USA networks

Orange

Going away for the summer so I was looking to buy a prepay phone in america.

Does anybody have any experience with American phone networks?

thanks

thenakedchef

Orange wrote:

Going away for the summer so I was looking to buy a prepay phone in america.

Does anybody have any experience with American phone networks?

thanks

you can pick up a phone on a payg for around $40 there isnt to many networks over there cingular,sprint and i thing horizon,the mobile phones over there leave a lot to be desired,i was over there a few weeks ago and the biggest thing to grace there networks was the motorola razor,according to a mate there about ten years behind us when it comes to mobile technology,

Cabaal

thenakedchef wrote:

you can pick up a phone on a payg for around $40 there isnt to many networks over there cingular,sprint and i thing horizon,the mobile phones over there leave a lot to be desired,i was over there a few weeks ago and the biggest thing to grace there networks was the motorola razor,according to a mate there about ten years behind us when it comes to mobile technology,

There a good bit behind alright, not exactly cutting edge tech when it comes to mobiles....even Ireland is doing better then them.
Also I think you'll find its called Verizon

thenakedchef

Cabaal wrote:

There a good bit behind alright, not exactly cutting edge tech when it comes to mobiles....even Ireland is doing better then them.
Also I think you'll find its called Verizon

now that i think of it verizon is the one,cheers cabaal

thenakedchef

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?navLevel=4&type=category&navHistory=cat00000%2Bcat06000%2Bpcmcat13900050012&id=pcmcat1200050009
check these out;)

Orange

thanks for the replies.

not too worried about the phone, once it calls and texts then i'm set, only going to have it for a few months.

any other information welcome

Cabaal

thenakedchef wrote:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?navLevel=4&type=category&navHistory=cat00000%2Bcat06000%2Bpcmcat13900050012&id=pcmcat1200050009
check these out;)

They sure do like Motorola don't they?

Larianne

The pre-pay phones are so expensive over there, not like the ready-to-go phones here. Most people over there have bill phones and certain minutes free. Text messages are much more expensive than here because well no-one texts over there!!! Be carefull with prepaid phones because as far as I can remember if someone phones you you use up credit/mintues. But if you're only there for a few months its the only way possible coz with a bill phone you need to pay a steep deposit and wont get that back if you brake your contract.

All the phone companys are rip-offs. I used Sprint when I was there and seemed to be the cheapest (I was bill phone though) but their customer service was Shiit!! Verizon is meant to be better for that...

Ruu_Old

Most of the pre paid ones offered are fairly crappy and wont last you very long at all. What do you want the phone for? Calling home or just to have a phone on you? If you just want to call home, get a prepaid calling card, the phone wont be any use to you when you leave (unless its triband)

thenakedchef

Ruu wrote:

Most of the pre paid ones offered are fairly crappy and wont last you very long at all. What do you want the phone for? Calling home or just to have a phone on you? If you just want to call home, get a prepaid calling card, the phone wont be any use to you when you leave (unless its triband)

true,also there are many cards for sale but i found "the eastern european"callcard the best,for $5 you get well over an hour to an irish landline

Orange

phone basically needed for keeping in touch with the friends i'm going with and people at home can contact me?

Will it cost anything to recieve calls from Ireland over there?

Our man in Havana

Yes, American mobiles charge you to receive calls as well, so answering calls eats up your minutes.

Sam Vimes

Orange wrote:

phone basically needed for keeping in touch with the friends i'm going with and people at home can contact me?

Will it cost anything to recieve calls from Ireland over there?

as far as i know, on an american network you pay whenever someone calls you. i don't think calling from ireland will cost any more though. you only pay a lot to receive when you're roaming with an irish sim abroad

Ruu_Old

You might just want to bring your irish phone on roaming there if you can. What i used to do is bring my O2 phone there, send texts to my parents in Ireland and it works to send texts to US mobiles also. Buying a phone there would be a waste of time in my opinion and not worth it.

You will get charged for incoming calls (US Cellular doesnt afaik) with most operators and it really eats into your minutes.

