Recommend a cell phone that works in North and South America, por favor

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s the deal: at the beginning of March, I leave Sri Lanka to go on a month of paid leave, during which I will be driving cross-country. Then, once I reach DC, I have a few months of training, after which I go to my next assignment as a consular officer in Lima, Peru. Naturally, I’m looking for a cell phone I can use in the States as well as in Peru, and have ascertained the following:

– it has to be tri-or quad-band

– it has to be “unlocked”, i.e., not tied to a service contract

– it should have a removable SIM card

There are some nice ones at SimonCells, and I’m leaning towards the Handspring Treo 600 GSM. At USD 400, it’s a tad on the high side, although affordable. Anyone else have any experience with this type of equipment or recommendations?

2

Im not sure of its model number in the US, but the Sony Ericsson Z1010 will be perfect for all your needs.

Your welcome!
Jeff

3

The locked/unlocked part is down to the individual supplier/network, not the manufacturer. The Nokia 6600 is a brilliant phone, tri-band, 32Mb of memory, camera, Symbian OS, and stuff like GPRS email. That should do you.

4

I’d recommend quad-band, because there are parts of the Americas that use:
only GSM-1800 (Brazil)
only GSM-850 (Ecuador, Panama)
only GSM-900 (Venezuela)
only GSM-1900 (among others, Peru)
See GSM WORLD for info on GSM cellphone networks in various countries. Here is my cellphone provider’s info on roaming in various countries.

5

Who (if any) is your current cell phone provider? Your current cell phone may already meet your specifications.

6

Thanks for the recommendations, I’ll check around.

And Cleophus, no dice on my current cellphone – it’s an Embassy issue and it gets returned.