Advice for Rugged, Quadband Phone

D

dreamwoman

New member
Hello,

I apologize if I don't know too much about this stuff. I suppose that's why I'm here. Anyways, I'm a photojournalist and I'll be heading overseas for several months to Europe, Middle East and Asia. Currently in the US I have Cingular (it was ATT). My phone here has worked fine for 3 years now, but I'm unsure if it will work with SIM cards that I will be buying overseas. As such, I'm looking for a new phone.

Pretty much I just need a rugged, durable phone that will work here in the USA on Cingular's network (is that GSM 850, I think??) as well as in country overseas. I've checked on all my destinations and they use GSM 900 and 1800. So I'm guessing I need a "quad band" phone? Right now I've got this Nokia (6800 maybe?) that has a fancy keyboard for text messaging. I don't need all the whiz bang features like that, just something usable. Also, I don't want the phone to be too flashy since it may be a target in some of the places I work. I'd like to avoid attracting any unwanted attention.

Thanks for all the help.

Mike
 
If I'm not mistaken, your current phone is a dual band 850/1900 for use in the USA only.

I'd have to say that Nokias are probably some of the most rugged phones out there, but only the newest ones like the $400+ Nokia 6270 are quad-band.

Probably the best way to go incognito is to buy a simple Nokia 900/1800 dual band phone overseas, like an unlocked Nokia 1100 or 1600. Easy to find chargers/batteries/etc for phones like these and they're less likely targets for thieves.
 
I agree with quadrun1. If for some reason you really want to have one phone only, go with one of the guadbands or a European tri-band (that has the 1900 but not the 850 band--depending on where in US you are you may make do with the 1900). A lot of Motos are quadband and are pretty durable. My wife has travelled through Asia with her V400 and it works like new. But unless you are really going to some rough spots, durability may be less of an issue than you think. I used a Siemens S40 (tri-band, not quad band) bumming around West Africa (heat, dust, humidity, drops, you name it) with no problems with it at all, and it is a pretty bad, flimsy, phone.
 
MF44,

The first thing you want to do is get an unlocked GSM phone. That way you can use it with SIM cards from different vendors. If you go down to your local Cingular or T-Mobile store you will not be able to find them. You need to hunt them down on HoFo or other online sources. Having said that, if quadband is a must you are almost stuck with Motorola (there are a few exceptions). If you pull out the battery on your present phone you will find the model number on the label. If it is a 6800, you will need a new phone for overseas. If it is a 6820 it will only work on 1800 MHz networks and not 900MHz (provided you bought it from your local AT&T store).

Consider buying a Motorola C115 or another cheap dualband (900/1800) phone and throwing it away when you are done. If you want a quadband phone that you can use once you return, an unlocked Motorola E398 or ROKR will be reasonably priced. They also have good RF and battery life (and come with music playing capability).

Tango Uniform
 
Hi all,

Thanks for the help. I'm being to understand all this stuff now. Nick, I fell you're right that I don't need it as rugged as I think I do. My current phone I always thought was flimsy and it's lasted pretty long under a lot of abuse. I guess I just want to make sure I don't buy something that will fall apart on me, especially when I may be this to get in touch with my offices back in the USA.

I have been thinking that just buying a cheap tri or dual band phone might be the way to go, but I wanted to upgrade my current phone anyways, so if I can kill two birds with one stone, why not?

Tango Uniform, thanks for the suggestions. The "ROKR" looks intriguing, especially the iTunes thing. I've been looking and I've found many that are tri-band and only a few that are quad. How come this is so?

Also, this is probably a loaded question, but where's the best place to look for these unlocked phones? I've been looking at eBay, but don't know where else.

Thanks again.

Mike
 
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