Droid Question
I am a recovering Palm user with a Centro that has been suffering jet lag for a week now from a trip to Turkey. Of course it didn't work there but, after taking a week off, it apparently thinks it's time to retire.
I'm looking at the Motorola Droid and am confused about whether or not it will work when I travel internationally. Will I need to get a local SIM card to make it work? Soooo confused.
I'm looking at the Motorola Droid and am confused about whether or not it will work when I travel internationally. Will I need to get a local SIM card to make it work? Soooo confused.
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No. The Droid will not work on GSM. This eliminates Europe, parts of Africa and South America. There is no SIM slot. Perhaps the Tour or Storm 2 or port out to a GSM carrier? Even with a GSM carrier make sure the phone you choose is a global phone (Europe's frequencies are 900 and 1800 as opposed to 850 and 1900 here).
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For overseas you could always get an unlocked world phone and just get a prepaid sim when you get to a specific country.
To me, that seems to be one of the easiset ways to do it, and one of the most cost effective!
Chris
To me, that seems to be one of the easiset ways to do it, and one of the most cost effective!
Chris
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amen to that! i shudder when i think of the bill that awaited my return from roaming overseas this past summer. unless you're willing to foot the cost of roaming, having this capability really doesn't matter.
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...but you did say it was for work, so i'm assuming they pay your phone bill...in which case, having a world phone from verizon is probably a necessity 🙂
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I think the other person was talking about the phone working...
The post never made an reference to them "working" overseas.
The post never made an reference to them "working" overseas.
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you're right. thanks for catching that. sorry, i originally replied to your message after the wrong post...whch was directed at you, chris. lol, it's been a long day. g'nite!
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I travel for work but, the phone is my personal phone. While I was just in Turkey I wasn't necessarily looking to make calls home (at nearly $3 per minute) but, I missed the data capability.
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Unlocked phone with a local sim is always the way to go. I have done it many, many times in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
These clowns that rag on Verizon because most of their phones can not be used in Europe must like wasting money roaming with Att when they travel. On a trip to Germany last year, my buddy used his iphone and came home to a several hundred $$$ ATT phone bill. I bought a T-mobile sim to slap in my unlocked phone and spent well under a hundred.
In addition, with a local sim, any calls you make within the country are really cheap. Obviously much cheaper than roaming on a US carrier.
These clowns that rag on Verizon because most of their phones can not be used in Europe must like wasting money roaming with Att when they travel. On a trip to Germany last year, my buddy used his iphone and came home to a several hundred $$$ ATT phone bill. I bought a T-mobile sim to slap in my unlocked phone and spent well under a hundred.
In addition, with a local sim, any calls you make within the country are really cheap. Obviously much cheaper than roaming on a US carrier.
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gotcha. i was looking at the "confused about whether or not it will work when I travel internationally" part and assumed it was for work...thanks for catching that.
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Sorry for the confusion but, in a perfect world I WOULD love for the data package to work internationally.
I spoke with Verizon this morning and it looks like I'm going to have to take a good look at my priorities. Is it more important to have my first choice phone that works for the 320 days that I'm in the US or to have my 2nd choice phone work during those other 25+ days when I'm out of the country? She told me to look at the Storm 2 and the HTC Touch Pro2 as global alternatives. Thoughts?
I spoke with Verizon this morning and it looks like I'm going to have to take a good look at my priorities. Is it more important to have my first choice phone that works for the 320 days that I'm in the US or to have my 2nd choice phone work during those other 25+ days when I'm out of the country? She told me to look at the Storm 2 and the HTC Touch Pro2 as global alternatives. Thoughts?
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Yes, also the HTC Imagio will work overseas. All are great phone with WiFi and support 3G data. Also, it comes with different wall charger hook ups when overseas.
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Just to wrap up this thread, I went to the store and looked at the Droid, Storm 2 and would have looked at the Touch Pro 2 but, they only had a dummy device available. I already knew that the Droid wasn't global but, I was prepared to deal with that. The dealbreaker was when I was told that the Droid couldn't be tethered to my laptop. So, I went with the Storm 2.
Thanks for all the help and I'll report back on the Storm once I've used it a bit. I should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday (because I refused to go with the debit card rebate). Sorry retailers.
Thanks for all the help and I'll report back on the Storm once I've used it a bit. I should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday (because I refused to go with the debit card rebate). Sorry retailers.
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That's understandable. I have no idea why they would release the damned thing without it being able to tether. It makes one afraid that it is not fully baked.
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The Droid has the capability to tether.... the thing is there hasnt been a VZ ACCESS Manager created with drivers for the Droid yet... it will be out mid December/early January.... so the problem is not with the device itself.
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Of course. Problem is not with the hardware or software in the phone. Got it! I'm just saying... The execution is flawed. I would think that after last year's Storm debacle...they would have all their i's dotted an t's crossed. Even though there is no actual issue with the phone itself, they have lost some sales of this device as a result. Hence an A+ phone would get a C grade through no fault of Google or Motorola. Should Verizon or Smith Micro bear the blame? Ultimately, it does not matter...to the potential buyer.
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No, it is not a global phone. In order to work on Verizon and overseas, it needs to support both CDMA and GSM. That's something you can check in the specs here on Phone Scoop. At the top, under "Modes", the Droid is shown to support "CDMA 850 / CDMA 1900". If it also had "GSM" modes, then it would work overseas, but it doesn't, so it won't.
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From messing with the phone, I'd be surprised to see where they could FIT a sim card/GSM antenna.
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There maybe a software update to add tethering to the device, also one to fix camera issues. There have been a few issues with the camera loading slowly with some devices.
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