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Smartphone for travel

Howie Felterbush

Bow Tie Daddy
Howie Felterbush
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The missus and I are planning to go back to Ireland next spring. I would like to take along a smartphone to make calls, view maps, find lodging, etc. My current phone is so primitive, it doesn't even have a camera, so I need some advice.

My Googling on the subject has turned up an unfathomable (to me) word stew of "unlocked", "SIM card", "4G", jibber-jabber that is making my brain hurt.

Here's what I need to know (please be gentle, I really know nothing about this stuff. I have found the answers to most of the questions below, but am getting mixed messages about some things. Maybe one of you can clear it up for me.):

1: Can I get a phone from my own provider (US Cellular) over here (the US) that will work over there (Ireland)?
1a: If so, what model would be suitable?
2: Can I get a phone that will work with Wi-Fi in Ireland so I can avoid using the local cellular network and incurring data charges? (I want to use e-mail to check with the cat-sitter, etc.)
3: Do any phones allow you to store maps so they can be viewed "off-line" or without an Internet connection?
4: Is buying a prepaid SIM card the way to go, or should I try and use a VOIP for phone calls? (Most calls will be local.)
5: Is there a phone that can be used as a walking/driving GPS?

Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm not Rich Uncle Pennybags, so I would like an economical option, if one exists.

Thanks, phone gurus.:D
 
The least expensive option would be to rent a phone when you get to your destination. There are businesses that allow you to order them ahead of time then pick them up at the airport.

If cost were no option, you could just go with AT&T and eat the roaming charges.
 
AT&T has international packages. You can find out what those might cost before you plunk down. I use them when I go to Canada.
 
US Cellular is a CDMA network. Ireland presumably uses GSM (most of the world does; the US uses both). CDMA phones will not work on GSM networks. However, there are phones that have both CDMA and GSM radios. They are known as "world phones". After a quick search of the US Cellular website, I found two such phones, the Motorola Electrify, and the HTC Merge. Go with the Motorola one. It looks a lot better for only $50 more. I am thinking that if you had one of these phones, all you would need to do is buy a SIM card in Ireland and put it in the phone. But you should check with US Celluar. They may lock the phones or something.

ETA: There is also a Blackberry world phone. Blackberry is garbage though.
 
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Looks pretty good, Your Dark Lordship. From what I understand, the phone will probably be locked when purchased, but the provider should unlock it if you plan in using it overseas. If not, there seems to be ways to unlock them without going through "official" channels.

Thanks.
 
I cant speak for us cellular, but with att you just call before you go and buy the best roaming package. ATT will even let you prorate and only turn on for your travel dates. I go with a $5 - 50 txt pack, intl roaming, which reduces the per minute rates, then buy a realistic ddata roaming package. Just peek at your typical usage and buy what you think you will use. Note, unless youre using it at that moment, always turn off data while roaming. That way, no data charges unless you turn it back on to use internet or whatever.

Wifi will work the same, even if data roaming is turned off.

Someone here, not sure who, was singing the praises of a navigator that works offline. If you go android, I'd bet that there is one in the marketplace.

Also, yes, blackberry is crap. I'm finally switching to iphone after my third blackberry sucks.
Good luck!
 
I have an HTC Snap that they call a "World Phone", just pop in the SIM card while you're traveling and Bob's your uncle. I believe you can get them from Sprint in the US and they're cheap, you should be able to find on on Craig's List for $50.

eta: just read the Dark Lord's post, he's a wise man.
 
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carlitos said:
I cant speak for us cellular, but with att you just call before you go and buy the best roaming package. ATT will even let you prorate and only turn on for your travel dates. I go with a $5 - 50 txt pack, intl roaming, which reduces the per minute rates, then buy a realistic ddata roaming package. Just peek at your typical usage and buy what you think you will use. Note, unless youre using it at that moment, always turn off data while roaming. That way, no data charges unless you turn it back on to use internet or whatever.

Wifi will work the same, even if data roaming is turned off.

Someone here, not sure who, was singing the praises of a navigator that works offline. If you go android, I'd bet that there is one in the marketplace.

Also, yes, blackberry is crap. I'm finally switching to iphone after my third blackberry sucks.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

I looked at Android's navigator; it's North America only, but the Android phone offered by US Cellular does come pre-loaded with Google Maps, and a map is good enough for me.

Furcifer said:
I have an HTC Snap that they call a "World Phone", just pop in the SIM card while you're traveling and Bob's your uncle. I believe you can get them from Sprint in the US and they're cheap, you should be able to find on on Craig's List for $50.

eta: just read the Dark Lord's post, he's a wise man.
Click to expand...

Why does everyone hate Blackberries? Is it because Obama has one? ;)
 
Howie Felterbush said:
Why does everyone hate Blackberries? Is it because Obama has one? ;)
Click to expand...

Get your google on and search for terms like "two drunk rim execs disrupt flight" or maybe "four day outage has blackberry users fuming." That sort of thing. I have the torch and i hate the device. I have to pop the battery out to reset it at least twice a week. I actually liked the old blackberry worldphone.

And it was clinton that first made the bberry famous, in that election movie with james carville. :)
 
Howie Felterbush said:
I looked at Android's navigator; it's North America only, but the Android phone offered by US Cellular does come pre-loaded with Google Maps, and a map is good enough for me.
Click to expand...
Chances are that that is just the standard Google Maps you see in your browser. More precisely, it only works if you have a data connection, as all the map lookup is done on the Google servers: all mapping/navigation is done through the data connection (either WiFi or your cell data plan).

There are full blown GPS applications for Android, but they're not free. I can't find prices off hand, but they should be less than a full-blown GPS, of course.

Google Maps (or, more specifically, Google Nav) will continue to direct you if you loose (or disconnect) your data connection. I don't know what it does, though, if you go off the planned route; it probably gives up, since it can't re-calculate without the full map data, which requires a data connection.

ETA: Found an app that has maps for off-line use: http://www.copilotlive.com/us/ Prices seem to be around CA$20 for North America, CA$40 for UK/Ireland, and CA$54 for Europe.
No idea how good it is, though.

Also, all of the GPS navigation for smart phones, whether or not they use a data connection (like Google Nav) or not (like CoPilot) are at the mercy of the phone's GPS receiver. Some phones have good ones, some have horrible ones. Check reviews before you buy.
 
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Howie Felterbush said:
Why does everyone hate Blackberries? Is it because Obama has one? ;)
Click to expand...

I'm just finishing up a 3 year contract so it's a little old, but at the time Blackberry only offered 1 phone with wifi, which wasn't an option but a necessity for me because I use mine as a router (I've got an unlimited data plan so I guess I'm a hot spot, I don't password protect it). It wasn't a World Phone and it was more expensive for essentially the same thing.
I pump 100Gb a month through my phone and it's been relatively stable, only crashed once (probably because of an unauthorized patch) . While I do complain about HTC not supporting the phone I really shouldn't. My micro USB is starting to fail but other than that I've lost it, dropped it, and submerged it to no ill effect.
 
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