Well, ScottC talked me into it. I've managed to track down a P800 handset and have bought it for a surprisingly low price -- £44.99 for the handset, although it did require connection to a heavy-usage tariff. No problem, my old tariff was hopelessly outdated and was costing me a fortune each month anyhow. The new tariff should save me at least 30% each month on my call charges. They tell me the phone is in stock and that I should have it in a day or two.

I've had to leave my beloved Orange network (who wouldn't offer the phone cheaper than £324 on an upgrade despite annual spend of over £2000 on call charges). They'll give me one FREE if I take out a new contract, but I can't keep my number. Could someone please explain the economics of this to me?

Very much looking forward to my new toy. Thanks to everyone here for their excellent advice!

On the subject of reality challenged phones on the Expansys web site, the Siemens SX1 looks like another viable option for me - a true Symbian smart phone as opposed to an organizer. My money is still on the P800 (contract up next month and I'll probably stick with Orange) now I've finally played with one http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

A call to Orange customer relations usually sorts this type of problem out by getting you through to someone with the authority to break the rules. My most recent (albeit old) information has them on 0800 079 2288.

thanks for the reply kanebear, i have been of the island for a few days, please let me know what you think of this model as i am comparing it to the nokia9290 for my som in law in vietnam. again, thanks, kend....

Who knows this stuff? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

Actually, I know kanebear to be the most informed guys on the planet when it comes to phones.

Anyway, its time for me too, to be getting a new GSM tri-band. My last one, bought in HK (where I had to get the 100-pg Adobe English version instruction booklet off the internet - grrrrr), sold as, supposedly, universally unlocked, did not work in Thailand.

Even though I had no problem in Europe and here in the States, Thailand had their own rules. I am planning to go back frequently to Thailand, and want my one phone to work everywhere, no matter where I may step off the plane.

Since I found similar prices in Thailand for comparable phones, I was wondering if anyone knows if it would work to buy a phone in Thailand and worry about getting it unlocked in Europe, and in the US, instead of buying one in the US or HK, and worrying about getting it unlocked, or whatever it is to get it to work, in Thailand.

My carrier here, Cingular (yes, I know, I'm exploring options as my contract has been up for a couple of months now and I have been rewarded with month-to-month access even though I still get all the deals), said unlocking my phone here is no big deal, and I don't think it would be a problem with my German cell company, T-Mobile, either.

Any experience or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanx http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

I assume the Thailand problem was 1-1/2 or more years ago?

Thailand used to identify all IMEI numbers attmpting to connect to the system with a local SIM card. If the IMEI was not registered, i.e., bought locally at an exorbitant price, it wouldn't work with a local SIM card.

I used to have my IMEI cloned for about US$5.00, but they could only do Motorola's at that time--not Nokias (little jab at the Motorola haters--I actually like them).

No need any more. The IMEI "lock" has been turned off so your tri-band phone will now work in Thailand with no problems.

I've tried for the past two years to get 3 of my Cingular Nokia phones unlocked by them so that I can use them on other networks in the US & Canada. I've called them over 20 times in the past two years and each time I get shuttled around and finally get to Tech Support. They take down all the phone details promising to get back in a few hours. They never have and so I finally gave up and purchased an unlocked phone. I too have been on a month to month basis for the last two years.

Yes, Cingular, aren't they lovely.

And especially their tech support. Yesterday, I couldn't open my voicemail because the prompt kept insisting that I wasn't hitting the pound sign after my password. I had someone else with Cingular try his phone and he had the same stupid, yet I will allow, unique problem.

At the end of November I left the country at the last minute, like decided in about an hour to leave. No one would know where I had gone, so I left a msg on my voicemail. Leave it to Cingular to, like the minute I crossed the border, replace my msg with one of their own which told callers I was no longer accepting calls! They put my own msg back on just before I returned 30 days later, but then, when I called to complain, insisted they had done nothing to my phone and I would have needed to call tech support while the phone was not working (like while I was out of the country at 50 cents a minute).

Even my mom, who along with one of my friends, used her frantic state to hone her detective skills and track me down, calling me in a foreign country at a number even I didn't know, while I was staying somewhere I wasn't even supposed to be, was willing to call suckie Cingular and she said she would give them a piece of her mind!

Hey! This is great news, like one less stress in the world. Thanks for this http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Go with the Siemens S55. Hands down the best Tri-band phone I have had and I have yet to have a problem with it. Loaded with features for the power user.

Avoid the SE T68i like the plague. I have had more problems with that phone than should be allowable. Good looking and great features but it sucks as a phone. The RF is the worst regardless of what country or network I was on. Calls were dropped and networks were hard to find. The software is buggy and the menu response is sluggish.

The SE P800 is a brick IMO. Nice features but it still has a ways to go.

Nokia 66's and 72's are solid phones but can't compete with the full featured S55

Well, I love my new P800 and am learning how to use it quickly -- it's pretty intuitive.

Only two complaints so far:

1) Outlook calendar syncronisation does not copy all-day events. I can't figure out how to change this.

2) Outlook contacts with just a company name are translated as firstname, lastname and listed accordingly. Hence "Inside Flyer" becomes "Flyer, Inside" in the listings -- meaning I can't find anything.

Otherwise, I couldn't be more happy with the phone. It is a little brick-like, but it replaces two devices and is far smaller than an Ipaq.