World Phones

My wife is going to England in the summer for vacation and instead of taking her smart phone, she wanted to buy a basic unlocked phone and use a prepaid SIM from a carrier over there. I know about world phones, but does anyone have a recommendation on which type to get? Will quad band be sufficient? She will just have it in case she needs to call me from there. No data or texting needed. Any SIM recommendations? Thanks in advance.

Just buy any cheap unlocked GSM flip phone...I think O2 and Vodafone are the major carriers in the UK.

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/pa.../index.htm

That's the plan, but I wanted to make sure that quad band phones are sufficient for this use. Not sure of the frequency used in the UK.

Quote from rangerlg : That's the plan, but I wanted to make sure that quad band phones are sufficient for this use. Not sure of the frequency used in the UK.

Just look at the Wikipedia page for whatever carrier you're going to use--the frequencies used will be listed.

Quote from rangerlg : That's the plan, but I wanted to make sure that quad band phones are sufficient for this use. Not sure of the frequency used in the UK.

Just buy the phone over in England, price will be about the same for a basic phone like this and that way you will make sure it will work. I have done this more than once in the past. Works well. I would also guess she will want text. International calling from cell phones is expensive and can be complicated. You will need to make sure the prepaid sim she buys supports it and she knows how. It's usually cheaper to use calling cards or something like skype.

Quote from LiquidRetro : Just buy the phone over in England, price will be about the same for a basic phone like this and that way you will make sure it will work. I have done this more than once in the past. Works well. I would also guess she will want text. International calling from cell phones is expensive and can be complicated. You will need to make sure the prepaid sim she buys supports it and she knows how. It's usually cheaper to use calling cards or something like skype.

Yep just buy it there. How long is she going for? If 3-4 weeks and you think she'll be calling you a reasonable amount then look at getting a lebara sim and this plan http://www.lebara.co.uk/unlimited#ul9_95 for unlimited calls to the US. UK calls will be 5p/min to landlines, 10p/min to mobiles. They sell devices for < US$25 - or she could just go to a carphonewarehouse [carphonewarehouse.com] store and probably get something even cheaper.

She's only going to be there for 10 days and she's not planning to call unless it is an emergency

Quote from rangerlg : She's only going to be there for 10 days and she's not planning to call unless it is an emergency

What smartphone/network does she have now? If you're on ATT/TMo then for 10 days it might not even be worth it to get something locally, just pay the roaming rates at $1.50/min

Even the cheapest phone + credit will run ~£15 ($25).
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/...nder-fiver

Quote from EyeBaller : What smartphone/network does she have now? If you're on ATT/TMo then for 10 days it might not even be worth it to get something locally, just pay the roaming rates at $1.50/min Even the cheapest phone + credit will run ~£15 ($25). http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/...nder-fiver

Kind of along the lines of what eyeballer said depending on the phone she has she might be able to use it over there. When my X went to Germany for the summer she just called verizon and they unlocked her phone for her so she could use a sim from over there.

On a side note: eyeballer I know you did a lot of work on the nookcolor rom, what do you think of ubuntu for phones?

Quote from mrbobhcrhs : Kind of along the lines of what eyeballer said depending on the phone she has she might be able to use it over there. When my X went to Germany for the summer she just called verizon and they unlocked her phone for her so she could use a sim from over there. On a side note: eyeballer I know you did a lot of work on the nookcolor rom, what do you think of ubuntu for phones?

Definitely OT but... I'm intrigued.. I'm hoping there will be good developer support, but their app market has a long road ahead. Shame I don't have a device to try it on, the images are due to drop today

We're currently on TMo, she has a factory unlocked iPhone. She just didn't want to take it over there and thought just a throwaway phone would be a better idea. No fear of losing it or it getting damaged when they are on tours.

Quote from rangerlg : We're currently on TMo, she has a factory unlocked iPhone. She just didn't want to take it over there and thought just a throwaway phone would be a better idea. No fear of losing it or it getting damaged when they are on tours.

I'm not sure why she'd lose it in England and not in the US... No real need to get a local sim/phone if her plan is not to need the phone anyway. Just take the phone and leave it on airplane mode unless a call needs to be made. This way she can also stay in touch with you/whoever easily via email/imessage when she can get a wifi signal too.

Quote from rangerlg : We're currently on TMo, she has a factory unlocked iPhone. She just didn't want to take it over there and thought just a throwaway phone would be a better idea. No fear of losing it or it getting damaged when they are on tours.

Her phone will work fine there on a foreign sim. Thats what I would do. Honestly if something happened where she needed to call abroad there are phones all over. If she doesnt want to take the iphone I don't think I would do anything

just get her to unlock her phone and leave sim at home,prepaid phones are cheap in ukf




http://www.ausbt.com.au/best-prep...ing-travel