Need recommendation for a travel phone (UK, India)

I need a gsm phone for use in UK and India. (Last time I had a Nokia
6610 which served well but I no longer have it.)

I simply need a phone for voice and text messaging. Camera, web, email
are not required. It will not be used in the US.

Please suggest the "best value" models I can look for used.

I understand that my phone should be "triband" but not quite sure which
three bands are needed. Please point me towards those numbers so I can
scrutinize the ebay ads.

Thanks.

Thus spaketh Ajanta:
> I need a gsm phone for use in UK and India. (Last time I had a Nokia
> 6610 which served well but I no longer have it.)
>
> I simply need a phone for voice and text messaging. Camera, web, email
> are not required. It will not be used in the US.
>
> Please suggest the "best value" models I can look for used.
>
> I understand that my phone should be "triband" but not quite sure
> which three bands are needed. Please point me towards those numbers
> so I can scrutinize the ebay ads.
>
> Thanks.


In the UK we use 900 and 1800 band, in India they also use 900 and 1800 band.
You will need to decide which home band would be best for you, though you
could get a quad-band phone and not have to worry.

If you were to pick up a phone in the UK you can buy a dual-band 900/1800
phone with a Pay As You Go SIM from US$26. Tri-band from US$35

"Ajanta" <ajanta@null.void> wrote in message
news:091120050056179677%ajanta@null.void...
> I need a gsm phone for use in UK and India. (Last time I had a Nokia
> 6610 which served well but I no longer have it.)
>
> I simply need a phone for voice and text messaging. Camera, web, email
> are not required. It will not be used in the US.
>
> Please suggest the "best value" models I can look for used.

Actually, you only *need* a single-band GSM-900 phone but these days you
might as well get a dual-band 900/1800 model, since this will give you a
better choice of prepaid and roaming carriers. The base phone to meet your
requirements might be an old Nokia 6150 or Motorola 8900 bought off ebay.
But look at it this way. If you buy a used phone you'll probably have to
replace the battery, which might cost as much as the phone. Tiger Direct
sells new cheapie unlocked tri-band GSM phones for as little as $70 with
just about zero risk to the buyer.

And OBTW, there is no need for the excessive cross-posting.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

In article <091120050056179677%ajanta@null.void>, Ajanta wrote:

> I simply need a phone for voice and text messaging. Camera, web, email
> are not required. It will not be used in the US.

Then any 900/1800 dual band phone will work well. Make sure that it is
UNLOCKED. Normally phones are sold with an SP (service provider) lock
on them so that you can only use a SIM with an account on the service
provider that sold you the phone.

This is because you rarely pay the full price for a phone, some of it
it subsidised by the expectation that you will use it and make money
for the service provider. They lock it so that you can't buy a phone
cheaply from one SP and then use it with another that has better prices,
but lower subsidies.

Motorola phones are almost impossible to unlock without expensive
hardware and software, Nokia ones are very easy, but you have to
know the SP they were locked to.

Be careful buying used tri-band phones, some tri-band models sold in
the U.S. were actually single band phones, with the non-U.S. bands
(900/1800) disabled by the factory. They often show up on eBay.

The main thing depends upon how many calls you plan to make while you
are traveling. If you only want the phone for family to reach you in
an emergency, then you should contact your local service provider and
see what they can do for you. Be carefull, calls to your phone will be
very expensive and a person calling you from next door will have
to call you in the U.S. and then you will pay the cost of forwarding
the call to you.

However if you plan to make or receive many calls, then you should buy an
unlocked phone with a pay-as-you-go SIM (either seperately or together)
and use it with it's local number. Note that INCOMING calls are paid for
by the caller, not you.

If you are visiting family, friends, or a business associate you can
have them get you a SIM before you arrive so that you can give out your
number before you leave. If you are not particular about the service
provider you use, the same people may have an old phone in a drawer
that will do. It will probably need a new battery.

It's important to note that money paid in advance for pay-as-you-go
phones is forfitted if you don't use it after a certain amount of time.
This depends upon the service provider. Some require you to use it,
some require you to add new check the terms of service before buying.


As for making calls back to the U.S. if you are bringing a laptop
and have a VoIP account, such as Vonage, you can bring your account with
you and as long as you can find a broadband internet connection, you
are connected.

You might also want to look at SkypeOut, but be warned they have also
have a "no use SkypeOut, you loose your money" policy. It used
to be without warning, which cost me almost $9, but after I complained
they started sending out warning emails (but no refund).

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
You should have boycotted Google while you could, now Google supported
BPL is in action. Time is running out on worldwide radio communication.

Donald Newcomb <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote:

: Actually, you only *need* a single-band GSM-900 phone but these
: days you might as well get a dual-band 900/1800 model

Phones I see ads dor (ebay) often have an extra 800 or 850, is one of
those better than the other?


: Tiger Direct sells new cheapie unlocked tri-band GSM phones for as
: little as $70 with just about zero risk to the buyer.

