T-Mobile prepaid SIMs are very expensive. There is no discount for your
creditless SIM, if the number is no longer active. The other problem is
that GSM coverage, especially T-Mobile GSM coverage (all at 1900 Mhz)
is not very good in the U.S., with a lot more dead spots than CDMA,
TDMA, or AMPS. You really want a quad-band GSM phone, on Cingular, to
get the best GSM coverage (and it still isn't great, i.e. even many
parts of Silicon Valley have poor or no GSM coverage yet.
The best option is to buy a prepaid CDMA phone, for $40-80. Sell it to
someone visiting the U.S. later on, you can probably get back at least
half of what you paid for it.
These can be purchased at grocery stores, department stores, computer
stores, supermarkets, etc.
i.e.
"http://www.compusa.com/adproducts/product_info.asp?product_code=314052"
"http://www.compusa.com/adproducts/product_info.asp?product_code=314053"
Ensure that the phone you purchase supports AMPS if you expect to be
traveling outside of urban or semi-urban areas, the Nokia 2285 does
not, the Motorola V60i & V120C do.
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