Frank Clarke writes:

On Thu, 22 Aug 2013 09:36:40 +0200, "Tim C." wrote:


On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 16:20:10 -0400, Frank Clarke wrote in post :
m :

Is it possible to hit town (Paris, Vienna, Prague...), find a phone shoppe
easily, buy a cheap phone (40-50 Euros), load it with its brand-new SIM and get
talking?

In Vienna it'll be a doddle I bet.
As Martin said, you may have to activate it online, but they can do that in
the shop for you anyway. These often immigrant-run 2nd-hand-shops are all
over the place. If you're going to MariahilfeStrasse there will certainly
be some up the side streets if not directly on the street.

Beware although most do, not all SIMs will work with older phones. Do ask
before buying!

You could do worse than popping into an official 3, A1 or Tele-Ring shop
and ask them. They might have a good deal on some old-stock non-too-smart
phones in a package. I got one for my son recently for €50 including phone
and SIM with €10 credit.

Great! (What's 'doddle' mean?)

I originally said 'unlocked' because here in the States all phones are locked by
default and I know that's not conducive to swapping the SIM. If phones in
Europe are unlocked as a rule, then getting one there sounds better
and better.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that phones are unlocked by
default in Europe.

But there are people suggesting you just buy a cheap locked phone in
Country1, and then you use that locked phone roaming in countries 2,
3, etc.

My own experience is that in the US it is easy to:

(a) buy a cheap locked phone.
(b) get it unlocked cheaply.

But each time I've done this I've checked beforehand that there was
someone who seemed to be selling unlock services for that phone
cheaply.