hi all

im hoping for someone to clarify this for me, im living in japan now for a a while, probally less that i expect and was wondering if i get a cell phone, can i use it on my TMOBILE account back in the states? i know i couldnt bring my phone here and use it, but i thought it may be backwards compatible to an extent. any links,info, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

please forgive if i posted in wrong section.
thanks in advance

If you want to use your US T-Mobile number while you are staying in Japan, you should get in touch with T-Mobile in the US and ask them to provide you with the necessary handset and service to use your number during your time in Japan:

http://www.t-mobile.com/international/devices.asp

"T-Mobile offers international rental options for all sorts of needs and destinations—including trips to Japan or South Korea, where you’ll need a different type of phone. Wherever you go, you can still use your current phone number."

It will be much cheaper to get a phone from a Japanese provider - but it won't be your US number.

The short answer you would be no, you can't use 99% of the phones purchased in Japan anywhere else.

The long answer is that some Vodafone 3G models may work in some places, but you'll need to do a lot of homework and it's unlikely to be worth the effort.

There's fairly detailed info here: http://euc.jp/misc/cellphones.en.html

I've not tried it myself, but everything I've read says just buy an unlocked 3G phone and drop in the T-Mobile SIM and you'll be able to roam on Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo (at $1.99 a minute).

The short answer you would be no, you can't use 99% of the phones purchased in Japan anywhere else.

The long answer is that some Vodafone 3G models may work in some places, but you'll need to do a lot of homework and it's unlikely to be worth the effort.
Getting the Sharps unlocked to work elsewhere isn't too hard. Several people do it fairly cheaply. I had a 903 I used with tmobile. Then I sold it to pay for spring break.

OP, howardforums.com is probably one of the better places for cellphone related info.