phones in europe

Hi,

1. is it possible unlock a motorola e815 and use it on vodafone or other european carriers? This is what I'm using right now on Verizon, but I could potentially take a v710, t720, t730c, all of which I have (motorola). Will any of these work?

2. The phone is not GSM, but CDMA and I hear people wanting to use GSM alot..? Is this because they only support GSM there? If not what phones can be used and what do you all recommend?

3. Even if I have to get a new phone is there a point to unlock etc.?

4. I will be staying for a year, mostly in london. I may travel around europe a bit. Should I use vodafone?

5. If I find a GSM phone before I sign up for service (and so I don't need to get a free phone when I sign up for service) will I get money back instead of a phone?

Thanks,
v710k

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Dear v710K
Here is an initial set of responses I hope this helps

Originally Posted by v710k

Hi,

1. is it possible unlock a motorola e815 and use it on vodafone or other european carriers? This is what I'm using right now on Verizon, but I could potentially take a v710, t720, t730c, all of which I have (motorola). Will any of these work?

This from mobilepedia - Sporting a more responsive OS compared the V710, the Motorola E815 features dual-band frequencies (800 / 1900 CDMA), making it compatible with only Verizon Wireless. Unfortunately the Motorola E815 is all digital, so consumers who rely heavily on analog should be weary.
I do not know the other models you describe however I would assume that you need to have a phone that is triband under GSM, the same way as I would if I was going to the states however you would need to know that your provider either has aroaming deal with providers here or you need to connect up independantly

Originally Posted by v710k

2. The phone is not GSM, but CDMA and I hear people wanting to use GSM alot..? Is this because they only support GSM there? If not what phones can be used and what do you all recommend?

There are whole host of phones, I couldn't recommend however it is worth looking at a site called carphonewarehose.com which will show range of phones available here

I don't see anything about CDMA so far but I would like to know if there are any people out there who are wiser

Originally Posted by v710k

3. Even if I have to get a new phone is there a point to unlock etc.?

Don't know

Originally Posted by v710k

4. I will be staying for a year, mostly in london. I may travel around europe a bit. Should I use vodafone?

It will take some investigation you maybe better taking a twelve moneth contract here and having a free triband phone which you could take back and possibly sell in US. It would depend on likely useage, volume of calls the permutations go on and on

Originally Posted by v710k

5. If I find a GSM phone before I sign up for service (and so I don't need to get a free phone when I sign up for service) will I get money back instead of a phone?

not heard of it being done, you would just get the SIM card which GSM phones use, but in this rapidly changing deal making market it would not harm to ask here

Dear V710c
Another more definative info which cames from ukstudentlife.com

Will the mobile telephone work in the UK and in other countries?
Two UK mobile phone networks (T-Mobile and Orange) use a standard known as GSM1800. This uses a frequency of about 1800MHz.
Two UK mobile phone networks (O2 and Vodafone) use a standard known as GSM900. This uses a frequency of about 900MHz.

If you have a phone from your own country which uses GSM1800 or GSM900 it should be possible to bring it with you and to insert a SIM card for a network that uses the same standard, although you may need to pay for the phone to be "unlocked" before it will accept the new SIM card.

If your phone is dual band, it will normally work at either 1800MHz or 900MHz.
If it is tri-band, it will work at 1800MHz, 900MHz or 1900MHz.
A quad-band phone should work at 1800MHz, 900MHz, 1900MHz or 850MHz.

To check which countries use which GSM standards, see: http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml.

You need a 3G phone to use 3's network
.
Note that many US phones use CDMA networks: these are not compatible with GSM or 3G networks used in the UK.

so if any of the phones you mentioned have the necessary you may be able to just pick up a pay as you go sim card here and avoid contract etc but if likely usuage is going to above £15 - £20 a contarct if possible is the way to go and again the free phone can be sold after you leave

Here in Good Ole Europe we use the 850/1900 dual band along with 2100 WCDMA 3G band.
A CDMA won't work over here and I don't think our GSM phones or WCDMA phone will work over at your place.

Here in Good Ole Europe we use the 850/1900 dual band along with 2100 WCDMA 3G band.
A CDMA won't work over here and I don't think our GSM phones or WCDMA phone will work over at your place.

yes sadly 3G-esque tech. uses diff. freqs. worldwide..

Actually, the European standard is 900-1800, GSM

Wow - almost 2 years ago.

But yes, europe uses (AND HAS ALWAYS USED) 900-1800Mhz GSM Bands.

I have no idea why I put 850-1900 :S I apologise.

We do use 2100MHz for 3G though.

Just get a phone you can keep that will work in Europe, seperate from your regular phone. There are smaller specialist companies that will do this, for a lot better price than the Vodafones and T Mobiles of the world!

I got my Cingular RazrV3 unlocked for the purpose of using it in Europe. I know I can now just go into the corner store and get a prepaid sim card on Orange or Primus or one of those. My question is whether I will be able to use the GPRS in Europe with one of those cards to surf as I can use webmail to do my email stuff ...what's the use for that in central Europe (France, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany) area?