cell phone technology and usage for the uninitiated: a plea for help

what kind of phone is it?

I am muchly tempted to grip my chest and fall over dead.

so: i have no cell phone and never wanted one. now am thinking i should get one for my trip. so it has to be one i can use in foreign countries. i want to get the kind that you can buy cards with minutes for in whatever country you're in and it will work.

BUT i have had my landline # for over 12 years and don't want to give it up. but my sublettor doesn't wanna pay for a landline he won't use. which is fair.

Hey, no sweat ... helps the day pass, y'know?

@catlady- what you want kind of exists, but it's enormously expensive.

You could get an unlocked gsm phone, and get prepaid cards for each country you visit, but this would mean a different local number every time, and would vary wildly in price from country to country, with some places requiring a minimum payment to start up a line/buy a sim card for that company.

What you want is a call forwarding service. or something like that. where you can pick up voicemail as you go and keep the same phone number. Most north american prepaid services can't roam outside of north america, too expensive, too hard to refill.

I'd say Sarah has the right idea ...

I'm pretty sure you can find an unlocked anything in Bangkok for about $50.

Anyway, MBK is the place to go for illicit electronics.

I thought the pre-paid card system in Nepal was the easiest thing.

I have to admit, Pussy Shoot Banana would be something I might drop some coin to see.

For the medical interest.

@madame: ah, yes, sim card is the term i've heard the europeans use...

hmmm...sounds like it's much harder than i was originally led to believe.

one night makes a hard man humble, you know. what about a hard man with $15 and a banana...?

Pussy Shoot Banana is like the Vaginal Olympics. It's like running a 9.9 100 meters.

It's not something you'd want to see everyday, but just to marvel at.

Art: That video would probably be about Phnom Penh nowadays.

Aartaud: Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, though.

Cat, it's just the video to the Murray Head song. Scout's honor.

oh yes we did...i'm afraid i am reviving that. it's hard not to hear those lyrics when talk of bangkok arises. which with me it does a lot lately.

*phew!*

Cat: How could anybody be leery after Pussy Shoot Banana enters a conversation?

leery is, i think, the perfect word.

catlady: MBK is 8 floors of shopping goodness in Bangkok. About 3 floors are electronics, pirated software, etc.
One floor is for food. Glorious food.

Gah, Pussy Shoot Banana, Palin Shoot Moose, rather.

It's really weird to watch Republicans at the RNC attempting to rock out to Sly Stone's "Everyday People".

Weird as in stop it.

that is a perfect band name, aartaud. (credit where it's due to art's folks band, of course)

um, DUH. no one seems to be able to call him anything but aartaud...

...this is the first time I've seen somebody refer to him as aartaud, hence my surprise. But I guess we run in different circles, you and I

street food is my middle name!

@j2: monopolistic bastages. forget that.

@scurv: well, i more often than not don't run at all these days. but soon enough we shall inhabit the same circle, the lovely bay area one.

so anyway, pussies shooting objects aside, my wish to keep my phone number with me while traveling is pretty much a no-go unless i suddenly become super-rich or something, right?

unless you have a dual sim card phone.. and those I have not played with

scurvy: Why are you relieved? Isn't the East Bay a wonderful place to live?

catlady: Yeah, I think that a single phone number might be tough.

single phone number might be doable if you can forward your number to all the new cell numbers you receive as you get new cards... or u can just get a calling card and check voicemails

This is for you.

http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/phonesignal.png

you could get a phone or an adapter to take 2 sim cards. basically it can have 2 numbers and 2 services. I don't think any real manufacturer made a proper dual sim phone for cheap. there are ones on ebay that are 100% chinese goods.. and those can be challenging to use.

maybe if i find anything more useful about the adapters i will chime in later on. The dual sim adapters are big but not sure if they worked.