Travel Technology - Which Tri-band phone to get?

I am looking to get a new unlocked GSM tri-band phone (probably on eBay) and would like some suggestions on what to get. I am looking for something cheap as it will only be used while in Europe ( under $100 ), with decent battery life and reception, and preferably (not required) a flip phone.

Color screen and a camera would all be nice to have, but a secondary to the above.

I've recently bought an Ericson T39, but it died two weeks after arrival, so I would prefer to avoid that model .

Any suggestions? I am currently looking at Motorola V66 and Siemens CF62 as some potential ones.

You'll get as many answers as there are people on this one. For my money (circa $50), the Sony Ericsson T68 has worked great for me. Color screen, no flip, no camera but heavy duty like none other I've had. I like mine so much I got my wife one too just for times we are overseas. You'll spend less on it now than ever as no one in the US buys this model. I have heard that the Sony Ericsson product made for the US is far inferior to those made for Europe/Asia. I've had no problems at all with mine (bought in Russia...made in ????) though many I know who use S/E in the U.S. have had many problems. For sturdiness, price, and features, it has been an easy decision (twice) for me...

Second the recommendation. I have an unlocked Sony T68i and have bought local SIM cards for use in a half dozen countries. Worked fine each place. No camera, no flip, but it works.

Since you only want a flip phone, I won't recommend what I use.

My suggestion is to find a phone you think will meet your needs and then ask people here for comments. I know many here have saved me from buying phones with cool features but really bad RF (which is important to me).

I have a Motorlola V180, and so I'd like to offer a bit of advice.

Verify (preferably before buying) that the charger that comes with your phone is dual voltage capable, or you'll also be shopping for a different charger before you go overseas. Can you believe that the charger for the Triband V180 "world phone" is 120V only?

I've tracked down some sources for a 120/240 charger for mine, but it will still be a few months before I go overseas with it.

I usually go through 2 phones a year, but last August found the perfect phone. Nokia 6230b. This phone is unbelievable, it works in places I have never been able to make calls from before because I had no bars. I use my phone all over NA and Europe. It also has bluetooth which makes it very easy transferring data and pictures/video.

I was using the Sony Ericsson T616 switched to the Motorola V60 last year and what a mistake. The V60 was the worst phone I have ever owned. I used it for about 2 months before I fell in love with the 6230b.

T68i serves this purpose well, and the battery life is GREAT, better than the others.

it is a bit dated, but with bluetooth, you can still use some of the nicer headsets.

for an all round, mostly europe phone, this one fits the bill.

for the US, I would go with a 616, or other, since they have 800mHz range, which is what many of the towers have moved to lately.
for europe, no problem though.

you can find these unlocked on ebay for bout 50-75US$

Alright, so it seems that T68 is the best bet. How is the reception and sound quality on T68? Also, what's the difference between T68 and T68i ?

I am a bit concerned by the reviews on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009PRZ6/qid=1110602053/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1_etk-phones/102-6504388-5992157?v=glance&s=wireless&n=301187) which seem to barely give the phone 2* out of 5.

Flip phone is plus, but not too important to me.

Sorry if OT but can anyone point me to a thread or website along the lines of "GSM phones for dummies?" We'll be doing a lot of overseas travel over the next few months - Europe, Oz, S Africa... and wondering if there's an inexpensive, very basic, phone that will be useful in as many of these places as possible. We're basically novices on mobile phones - use Verizon basic plan in the US, but I'm gathering that Verizon is not so hot in GSM-land. Thanks for any help and back to your program(me) in progress...

Alright, so it seems that T68 is the best bet. How is the reception and sound quality on T68? Also, what's the difference between T68 and T68i ?
Flip phone is plus, but not too important to me.

RF is pretty good and sound can be set to quite loud.

The difference between both is just the MMS client but the T68 could also be upgraded to a T68i so it is perfectly possible that any T68 you purchase is exactly the same.

