[Idyllchat] united mobile cell phone

Mon Jan 14 10:58:31 EST 2008

It doesn't cost more to get a quad-band phone. There are plenty of them that
you can get for free with your plan. You just have to be aware of it when
selecting your phone. My phone cost more because I was purchasing a smart
phone, not because it was quad-band. Then it cost extra because I am not a
T-Mobile customer and I wanted an unlocked model.

My wife got an unlocked phone because none of the 3rd party vendors would
sell just 1 phone with a family plan (I already had my Treo). On top of that
Cingular wanted $125 for a Motorola RAZR which my wife had her heart set on.
Cingular would have sold it to me for $40 if we were new customers, but we
were already Cingular customers. The 3rd party vendors would have given us 2
for free, but they also would have forced us into a more expensive monthly
plan. So I spent $150 and bought her an unlocked RAZR. It saved me the
hassle of getting it unlocked, but I would have gladly done it to save over
$100.

  - Jay

On Jan 13, 2008 4:18 PM, L B <oiseaudecham at yahoo.com> wrote:

> True, quad-band is best, and if you're acquiring a new phone anyway, you
> should try to get the quad-band model. But even a tri-band phone from
> T-Mobile (900/1800/1900 MHz) WILL work in Europe (and yes, they've always
> unlocked them for free), whereas a tri-band from AT&T/ Cingular
> (850/1800/1900 MHz) will NOT. In other words, if you have a tri-band from
> T-Mobile, you don't need to worry whether or not it will work (although you
> should learn how to switch between different bands--not all phones do it
> automatically), and you really don't need to spend more on a quad-band
> phone.
>
> I'm too lazy to unlock my newer quad-band phone, so I just take my old
> tri-band phone from 5 years ago, whenever I go abroad. Thanks to my friends
> and family, the phone has traveled to more continents than its owner--and
> not once did anyone complain of any connectivity issues. (You can even get
> service in some areas of the Australian outback.)
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Jay Cloidt <jayclimbs at gmail.com>
> To: L B <oiseaudecham at yahoo.com>
> Cc: Idyllchat <idyllchat at lists.untours.com>
> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 7:01:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] united mobile cell phone
>
> 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 wh en 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
> >
> >
> >
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