Using phones from another part of the world in North America

Everyone knows asia has some of the coolest phones available. I have an opportunity to get one and was wondering how well it would work here.

I guess the frequencies available here are 850mhz and 1900mhz. The phones I'm looking at are tri-band, but they support "EGSM 900, GSM 1800 and GSM 1900" networks, no 850mhz. A friend said that they'll work but the reception might be shotty in certain buildings and such.

How bad can this be? Should I just stay away from these 'cause it'll be too much of a hassle with reception at bars or at school or downtown among high-rises? Anyone here using a phone from elsewhere and what are your experiences so far?

Rogers use 850/1900 so you will get a better reception with 850/1900 phone than a 900/1900 phone. But that also depends on the phone as well, some models perform better than others. I have Samsung E316 with Rogers and Nokia 6020 with Fido and they both have 850/1900 and I can get a very good reception at home, use to be very bad before when I use 1900 only phone no matter what models. Now that Fido and Roger have merged, both my E316 and 6020 are basically very similar in performance and have a very good reception at home but my T310 (900/1800/1900) is still as bad. I will suggest you go for 850/1800/1900 triband or Quad band if you have to travel a lot.