[Idyllchat] united mobile cell phone

Sat Jan 12 19:01:54 EST 2008

To have full connectivity both here and in Europe, you should get a
quad-band phone. The US has an old frequency and a new frequency, and so
does Europe. To get complete coverage, you need a quad-band phone. I use a
Palm Treo 680. Works great here, and it worked great in Switzerland.

Cingular wanted to charge me $199 for the phone. For an extra $150 I got an
unlocked phone.

I keep waiting for someone to sue the Wireless companies about this phone
locking idiocy. We are the only country that does this. Especially since
there are 2 competing technologies in this country anyway, and you can't
take a Verizon phone to AT&T and vice versa because the network technology
is different. I'm glad to see T-Mobile will unlock their phones.

  - Jay

On Jan 12, 2008 12:31 PM, L B <oiseaudecham at yahoo.com> wrote:

> let this be the final word on cell phones... :)
>
> When this discussion comes up, I invariably bring up United Mobile's SIM
> cards, which are the best value for anybody who plans to travel more than
> once in their lifetime, and who can invest in an unlocked tri-band phone
> (or, for T-Mobile customers, just have theirs unlocked for free by the CS).
> I've been using mine for several years, back when it was called "riiing"
> and gave you a Liechtenstein number, and you had to buy the starter card on
> eBay. They've now upgraded  to UK numbers (less expensive to call FROM the
> US), you can buy starter kits directly online, refill online. Their outgoing
> rates are great (29 eurocents to call the US from Europe, although there's a
> 25c connecting charge per call); incoming calls are free in 80 countries
> (including most of Europe, Oceania, and even Asia, but not the US), and you
> never need to purchase another SIM card again. They do expire in theory
> (after 9 or 12 months), if you don't use them--but all you have to do to
> prevent it from happening is to send an SMS to yourself or someone else (or
> refill the account), since the card works in the US as well. Even better, I
> lend it to all my family and friends when they travel, so I never have to
> worry about expiration. It works as a callback service, which is a little
> strange, if you haven't used it before, but you learn after one single phone
> call. Even my parents figured out how to use it on their trip to China. (It
> helped that I created a detailed list of instructions--which I'd be happy to
> share if anybody needs it).
> http://www.united-mobile.com/
>
> (another) final note:
> On my last trip to Europe, my phone stopped charging after a few days. (By
> then, we were in Heidelberg, Germany.) It's an older model, so I couldn't
> find a new battery for it in any of the cell phone shops on the main drag.
> But one of the salespeople recommended a little shop called "Schwarzmarkt",
> which sold some odds and ends (anything from keychains to apparently cell
> phone paraphernalia). The clerk there asked me why I thought it was the
> battery and not the charger. I insisted that I knew better (not that I'm
> qualified to make such assumptions). He suggested that I leave the phone in
> the store, connected to his charger, for a couple of hours, and see what
> happens. So I left my phone there, in a foreign country, with a stranger,
> and went up to the castle. When I came back a couple of hours later, my
> phone was fully charged; I bought the charger from the man (who could have
> sold me a more expensive battery instead...), and was on my way. Both the
> phone and the charger are still fully operational (right now, they're
> in Madrid, Spain, with my sister-in-law.)  There's no lesson learned (other
> than the obvious "only in Germany"--and that even dual-voltage chargers can
> blow in a foreign outlet), but I love to tell the story.
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: John Ruch <jruch39 at verizon.net>
> To: acricchi <acricchi at comporium.net>; Idyllchat <
> idyllchat at lists.untours.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 12:34:04 AM
> Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] Mobal cell phone
>
> We got an old-model Nokia three years ago as reward for making a donation
> to The Travel Insider (a interesting online newsletter, by the eway). Use it
> two-four times each trip to Euope and it's been trouble-free. Mobal's online
> newsletter for customers is also useful. You have a permanent phone
> number and while per call charges are perhaps higher than those of other
> providers, with low use it doesn't matter, and  calls are billed to your
> credit card after you get home. We'd previously rented a cell phone, but
> owning is better and I believe you can buy a Mobal phone for as little as
> $49, although haven't priced 'em for six months. Have thought about getting
> a new one because batteries are going to be hard to find for our current
> Nokia when they give out.
>
> John & Shelby Ruch
>
>
>
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>
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