Buying mobile in India

sivesgaard

Hi,

A couple of days ago I lost my phone in a bus chaos (trying to get through the door of a bus along with around 50 others, at the same time!)

So now I wonder if there is any complications in buying a phone here and then take it with me when i go back to europe. Do you have any idea/experience with that? Do the phone need to be quadre- or just triband, and is it possible to install a new dictionary on it (i'm from denmark and danish isn't probaly in there already)

Cheers,

brownboy66

If its a GSM phone your after than buying a phone here would be ok (Europe,Asia, Oceania use the same bands - its only the US which uses different GSM bands). If you buy a phone here, however, you will need to get it unlocked.

Most phones with sim cards are locked into a particular network. This is to stop people from buying a cell phone cheaply in one country and then taking it back home and sticking in another sim card (phone companies do this because in some countries the cost of phones is subsidies - so the company would like you to use it there for a couple of years first).

Having said that - getting a phone unlocked is fairly easy. Depending on where you buy the phone - the shop you get it from might unlock it for you for a fee. Similarly - another shop in the same market place could do the job. For most phones its a fairly easy process. If you're reasonably tech competent - type the model of your mobile into google followed by the word "unlock" and watch the instructions and software roll in.

In terms of updating the language software - most phones come with multiple languages on them so you'll just need to check it on purchase. Failing that - make sure you get a phone that can be sync'd with a PC then search for an updated language file on the internet.

oh...and if you buy a phone here you'll need a copy of your passport, some passport photos, and a copy of your visa, payment of course, a birth certificate, a photo of your dog, a character reference from your first primary school teacher, a recent DNA test, and a pledge by you signed in blood on paper carrying a laser water mark that you are not a bad person (of course - everything after "payment" I made up - but I'm sure its coming).

shashank.aggarwal

Oops...again mess with my browser...

Mods please remove this...

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Random Reviews

shashank.aggarwal

Its exact opposite in India...almost all the phones come unlocked..actually when you purchase a phone, it means you are purchasing a network independent phone .. only some low end models come locked and they are also available as normal unlocked phone..

brownboy66

pity that doesn't apply to the HTC touch phone...(I think Airtel sell it but its locked for 2 years).....grrrrr! What was it you said about that phone Shashank? Were there some bad reviews - as I've read mostly good ones about that phone?

shashank.aggarwal

don't remember exactly, however didn't like what I read...was not too much satisfied...

Okay..here is the link...

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/...tag=prod.txt.1

Anyways, I have already got Nokia E61i, and all my purpose is solved..I am a satisfied customer till now !!

PS : Btw, HTC touch is easily available...I got mine Nokia from The Mobile Store, and they showed me Touch as well...

burf

you can prolly buy a reliance phone+connection [locked] for less than 2k [if you think that's cheap enough to lose the phone again in a stampede like situation] with national roaming activated for free

brownboy66

Thanks Shashank. A reasonable review - mostly good with a few minor drawbacks. The touch plus looks like it would solve most of the problems - but the touch is not such a bad price.

hows the nokia?

shashank.aggarwal

You maybe right...however Nokia E61i got 7 point something on the same scale and especially the users had a lot of positives about the phone.. the average rating is above 9...

And to add to that E61i is bit cheaper than Touch...

This is my first PDA phone, so I do not have much to compare it to...however for me it is solving all my purposes and in last couple of weeks no issues at all...

I am using an Idea connection and trust me its a Breeze...not much info is available on forums on Idea GPRS however Vodafone and Airtel do not have many positive reviews...so if I campare to what I have read on the net Idea GPRS is a dream come true...even in areas where EDGE is not available it is really very good...and in most of the places where I have connected EDGE is available...

I am not sure if other phones have a wifi finder..but this feature is amazing in this phone..once you start the wizard, it will start listing all the WLan networks in the area, telling you if they are open or not and their Signal strength...

brownboy66

yeah - wifi hook up is a standard feature of windows mobile - so if you have a wifi PDB running windows mobile 5,6 - etc - you can pick WLANs all over the place (that's how I found out my neighbours WLAN was open when I fired up the wifi on my HTC apache)....

Internet/ PC security part 2: wireless and passwords

I really hope he didn't pay anyone to set up his network.

The Idea EDGE network must be brand new. The latest stats from the GSM association (which admittedly was August) doesn't list a single operator in India as having deployed an edge network. Still - you have to take their info with a grain of salt.

Glad to hear your enjoying the PDA. They really are a useful thing to have around. Sounds like Idea are a good provider as well.

shashank.aggarwal

infact I have been using Idea for couple of years now...and I remember using GPRS in March this year in Kerela..and there it was connecting through EDGE ...

brownboy66

ha ha...your right. The GSM assoc info is out of date!

sivesgaard

Allringht thx guys, I will look further in to it..

IndiaBob

I have another question regarding cell phones in India.
Wil be in India for a month. I want a cell phone. I want the chpeast one available, and, if possible, some sort of pre paid card because I dont want to sign a contract or anything.
1) Are pre paid cards available in India?
2) How much would a a very cheap model cost?
3) How much would a SIM card, that allows pre paid deposits, cost?

shashank.aggarwal

go to bottom of this page and you will find a list of related threads..browse and you will get all the information that you will even need...