Random

Grab one of these - http://www.expansys.ie/product.asp?code=ACP-12-US - for your Nokia and buy a simpack over there. Might be the best idea?

Lump

Get yourself a Quad band XDA Mini Oh, they're about €400 in Ireland! Move to the UK, get one for £50.00, then move to america

John

Random

I'm missing the poor joke in this, right? The fact that a XDA is pointless in this case, the US is Triband and .. er ... I'll stop now.

crc

Last September I was in Upstate New York for six weeks. I bought a Ready to Go type SIM from T-Mobile for about $30 and put it into my (deblocked, triband) Irish phone. I put about $50 into it for credit and at the time I didn't think I was being charged to receive calls, but I wasn't really paying attention. In any case the $50 lasted me the whole time I was there. T-Mobile uses GSM (just like Europe) but many other networks don't. This was one of the main reasons I went for T, but GSM also meant that text messages worked just like at home. I used the mobile succesfully in NY, NJ, MD, DC, and VA, but when I went to Montreal for a few days I had to slip my Irish SIM back in. Coverage varies widely in the States, from completely non-existant in rural/semi-rural to very good in major urban areas. A major factor in which network to chose depends on where you are going. Hope this helps.

N90user

Virgin Mobile is popular over there too

Lump

ciaranfo wrote:

I'm missing the poor joke in this, right? The fact that a XDA is pointless in this case, the US is Triband and .. er ... I'll stop now.

What?

http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=139

Quad band works anywhere.

John

LegacyUser

Orange, here's the deal.

Most American networks do not use SIM cards, rather they actually program the handset with the phone number and info etc. As has been previously pointed out, cellular technology in the US is quite inferior to the European standards, the phones are outdated and the pricing is indicative of the fact that its not as heavily compeditive as Ireland for example.

The other key difference is that receiving calls are also charged. Almost every plan in the US is based on minutes, and for the most part their "day" (peak time) runs from 9am to 9pm, which is madness, unlike say o2, who have a 10am to 6pm "daytime"

If I were you I would get bring a tri/quad band phone with you, and get a SIM card from T-Mobile. They are the most popular network that use SIM, and if you're just going for a few months buying a handset is pointless as (a) it will be an old model, and (b) it is useless anywhere else apart from the US. You may also have to sign up to a contract if you're go with another network

bru

MiCr0

it depends on which state you are going to.

Most of the GSM based states seem to have handsets that are about 18months behind europe.
Having said that - they also have the likes of the SE k750i.

They seem to have imbraced wifi on mobiles instead of 3g - so you're more likely to find PDA type phones rather than the 3g ones.

All the gsm network will use sim card, so you can bring over your current handset (if its tri-band), and just get a replacement sim.
You get to keep all your numbers listed then.

If you are going to a cdma network - then it will be different, but most places have moved to gsm @ this stage.
I've yet to be in a US state with no GSM coverage (but i'm sure that there are).

The coverage over there isn't nearly as extensive as here - outside of the citys it really does drop calls often.
CINGULAR's motto is "Raising the Bar" - to try get get more and better coverage in areas - you only get 1/2/3 bars of coverage in most areas

Lump

Yea, I always wondered why in American TV shows the never have Coverage, I thought it was to add to the tension, but obviously it's actually the truth I'll be going to the states in about 3 years to work hopefully! This is all good stuff to know.

John

Random

@Lump
re: quad band
Sorry, I read that as if you were suggesting Quad Band as something that's required

Lump

No, I suggested that having the XDA, or another Quad band would mean you can use the phone anywhere

John

Sparky

When I was over I had my o2 phone, it locked onto T-mobile firstly, so having to ring home on that was with the +353 etc. But I got a sms from o2 telling me to manually select Cingular, which I found out to be AT&T. (As it said on my phone)
It was great, I didn't need to put prefixes in anymore.

But for the craic I got a Cingular "Go Phone" sim pack, only for US calls as it was cheaper than it with O2.
I only copped they charged for receiving calls when after every call you get a sms with the cost.

The woman told me anyway that they overcharge on "Go phones" as the majority of people go with bill plans. She also never heard of O2 and never knew there was a such thing as a .ie domain.