2 Week Vacation in UK

[petkow]

For buying a handset, there's also a famous UK shop called Argos who are actually a catalog retailer. They have stores in several town centers. They always have really ridiculous offers on cheap phones. I just had a look and they have them starting at GBP4.99 at the moment:
Cheapest Mobile phones at Argos

[Malkav]

yeah...but sometimes they are always out of what ya want!

[MATHA531]

Do yourself a favor...I just did a quick ebay search and saw oodles of listings for phones (new ones at that) quad bands unlockedfor less than $50...choose any one you want (saw what seems a nice Sony Ericsson for $30, saw a Motorola for
$20)....if you want to then go to any of the web sites and have free sim cards delivered to your first hotel, that's easy enough or just order one of the sim cards I suggested...fort less than $30 you'll be all set and simply have to top up (a very very simple matter and indeed can be done at the airport upon arrival...just don't see why you would want to start up and have a phone waiting (if you order from one of the carriers, it will probably be locked anyway).....at these prices, how can you go wrong?

[LOTL]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

Do yourself a favor...I just did a quick ebay search and saw oodles of listings for phones (new ones at that) quad bands unlockedfor less than $50...choose any one you want (saw what seems a nice Sony Ericsson for $30, saw a Motorola for
$20)....if you want to then go to any of the web sites and have free sim cards delivered to your first hotel, that's easy enough or just order one of the sim cards I suggested...fort less than $30 you'll be all set and simply have to top up (a very very simple matter and indeed can be done at the airport upon arrival...just don't see why you would want to start up and have a phone waiting (if you order from one of the carriers, it will probably be locked anyway).....at these prices, how can you go wrong?

Matha thanks for the push, i think ill grab one of the Motorola V195 or V197 phones and decide on which one of the cards from Ebay that you suggested would work best.

Is there a difference in reliability/coverage between Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile? Or are they all about the same?

I should have known better than to post late last night after going out shopping for Tents, Backpacks, Sleeping Bags etc.

[MATHA531]

Originally Posted by LOTL

Matha thanks for the push, i think ill grab one of the Motorola V195 or V197 phones and decide on which one of the cards from Ebay that you suggested would work best.

Is there a difference in reliability/coverage between Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile? Or are they all about the same?

I should have known better than to post late last night after going out shopping for Tents, Backpacks, Sleeping Bags etc.

Probably not a big difference but I'm not familiar with the areas of England you will be in...certainly in the cities there shouldn't be much of a difference; that is where, as I said in my first response, we could use some help from our British colleagues here. From what I've heard and read previously, T Mobile is probably slightly behind tyhe others in coverage...you probably can't go wrong with either Vodafone or Orange; Orange sim cards require registration, not a big deal and can be done online before they assign you a number...so putting that all together leaves us probably with vodafone. As noted, you can get a plan with them with calls to the USA at 5p/minute....you have to do a little bit of homework and read up on their web site the text message you have to send to sign up for that plan but none of this should be a deal killer!

[Malkav]

If you want to call home a lot....try one of the mvno's like Lebara, Nomi, Lyca, Vectone i have some spare sims of each of these if you want...will swap 1 for 1...there numbers are already supplied on the sim

[LOTL]

Originally Posted by Malkav

If you want to call home a lot....try one of the mvno's like Lebara, Nomi, Lyca, Vectone i have some spare sims of each of these if you want...will swap 1 for 1...there numbers are already supplied on the sim

Malkav,
Whose network are Lebara, Nomi, Lyca, and Vectone on?
Would there be a prefix that i would have to enter prior to making calls if i went the MVNO route?
If i can do Vodafone for 5p to the USA, then i might forgo the middleman stuff and deal direct with Vodafone. For the amount that we would use the phone, im thinking the simpler we keep it the better.

So with that said. I looked at Vodafones website and came up with the following.
On the Vodafone Simply Pay as you go plan, calls cost 20p a minute and texts are 10p - to anyone, any time, anywhere in the UK.
They then mention that i would need to add the International Pay as you go perk by either calling 36888 from my mobile or text INTERNATIONAL to 2345.
They also offer a free SIM, but it appears it might only be for people from the UK or people with an existing number.

I see this happening in the following sequence.
1. Order the Motorola V197 and UK charger from Ebay.
2. Order the Vodafone SIM from Ebay (or possibly get a free one from Vodafone)
3. Upon arrival in the UK, top up my SIM at a yet to be determined location in Bristol. (airport should have a place im assuming?)
4. Once topped up, i can text INTERNATIONAL from my phone to get the 5p rate for calls to the US. (or is there a better way to do this?)

I couldnt find out what the cost would be for texts sent to the US, or what the rate would be for incoming calls or texts from the US.

[MATHA531]

Originally Posted by LOTL

Malkav,
Whose network are Lebara, Nomi, Lyca, and Vectone on?
Would there be a prefix that i would have to enter prior to making calls if i went the MVNO route?
If i can do Vodafone for 5p to the USA, then i might forgo the middleman stuff and deal direct with Vodafone. For the amount that we would use the phone, im thinking the simpler we keep it the better.

