willzzz88

Absolute cheapest way if you have tech. skills to get one subsidized from a carrier in the West and unlock it yourself so you can use it both (in GSM mode if it has both).

Other way is to buy it online locally and get a 900/1800 phone (absolute cheapest) 2G GSM phone or quad-band phone and you can use it in the US/Canada/Americas upon insertion of a AT&T/T-Mobile SIM card.

If you want 3G (UMTS/HSPA+) you want 2100MHz abroad and 850/1900 added for Americas and 900 added for similar to Americas (Europe) for in-building low-band coverage.

dtsm

Will is right, best bet is craigslist or eBay for a quad-band or 3G phone, many can be had for under $100 delivered. Make sure it's unlocked and you're good to go....

noobflyer

Depends what you're looking for. A quad band phone will work in the US as well as Asia. But 3G is different depending on where you are (same in Thailand as in the US, but different in Europe). So if you expect to use data on it, you need to research which bands it offers and which bands you'd need at home. That's where phones differ a lot, and quad-band doesn't tell the whole story.

Also, look out for copy phones. I was looking for a Nokia N8 in Thailand, and they had loads of them, cheaply. I played around with one. It looked identical to an N8, until you realized it had a resistive screen and crap camera. Loads of Iphone copy phones too. They run Windows CE!!!! I think there's an Iphone lookalike running Android that's probably out now too..

SuzainSmith1984

You can prefer both palce,actually now all phone are avilavle online,so it is not a issue where to bye phone .you can bye from any online shop.
Before this you have to care of some points:
• Check and cross check rates
• Read the policies and terms of the website
• Prefer cash on delivery

http://www.shopbychoice.com/mobile-phones

http://www.ebay.com/electronics/cell-phone-pda

http://www.amazon.com/cell-phones-se...ode=2335752011