Unlocked quad band cell phones....buy here...or in Europe?

I've seen ads for phone + local sim card with prepaid minutes at around £13 in the UK and €30 in France and Italy. So even if you go with a world sim card, it might be cheaper to wait to get the phone in Europe if that's where you're starting out. But in the context of the cost of the traveling you'll be doing, it's not significant. A local sim card typically expires if not "topped up" with more minutes within a period of time, but that won't matter if you don't have much invested in it.

John, I haven't checked recently, but suspect your best option will be to buy a quad-band, unlocked GMS phone from E-Bay or other sites. My preference would be a new model, rather than a used phone that's been configured for a particular network. Given that you want to travel to various countries in the world and not just Europe, using a "world SIM" and plan from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial, etc. would probably be the best choice. Note that with some travel SIM's, these expire if not use for several months, however there's usually an option to extend the time for an additional charge. It's very important to be fully aware of the rate structures, as these are typically grouped in "zones" with different pricing structure in each zone. A "basic" quad-band GSM phone should work well in the majority of countries, however there are some exceptions. I don't have a lot of details, but I believe that Japan uses a considerably more sophisticated Cellular system, so the phone may not work there. You didn't specify which countries you're planning to travel to, but you might want to post this question on This Travel Board as it covers a far greater area than Europe. Regarding travel with a Netbook, these are great for the functions you mentioned, and I'll be travelling with one from now on. They don't have a lot of "horsepower" for more advanced applications, but they're great for basic functions and have incredible battery life. I'm also recently retired, and have much the same travel goals (although I still want to focus on Europe). Happy travels!

Quad band won't work in Japan (might not work if a few other places as well). But it is probably considerably cheaper to buy a Quad band phone plus a phone that works on the Japan network but won't work in Europe than to buy a phone that will work in Europe and Japan.

There are some basic phones that might work in Japan. Basically you'll need some of the 3G bands. These phones will usually be GSM quad-band, too. Wikipedia explains the different bands used in different countries. As an example, the Sony Ericsson Equinox sold by T-Mobile is one I think might work. You'll need to get the phone unlocked to use other SIM cards, but ebay will sell unlocked versions of the phone or you can buy the unlocking code off the Internet. You can also buy new versions of these phones directly from several sources.

Instead of a netbook, which, though cheap, don't last long, I would recommend the new iPad WiFi. Small, light and easy to use.

John, the topic is phones, not netbooks or iPads

Nancy - The OP mentioned gertting a netbook. John - I'm puzzled - what do you mean <netbook>: don't last long?? Lee's been using the same ASUS for about 5 years I think.
Are you referring to battery life?

Hi, The best solution for travellers who want to save on roaming charges is an international sim card. The best one I know it's WorldSIM (http://www.worldsim.com&#41;. They have coverage in over 220 countries and free incoming calls in over 90 countries. In the same sim card you will have both a UK and a US number. They are also launching a bundle that includes a quad band mobile phone + sim card + £10 for £79,99. Good luck! Cheers!

Sorry, I missed the last sentence about the netbook. And I'm also puzzled about John's comment about netbooks not lasting long. Mine is over three years old now and I have never had a problem of any kind with it. IPads haven't been around that long, so I'm not sure how John could know they would last longer. They seem a lot more fragile to me.

I was also somewhat surprised to see the comment from John (Shoreview) stating that Netbooks "don't last long"? I've had one for a year now, and it's just like "brand new". In my experience, Netbooks are no more or less fragile than Laptops, so should theoretically last at least as long. I've had previous experience with the fragility of a MacBook Pro, so I'm aware that one has to be careful with any portable computing device. Given the large screen on iPads, I would consider them to be more fragile than a Netbook / Laptop. Cheers!

I want to know if I should buy an unlocked cell phone here....or on the net? There about $100 on the net right now. Or would I save an enormous amount of money buying that in Europe? How about a "roaming" sim card. Buy that here...or wait till I hit Europe? If I will be going to countries all over the world would I need something in the phone beyond quad band? GPRS, GSM, Edge, HSCSD? Should I be looking for a phone with GPS? Or is that just overkill?

Where is there? Are you going to be in one country for 5 weeks or several? Unlocked phones are more common in Europe than in the US. I bought an unlocked Nokia in Paris 5 years ago for about 70 euros. I'm sure they are cheaper now. I am going to be in Italy for 3 weeks and am bringing an unlocked android phone and getting a SIM there.