Sorry if OT but can anyone point me to a thread or website along the lines of "GSM phones for dummies?" We'll be doing a lot of overseas travel over the next few months - Europe, Oz, S Africa... and wondering if there's an inexpensive, very basic, phone that will be useful in as many of these places as possible. We're basically novices on mobile phones - use Verizon basic plan in the US, but I'm gathering that Verizon is not so hot in GSM-land. Thanks for any help and back to your program(me) in progress...
Gardyloo, PM me if you have any questions. I've grown to love cell phone technology. I currently have a Sony Ericsson T630 (unlocked obviously), and it's more than sufficient for day-to-day usage. I'm just waiting for the Sony Ericsson Z800i when it comes out in July...ah...3G...(drool)...

Save yourself the trouble, get a Quad Band Phone.

The Moto V180 from ATTWS/Cingular is a Quad band phone.. and not hard to get unlocked I understand. Why limit yourself to a triband when in the USA/Canda/Mexico we use 1900/800-850 bands.... (ATTWS/Cingular, RogersCanada, TelCel-Mexico - 800-850 and 1900, TMobile - 1900) and in Latin/South American they use 1800/900 as well as in Europe 1900/some 900 and in Asia 900/ some 1800.

Some Quad band phones I can think of are the
Nokia 36XX line
Moto v600, v180
the new SE I cant think of the number,
and look on phonescoop.com for more...
pvt me if you need more help finding quad band phones.


-Vincent

Save yourself the trouble, get a Quad Band Phone.

The Moto V180 from ATTWS/Cingular is a Quad band phone.. and not hard to get unlocked I understand. Why limit yourself to a triband when in the USA/Canda/Mexico we use 1900/800-850 bands.... (ATTWS/Cingular, RogersCanada, TelCel-Mexico - 800-850 and 1900, TMobile - 1900) and in Latin/South American they use 1800/900 as well as in Europe 1900/some 900 and in Asia 900/ some 1800.

Some Quad band phones I can think of are the
Nokia 36XX line
Moto v600, v180
the new SE I cant think of the number,
and look on phonescoop.com for more...
pvt me if you need more help finding quad band phones.


-Vincent


Europe isn't 1900/some 900. It is almost 100% coverage on 900 and 90% coverage on 1800.

There is no quadband phone in the 36XX line of phones.

The V180 CAN be quad band, and it can also be triband, depending on the carrier configuration, same with the V600, T-mobile for example sells the V600 as a triband phone.

I don't know of a single quadband SonyEricsson phone, not in the current selection, and not in the recently announced selection...

I have the Sony Ericsson T616I from ATT and have enjoyed it throughout my travels across the US and Europe. I love the small pocket size and darn good reception.

I absolutely adore my Motorola MPx220. Quad-band, flip, color screen Smartphone. There's been complaints about volume on the phone (ie too quiet), but with the latest firmware I've had no such problems. Mine is currently locked to Cingular, but I plan on getting it unlocked in the near future (Cingular theoretically will do it on special request if you've had a paid account for 90 days).

It also has a camera, but I haven't done much with it as that's always seemed to be a useless feature to me. The cameras in phones aren't nearly as good as a real digital camera... (Admittedly I HAVE used the in-phone camera to take small snapshots for the Picture CallerID feature, though :) )

Ironically, while it's a great "world phone", I WON'T be able to use it in August when I go to Japan. Any suggestions on a good inexpensive 3G solution for the two weeks I'm in that country? ;)

Second the recommendation. I have an unlocked Sony T68i and have bought local SIM cards for use in a half dozen countries. Worked fine each place. No camera, no flip, but it works.

Question - what does "unlocked" refer to?

