My ancient cheap throwaway phone has died, it's time to throw it away. When I'm traveling I use mostly Skype for making calls. But I like to have a cell phone that I can carry with me, (a) to receive calls on and (b) to make a call or two while out and about, especially for information or reservations, etc. So I need a cheap GSM phone that I can toss a local SIM card into. Not looking to spend a lot of money, but I do want it to operate on 3 or 4 bands to get good world coverage. Once upon a time I'd use an Icelandic SIM and a callback service to get 8 or 9 cent calls in 60+ countries. Don't have a good world SIM that works quite as well as that, but then I'd often want to use it in Asia anyway and it wouldn't be as cheap in Thailand or Hong Kong so I'd need a local SIM. So while we're at it, any 'world' SIM suggestions appreciated, I could use a new one (most recently was using eKit). Thanks!
Under $100 on Ebay ,Samsung C3303 Quad-band Cell 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 Display: TFT resistive touchscreen, 256K colors (Type); 240x320 pixels, 2.4" (Size); TouchWiz Lite UI Alert Types: Vibration & MP3 ringtones Speakerphone w/ Stereo Speakers 3.5mm audio jack Phonebook: up to 1000 contacts, photocall Internal Memory: up to 30MB Expanded Memory (card slot): microSD (up to 8GB) Bluetooth v2.1 w/ A2DP microUSB v2.0 Camera: 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels Video: QCIF@15fps Messaging (subscription service may be required): SMS, MMS, Email Stereo FM radio; built-in antenna Social networking integration (subscription service may be required) MP3/WMA/eAAC+ player MP4/H.263 player Organizer Voice memo Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh Standby time: up to 666 hours Talk time: up to 12 hours
This unlocked LG Quad band is only $18.50 (all in) on eBay http://cgi.ebay.com/LG-CG225-GSM-UN...0675903020?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item415996662c
http://www.amazon.com/T200-Quad-Ban...TRNE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307284244&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/LG-CP150-Unlo...QQ/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1307284355&sr=8-11 But I really think you should post on your blog you need one then some corporation will send you a $500 phone for free with unlimited service
Personally, I would not buy a basic throwaway $20 phone anymore. If a second phone is needed (i.e., the US phone won't work for whatever reason), I'd buy an unlocked Android phone. Saw the Samsung Galaxy 5 recently for 99 Euros in a German electronics superstore; Amazon has it, too. Why? Because for insignificantly more money it offers a lot more options/features that are becoming more and more useful given the growing ubiquity of cheap cellular and WiFi data services. My current international travel phone is a two-year-old fairly compact Android phone I got for free from Google at their developer conference a few years back. It's very nice to have access to some basic apps, a decent keyboard for text messages, etc. If/when it dies or I really want a newer version of the Android OS, I will probably replace it with something similar.
Ever since my I got my Blackberry 8700g, I've been unable to go back to dumbphones(I had one for a week while I was waiting for a replacement phone to get to me and I wanted to die ). +1 sir.
Battery is OK if you don't keep apps running in the background and pulling (3G) data all the time. Meaning, you don't have to plug them in every night, but don't expect standby time of a week or longer. As to the recommendation for a new phone, check out some of the later Nokia phones (C2-01 or C3). Not exactly throw-away prices, but low enough for an unlocked phone, and wider connectivity options (3G and in some cases Wi-Fi) when you need it, ability to run apps, FM radio, a decent camera, and a good battery life due to smaller screen and low power CPU. Also note that many advanced phones sold on eBay at a significant discount and shipped from China are counterfeit (though some are very well done and hard to tell from the original).
You need to be carefull with these services when using a prepaid SIM card as the service charges can clear your credit. Case in point: Last year Vodafone Ireland charged 1 euro for the first 50MB of bandwith and then 1 euro for each additional MB. This may be fine for checking email once or twice a day, but open up a video file or go to Youtube and that will be the end of your service.
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