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1. •  
     CommentAuthorcianuro
   • CommentTimeMay 19th 2008 edited

    
   Hi guys,
   Before you go to the US, please be aware that there is no such thing as a "ready to go" phone over in the US. If you want a phone, you'll need to sign a contract over there and calls are incredibly expensive. Especially if you are calling home.
   
   You can buy phone cards over there (those ones where you scratch the PIN off) but they are just as bad.
   
   We reccomend that you pick up a MAXroam SIM before you go.
   
   MaxRoam gives you a sim card with a US phone number. You throw it into your mobile (as long as it's unlocked) and you can make calls home at the local rate. Your sim can also be assigned an Irish number (2 in one) so that those at home can call you at a local rate too.
   
   Trust me, this is without a doubt the cheapest option and you WILL be calling home a lot at the start (and when you've spent your house deposit on booze!). Get yourself a MaxRoam sim card before you go, throw on some credit and that's one less thing to worry about when you get there. Do NOT let USIT rip you off with silly "sim pack" offers that do nothing more than extort you.
   
   Click the image below to visit the official site (Irish based). When you get back, please let us know how it went. Enjoy the best summer of your life!
   
   
   

   
2. •  
     CommentAuthorJ1
   • CommentTimeMay 19th 2008

    
   Making this one a sticky. It is a pain in the arse forking out so much money when you get over there. I wish that Maxroam was available when I was over there. I made so many phonecalls home the first couple of weeks.
   
   The "SimPack" from Usit is the biggest scam ever and students need to be aware of that before they go. Don't trust USIT and don't trust any scammy SIM pack offers.
3. • CommentAuthorsineadj
   • CommentTimeMay 20th 2008

    
   bought a phone last year in walmart for 19dollars, only 5c to text home...was perfect
4. •  
     CommentAuthorcianuro
   • CommentTimeMay 20th 2008

    
   Yes Sinead but you cannot CALL home for that price and home cannot call you for the same price they would be calling their next door neighbour :)
5. • CommentAuthorheidi
   • CommentTimeMay 22nd 2008

    
   To be honest iv been on the J1 the last two summers and i found its just as handy to get a cheap fone for 20dollars with free credit its 5c for a message and we had free calls between same network, my friends and i all had the same phone as did all the other Irish we knew so we could chat away for free...also for calling home just buy a phone card for 5dollars and use it in a pay phone you get lots of time so works out really cheap if u wanna call home..
6. • CommentAuthormagee85
   • CommentTimeMay 22nd 2008

    
   tbh if your gonna ring home the fone cards I bought in ralphs lasted forever. As for mobiles we got a cheap one in radioshack and it was free calls to the same network so all our mates had the same one.
   
   Worked fine for us
7. • CommentAuthorsineadj
   • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2008

    
   ya totally agree...and if ppl wana ring ya from home most apt's have phones and its pretty cheap for ppl to ring...
8. • CommentAuthorclancy1888
   • CommentTimeMay 25th 2008

    
   cianuro
   hey so is this max roam thing just like a normal phone in the sense that wen ure out in the us can u just txt away 2 other ppl out ther too??
   dont really understand this adding numbers to ure sim for 2 euro extra business.
9. •  
     CommentAuthorcianuro
   • CommentTimeMay 26th 2008

    
   clancy1888, yes. I'd go with the two numbers for the extra €2. What the girls said above makes sense but the main difference is that people at HOME will be able to call YOU and text YOU for a local rate too.
   
   Effectively, you'll have two phone numbers in one phone. An Irish one and an US one.
10. • CommentAuthorwitchmaiden
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2008

     
    Cianuro said: "there is no such thing as a "ready to go" phone over in the US". That was a lie. Cianuro is obviously an affiliate of MAXROAM (see the affiliate programme here: http://www.maxroam.com/AffiliateWiz/join.asp), so has posted this bulletin and the link to MAXROAM so that he/she gets EUR5 for each sim bought. It's not as good as it seems, see the details below. Also, be aware that there are *MANY* prepaid plans, so don't worry about a thing!
    
    Here are the prices for MAXROAM when roaming in USA and calling Ireland:
    
    Incoming Call €1.10
    Outgoing Call To Cellular In Ireland €1.34
    Outgoing Call To Landline In Ireland €1.24
    Call To a Local Landline In USA €1.23
    Call To a Local Cellular Phone In USA €1.23
    Sending an SMS From USA €0.37
    Calling Your Voice Mail €1.19
    
    Compare this to the T-Mobile prepaid plan:
    Calling America: www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/#PAG
    Calling Ireland: www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/prepaidrates.aspx
    
    I'm posting that merely as an example and there are possibly/probably even better plans.
11. • CommentAuthorsoloparadox
    • CommentTimeMay 27th 2008

     
    Ya i have a ready to go phone with AT&T right now, had the same last summer you get a phone and a sim for $15 in radioshack.
12. • CommentAuthor-laura-d-
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2008

     
    i need to buy an american phone tomorrow, which network is that one that ye mentioned above? people over here are getting charged an awful lot, even to receive calls and messages. i want the cheapest deal available! :P
13. •  
      CommentAuthorcianuro
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2008

     
    Most networks in the US charge you to receive each text message.
14. • CommentAuthorgracefitz00
    • CommentTimeMay 29th 2008

     
    I picked up a tracfone for $20 last week and its doing me just fine. another cheap prepaid cell is with net10.
    tracfone and net10 are really popular and cheap.
15. • CommentAuthorJ1 Forum
    • CommentTime2 minutes ago