Travel Technology - Is the Motorola C139 quad band?

Dont want to being up this closed thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=747609) about the C138 but I looked at the Motorola page and zoomed in on the cheapest phone, the C139.

If you look at the page (for product 93397XZXSA), it says For use on GSM 850/1900 networks. but when you click on the Full Specifications page, it says Bands
GSM 900/ 1800

I too don't want a repeat, but like with the 138 (and many other Motorola phones) there are TWO versions. One for EMEA that will do GSM 900 and 1800, and one for North America that does GSM 850 and 1900.

The ones sold here in the US by ATT/Cingular will ONLY do GSM 850/1900, but some stores sell imported ones (without any operator branding) that do the EMEA frequencies.

The 93397XZXSA is the 850/1900, the SE7082AB1U5 should be their 900/1800 version. It is most certainly NOT a quad or triband phone.

The 93397XZXSA is the 850/1900, the SE7082AB1U5 should be their 900/1800 version. It is most certainly NOT a quad or triband phone.

In that case, their website info is clearly wrong for the former.

In that case, their website info is clearly wrong.

Where did you find the incorrect information? (URL)?

Where did you find the incorrect information? (URL)?

I can't put the URL as it is a javascript page with no URL but just search for 93397XZXSA in the Motostore (http://store.motorola.com). Click on the $49.99 prepaid phone. It'll say "For use on GSM 850/1900 networks." on that page but "
GSM 900/ 1800" if you click on Full Specification. Same thing is you search for C139 and click on the unlocked phone. These two are the 93397XZXSA and 93390XZXSA. The 93391XZXSA shows the right info (claims 850/1900 only).

You can change the band of the C139, but it requires soldering, you could set it to 1800/850 if you really wanted to and you could have a C139 world phone!

But... I just bought a brand new Quadband Motorola L2 for $50 so it probably isn't worth the effort.

But if you really want to know how I can tell you,

The low end Motorola ODM phones made by Acer, Compal and other ODM's are new to North America and not sold in large numbers so there is alot of contradictory information out there.

They brought them to North America to compete against Nokia who controled the low-end GSM market with their dirt cheap GSM phones like the 3310 and 1100.

No, it certainly isn't worth mucking with it. Where did you get the L2 for $50?

London Drugs, It was Fido but I was able to unlock it myself.

I assume you are traveling to 900/1800-land and you want a phone that will work there. A quad-band certainly will, but unless you're a T-Mobile or AT&T subscriber, it won't work here - so a quad is a waste of money.

My recommendation to people traveling to Europe whose U.S. carrier uses CDMA technology is to get a two-band phone from an outlet like http://telestial.com and buy local SIMs upon arrival. If visiting only one country, an unadvertised special at a store like Virgin Mobile in the UK can sometimes cost less (I got a phone and £5 SIM for £20) - but these highly-subsidized entry-level phones are invariably carrier-locked, which is what you don't want if you're visiting more than one country.

Hell, some European prepaid carriers GLUE the sim into the phone!

London Drugs, It was Fido but I was able to unlock it myself.

Can you tell me how to do it? I'll look for one next time I see them on sale (just 7 minutes walk from home).