So with that said. I looked at Vodafones website and came up with the following.
On the Vodafone Simply Pay as you go plan, calls cost 20p a minute and texts are 10p - to anyone, any time, anywhere in the UK.
They then mention that i would need to add the International Pay as you go perk by either calling 36888 from my mobile or text INTERNATIONAL to 2345.
They also offer a free SIM, but it appears it might only be for people from the UK or people with an existing number.

I see this happening in the following sequence.
1. Order the Motorola V197 and UK charger from Ebay.
2. Order the Vodafone SIM from Ebay (or possibly get a free one from Vodafone)
3. Upon arrival in the UK, top up my SIM at a yet to be determined location in Bristol. (airport should have a place im assuming?)
4. Once topped up, i can text INTERNATIONAL from my phone to get the 5p rate for calls to the US. (or is there a better way to do this?)

I couldnt find out what the cost would be for texts sent to the US, or what the rate would be for incoming calls or texts from the US.

Incoming texts will be free...I think, but am not sure, outgoing texts while in the UK are 35p at most (although they might be less)...the vodafone sim card comes I believe with £1 of credit, enough to make the text message international to activate vodafone international with the low cost to the USA (I'm sure the price for texting to the USA is somewhere on the web site)....the vodafone sim card comes with a card the size of a credit card for topping up...pop into most any convenience store, drug store (boots, superdrug), grocery store (tesco, sainsbury), present the card and state boldly in your best American accent, "Please top up for 10 pounds (or whatever you wish, you can do as little as 5 pounds)"...the cashier runs the card through his terminal, you pluck down the 10 quid (or in many of the places whip out your US credit card which will work even though it doesn't have a chip and pin setup) and voila, done finished, topped up. Nothing could be simpler! (Without the swipe card, it's a tad more complicated, the cashier gives you a receipt with instructions and a 16 digit number, you follow the directions, enter the 16 digit number and you've topped up!)....the motorola probably comes with a dual voltage charger...all you will need is an adapter plug not a converter but check to see that it says input 110-240 volts; almost all do today but the motorola model has been around for a little while, not that that has anything to do with its ability to serve as a phone......

BTW they will post a free sim card to any UK address including your hotel but as you said you want to be all set up and if you wait you won't know your number in advance...it's probably worth the $5 or whatever it is just ot be able to tell people your number (it will be a UK cell phone number starting with 07,,,in giving people your number, they might not understand the system, tell them they will have to dial 011 44 7... omitting the lead zero...for you to call back to the USA on the phone you use the + key...on gsm phones the + serves in place of the international prefix so you would dial +1 212 555 1212 to call the number 1 212 555 1212 in the USA...you can call toll free numbers (800,866,877...) the same way but before the call is completed you will hear a pleasant enough female voice reminding you, "the number you have dialed is not toll free if called from outside the United States. If answered, you will be billed at international direct dial rates. If you do not wish to be charged, please hang up now." (I hate that announcement) but for 5p, it's no big deal. Incidentally, on many of these plans, you are charged by the second not rounded up to the next highest minute...don't know if this applies to the vodafone international plan ...I think that's it....your problem has been solverd expediteously eh.

Ah ha, found it for you...24p per text message to the USA, free to receive!

[LOTL]

U da man Matha531
Wait till they get a hold of my Boston accent!
Should i be reading something more into the "present the card and state boldly in your best American accent" comment?

[Malkav]

Originally Posted by LOTL

Malkav,
Whose network are Lebara, Nomi, Lyca, and Vectone on? Lebara is on Vodafone, Nomi is also Vodafone, Lyca is orange though newer sims allow roaming onto 02? and Vectone uses t-mobile.
Would there be a prefix that i would have to enter prior to making calls if i went the MVNO route?

No...direct dial/ text right from activation.

If i can do Vodafone for 5p to the USA, then i might forgo the middleman stuff and deal direct with Vodafone. For the amount that we would use the phone, im thinking the simpler we keep it the better.

So with that said. I looked at Vodafones website and came up with the following.
On the Vodafone Simply Pay as you go plan, calls cost 20p a minute and texts are 10p - to anyone, any time, anywhere in the UK.
They then mention that i would need to add the International Pay as you go perk by either calling 36888 from my mobile or text INTERNATIONAL to 2345.

yes you would need to go into a(pref) a vodafone shop and they will sort it for you and get you onto the right plan!
They also offer a free SIM, but it appears it might only be for people from the UK or people with an existing number.

I can supply you with one for a straight swap (ie one us pre pay sim for a UK pre pay sim) pm for details

I see this happening in the following sequence.
1. Order the Motorola V197 and UK charger from Ebay.
2. Order the Vodafone SIM from Ebay (or possibly get a free one from Vodafone)
3. Upon arrival in the UK, top up my SIM at a yet to be determined location in Bristol. (airport should have a place im assuming?)
4. Once topped up, i can text INTERNATIONAL from my phone to get the 5p rate for calls to the US. (or is there a better way to do this?)see above

I couldnt find out what the cost would be for texts sent to the US, or what the rate would be for incoming calls or texts from the US.

UK only chargest for outgoing text messages....(except certain shot code premium rate numbers...tv quizes etc)