New to Europe: Any Recommendations for Phone and SIM card service?

manil

Hey all,

I am living in Europe now for two years. Right now I am in Austria, and will be moving to Italy in 5 months, and Germany in one year.

I need a cell phone, and have been trying to do some research on the best options/solutions. Does anyone have any recommendations as to which SIM card and cell phone would be the most affordable (I am a graduate student

), or even if a contract would be better? I will be mostly calling Austria and the United States, and will text a lot.

Has anyone tried 3ReLoad? I have heard mixed reviews about them. I would have to buy a UMTS phone for that, but the cost per minute is great. Does it have good service/coverage? My roomate has Vectone, and it seems to be expensive.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Cheers,
Manil

P.S. My roomate is looking for a SIM card to call Ethiopia. He has Vectone, but has trouble connecting and it seems to be overcharging him. It should be 0.29 euro/min for the call then 0.19/min afterwards. Anyone know of a better service?

	(#1)
manil (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 28 Sep 2010 Location: Austria Country:	New to Europe: Any Recommendations for Phone and SIM card service? - 28-09-2010, 18:39 Hey all, I am living in Europe now for two years. Right now I am in Austria, and will be moving to Italy in 5 months, and Germany in one year. I need a cell phone, and have been trying to do some research on the best options/solutions. Does anyone have any recommendations as to which SIM card and cell phone would be the most affordable (I am a graduate student ), or even if a contract would be better? I will be mostly calling Austria and the United States, and will text a lot. Has anyone tried 3ReLoad? I have heard mixed reviews about them. I would have to buy a UMTS phone for that, but the cost per minute is great. Does it have good service/coverage? My roomate has Vectone, and it seems to be expensive. Thanks in advance for the advice. Cheers, Manil P.S. My roomate is looking for a SIM card to call Ethiopia. He has Vectone, but has trouble connecting and it seems to be overcharging him. It should be 0.29 euro/min for the call then 0.19/min afterwards. Anyone know of a better service?