Cell phone using 2XA/3XA batteries.

I am now committed to my trip to Thailand as I just paid for my plane fare. As I will be "on the road" so to speak for 6 weeks in areas where I might not encounter electricity for a bit I'm searching for a cell phone that uses either double A or triple A batteries. This phone must also have a sim card. I've found some old references on Google but not much (2007-2009). I'm a rookie when it comes to the cell phone thing and I really ahte them but I will be traveling on and off with my friends so I will need to stay in touch with them. As I'm trying to eliminate extra stuff,  I'm trying not to take any chargers and there for will not need any adaptors either. Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks much

Honestly Brian it would probably be easier to get a cheap GSM phone on ebay and snag up a solar charger. Just mopo...

If you are going to drop the change on a phone and batteries for this trip it may also be more cost effective to get the solar charger being you can use it on other trips as well. 

I know you said "no chargers" but I think you are referencing for electricity there maybe?

This set-up will also be lighter than toting x amount of batteries with you. Not too mention you do not have to worry about toting the dead ones out. 

Rick-Pittsburgh said:

Honestly Brian it would probably be easier to get a cheap GSM phone on ebay and snag up a solar charger. Just mopo...

If you are going to drop the change on a phone and batteries for this trip it may also be more cost effective to get the solar charger being you can use it on other trips as well. 

I know you said "no chargers" but I think you are referencing for electricity there maybe?

This set-up will also be lighter than toting x amount of batteries with you. Not too mention you do not have to worry about toting the dead ones out. 

Thanks Rick, I'm floating the ideas of going either direction. The only other device I will have with me (that I can think of at the moment) is my Sony 5 pixel camera that takes batteries double AA batteries. I figure that I will not need very many batteries for the phone as it will be turned off for 90% of the trip. It will only be used to call my friends with whom I will be traveling with on and off and for emergencies. Family members and friends at home will not be able to call me and I will not be calling them. If someone wants to get a hold of me they can do this by emailing me and when I can get to a computer I will respond. I do have a solar charger but it weighs alot and is rather large. With that beings said you could very well be right that it will cost to much to find a cost effective battery (double A or Triple A) operated phone that meets my needs both cost wise and has a sim card.  I will of cource be looking for a used one if I can indeed find any that meets my needs.

If anyone thinks there is somthing that I have not thought of or considered I will listen to any and all ideas.  Thanks

What is a GSM phone?

Brian, I found one for ya:

The Dynamo hand crank tri-band gsm cell phone:

http://www.buyonme.com/s838-dynamo-hand-crank-3-0-touch-lcd-dual-sim-network-dual-cameras-triband-gsm-cell-phone-p-17812.html

...who needs batteries or an electrical outlet? :p

GSM- Global System for Communications see below if ya want to get in depth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM

Rick-Pittsburgh said:

Brian, I found one for ya:

The Dynamo hand crank tri-band gsm cell phone:

http://www.buyonme.com/s838-dynamo-hand-crank-3-0-touch-lcd-dual-sim-network-dual-cameras-triband-gsm-cell-phone-p-17812.html

...who needs batteries or an electrical outlet? :p

GSM- Global System for Communications see below if ya want to get in depth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM

Thanks for the reading info. I'm am rather concerned about the price of the crank phone so I found a couple of used ones as pictured below, and better yet two for the price of one. I might have to get a beefier pack, but what the heck.

Now thats funny....

Here is a "charger" for any phone that charges through a usb port.  If you phone has a cord that can be used to plug it in to a computer it has one.

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Battery-Powered-Emergency-Flashlight/dp/B003M9Z5F6/ref=pd_cp_e_2

If you use your phone very much you are going to spend a fortune on AA batteries.

I have a client that used to travel to and from England and I learned a couple of things from him.

I think I had read that you have a friend in Thailand.  I would ask them about getting you pay-as-you-go phone for use while you are there. A lot of phones need to be "unlocked" before you can use them on different networks.  Picking up a cheap phone while you are there might be the best bet.  It would probably come with a charger.

I did some google searches since you said you had the redneck version of google.

