends a phone that you can contact them on. What I have done in the past is if I am going out of town longer than a few days, I will purchase a SIM for the area i am visiting so that people there have a local number they can reach me on. |
potok
Joined: Dec 04, 2002
Posts: 136
From: USA
PM |
good idea, except, in US, you need to recharge prepaid sims like every 6 hours (ok, more like 14-28 days) or it will be disconected, unlike the rest of the world, where 180 days-6 months is normal period
P800, on T-mobile USA |
maxiem39
Joined: Feb 20, 2003
Posts: 8
From: Manchester England
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In reply to all the advice , thanks. I am getting more options daily. My son is going to San Diago first for 4 days & then wherever they fancy. Moodswingers idea is very good,a fine example of lateral thinking, and would work with a few additions. Now I might sound like an "old fart" saying this but, I'm amazed that in this day & age people whom you don't know are willing to give advice so freely . Every forum I use has enabled me to sort out problems that were difficult. thanks,
Max
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brokenrecord
Joined: Jun 10, 2003
Posts: 3
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The cheapest thing for your son to do would be to get a T-mobile card here, then he can talk to his friend, as well as SMS you fairly inexpensively. |
whytoi
Joined: Aug 28, 2003
Posts: 72
From: Sydney, AU
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T-Mobile's prepaid starter pack for around $50 seemed to be the go. The big question is where to get them.
I note that Amazon only wants to sell with a phone (for more $$$) and not all dealers carry them. It's hard enough for a visitor to get to their destination, it's even harder to find a dealer that actually had these prepaid packages. It's not like most other GSM countries where you can always get a prepaid starter pack from the airport.
So does anyone know where one can mail order these? And is there any retailer willing to mail them out to overseas? I for one would prefer to have access the moment I land in a country. |
maxiem39
Joined: Feb 20, 2003
Posts: 8
From: Manchester England
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To all of you, who contributed to my post, thank you. Finally Richard, my son, took my T68i to USA. To phone me he bought phonecards but was able to use my phone in an emergency when he arrived at San Diego. I texted him a few times to get information to him quickly. He was also able to contact his friends who were on a different flight. All would have been perfect apart from 3 or 4 calls to his girlfriend & that pushed the bill up. Without those calls the bill would have been reasonable.I have kept all the advice I got which will help me next time. Once again I thank everybody for freely given advice,
regards,
Max |
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Posted: 2003-06-15 12:49
