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  1. #1
    I'm in need of a new cell phone and plan

    Local company here has GSM system and says I can buy
    any hardware I want and as long as its unlocked they
    will allow its use.

    Says this is a big advantage to GSM... just take the
    SIM card out and put in next phone. true? Can't do this
    with CDMA or other systems?

    Also.....can one buy a cheap GSM phone on ebay?



    See More: GSM cell phones the best?




  2. #2
    BG
    Guest

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
    news:[email protected]...
    > I'm in need of a new cell phone and plan
    >
    > Local company here has GSM system and says I can buy
    > any hardware I want and as long as its unlocked they
    > will allow its use.
    >
    > Says this is a big advantage to GSM... just take the
    > SIM card out and put in next phone. true? Can't do this
    > with CDMA or other systems?
    >
    > Also.....can one buy a cheap GSM phone on ebay?


    GSM is a European standard and uses 900/1800MHz. The rest of the world uses
    the same two frequencies except America. North America uses 850/1900MHz and
    South America have mixed all frequencies.

    So it very much depends on where your "local company" is... Your posting
    doesn't say if it's Africa or Asia or...?





  3. #3

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    "BG" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >So it very much depends on where your "local company" is... Your posting
    >doesn't say if it's Africa or Asia or...?


    sorry

    I'm in Missouri in the USA



  4. #4

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    "BG" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >GSM is a European standard and uses 900/1800MHz. The rest of the world uses
    >the same two frequencies except America. North America uses 850/1900MHz and
    >South America have mixed all frequencies.


    I'm curious....why in the world does the US not use
    same freqs?



  5. #5

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    [email protected] wrote:

    >Also.....can one buy a cheap GSM phone on ebay?


    Reason I ask abt buying one eBay is I'm on a tight
    budget

    Full time college student with no income right now



  6. #6
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    [email protected] wrote in news[email protected]:

    > I'm curious....why in the world does the US not use
    > same freqs?
    >


    For the same reason European countries don't use the same language or TV
    standard or, until recently, currency/laws and anything else you need in
    your life. It restricts your ability to move from company to company or
    country to country. Everybody on THIS side of the line speaks Dutch.
    Everybody on THAT side of the line speaks French. THOSE people over there
    speak Spanish or Italian or Bernese Oberland's dialect of German.

    There was PAL and SECAM and NTSC and others just to make SURE you were
    watching what WE wanted you to watch on YOUR side of the line.....

    Companies have nationalism, too, just like Social Democrats.

    Larry
    --
    Vista has been out a week.
    Is Service Pack 1 ready yet?



  7. #7
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    [email protected] wrote in news:[email protected]:

    > Full time college student with no income right now
    >
    >


    Full time college students have laptops or desktop computers, right?

    How about FREE or, if you MUST call landlines about $50/year (in
    USA/Canada) with NO minute charges or LD to US/Canada? That cheap enough
    for full time college students? You even get your own number and
    voicemail so THEY can call YOU, and leave a message while you're out or
    in class.

    http://www.skype.com/
    Download it free
    Use it free from your skype to any other skyper on the planet. Only
    calling landlines/cellphones costs. The current YEARLY, not monthly,
    charge is $30/year for OUTGOING calls to US/Canadian phone numbers. If
    you must permit them to call you, you buy Skype In, giving your computer
    its own landline phone number in any location in US/Canada you like, not
    just your school's location. Skype In is 30 Euros/YEAR, or 10 Euros/3
    months. MUCH cheaper than even the CHEAPEST cellphone plan with no
    minutes! You and they can call 24/7/365, any time you want.

    Check it out...

    Your honey back home got a broadband computer? You can sweet talk her
    all night for FREE on Skype-to-Skype!...

    Larry
    --
    Vista has been out a week.
    Is Service Pack 1 ready yet?



  8. #8

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    Larry <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Full time college students have laptops or desktop computers, right?