This is a link I found that seemed to have some good info but it may be out dated in areas.

http://www.thailandguru.com/thailand-mobiles-telephones.html

Here are a couple of places to get a sim cards/cell phones.

http://www.rangeroamer.com/countries/Thailand.aspx

http://www.cellularabroad.com/

Anyway good luck and have a great time.

ocalacomputerguy said:

Here is a "charger" for any phone that charges through a usb port.  If you phone has a cord that can be used to plug it in to a computer it has one.

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Battery-Powered-Emergency-Flashlight/dp/B003M9Z5F6/ref=pd_cp_e_2

If you use your phone very much you are going to spend a fortune on AA batteries.

I have a client that used to travel to and from England and I learned a couple of things from him.

I think I had read that you have a friend in Thailand.  I would ask them about getting you pay-as-you-go phone for use while you are there. A lot of phones need to be "unlocked" before you can use them on different networks.  Picking up a cheap phone while you are there might be the best bet.  It would probably come with a charger.

This is a link I found that seemed to have some good info but it may be out dated in areas.

http://www.thailandguru.com/thailand-mobiles-telephones.html

Here are a couple of places to get a sim cards/cell phones.

http://www.rangeroamer.com/countries/Thailand.aspx

http://www.cellularabroad.com/thailandSIMop.php

Anyway good luck and have a great time.

Thanks, for the info. This is the way I understand it so far. If I bring a phone from home it needs to have a sim card so that I can buy the necessary sim card over there to be used in the phone. The main thing I'm trying to get away from is having to charge things as I find that to be an incredible hassle and intrusion in my life here, so it will really annoy me on the road. I'm not to worried that I will need many batteries for the phone as it will be turned of 90% of the time (as mine is here) and I know that I can buy batteries along the way which will suit my traveling style much more than having to stop at bars or sum such place to have to charge things. My camera will be the battery sucker but one can only do so much. If I can't find what I want here ( phone wise)  then I will, like you have suggested buy a cheapy over there. I'll go thru the info you gave me later today and I will tap my friend about what they think will be my best course of action regarding cell phones. Dang how did we ever evolve through out the eons without cell phones?

Thanks so much for coming up with those links for me.

ocala's suggestion of getting a pay-as-you-go phone when you get there is an excellent one. Based on experience with several countries and trying to get a local SIM card for my BBerry, I would even go so far as to say that if you are going to be there for less than a couple months, the local "prepaid" phone is the ONLY way to go. For example, on my 6-week visit to Peru last June-July, I got a cheap pre-paid from Claro (one of their 2 major cellphone companies), total cost for phone and all calls during the 6 weeks $26. That included 2 "recharges" (adding minutes, which was done at local "quickserve" booths that mostly sold sodas, snacks, and magazines), texting, and calls anywhere in Peru from anywhere in Peru. The phone had a USB port, a USB cable, and a wall plug. So I recharged from the wall socket in the hostels, from computers in internet cafes, and from my solar panel (I have a USB adapter for the solar panel). And I know I can use the phone when I go to any other country that uses GSM, though I might have to get a different SIM card in some of them - probably cheaper to buy another pre-pay phone, though.

I can almost guarantee you there will be a place in the airport itself that will sell you the pre-paid phones. Remember that a lot of cellphones are manufactured in Thailand (cheap slave labor like much of SE Asia). Mine was made in ShenTzen China.

For calling home from Thailand, take a look at Skype. You can call anyone anywhere in the world for free if they are also on Skype, and for a surprisingly small cost if you are calling their landline or cell phone. We called my son from Peru as a video call using Skype and my Netbook for free several times. I had to call his landline first a couple times to get him to turn his iPod on (yes, iPods can do Skype through a wifi hotspot).

Having considered the options and hearing what ya'll have to say I will pick up a pay as you go phone when I get there. I was hoping to avoid the charging thing but I guess if it run's out of juice it runs out of juice. I'm sure I will be close to electricity most all the time but, having no itinerary who knows. Thanks for all your input on this matter.

Apeman

I posted the wrong link. It should have been www.cellularabroad.com.  They sell and rent cell phones and sell sim cards.  I would check with you friend on pricing.  The Thailandguru site said the best cell service was AIS and this is the service they sell.

BTW that "charger" is less that $5 including shipping.

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