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I'm in the market for a good cell phone (need some fellow service member input)

D_mac05 said:
This is probably a threadjack, but what about deployment? What do people use when we deploy? I think I'm going to just cancel my cell service and rely on Phone Cards. The cost/minute on most international calling plans is outrageous for the Mid East / Italy / etc. Any suggestions? Deployment is coming up VERY quick...
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Who do you have your service through? If it's a GSM carrier like AT&T or T-Mobile, get it unlocked and then you can use prepaid SIM cards and not have to wait on morale lines or the ship-to-shore phones...
 
I currently have a contract with Verizon. I don't think they're GSM. You were talking about Ship-to-shore lines, but it's not like we can use the cell phone on the boat anyways. I was thinking more like in port.
 
D_mac05 said:
I currently have a contract with Verizon. I don't think they're GSM. You were talking about Ship-to-shore lines, but it's not like we can use the cell phone on the boat anyways. I was thinking more like in port.
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You're correct, Verizon isn't GSM - they're CDMA. Most of their phones won't work overseas, as almost the entire world (outside of the US) uses GSM primarily. You don't have to cancel your contract with Verizon, you can put it on hold while you're on deployment.

You're right about using the phone on the ship. The only time we were allowed to use phones on the big deck amphib during deployment was while we were in port. The USO usually brought cell phones on board for us to use, but alot of times I just let the young guys use them, because there was always a line. Here's something to consider - you can buy an unlocked GSM cell phone without a contract from TigerDirect for $50, then just use a prepaid SIM that you buy when you hit a port. If you do decide to go this way, your best bet is to buy one that uses the all the GSM bands (850/900/1800/1900). I don't know what the different countries are using, but if you've got one with all four it doesn't matter.

As for ship-to-shore phones, that's what you can use while underway. The AT&T ones are pricey $1/min and generally don't work with any phone cards other than the ones you buy in the ships store. The first thing I always did was find the location of the POTS lines throughout the ship, and figure out how to dial DSN. MCB Camp Lejeune has a DSN morale line that is an automated system that allows you to dial local & 800 numbers. I used a phone card from Walmart (I think it was 1000 minutes or something like that), and spent less money that way.
 
Thanks alot PhrogPilot. I'll consider buying a GSM phone (without a contract) and just get a SIM card oversees. One question though. When you buy a SIM card oversees, and dial "long distance" to the US, are the prepaid minutes what you paid for, or are they less because it's long distance? Thanks for the help.
 
D_mac05 said:
Thanks alot PhrogPilot. I'll consider buying a GSM phone (without a contract) and just get a SIM card oversees. One question though. When you buy a SIM card oversees, and dial "long distance" to the US, are the prepaid minutes what you paid for, or are they less because it's long distance? Thanks for the help.
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The prepaid minutes are air time. They are WAY more advanced than the US when it comes to cell phones, and I saw some prepaid cards that had special discounted rates on long distance coupled to the airtime. The guys that I knew that did it bought the cheapest SIM they could get, and then used an AT&T calling card with international access number - so they were making a local call using just airtime.
 
phrogpilot73 said:
The prepaid minutes are air time. They are WAY more advanced than the US when it comes to cell phones, and I saw some prepaid cards that had special discounted rates on long distance coupled to the airtime. The guys that I knew that did it bought the cheapest SIM they could get, and then used an AT&T calling card with international access number - so they were making a local call using just airtime.
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This is what I do in Bahrain and it works like a charm! $0.17 a minute to the US.
 
Dialing POTS from the boat still costs the gov't for INMARSAT/INTELSAT time plus ties up that particular dial-out code for any other phone capable of using it. Not exactly efficient...
 
*Thread resurrection*

Well I've been comfortable with my new phone and the payments for a good while until this morning. I got charged $322 for data per use. I called ATT and someone apparently thought it would be good for laughs to deactivate my unlimited data plan without my knowledge. I should expect a credit to my checking account in 5 business days because it is not like other payments aren't due on that account in that time. It wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't for the fact it happened before on the first billing cycle only I caught it before it went through. Happy Holidays from ATT :confused:
 
2nd Thread resurrection

The new iPhone software is going to be liquid sex. Push eMail, push contacts, calender events, Microsoft Exchange support.

Liquid Sex.
 
statesman said:
The new iPhone software is going to be liquid sex. Push eMail, push contacts, calender events, Microsoft Exchange support.

Liquid Sex.
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It's more than liquid sex! I just watched Apple's video (78 min) and I cannot believe what they're doing with the iPhone. Even now, anyone can write code and applications for the iPhone. The new software update will be in June and it will be astonishing.

Also, I think Skynet was just born....:eek:
 
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