Thanks

: And OBTW, there is no need for the excessive cross-posting.

My apologies, but I am not a regular participant in these groups and
didn't know which one would be best.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:

: Then any 900/1800 dual band phone will work well.

"World phones" I see on ebay also have an 800 or 850 band; is one of
those preferrable to the other?

: Be careful buying used tri-band phones, some tri-band models sold in
: the U.S. were actually single band phones, with the non-U.S. bands
: (900/1800) disabled by the factory. They often show up on eBay.

Darn, must be among those I have been looking at. Maybe best to get a
phone that is not branded by a provider?

: The main thing depends upon how many calls you plan to make while
: you are traveling...

Basically to keep in touch and emergencies etc. Call would be local,
not to US. I plan to get a sim card---borrow or buy---as soon as I
arrive in a country.

What is thebest choice in the nokia line (voice and text only, no web
or email needed)?

In article <4371e927_2@news1.prserv.net>,
Donald Newcomb <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote:
>
>Tiger Direct
>sells new cheapie unlocked tri-band GSM phones for as little as $70 with
>just about zero risk to the buyer.

If you consider an unwanted magazine subscription billed to your credit
card "zero risk", of course.

"Ajanta" <ajanta@null.void> wrote in message
news:091120050857421422%ajanta@null.void...
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:
>
> : Then any 900/1800 dual band phone will work well.
>
> "World phones" I see on ebay also have an 800 or 850 band; is one of
> those preferrable to the other?
>
> : Be careful buying used tri-band phones, some tri-band models sold in
> : the U.S. were actually single band phones, with the non-U.S. bands
> : (900/1800) disabled by the factory. They often show up on eBay.
>
> Darn, must be among those I have been looking at. Maybe best to get a
> phone that is not branded by a provider?
>
> : The main thing depends upon how many calls you plan to make while
> : you are traveling...
>
> Basically to keep in touch and emergencies etc. Call would be local,
> not to US. I plan to get a sim card---borrow or buy---as soon as I
> arrive in a country.
>
> What is thebest choice in the nokia line (voice and text only, no web
> or email needed)?



The Nokia 1100 (dual-band GSM 900/1800) which cost you around £19.99 brand
new. Unlocked it so you can use any UK and Indian sim card. The Nokia 1100
can be unlocked for free from http://www.trycktill.com/eng/unlock_swe.asp
Use a O2 sim card with it in the UK thay offer best intl text rate of 10p
text to any where in the world from the UK. Get a O2 Sim from
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5790747835



--




http://stores.ebay.co.uk/experimentalist-co-uk Will post worldwide.
www.simcard.me.uk Local Pre Pay Sim Cards. Mobile Phones - Satellite Phones
www.experimentalist.co.uk/forum/index.php Nokia
6630,6680,7710,N91,N90,N70,E60,E61,E70 Unlocking, Free Sim Cards INFO.

"Ajanta" <ajanta@null.void> wrote in message
news:091120050056179677%ajanta@null.void...
>I need a gsm phone for use in UK and India. (Last time I had a Nokia
> 6610 which served well but I no longer have it.)
>
> I simply need a phone for voice and text messaging. Camera, web, email
> are not required. It will not be used in the US.
>
> Please suggest the "best value" models I can look for used.
>
> I understand that my phone should be "triband" but not quite sure which
> three bands are needed. Please point me towards those numbers so I can
> scrutinize the ebay ads.
>
> Thanks.


The Nokia 1100 (dual-band GSM 900/1800) which cost you around £19.99 brand
new. Unlocked it so you can use any UK and Indian sim card. The Nokia 1100
can be unlocked for free from http://www.trycktill.com/eng/unlock_swe.asp
Use a O2 sim card with it in the UK thay offer best intl text rate of 10p
text to any where in the world from the UK. Get a O2 Sim from
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5790747835




--




http://stores.ebay.co.uk/experimentalist-co-uk Will post worldwide.
www.simcard.me.uk Local Pre Pay Sim Cards. Mobile Phones - Satellite Phones
www.experimentalist.co.uk/forum/index.php Nokia
6630,6680,7710,N91,N90,N70,E60,E61,E70 Unlocking, Free Sim Cards INFO.

In article <091120050857421422%ajanta@null.void>, Ajanta wrote:

> "World phones" I see on ebay also have an 800 or 850 band; is one of
> those preferrable to the other?

There are 4 commonly used GSM bands:

850 mHz: This is the old 800 mHz cellular band used in many places
for analog, TDMA (DAMPS) digital and about 3 years ago
AT&T wireless services converted their DAMPS network
to GSM, since they had 800 mHz licenses that covered the
entire U.S., they were able to get 800 mHz GSM phones made
just for them. However GSM notation is different, so the
same frequencies are called GSM 850.

900 mHz This is the original European 900mHz GSM band. Almost every
country outside of North America that has GSM has coverage
in 900 mHz. Brazil and one eastern European country does not.

