another smartphone questions

Ruth, Here are some options to consider..... 1.) Send/receive calls - Your best bet is an inexpensive quad-band unlocked phone. Given the fact that you want a U.S. number, I'd suggest using a SIM with one of the "travel phone" firms as some of them can provide an optional local number that you can forward your regular cell no. to. Your calls will automatically be forwarded to your travel number. 2.) E-mail & web - As the previous reply indicated, you could use our Verizon phone for that. I'd probably still switch off the Cellular data access, so the phone doesn't keep "trying" to find a signal (will run the battery down). The other option would be to travel with an inexpensive Netbook - larger screen, regular keyboard and more comfortable to use than a Smartphone. 3.) Listen to Podcasts - I'm not familiar with the features of your phone. Is it capable of loading MP3 or other audio files? I use an iPod Touch so have never really checked to determine which formats Rick's audio files are in. You could also purchase an iPod Touch which would certainly cover the Podcasts, and also the web browsing and E-mail. It's fine for "light duty use" but becomes a bit tedious for extended use. 4.) See Answer #1. Under the circumstances, having a local number for your elderly parents is a better option than having them try to figure out international dialing codes. Every time I phone abroad, I have to "re-learn" the appropriate codes and try and figure out when it's appropriate to drop the leading zero in some numbers. I've already made several calls to Scotland this week, and it took me about 20 attempts to find the right combination of numbers (it was an 18-digit number). Happy travels!

I think your best option is to buy a cheap used unlocked quad band phone (ebay) and a sim card when you get to your location. Give your folks the number so they can call in an emergency and you can make local calls. Take your Droid but turn off the phone and only use it on wifi (not that you would have a choice). Download Skype and pay ten dollars for about 6 hours of talk time to any cell or land line back home. You can use it for all your other email, facebook whatever. You can also have all your podcasts and maybe use the gps function with pre-downloaded maps.

Thanks! I wonder whether I person I spoke to at Verizon gave me bad information? I asked if I could use the phone with wi-fi to get to email and internet and she said "your phone will not work at all, except to play games you may already have downloaded." Has anyone actually used a Verizon phone (in airplane mode, right?) and had it work with wi fi for the web? If that is the case, then I could rent a pretty basic phone for the calling and US number. Any recommendations on rentals?
Thanks!!

Ruth, I don't use Verizon but others who do have posted here that Verizon will loan you a phone for free that works overseas. You temporarily will have a phone using a SIM card. The advantage: This phone will use your Verizon number. This is the best solution for your making it easy on your elderly parents. They just dial your regular cell number. No new numbers or dialing instructions for them to learn. The Verizon guy was wrong, I think. Your Droid will work over wifi. The advantage to that phone is there is no way to run up excessive data costs over the phone network because the Droid won't work on Europe's phone networks. Use the loaner Verizon phone for #1 and #4; use the Droid for #2 and #3. Just don't make a lot of calls on the Verizon loaner phone. The rates aren't cheap. You could follow some of the other suggestions for cheaper calls and carry three phones. Nerd cubed. (The cheapest course is to buy a local prepaid phone over there. The travel companies are almost as pricey as Verizon.)