Mobile (cell) phone advice request (slightl OT)

Jul 31, 2010, 9:29 PM

Guys, need some advice on mobile phones, you call them cellphones. Do you have options like we have here, either contract or whatt we call 'pay as you go'? When I am over there I seem to spend a load of money on my cell as I have to dial out of the country to get back in.

Can I pick up a cheap cell in a mall or some place and just put some credit on it? I use mine a lot over there when calling clubs and more likely when I am texting or callng girls on their cell phones. Even whe they call me it costs me money. If I can get a cheap cell what can I expect to pay, $10-$20 or more? Over here they are less than $10 for a real cheap one.

Thanks

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samsung115 years ago

They have these pay as you go phones at Walmart. I don't know the price off hand though. The "pay as you" phones are sometimes called Prepaid phones here.

Also there is a program called Skype that might help you make international calls.

No contract, no credit check, refill minutes anytime 24/7. Here is a $24.99 Nokia 2720 refurbished GoPhone Package for $25 and it includes $25 airtime card in box. wireless.att.com

samsung115 years ago

You can try Walmart, or a corporate phone store like AT&T or Verizon although I think Walmart might be cheaper. Use the internet to find the best deals. Only problem with ordering over internet instead of mall would be shipping times.

SuperDude15 years ago

A lot of CVS or Wallgreen pharmacies sell pay as you go phones, with minutes loaded and activated for about $50.00

samsung115 years ago

I have also heard good things about Google Voice for cheaper international calling but I have not tried the program myself. google.com

racejeff15 years ago

I would say $20-30 plus airtime.

For Example - t-mobile.com

Tracfone might be cheaper with less service

londonguy15 years ago

Thanks fellas, appreciate that.

georgmicrodong15 years ago

I just saw a bin full of pay-as-you-go phones at Best Buy for 9.99. I'm sure that's unactivated, with no minutes, though. Still not a horrible deal.

As for the option of Google Voice, I'd suggest that only if you have an American cell phone, and if you're considering buying a "burn" phone anyway, the only advantage you'd get with GV would be all the screening features. Not insignificant, but probably not worth the extra trouble, since GV is somewhat less convenient if one doesn't have a smart phone like Android, iPhone or Blackberry, which has either a native or web app specifically for GV, or a readily available computer.

According to what I can tell, when you place and receive calls from and to your GV number, it's just like making a call from the States to Great Britain, i.e. at the international rate. Making calls from your home country to others is, in general, less expensive because you're not using your carrier's network to actually make the call. In your case, where you're traveling away from your home country, you are still making an international call, i.e. from your carrier in England to the U.S., to get to one of GV's numbers, so you aren't saving anything.

Now, getting Google Voice on your American carrier pay-as-you-go phone, in order to make cheap calls back to your friends and family in England might be a good idea.

londonguy15 years ago

Nice one GMD :-)

MisterGuy15 years ago

When I was over in Italy for a few weeks in 2005, all of the cars that we rented came with a prepaid European cell phone. All that was needed was to charge them up once we got over there, which we did in Rome's airport while we were waiting for a connecting flight. We were ready to go once we left the airport! The rental car places weren't anything exotic either.