1800 mHz This is the expansion band for GSM 1800. The carriers here
were usually the later ones and cheaper than the 900 mHz,
but not always true. Some 900 mHz carriers operate here
too in crowded areas. Two countries operater GSM 1800 and
not 900.

1900 mHz This is the U.S. PCS (personal communication services)
cellular expansion band. Some operators are GSM, are
DAMPS. GSM coverage in this band is about 85% of the U.S.
population, but far less of the area.

> Darn, must be among those I have been looking at. Maybe best to get a
> phone that is not branded by a provider?

Yes. There are plenty of places that cell them new at reasonable prices.
HOWEVER I would not buy a "world phone" if your native cellular phone is
not GSM. It will just frustrate you and add aditional expense.


> What is thebest choice in the nokia line (voice and text only, no web
> or email needed)?

I'm not up on the current models, but my best choice would be a used
5110. They were sold almost everywhere and new batteries and chargers
are easy to get. They are 900 mHz only, there are also 1800 mHz, 1900 mHz,
DAMPS versions. If you know the service provider they are locked to, you
can unlock them with a web browser.

If you ask around in the UK or India, or anywhere else for that matter,
you will probably find many old ones no longer in use.

Whatever you get make sure to get a 230 volt charger and plug adaptors.

Another nice phone is the Motorola C-380. My wife has one and it works
well, although it does have all sorts of extras. It is tri-band
900/1800/1900. I've seen them advertised new for $110 mail order
in the U.S.

If you get a UK charger, Boots, (the UK equivalent of Rite-Aide) has
a very nice set of nesting adaptor plugs. it looks rather phalic, but does
a good job.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
You should have boycotted Google while you could, now Google supported
BPL is in action. Time is running out on worldwide radio communication.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.gsm - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <091120050851299001%ajanta@null.void> on Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:51:27 GMT,
Ajanta <ajanta@null.void> wrote:

>Donald Newcomb <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote:

>: Tiger Direct sells new cheapie unlocked tri-band GSM phones for as
>: little as $70 with just about zero risk to the buyer.
>
>Thanks

Suggest instead you buy an inexpensive used or refurbished unlocked "world"
phone on eBay; e.g.,
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5828380722>

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:57:41 GMT, Ajanta <ajanta@null.void> wrote:

>Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:
>
>: Then any 900/1800 dual band phone will work well.
>
>"World phones" I see on ebay also have an 800 or 850 band; is one of
>those preferrable to the other?
>
>: Be careful buying used tri-band phones, some tri-band models sold in
>: the U.S. were actually single band phones, with the non-U.S. bands
>: (900/1800) disabled by the factory. They often show up on eBay.
>
>Darn, must be among those I have been looking at. Maybe best to get a
>phone that is not branded by a provider?
>
>: The main thing depends upon how many calls you plan to make while
>: you are traveling...
>
>Basically to keep in touch and emergencies etc. Call would be local,
>not to US. I plan to get a sim card---borrow or buy---as soon as I
>arrive in a country.
>
>What is thebest choice in the nokia line (voice and text only, no web
>or email needed)?

You can buy a brand new PAYG Nokia 1100 for between 20 - 30 quid. Easy
enough to unlock, cheap enough to not worry about when you lose it.
AIUI, it is dual band and also has a torch - possibly handy in the
less salubrious parts of the UK and India.

"John Navas" <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> wrote in message
news:zitcf.38833$qk4.36548@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> Suggest instead you buy an inexpensive used or refurbished unlocked
"world"
> phone on eBay; e.g.,
> <http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5828380722>

That works too, but only deal with a very high rated seller with a long
history. I've bought phones on eBay and most of the time it works out fine.
OTHO, I've been stiffed for about $120, once and had another seller "found
the phone damaged" after the auction I won at a low price.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> wrote:

: >What is thebest choice in the nokia line (voice and text only, no web
: >or email needed)?
:
: Nokia 3210, 3310, 3410 or 3510.

None seem available at ebay.

"Ajanta" <ajanta@null.void> wrote in message
news:091120052330201267%ajanta@null.void...
> Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> : >What is thebest choice in the nokia line (voice and text only, no web
> : >or email needed)?
> :
> : Nokia 3210, 3310, 3410 or 3510.
>
> None seem available at ebay.


Nokia 3220 unlocked triband will work in the UK and India Also the USA.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6431688982


Or i can sell you a UK triband motorola locked to UK T-mobile for £29.99
free airmail postage to the USA. As this phone is locked it will only work
on the UK T-mobile network unless u can get it unlocked then work in India
and USA.


--




http://stores.ebay.co.uk/experimentalist-co-uk Will post worldwide.
www.simcard.me.uk Local Pre Pay Sim Cards. Mobile Phones - Satellite Phones
www.experimentalist.co.uk/forum/index.php Nokia
6630,6680,7710,N91,N90,N70,E60,E61,E70 Unlocking, Free Sim Cards INFO.