HELP! Not even close to a techie

[sasull]

I am going on a 8 month trip next year, all over South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. I am very confused on the wireless internet and phone issues, so any help provided would be excellent.

I am wondering which phone would be best for me. I will be calling back to CA a lot due to work.

I am also looking for wireless internet for my laptop as well, do you have a recommendation? Do I need a certian kind of wireless card?

sorry to be so dense.

[ShoresGuy]

If you're looking for a SIM card that'll allow you to roam with a cell phone (an unlocked quadband GSM handset with GSM 850/900/1800/1900 would be best since North/South America use all 4 bands and Europe/Asia use GSM 900/1800, Cingular and T-Mobile use GSM, CDMA is used by Verizon, Sprint and providers like Alltel or Cricket), then have a look at PrepaidGSM.net's Int'l prepaid SIM card page:

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html

Card Comparison Chart:
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/int/compare.html

If you're looking a quadband GSM phone, then make sure that's unlocked meaning that it'll take any GSM SIM card.

If you need access to W-LAN access points, then do a search here:

http://www.jiwire.com
http://www.jiwire.com/hotspot-hot-sp...m?country_id=1

Be sure to visit PrepaidGSM.net's forum since you might be able to get a better suggestion over from a few seasoned world travelers. I'm not sure if you'll find one single SIM card that would allow for cheap data roaming in every country you plan on visiting.

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum

If you want to access your e-mail without WLAN, then you definitely need some kind of data card (most likely a GPRS data card since CDMA networks aren't available in Europe, Africa or in most of Latin America).

Good Luck.....

[sasull]

THANK YOU! this gives me a great starting point.

[Scrumhalf]

What phone/service do you have now in the US? Depending on what you have, you may or may not need to buy another handset.

[sasull]

I have Verizon, and a LG-VX8000, but i dont think it has a sims card slot.

[Scrumhalf]

Yeah... then what you need to do is to purchase an unlocked quad band GSM phone. You can do that at ebay or any number of online retailers. Make sure it is unlocked and make sure it is quad band. This will set you back anywhere from $75-$200 depending on the model. The V551/V557 is a good phone that you should be able to get off ebay for less than $100. Of course if you want a RAZR or SLVR, be prepared to pay closer to $150-200.

Another thing to do is to ask your friends/acquaintances if they have recently switched from a GSM operator (Cingular/ATT, etc.) to Verizon or Sprint. I have done this at work myself and I am amazed how many people have old phones lying around at home that can be unlocked for about $25 and made serviceable. If you get your hands on such a phone, post the model # here or use the phone finder on phonescoop.com to determine if the phone is quad band (a must for international use).

[sasull]

Thank You!