Also which carrier do you use? I bought a cheap (thank heavens) AT&T phone last year from AT&T and the airtime charges for calling US from Sweden were huge and it didn't even work in Schipol Airport. :(

Allanf, unlocked means that you can replace the SIM card in your phone with another SIM card that's not your carrier. Seeing that you're AT&T, when you put in a T-Mobile SIM into a locked phone, you can't use it. However, if it was unlocked, then you can use the T-Mobile on the AT&T phone. One of the reasons for it is protection of their phones - that is, they don't want people buying their phones and then jumping carriers because they have the latest phones since they are subsidized prices.

The problem is that the US Nokia 6230b sold through Cingular is 850/1800/1900, a big no-no when traveling abroad because you want. Also, is T-Mobile still running the promotion where you buy $50 of Prepaid airtime and they give you a free V180? Not all salespeople will honor this--anybody know if they are still doing this?The T68 is a good choice for rare use. While it doesn't get the best reception per se, GSM networks are so built out where we Flyertalkers go, (anywhere outside of the US) that it shouldn't be a huge problem.

Question - what does "unlocked" refer to?"Unlocked" means that you can put any carrier's SIM into the phone and have it work (as long as the carrier and the phone share an operating frequency). Most phones in the US are sold with a "subsidy lock" which makes the phone only function with a specific carrier's SIM.

T-Mobile phones are sold locked, but they will give a customer in good standing (of >3 months or so) a code that will remove the lock on that specific T-Mobile phone.

Costco sells unlocked phones - they will work with any carrier's SIM out of the box.

A bit late to the party, but I have a 68i that I use only out of the country, and it's never had any issues what so ever, it's always gotten through. I haven't tried it here since the Cingular/AT&T deal, that may be worth seeing if it could be my only phone.

Hmmmmm.

Though probably not just yet.

Ironically, while it's a great "world phone", I WON'T be able to use it in August when I go to Japan. Any suggestions on a good inexpensive 3G solution for the two weeks I'm in that country? ;)

I rented a phone before I left for my week stay in Tokyo. It certainly wasnt cheap but incoming calls were free.

Try www.howardforums.com Like FT for all things wireless.
Also, for GSM I love my Audiovox/HTC SPV500. Not a flip, but a great phone. For CDMA, I use an old Samsung A460. It is a flip, no frills, but after 3 yrs it still works fine.

FDuvall

Sorry if OT but can anyone point me to a thread or website along the lines of "GSM phones for dummies?" We'll be doing a lot of overseas travel over the next few months - Europe, Oz, S Africa... and wondering if there's an inexpensive, very basic, phone that will be useful in as many of these places as possible. We're basically novices on mobile phones - use Verizon basic plan in the US, but I'm gathering that Verizon is not so hot in GSM-land. Thanks for any help and back to your program(me) in progress...

Alright, so it seems that T68 is the best bet. How is the reception and sound quality on T68? Also, what's the difference between T68 and T68i ?

I am a bit concerned by the reviews on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009PRZ6/qid=1110602053/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1_etk-phones/102-6504388-5992157?v=glance&s=wireless&n=301187) which seem to barely give the phone 2* out of 5.

Flip phone is plus, but not too important to me.

this really was the BEST phone, if you get an older one, try to get it upgraded to the latest firmware, RB6 or something, it got a bit better RF then. Worldwide, this is not a problem, but in the USA better RF is always a blessing.

PM me if you get one that doesn't have it or isn't unlocked and I can flash it for you or unlock it for you in about two minutes.

I just sold my last one on ebay, otherwise i'd offer it to you.

And if you like the T68(i) but want somehting even smaller then consider the T39, my alltime favourite.

Considering you prefer a flip phone, I'd recommend the Motorola V60(g or gi). I've used them off and on for the last 3 years and I'm more than pleased with it. Some people have complaints with Motorola's GUI, but if you've used Motorola before, you'd be used to it.

i personally like Nokia phones. Great interface and easy to switch SIM cards without having to copy the phone numbers onto the actual phone. This is important for me since I like to keep separate phone books on different SIM cards. Try the Nokia 6100. Its an older phone, small, and light.