[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Look for GSM technology.

[Dog Gone]

What's that?

[j_tull]

Look for GSM technology.

But you have to look real hard. Not a lot of non-urban coverage out there, yet.

[eno_]

Not in the U.S.

The GSM carriers in the U.S. are still in the process of migrating away from TDMA networks. Some, like Cingular and T-Mobile have truly crappy networks. If you want GSM, stick with AT&T.

Nokia and Siemens GSM handsets r001, Moto drools. 90% of CDMA handsets use Qualcomm chipsets, so go for a good manufacturer, like LG. The vx6000 camera phone rocks.

Verizon has better coverage in the U.S., but your phone will only work in the U.S., Canada, Korea, Japan, and South America. If you travel to Europe, you want GSM.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

I signed up with AT&T on their new GSM service with a 2 year contract. Mr. Peel and I got the new Sony Ericsson Bluetooth phone with Hands free Jabra headset - super swanky -- except that the service was absolute crap. We never strayed from the area that AT&T PROMISED would be clear reception and had constant drop-outs. It soon reached a point where I couldn't contact him when I really needed to.

Soooooooooo, after MANY MANY hours on the phone with AT&T (one marathon day was 4 hours on the phone with AT&T!) - I got them to admit that the service I signed up for, was not the service I was paying for. So they let me out of the contract with no penalty.

It still took another 3 months to straighten out the billing. (Not only did they want to levy a fee for canceling the contract, they wanted to collect interest..)

We switched to T-Mobile. Also learned how to re-program the SIM card so that the Sony Ericsson phone could connect with T-Mobile service.

Same area -- same usage patterns and T-Mobile is hands down much better. Every place where AT&T wouldn't work, T-Mobile does. I'm a happy camper. AT&T and GSM = crap. T-Mobile and GSM = very good.