[ba] Re: OT: cellphones in the US

[Buchholz, Steven]

Tom Nas is going to be here in a little more than a week to pick up his new
"classic" car ... I don't know what his schedule is going to be, but it
would be good to see if we can have a lunch or after work get together ... 

I don't know how many folks know Tom, I've known him for many years ... we
first met face to face on the slopes of Pikes Peak at AF97 ... while it will
be sad parting with the only new car I've ever purchased, it is great to
know that he'll be giving it better treatment than it has gotten in quite
some time ...

Funny though ... I thought that we were now using GSM phones here in the US
... perhaps at a different frequency though ... Bernard's idea of
effectively getting a disposable phone while you're here might be cheaper in
the long run ...

Steve B
San jose, Kaleefohnia (USA)
> 
> Your continental phone will likely not work here in the 
> states.  Europe 
> tends to be GSM, while the US is not.  I am sure your roaming 
> rates will 
> be way higher than a pre-paid local rate.  The issue will be 
> the cost of 
> the phone.  It will also be advantageous to have a US number 
> for your phone.
> 
> I have first hand experience with Verizon and AT&T.  Other 
> options are 
> Xingular and Sprint.
> 
> Both Verizon and AT&T offer pre-paid plans.  These should 
> work just fine 
> for you for a short term use.
> See:
> http://www.freeup.com/  for verizon wireless
> http://www.attwireless.com/personal/gophone/index.jhtml  for AT&T
> 
> I recently switched from AT&T to Verizon for my cell service, so even 
> though the AT&T site looks a lot better to me, I would steer you to 
> Verizon.  These pre-paid plans tend to be marketed toward kids :-)  
> Either carrier should do fine here on the US West Coast. 
> 
> My wife was already on Verizon, but we upgraded her phone, so 
> we had her 
> 2 yr old phone as a spare.  I hooked it up to Verizon Free-up 
> and got a 
> number and the phone working in 10 minutes at a Verizon 
> store.  If you 
> can wait to get a number until you get here, just walk into a 
> Verizon or 
> AT&T store and walk out with a month-to-month or pre-paid 
> phone.  If you 
> can scam a recent old phone from someone, you can use that, 
> but you need 
> a verizon phone for verizon and an AT&T phone for AT&T.
> 
> Our Free-up phone is charged with a $30 card which has a 60 day life, 
> but the unused $ roll over beyond the 60 days if you recharge with 
> another card.  I would assume one could recharge the phone $ with a 
> credit card.
> 
> I have my recently decommissioned AT&T cell phone here on my 
> desk with a 
> wall charger and a car charger.  If you were coming to 
> Seattle I would 
> just loan it to you for your trip and we could set it up with 
> AT&T gophone.
> 
> Why don't you, if you have not already done so, subscribe to the San 
> Francisco Bay Area (ba) Audi list, as I think I recall you are flying 
> into ba and driving south.  Ask if anyone there has a recently 
> decommissioned phone they can loan you.
> See:
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/ba-group
> 
> I've cc'ed the ba group in this reply.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Bernard Littau
> Woodinville, WA
> '88 5ktq
> 
> 
> 
> tnas at euronet.nl wrote:
> 
> >Hi all,
> >
> >Please reply privately, as this has nothing to do with Audis 
> in a direct way,,,
> >
> >Here in Holland, you can buy a cellphone with pre-paid call 
> tariff. You buy a phone for peanuts and 
> >you get a certain amount's worth of calls with it. When 
> you've used that up, you can upgrade the 
> >account by buying a new card and entering a code into the 
> phone. The provider relies on you 
> >upgrading your account regularly for the profit in this deal.
> >
> >Does this system also exist in the US, and what do phones 
> generally cost? For a CA trip, which 
> >phone networks are best? Or would it be a better idea to buy 
> a tri-band phone here and rely on my 
> >network's roaming service?
> >
> >TIA for your replies!
> >
> >Regards, Tom