[choiand1]

im moving to the US in a couple of months, if I buy a phone here, if I just change the sim card to a US serviced one, will it work in the US? I don't want to buy a nice phone here and end up not using it after because it's not compatible. Help is appreciated. Thanks

[KnowItAll]

If you buy one here, make sure it is tri-band or quad-band.

I travel to the US frequently and usually just pop a t-mobile SIM into my phone on arrival and it works just fine.

[LostArt]

Aside from T-Mobile, Cingular (who bought AT&T) offers sim-card based services as well. Works fine with any of the tri-band phones.

[KnowItAll]

AT&T's / Cingular's network *might* need quad-band for good coverage from what I gather.

Scroll down to message 10.

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/we...equencies.html

LostArt : Can you buy a SIM from Cingular or do you need to sign a contract which includes a new phone?

[LostArt]

KIA: They don't offer pre-paid SIM cards; but they do allow you to get a SIM card without getting a phone.

I was in the States until about a month ago and generally reception with Cingular and tri-band phone (Nokia 6610) was good in city/downtown areas. Reception is definitely worse in suburbs (like 60-70%) but I am not sure how much of that is due to the phone or just a lack of coverage.

EDIT: I was in Washington state, which is relatively close to CA as discussed on that page.

[esquire1113]

If you're moving to the U.S., it's better to get the phones there because:
1. They are much cheaper than in HK, most places offer Free phones
2. More selection of services (Sprint, Nextel, Verizon, etc).
3. Many phones in Asia won't work on the US networks for Multi Media (i.e., internet, downloading, etc).

Verizon has the best call quality, but Sprint is also good.