Mobile Phone in the US (dunno if this goes here)

Going Demented

Does anyone know what mobile phone can be used in the United States to call and more important sent SMS messages back home whilst over there?

Also what adaptors are needed to change the plug type and the voltage when used in the US. (i.e. to use a hair dryer, straightners, charging mobile ect etc)

Thanks

seamus

You will need at least a triband phone.

America is still quite patchy in terms of GSM coverage, because as usual, they went off and did their own thing, and the superior GSM is still not as popular.

Unlike here in Europe, where we use the 900/1800 GSM bands, in the US they use the 1900 band, which is why you'll need a triband phone. You'll have to ring your provider to find out what the story is with SMS and calls from the US. For Vodafone, only post pay customers can roam in the US. RTG can't. The list of operators you can use with Vodafone;
Aerial / T-Mobile
AT&T Wireless
Bell South/Cingular Wireless
Nextel
Omnipoint/T-Mobil
Pacific Bell / Cingular Wireless
PCS One/T-Mobile
Powertel / T-Mobile
Voicestream/T-Mobile
You'll have to look at their websites to see where they give coverage.

If you're only going for a short holiday, it may be less trouble to leave the mobile behind, and go back to the archaic system of arranging a schedule . If you're going to work for a while, it'll probably be cheaper to get an instant messenger/pager thing, like you see them using in the Red Hot Chili Peppers video for 'By the Way'.

And the US is on 110V. You'll need a big heavy box thing to convert your voltages. If you're going for work, you'll more than likely be better off getting cheap versions of all the small electrical items you bring with you, when you get there.

jesus_thats_gre

Most of the mojor cities are covered.

www.gsmworld.com is a pretty good resource to get coverage info.

crowbar

some power packs support 110v out of the box and don't require a transformer, only a plug converter. eg. my laptop power pack and my phone charger. check the voltage rating information which is usually printed on the power pack somewhere, and use a transformer if in doubt.