quote:
Originally posted by Menthix
* It says the phone is dualband, but it doesn't say which actual frequencies. CookieRevised/Adeptus, will it work in all of Europe? I haven't had anything other than quadband in a while so forgot which one we actually use 
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Yes, as long as you stay in Europe you can't go wrong with a dual band. In Europe there is only one 'dual band' so to speak: 900/1800 Mhz. US uses two different GSM bands though: 850/1900 MHz. You wont find 'US dual band' GSMs here.
The four GSM bands are (there are more though, but you only need to know about these ones):
- 850 MHz (824.2 - 848.8 MHz Tx; 869.2 - 893.8 MHz Rx)
- 900 MHz (880-2 - 914.8 MHz Tx; 925.2 - 959.8 MHz Rx)
- 1800 MHz (1710.2 - 1784.8 MHz Tx; 1805.2 - 1879.8 MHz Rx)
- 1900 MHz (1850.2 - 1909.8 MHz Tx; 1930.2 - 1989.8 MHz Rx)
The two main types of tri band phone's are:
900/1800/1900 MHz: Excellent for international use, good for US
850/1800/1900 MHz: Excellent for US, not very good intl.
http://thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/quadbandphones.htm
(contains a nice graphic table, although old (2007), it is a good indication)
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As for prices for prepaid in Belgium:
Unfortunatly, in general, the prices in Belgium for telecom are rather steep compared to other EU countries (twice as high, or more, than the cheapest formula in Europe). This said, the prices for roaming are decreasing quite a lot, but still, it can be cheaper.
In general, if you buy a prepaid in Belgium from a major provider, imho your best bet would be a prepaid card from Base (the other two major providers are Proximus and Mobistar). There are other, smaller providers, but you wont find them as much as the major ones. The most widespread is Proximus, but this is certainly not the cheapest. And although the smaller providers might offer a lot cheaper prices, their roaming prices might be more expensive than the major ones....
It's hard to compare prices in Belgium for this though. Because the prices depend on quite a lot of things. Eg: when you call (not only the hours, but also on certain days/weekends/etc), to what provider your call, how long you call, even in some cases to what number you call (you sometimes can get cheaper prices if you opt in to certain promotions involving your "friends' numbers" etc). It also depends on what kind of (sub)formula you get. In some prepaid formulas you get a certain amount of free sms's and calling minutes, etc. Then it also often depends to what country you call or sms (even in Europe), etc... Most providers also give you a lot of free sms's and calling minutes to call to numbers of that same provider. But personally and generally speaking, I always found Base the cheapest, incl. for roaming (I also have a prepaid Base card btw).
The prices given by Menthix are a good indication for the prices in Belgium too. Eventhough I said the prices here are a lot more than in other EU countries, they aren't that much more than what Menthix showed. In fact, when I looked at a comparisson table (this table didn't involve roaming though) the prices are a lot cheaper... But again, it isn't that transparant in Belgium and there are quite a lot exceptions and special formulas. The benefit is that you can almost pick and choose what's best for you. The downside is that there are so many different formulas that it is very hard to compare them all. Even for people in Belgium it is very hard to pick the best formula.
Either way, you can't go really wrong with whatever you choose though. Yes you might be paying a few cents more compared to another, better formula. But the confusion and time spending in picking one isn't worth the hastle tbh. Especially not when you're only going to use it for a few weeks. As long as you don't overdo it of course and only use your cell phone for basic communication and stick to texting.
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