Specs For A Phone That Will Work In Chiang Mai?

[jsflynn603]

In the USA I have a Sprint that I'm quite happy with. But things are quite different here than in Thailand. I pay a fixed price every month that I find quite reasonable but it has no space for a Sim card, and I don't believe it is a Quad band, therefore I might as well leave it home.

I asked a friend how much would a used (a good working but older model) or renovated phone would cost. She told me that I did not want to buy a renovated or used phone but rather pay 3000 baht for a new one.

3k baht for a phone that I'll use for a few months? No thanks. I could care less about apps or Androids or Iphones, or "look" and "flash appeal" and just want a phone to call rental agents and friends.

Sometimes I see Quad band phones here on sale very cheaply (~600 baht/$20US) that have Sim card slots. But once I purchased one of these for a friend in the Philippines and was told that it did not work. Apparently there was some difference so that only one or two bars showed, when everyone else's bars showed 5 bars.

Can someone please tell me what the specs are so that I can buy a phone here in the US and then buy a Sim card and load it in Thailand.

It seems that all quad-band phones are not equal.

Any suggestions would be helpful, thank you,

[CMSteve]

Bought a cheapy phone for the mom-in-law last night. No bells and whistles, just makes and takes calls. Tesco - 600B

[prism]

Any unlocked GSM phone that uses the 900 Mhz band will be fine. Your reception issues in the Philippines was probably more the carriers fault then the phone.

My advise:

Since you have to buy a Simcard, buy the phone over here. It's a phone shoppers paradise here, cellphone are sold everywhere. Unlocked phones are expensive in the U.S. My preference for a basic phone is any Nokia brand and they can be had for as low as 600 baht. It'll work everywhere in the world and you'll have a travel phone to start your Simcard collection. .

Edited October 14, 2010 by prism