tourist to the us

[fiNal]

Hey all :)

I'm going to explore the united states by car for two months. the car rental will cost me a fortune already, so i thought i could save some money with the right mobile network.

i first wanted to keep my swiss simcard, but even answering a call would cost me about 2$ per minute. So i guess the best thing would be to buy an american simcard. i suppose, a pre paid card would be the best thing. and i wanted to ask you guys for a recommendation.

there are a couple of things to consider: i own a Sony Ericsson V800 cellphone which supports GSM 900/1800/1900. So, however, it does *not* support your GSM 850 network.

also, i'm going to travel through the whole country. from east to west, from north to south. i'm going to be in deserts and other deserted places. so i need a good network coverage over the whole country.

thanks for your replys

fiNal

[Box215]

well youre gonna need an 850 phone to use on Cingular, which has the largest GSM network here. If you dont get an 850 phone, you should probably go with T-Mobile because you wont have to worry about not having 850, as all of their native coverage is 1900. But as i said before, Cingular has a larger network, but you will need to get an 850 to take advantage of it.

Btw, youll quickly realize that all of the country looks the same outside of major cities, but good luck and have fun!

[Iron Mike]

2 moths car rental?!? thats gonna set you back mucho dinero! but i quess it the only option. i suppose buying a car and getting insurance and all that would be way too difficult and too much hassle.

[Michael]

Btw, youll quickly realize that all of the country looks the same outside of major cities, but good luck and have fun!I'd suggest that you haven't been outside of your home area that much, then. You can find just about every kind of terrain in the US. Desert to forest, mountains to river deltas.

[jayesh]

well youre gonna need an 850 phone to use on Cingular, which has the largest GSM network here. If you dont get an 850 phone, you should probably go with T-Mobile because you wont have to worry about not having 850, as all of their native coverage is 1900. But as i said before, Cingular has a larger network, but you will need to get an 850 to take advantage of it.

Btw, youll quickly realize that all of the country looks the same outside of major cities, but good luck and have fun!

hmm i suggest you look at getting one of those real low cost nokia or se phones that you can toss after the two month time period. then you can use cingular.

last time my cousin was in the states she used t-mobile and found a lot of areas had bad coverage.
she later switched to verizon and found they had even coverage see...if there is some way you can get them as cdma has a lil better coverage from what i know.. * i may be entirely wrong *

enjoy your trip

[carcomptoy]

I'd suggest that you haven't been outside of your home area that much, then. You can find just about every kind of terrain in the US. Desert to forest, mountains to river deltas.
No kidding...unless there're deserts in New York:rolleyes:

I think the best thing to do would be to get a GoPhone from Cingular...they're pretty cheap and of course you get Cingular's large network. Bad thing is you won't be able to use your beloved V800...

TWO MONTHS IN A RENTAL?? LOL can't you lease a car?:p Or perhaps borrow one from a friend? I hope they gave you a good deal...considering the time anyways

[Box215]

I'd suggest that you haven't been outside of your home area that much, then. You can find just about every kind of terrain in the US. Desert to forest, mountains to river deltas.

If i took a picture of some town in north dakota and took a picture of a small town in north carolina, could you tell the difference? Probably not.

[carcomptoy]

Yes but see you're picking specific spots...and actually you could. North Dakota is midwest, and is pretty much part of the Great Plains, so you can tell...

It's just that you were generalizing...in all honesty, not even New York and L.A. and Chicago look alike! Any tourist would not mistake Miami for Dallas now, honestly...

That's one of the things we have to appreciate most about America...is that we're not just one climate but multiple ones! We have one extreme, the Southwest, to temperate, like the coasts, and then Alaska, and Hawaii...defintely not the same:rolleyes:

[Box215]

Yeah, but midwest or not, the actually towns look the same. Its not like i havent been around...im not just pulling this out of my ass. Sure you'd be able to tell a plain in the midwest from a forest on the east coast, but thats not was i was referring to. Perhaps i shouldve clarified that in my first post.

[carcomptoy]

Yes I must confess there are a lot of similarities, but it's the people that do make the difference:D

[Box215]

this is very true...nothing like that southern hospitality which is non-existent up here

[carcomptoy]

Gotta love America:D

So fiNal, what exactly is your itinerary...perhaps you could visit some fellow MobileBurners:p

[liltdrinker]

having done a bit of travveling myslef i would ahve to say america seems a land of great diversity not many countries you can stand on a mountain in 15ft of snow and look onto a desert bellow (Mamouth Mountain- CA), and im sure there are many subtle differences between the vast deserts of Ohio to those of texas????

went to oz and people said "oh it all looks the same" it didnt at all! so much in your own back yard you dont realise...i live in the uk and its not untill you travel round a bit (yes even in this small place) you realise the differences between places adn the beauty on ur own doorstep

im going to take a moment to ponder............................ :p

[jayesh]

having done a bit of travveling myslef i would ahve to say america seems a land of great diversity not many countries you can stand on a mountain in 15ft of snow and look onto a desert bellow (Mamouth Mountain- CA), and im sure there are many subtle differences between the vast deserts of Ohio to those of texas????

went to oz and people said "oh it all looks the same" it didnt at all! so much in your own back yard you dont realise...i live in the uk and its not untill you travel round a bit (yes even in this small place) you realise the differences between places adn the beauty on ur own doorstep

im going to take a moment to ponder............................ :p


living in a country of vast propotions myself i agree with you .. from the freezing parts of kashmir to the heat of the thar desert to the rain laden areas of our eastern ... one has to travel to realize what kind of beauty exists

[carcomptoy]

Yeah I love having such a huge diversity w/o requiring a passport. In my old state of New Mexico, you could cruise in the desert, go skiing in the mountains, hike in the forests, and hit the urban scenes...it's the "land of enchantment":p That's probably I love the southwest, cause even though most people think it's just desert, THERE'S SO MUCH MORE! Everything's bigger in Texas!:D I find it'd be so boring just having tropical (Philippines for example) or just snow (Antarctica) lol