Buying whole prepaid phones?

[stan]

A new Motorola v195 is available on ebay for $70, shipping included. It's quadband, and the battery lasts forever. If you prefer dealing directly with Motorola,

http://tinyurl.com/2d6qkb


They're selling a similar phone, a v197, for $100 plus shipping.

[fiy123]

right now im looking at the Samsung SGH A437 for about 55 dollars

[Motel75]

Originally Posted by fiy123

right now im looking at the Samsung SGH A437 for about 55 dollars

You can get a prepaid one from AT&T (refurb) for $30. DealKing.com used to have a deal where it also had a $20 rebate, and possibly still does. The A437 is a good quad-band phone and can be unlocked easily in about five minutes for free.

[Bossman]

I second the Moto V195 listed for $39 at tmobile's. It's a very good basic phone. I bought 2 of them as backups about a year ago. Tmobile also unlocks them for free if you are a customer.

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/prepaid.aspx

[fiy123]

Yea if my guy doesnt come through with the Samsung im deff gonna look into dealking.com

I leave in less then a week so I cant wait on shipping

Thanks again for all the helpfull responses

[fiy123]

So ive been looking thru the ways to buy a SIM, and I wonder are they going to hassle me alot?

Ive just read some horror stories on the internet, is it really strict?

I have my passport, and my "fiscal code" that I obtained from that website, I will be arriving at Fiumicino airport, is there a phone store in the terminal?

from what ive read its 10 euro for the SIM and then you have to buy an additional card for minutes correct? is it a really time consuming process?

Thanks again guys

[snaimon]

A bit off topic.

[QUOTE=Bossman;20990]...Tmobile also unlocks them for free if you are a customer.

There are certain conditions to unlocking phones @ T-MO. Even if you have a postpaid account, you are limited to one unlock every 90 days, I believe.

With a prepaid account, you must have had the account for 90 days AND made a refill within 30 days.

T-MO has unlocked many a phone for me. Last phone I had unlocked was a Nokia from ATT for my son; postpaid there. Took longer than with T-MO, about 2 weeks.

Too bad you don't seem to have a friend, relative or colleague who might loan you out a suitable phone. We are still in CDMA-land here. Maybe that's why the dollar is so weak against the Euro!?

Best wishes!

Stan

[Bossman]

Actually, the only requirement is that you have an account in good standing for at least 90 days. My account with them is prepaid. I requested and received the unlock codes for my 2 V195 phones within 2 weeks of each other. My card has not been topped up within the last 10 months of making the request. I only top it up once a year since it's just a low-use backup .

[QUOTE=snaimon;20993]A bit off topic.

Originally Posted by Bossman

...Tmobile also unlocks them for free if you are a customer.

There are certain conditions to unlocking phones @ T-MO. Even if you have a postpaid account, you are limited to one unlock every 90 days, I believe.

With a prepaid account, you must have had the account for 90 days AND made a refill within 30 days.


Stan

[Effendi]

Originally Posted by fiy123

So ive been looking thru the ways to buy a SIM, and I wonder are they going to hassle me alot?

Ive just read some horror stories on the internet, is it really strict?

I have my passport, and my "fiscal code" that I obtained from that website, I will be arriving at Fiumicino airport, is there a phone store in the terminal?

from what ive read its 10 euro for the SIM and then you have to buy an additional card for minutes correct? is it a really time consuming process?

Thanks again guys

Don't worry, it's something very easy, expecially if the dealer speaks some English!
With the 10€ simcard there will be 5€ of preloaded credit. Of course if you want more you can buy a refill card, no problem, it's something very fast and straightforward. Credit is usually valid for 11/12 months after the recharge.
Consider that usually with TIM it takes a bit more to have it activated, while Wind usually works after 1/2 hours, Vodafone maybe even faster...

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by fiy123

Yea im specifically asking the stores that I ask if they are Quad Band, Im not going to buy a phone that I can only use overseas.

The unlocked GSM phone is a specialty item in the US. Except for electronics/camera stores in a few big cities you won't find them in most stores. You generally buy them from sellers on eBay, TigerDirect or the stores that advertise here or on HowardForums.

P.S. IMHO every international traveler should own an unlocked multi-band GSM phone, even if he uses CDMA (e.g. Verizon) at home.