Cell Phone iin Europe - help

We are going to France for a couple of weeks on October 9 and I am unsure about
what to do about a cell phone. I want to carry one because I have young
children at home and want them to be able to reach us, in case of emergency.
Should I get one there? Does anyone know what is a good one to use (rent?)and
under which plan? Is it very expensive?
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Bob

(Bobbiegib) staggered to the nearest keyboard and
wrote:


We are going to France for a couple of weeks on October 9 and I am unsure about
what to do about a cell phone. I want to carry one because I have young
children at home and want them to be able to reach us, in case of emergency.
Should I get one there? Does anyone know what is a good one to use (rent?)and
under which plan? Is it very expensive?
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Do not rent a cell phone. It is much more expensive than buying one,
even for short periods.

You're on a tight timeline. My suggestions:

If you want to buy a phone before you leave:

(1) Buy a tri-band GSM phone from http://www.1worldgift.com/ or better
yet call them and say you have a rush order. The Ericsson R50m is a
good choice. In any event be sure to choose an "unlocked" model.

(1-alternate) Go to a local vendor to buy your phone. Given your
tight schedule this is more certain than (1), but you'll probably pay
more for a phone that isn't as good. Again MAKE SURE THE PHONE YOU
BUY IS "UNLOCKED" or you won't be able to use it when you get to
Europe.

(2) When you get to France buy a SIM card for the phone. In most of
western Europe it seems like there are two cell phone vendors on every
block, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding one. If you want to
do some research ahead of time, go to http://www.prepaidgsm.tk/ and
click Europe on the left, then select France under the heading
"European Union" and browse the available carriers. The "Music
Universal Mobile" card seems like a good deal. You'll get your phone
number with the SIM card, then you can call home and tell them how to
reach you.

Alternately, you may want to wait until you get to France and buy a
phone there. An obvious advantage is that you know it will work in
France and someone will set it up for you. My experience is that
electronic goods generally are more expensive in Europe than in the
U.S. but I don't know whether that extends to cell phones.

In (all of?) Europe it's free to receive cell phone calls but your
caller will pay a premium. Be sure to check your phone plan before
leaving, or your kids could run up a big bill in a hurry.

By the way I think the term "cell phone" may be unique to North
America. In Britain it's called a "mobile", in Germany a "handy", and
so on.


--

hello,

you can buy a prepaid cell phone in any big supermarket in France.
If you dont buy the latest color type, this will cost you less then 100
Euros including
the SIM card

incoming calls will be free of charge for you (in France)

Information which dont matter in your case:

-The SIM card will be cancelled after a few months if you dont recharge
it periodically, so next time you are in France, you must buy a new one
or get it reactivated.

-the phone will be locked and probably not a tri-band, unlocked cost more,
or you let it get unlocked in the street.

-If you buy it in germany, its cheaper and better conditions, but then in
France, you will
pay for receiving calls ( Roaming ). I got my triband for 66 Euros,
including
15 Euros on the SIM, and it was unlocked, buts this was an exceptional buy
of a model which get obsolete.

Bobbiegib schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
...

We are going to France for a couple of weeks on October 9 and I am unsure
about
what to do about a cell phone. I want to carry one because I have young
children at home and want them to be able to reach us, in case of
emergency.
Should I get one there? Does anyone know what is a good one to use
(rent?)and
under which plan? Is it very expensive?
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Bob

I'm heading to Italy for Feb with no fixed itinerary and wanted one
for the same reason. I needed a new cell phone for home as well (my 4
year old one was big and clunky and pretty useless) , and purchased a
tri-band (an Ericsson) from telestial.com.....they ship unlocked, and
it arrived one day after I purchased it (can be done via phone or the
net). They set me up with T-Mobile for the states, and sent a SIM for
Italy as well, so I will be able to leave the number with family
before I go. When I get home I just put back in my USA SIM. They
also sent the charger, a converter for Europe, an earpiece, a manual,
some other accessories. Brand new still in its original packing box.

Before purchasing I did a lot of research, particularly reading
people's experience with renting and puchasing, and which companies
they used. There is a good section on cell phones at
www.ricksteves.com. From the main page choose the "Graffitti Wall,"
then click "cell phones" under "money/communication." Lots of people
have posted personal experiences, good and bad. I'd read through
those and see what fits your needs.

On 02 Oct 2003 02:40:16 GMT, (Bobbiegib) wrote:


We are going to France for a couple of weeks on October 9 and I am unsure about
what to do about a cell phone. I want to carry one because I have young
children at home and want them to be able to reach us, in case of emergency.
Should I get one there? Does anyone know what is a good one to use (rent?)and
under which plan? Is it very expensive?
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Bob

"trallala" wrote in message ...
hello,

you can buy a prepaid cell phone in any big supermarket in France.
If you dont buy the latest color type, this will cost you less then 100
Euros including
the SIM card

incoming calls will be free of charge for you (in France)

Information which dont matter in your case:

-The SIM card will be cancelled after a few months if you dont recharge
it periodically, so next time you are in France, you must buy a new one
or get it reactivated.

