Traveling to Europe (italy) for 3 months

[coldfish]

Hi,
I'm going to Italy for 3 months later this year. Right now, both my wife and I have a Treo 650. They are from Sprint, so I know that they won't work and I need to get new ones. So, the first question is, Should I upgrade? I'd probably just upgrade mine, as hers is for personal use and mine is business (and is beat to death).
If I should upgrade, I couldn't care less if it is windows mobile or palm, I like Palm fine, but work on windows machines everyday and it should be OK. I use email constantly. I text back and forth constantly, as well as use it for alerts of server failures (I run a web design company), so I need those features.
As far as travel, I understand that europe is all GSM, also it is on a different band than US gsm phones. I really don't want to spend $300 on a new phone that only works in Europe, so I need a tri-band (I think).

Finally, the big questions: I've never used a SIM card and am unsure about it's use in a Treo. Answers anyone? I will have to ditch Sprint (which is costing me about $400 a month for 3 phones, anyway). I'm not sure if I should simply make the decision based upon the international rates, since I'll be calling 90% clients in USA, or if I should get the minimum plan for 3 months and then upgrade to the max, using one of these phone-cards to get a phone number. Then there is the question of a phone number....

Some of my clients insist on calling my cell and it would be annoying if I had to change from my sprint number, to some italian number, and then back again to a US number! Any suggestions?

Sorry for being so long-winded, but I'm really at a loss here and you folks seem to be right on top of everything.

... oh yeah, email connections.... do I need a european service for that, or will a us servce do it. Sprint has unlimited and I can't afford to pay by the message! I get hundreds!

[gdm320]

If you're looking to stay with Sprint, staying in a Treo won't give you international capability. Based on your usage, you might actually benefit from the Sprint Blackberry 8830. It's an international device (with a built in SIM) with both a GSM phone and browser (with the GSM browser you will be able to use the internet and receive your push e-mail when traveling internationally). That might be your best bet if you want to upgrade.

What did I do when I went to Europe? I went into Deustch Telecom and bought a cheap prepaid phone. I got great international rates calling back to the US too.

[Geo]

Yes, go to the the Italian telecom company (TIM) and they will offer you as 'pay as you go' SIM card for you to use. Fill it up and use it as you want. Remember that in Italy, and most places in Europe, there is no charge for incoming calls. Only outgoing. (When the N.American companies start to follow??)
Also, the TIM card may work in neighboring countries in a kind of roaming, but there is no extra charge for that. (don't hold me to it tho)..

[greeniis]

I upgraded to the Sprint Blackberry 8830 before we went to Europe last summer, and it worked beautifully.

[niltomek]

Hi. My Treo 650 is a quad band and works well in all Europe and in the US. I even paid bills with my banks Internet banking service in a hospital bed in SF a couple of years ago. Doesn't sprint have a few european partners or at least cooperation contracts?

There is normally a roaming fee thats way more expensive than the local networks. EU law says they can charge maximum about 85 UScents per minute when calling another country and half of that when receiving a call when you are abroad (roaming).

Normally receivers don't pay to receive a call as pointed out above.

[plunker]

Sprint has an international plan now. I would buy a disposable phone and take a laptop with a wireless card if sprints do not work. Europe is cover all over in wifi.

[centromale]

All International plans looks expensive anyway, I will recommend purchase domestic Italy pay as you go card make sure your phone unlocked with Sprint.

[coldfish]

So, it turns out that Sprint Service options in Italy are zero.

I bought a unlocked quadband treo 680. I can pick up a local SIM card just about anywhere in Italy (or on ebay here)... but.... I need web access.

Am I crazy, or is this more complicated than it should be!

Any more options from you folks out there?

-Dan

[stevetaz]

Hi:

I have no personal experience with your situation and I have actually moved to the BB platform, but you might take a look at this site to see if they can help. I think the big problem you will run into is that data is generally through long-term commitments. That site seems to be offering an alternative so perhaps there are others or maybe there will be others soon.

As I said I have no experience, but I remembered seeing this posted to another board. Perhaps you could email them for assistance?

I do believe one of the other users mentioned they switched to a BB8830, which does have international capability by adding a SIM. I have the 8830 with Sprint and it is a World Edition. That would also be supported by the site I linked. Just a thought.....

I hope it is of help. Let us know....


SteveTaz

So, it turns out that Sprint Service options in Italy are zero.

I bought a unlocked quadband treo 680. I can pick up a local SIM card just about anywhere in Italy (or on ebay here)... but.... I need web access.

Am I crazy, or is this more complicated than it should be!

Any more options from you folks out there?

-Dan

[coldfish]

I actually considered the blackberry, but I really need the touch-screen. I use VNC to manage my servers. There is a blackberry version, but it just doesn't do it for me. Believe it or not, I carry a tiny little crappy throw-away phone and my treo. If a client has a a problem and I'm not in the office, I can call them on the little phone and take remote control of their machine on my treo... while sitting in a cafe.

Now, as far as sprint goes, I really don't like them much. I am planning to move away from them and switch to t-mobile or some other provider.

However... I've still got the web-access issue. Do I need a special plan for that in Italy... anyone?

Hi:

I have no personal experience with your situation and I have actually moved to the BB platform, but you might take a look at this site to see if they can help. I think the big problem you will run into is that data is generally through long-term commitments. That site seems to be offering an alternative so perhaps there are others or maybe there will be others soon.

As I said I have no experience, but I remembered seeing this posted to another board. Perhaps you could email them for assistance?

I do believe one of the other users mentioned they switched to a BB8830, which does have international capability by adding a SIM. I have the 8830 with Sprint and it is a World Edition. That would also be supported by the site I linked. Just a thought.....

I hope it is of help. Let us know....


SteveTaz