    Unfortunately I don't have Internet at home...was
    trying to save money

    But yes.....I have given thought to getting Internet at
    home and just using THAT for voice comms as well using
    Skype as you suggest.

    Then.....I "could" just use my pre-paid cell phone as
    an 'emergency" only kind of phone

    What you think?



  9. #9
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    [email protected] wrote in news:[email protected]:

    > What you think?
    >
    >


    I'd bet your school is a wifi hotspot, at least around many of the
    buildings, where you could make calls for free by just turning on your
    laptop. All the colleges and universities around here are wide open with
    internet. The City of Charleston has installed a wifi network on the lower
    peninsula that's free at 110kbps and you pay to get a higher cap speed with
    username and password access. 110Kbps is plenty fast for Skype. My
    Netgear Skype phone works all over the lower city on it.

    I assume you already have cable TV, paying through the nose to watch the
    spam on that big billboard in your living room. Adding broadband cable to
    run Skype and internet is cheaper than those so-called "premium" channels
    with the ancient movies played over and over....that might justify getting
    broadband. $40/month for broadband internet with so-cheap Skype is STILL
    much cheaper than a cellphone with enough minutes to make it useful...



    Larry
    --
    Vista has been out a week.
    Is Service Pack 1 ready yet?



  10. #10
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    At 16 Feb 2007 21:39:55 -0800 [email protected] wrote:
    >


    > This original poster asked about CDMA also. But no one really
    > answered. And I would also like to know. Do CDMA phones have SIMS
    > cards also?


    No. The CDMA equivalent of a SIM is built-into the phone and can't be
    removed, only reprogrammed by a carrier.


    > Because Pageplus phones are CDMA. They also recommend Trimode, and on
    > their site says No roaming Nationwide. But then when you read their
    > section about Roaming, you find out that depending on where you are In
    > or Out of their Netwwork, you could actually pay quite a bit more.


    True, but that's preferable to not being able to roam at all.






  11. #11
    David Van Cleef
    Guest

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    [email protected] wrote:
    > [email protected] wrote:
    >> I'm in need of a new cell phone and plan
    >>
    >> Local company here has GSM system and says I can buy
    >> any hardware I want and as long as its unlocked they
    >> will allow its use.
    >>
    >> Says this is a big advantage to GSM... just take the
    >> SIM card out and put in next phone. true? Can't do this
    >> with CDMA or other systems?
    >>
    >> Also.....can one buy a cheap GSM phone on ebay?

    >
    >
    > This original poster asked about CDMA also. But no one really
    > answered. And I would also like to know. Do CDMA phones have SIMS
    > cards also?


    Many modern CDMA phones are SIM-based. Both my cdma2000-1x phones (Hitachi W41H
    and Casio W41CA) are, and every new handset my carrier has introduced in the
    last year has been.



  12. #12
    David Van Cleef
    Guest

    Re: GSM cell phones the best?

    Evan Platt wrote:
    > On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:44:32 +0900, David Van Cleef <[email protected]>
    > wrote:
    >
    >> Many modern CDMA phones are SIM-based. Both my cdma2000-1x phones (Hitachi W41H
    >> and Casio W41CA) are, and every new handset my carrier has introduced in the
    >> last year has been.

    >
    > I'm not finding much on either phone you mentioned, but I don't
    > believe those phones are CDMA.
    >
    > What is your carrier?


    They are indeed cdma2000-1x

    The carrier is Au.

    Both the phones I mentioned are already phased out (they rotate their handset
    models 2-3 times a year). The W41CA was an extremely popular model though and
    lasted a long time in their lineup, mainly due to its light weight IMHO.

    Here is their current list: http://www.au.kddi.com/english/product/index.html
    Of the 26 handsets listed there, 18 of them are SIM based, 1 of the remaining
    ones is a special model for roaming on cdmaOne networks, and the rest are either
    cost/function-reduced models for special purpose or will be phased out on the
    next handset rotation.



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