Why be roundabout? Here's the URL for the users guides for the T200. (Dunno why there seem to be two versions of the guide.)

http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=us&...=ps1_1&pid=9975

They don't outright say you have to have the SIM in to charge the phone, but they show the SIM being put in place before the charging.

(As Stan says, though, nothing about how to get the cover off. They obviously assume that's easy! Ha! It looks like there's a latch button about 1/3 of the way down the back--the sliding cover Stan refers to.)

Good luck.

Marc

Again, many thanks for your helpful suggestions.
The reason I could not open the back panel was simple enough: I wasn't being forceful enough (I tend to go easy on new little plastic gadgets).
So I inserted the battery and charged it. I am able to turn on the phone but cannot do anything with it. It asks that I insert SIM, and since I have been advised to wait and buy one in France, I will have to wait and see if it works when we arrive there in 3 weeks.
Mich?le

Don't know much about the T200. IF it has 1900 band, see if you can find a friend, family member, colleague, etc who has GSM serice (T-MO, ATT/Cingular, for instance) and TRY to use their SIM card to make a test call to customer care (usaully 611).

I think you would be wise to TRY out the phone here.

Good luck.

Stan