-the phone will be locked and probably not a tri-band, unlocked cost more,
or you let it get unlocked in the street.

-If you buy it in germany, its cheaper and better conditions,

But in Germany (offically at least) you cannot buy a cell phone unless
you have a residence permit. I'm sure someone said that it was
the same for France but I have no personal experience there.

Tim

but then in
France, you will
pay for receiving calls ( Roaming ). I got my triband for 66 Euros,
including
15 Euros on the SIM, and it was unlocked, buts this was an exceptional buy
of a model which get obsolete.

Bobbiegib schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
...

We are going to France for a couple of weeks on October 9 and I am unsure
about
what to do about a cell phone. I want to carry one because I have young
children at home and want them to be able to reach us, in case of
emergency.
Should I get one there? Does anyone know what is a good one to use
(rent?)and
under which plan? Is it very expensive?
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Bob

On 2/10/03 11:34 pm, in article , "tim"
wrote:


"trallala" wrote in message
...
hello,

you can buy a prepaid cell phone in any big supermarket in France.
If you dont buy the latest color type, this will cost you less then 100
Euros including
the SIM card

incoming calls will be free of charge for you (in France)

Information which dont matter in your case:

-The SIM card will be cancelled after a few months if you dont recharge
it periodically, so next time you are in France, you must buy a new one
or get it reactivated.

-the phone will be locked and probably not a tri-band, unlocked cost more,
or you let it get unlocked in the street.

-If you buy it in germany, its cheaper and better conditions,

But in Germany (offically at least) you cannot buy a cell phone unless
you have a residence permit. I'm sure someone said that it was
the same for France but I have no personal experience there.

Tim

I've recently bought 2 SIMs in France (Orange Mobicarte) - one in Phone
House and one in Darty. I told them my address, but they didn't check it, so
it could have been made up. They asked to see my passport (in fact I had to
show it three times in Darty), but not a residence permit.

J.

in article , Bobbiegib at
wrote on 10/02/2003 3:40 AM:


We are going to France for a couple of weeks on October 9 and I am unsure
about
what to do about a cell phone. I want to carry one because I have young
children at home and want them to be able to reach us, in case of emergency.
Should I get one there? Does anyone know what is a good one to use (rent?)and
under which plan? Is it very expensive?
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Bob

I'm assuming you're in the U.S.

If you've bought your cell phone within the past year or two, you may just
find that you don't need a new one. We have no trouble, . . aside from
deciphering the manual's directions, . . in making a little adjustment to
the phone and using it wherever we are in Europe or the U.S.

If, however, it doesn't work, it's not a problem to just buy a cheap cell
("mobile" they're called in Europe and Britain), and then just get a card
that will enable you to pay-as-you-go. If just used for emergencies, a few
bucks oughta handle a trip of 2-3 weeks. You'll find that cell phones are
more in evidence in Europe and Britain than in the U.S.

HH

But in Germany (offically at least) you cannot buy a cell phone unless
you have a residence permit. I'm sure someone said that it was
the same for France but I have no personal experience there.

Never heared of that. You just need an address of a person who is
"responsible" because they dont like anonymous phones.
I should suffice to show your US Passport.

but then in France, you will pay for receiving calls ( Roaming ).
I got my triband for 66 Euros, including
Buy a cheap UNLOCKED triband of dualband Europe (900 and 1800)
at ebay. Should be available for say 50 bucks.

Wolfgang

le Fri, 10 Oct 2003 21:45:29 +0200, dans l'article , Wolfgang Barth a dit ...

But in Germany (offically at least) you cannot buy a cell phone unless
you have a residence permit. I'm sure someone said that it was
the same for France but I have no personal experience there.

Never heared of that. You just need an address of a person who is
"responsible" because they dont like anonymous phones.
I should suffice to show your US Passport.

ID is required when buying a 'pay-as-you-go' phone, since a decree of 1997.


--
Desmond Coughlan |desmond [at] zeouane [dot] org
http://www.zeouane.org/

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 21:57:08 +0200, Desmond Coughlan
wrote:

But in Germany (offically at least) you cannot buy a cell phone unless
you have a residence permit. I'm sure someone said that it was
the same for France but I have no personal experience there.

Never heared of that. You just need an address of a person who is
"responsible" because they dont like anonymous phones.
I should suffice to show your US Passport.

ID is required when buying a 'pay-as-you-go' phone, since a decree of 1997.

As far as I know a US Passport is also an ID. Or do you refer to an ID
being a local ID card?

Wolfgang