Does anyone have experience with buying/renting a cell phone to use on vacation in France? I've rented before and found the cost a bit much. Thanks

We purchased a quad band phone that we use at home with a sim card and just buy a French sim card from Orange when we arrive. It's easy and convenient.

A search on cell phone on this forum gives you this list of previous posts in the France forum. There's lots of good info there!

Buy an unlocked European tri-band on Ebay (or a unlocked quad band) on Ebay and get a SIM card when you get to Europe.
Check www.prepaidgsm.net for info on national operators in the various countries you plan to visit. (be sure to scroll down after you click on "National Operators". The guy that runs that site will answer email question you send him.

If you have a quad band Cingular or T-Mobile phone, you can request the Subsidy Unlock Code from your carrier and use the one you already have with a European SIM card (after you enter the unlock code when you put in the new SIM card.

Bill

Thanks, Bill: That site is pretty informative. Amazing how a simple thing like a phone call can become so confusing! Where's my Dick Tracey wrist radio when I need it! Thanks again. Pete

I just use my Blackberry, which works all over the world without a different card. But I don't spend a lot of time on the phone- the calls from France are 99 cents a minute, and you can do better with the SIM card if you plan to make a lot of calls.

There have been several fairly substantive discussions on cell phones. One thing to remember...if you are going to use the cell to call back to the U.S., or to other countries, it will eat up your purchased time quickly. In these cases, it is good to have your own phone with Cingular or whoever...

I found the best combination to be:
1. Buying a phone once you've arrived. It shouldn't take much work to find a phone in the $50-$75 range.
2. Get a local SIM card. That will give you inexpensive outgoing local calls and free incoming calls.
3. Get a calling card for calls back to the States. One of the best I've found is at www.nobelcom.com. From most countries, their rates are very cheap. In the alternative, go to a local "Tabac" (they're everywhere), tell them you'll be calling the U.S., and buy one of their phone cards.
Once you done it this way, you'll find that your calling costs are considerably reduced. If someone needs to call you from the U.S., they can use Skype, which costs about 2 cents a minute.
What you don't want to do is take one of those silly mini keyboards (a.k.a., Blackberry) or use the European access for Verizon, Cingular, etc. and get hit for charges of 50 cents to $1 a minute.
Of course, if this is your one and only trip abroad, you could just be lazy and use the overpriced services. Even then, you should still buy the phone and SIM card, then sell them on eBay when you get back. The card for calling home is the best way to go.