CAUTION!!!! Digicel Phone Sim Cards from Hedo2

[Captain]

something like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LG-CG225-GSM...item415e00e3fe

[K&L]

Hey,
Here is our input. We live in Jamaica so here is our view. Most phones are locked to their respective networks (AT&T, Sprint etc) as has been pointed out before. the best thing to do if you do not own an unlocked phone is to go to the digicel or lime store and purchase the cheapest phone in stock (which ranges from $2000 to $3000 Jamaican Dollars, about 20 usd on average). Then if your calling within the usa, canada or UK landlines purchase an international plan for $1000 ja dollars which will give you 1000 minutes of talk time for calling. NB! YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED IF PERSONS CALL YOU, so feel free to talk as long as you wish if its an incoming call.

Hope this helps.

[millionsnmilo]

Hey,
Here is our input. We live in Jamaica so here is our view. Most phones are locked to their respective networks (AT&T, Sprint etc) as has been pointed out before. the best thing to do if you do not own an unlocked phone is to go to the digicel or lime store and purchase the cheapest phone in stock (which ranges from $2000 to $3000 Jamaican Dollars, about 20 usd on average). Then if your calling within the usa, canada or UK landlines purchase an international plan for $1000 ja dollars which will give you 1000 minutes of talk time for calling. NB! YOU WILL NOT BE CHARGED IF PERSONS CALL YOU, so feel free to talk as long as you wish if its an incoming call.

Hope this helps.

Ok i get a digicel account when I get there
Now I have a Jamaican number --that is cool

How much is it to call back to US cell phones
Us Landlines?

I see about .20/min for a cell line.
.10 for a land line.

Can guess I can add minutes (dollars) via a credit card and a pc?

[Captain]

where is the best place to purchse one of these phones? Airport, Hedo?????

[ScubaSteve]

where is the best place to purchse one of these phones? Airport, Hedo?????

Buy the phone before you go so you know you have it.
Get a cheap on off of ebay if you dont have an old one kicking around the house.
Maybe ask a friend if they have any old phones laying around.
Make sure it takes a SIM card and can be unlocked.

Unlocking can be really simple.
Go to YouTube and enter the phones model number in.
That is how I unlocked my phone for free. Just an old phone that I had laying around the house. It ran through the steps and checked it and it worked.

Why mess with my blackberry.
Other options for unlocking are Kijiji, Craigslist or ebay.
Its as cheap as $.99
The older the phone the cheaper the unlock.

The SIM card, pick it up at the airport or at or near the resort.



Here are some links with more detail:


LINK ONE

LINK TWO

LINK THREE


Cheers,

[we2are469]

All good tips, but beware of old or used (e-bay) phones, as the batteries may not stay charged long. Be sure you have a working charger, because you can use the cell phone with the charger attached if need be.
The US and Canada, both try and lock there customers in, with locked phones, and have only recently allowed unlocking. Of course they can't tell if you have unlocked your phone privately, until you have a warranty issue. Quad band phones are required in Europe and Asia as they have different frequencies than North America.
CDMA phones (Telus, Bell, Verizon and I think Sprint) are a dieing breed as the technology mainly only worked in North America. As well, they didn't have SIM cards.
Rogers, ATT, and T-Mobile used GSM cell phones which are used world wide.
The CDMA carriers are switching to a modified GSM technology (HSPA) which allows for some GSM phones to work on there networks. The wife and I each have GSM cell phones. My HTC smartphone works on Rogers, Telus, ATT, Digicell, and T-mobile. My wifes phone only works on Rogers, ATT, T-mobile, Digicel, and Vodafone, (not on TELUS). Hope I haven't put you to sleep.
For the simpletons of the world (kidding), get off the plane in Jamaica, walk to the nearest Digicell store, buy the cheapest damn phone they have, buy a sim card with a 1000 minutes, and call home with your new phone number. It doesn't get much simpler than that, and you can test your new phone before leaving the store.
As a side note, you can buy a local SIM when you get home, and use your Digicell phone their, as a spare.

Ray

[marcus72002]

I have to agree with all the info here. The SIM determines the carrier. A locked phone will only work with the network it is locked on, even if you change the SIM (a locked phone will not work on a different networks, SIM, at all).
We had a bad experience while at Hedo some years ago, because we could not be contacted. Plans were made without our input (in good faith) by one party, which significantly effect a second party. We were caught in the middle. Party one and party two did not know each other. Had we been contacted in time, we could have averted that disaster.
We now travel with a quad band (International) dual SIM cell phone, with 2 pre-pay SIMs installed. One SIM for local home service, and one European SIM (good world wide, and a top up of 5 euros, on line, lasts 11 months).
When I send a text, the phone asks which SIM to use, same for voice. Was well worth the 60 dollars it cost, and it came unlocked.

Ray

i hope your still on here i'm looking for a contact for dual sim, quad band, any help you can provide is appreciated

[Passion4Diving]

PC Magazine reviewed several dual sim phones about 1.5 years ago, indicated that they are hard to find in the US, so they gave some sources: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2491769,00.asp

[we2are469]

i hope your still on here i'm looking for a contact for dual sim, quad band, any help you can provide is appreciated

Indeed I am still on here.
Be very careful when buying cell phones off e-bay or any Chinese site as not all the "Americans" frequencies are covered. The 4 GSM world bands are usually covered, but they are in the "2G" band.
Because Canada and the US use the same frequencies I highly recommend buying the phone from www.Staples.CA, note that's Staples.CA and NOT Staples.COM.
Smartphones are under $100.00 Canadian, so if your buying in US dollars, the phone is less than $70.00.
I just bought 2 unlocked phones there, and they both work on "4G' networks, have dual SIMS and you can expand the internal memory to something like 128 or 256 GBytes. They both also have OTG.

Ray

[Ontario]

When we upgraded our phones we kept the old ones and just bought a SIM card when we were down there and top it up online every other month for about $5...

[ChiTownHedoCpl]

we have always done a one month international package that I think has been about $100 and then when we return we cancel it. No problems whatsoever. but full disclosure we only look at our phones twice a day to see if there any emergencies

[Ontario]

We use ours very little, just away the kids can get in touch with us if they need to, and because the hubby has a business he can still keep in contact, after reading his emails . Whatever plan we are on, it's pay for the first 5 mins get the next 55 mins free, outgoing calls only for that.. But texting is free cell phone to cell phone.. We have had the SIM card for about 4-5 years now..

[Ontario]

We had talked with one of the resort workers and they picked it up for us, and back then it cost us $25 and that was for the SIM card and the ride to the digicel store to get it...

[CopNkitten]

they have free internet now, so if anyone needs to contact you have them email and check it in the morning at breakfast.
Cop..

[Ontario]

they have free internet now, so if anyone needs to contact you have them email and check it in the morning at breakfast.
Cop..

That was our routine, breakfast then check emails, and if need be call back home to who needed the call...