[ba] Re: OT: cellphones in the US

[Arun Rao]

I'd love to see Tom again (and you, too, Steve, and other BA listers) 
-- it's been a long time. Say when and where, and I'll try my best to 
make it!

-Arun

On Apr 29, 2004, at 1:59 PM, Buchholz, Steven wrote:

> 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
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