U.K. and Ireland - "Throwaway" Cell Phone in UK

Anyone with experience using a throwaway cell phone in London? My Treo doesn't have GSM, and rental phones from my carrier (Sprint) are very pricey, even the per minute charge. I've seen some ideas on line about phones that can be purchased for cheap, which you load with minutes. Suggestions as to choice and where to buy appreciated.

We don't do throwaway phones in the UK - but most phone sellers will have one from about £10 upwards

For example have a look at the phones on www.argos.co.uk

Also have a look at http://shop.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go . They currently have phones starting at £14, including £10 of talk time.

Inexpensive PAYG phones are very handy, esp as they come loaded with a bit of pre-pay and are usually charged up and ready to use. I bought mine at a Virgin Megastore, now unfortunately renamed Zavvi, but still selling Virgin Mobile products.

My little Nokia is very bare-bones - you dial, you talk, you scram - but does what it needs to do for not very many pence. Needs to be used at least once every 365 days to keep the number active, so you can always lend it to a friend if not heading to England at least once a year.

Why not just get a UK SIM when you arrive? Providing you've unlocked your phone so you can use any network I would think this is the cheapest route - just get a prepay with as much cash as you want and stick it in the phone

Unless you want to keep your US number active here....but that can be mighty expensive

nickyboy

Why not just get a UK SIM when you arrive?

... because Sprint doesn't use GSM. They use a completely different technology (CDMA) that doesn't have a SIM slot in the phone and doesn't interoperate with British standard.

(In the US, AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM and Sprint and Verizon use CDMA. There are also a plethora of small carriers and MVNOs, but those are the four major networks.)

Personally, I have an AT&T phone over here and an Orange SIM that I stick in my phone when I go over there, but that's just me.