Cell Phones and Consumer Electronics for the Traveler18 April 2006
Concord, CA (PRWEB) April 17, 2006 -- In 99% of the world the local cellular service standard is called GSM. We use this in the states as well. When combined with a SIM CARD (which usually goes under the battery of the phone) the phone is able to communicate and the SIM CARD also holds the telephone number and memory for pre-paid credit. Rates can be extremely low using this system.
For example in 99% of all SIM CARDS incoming calls are free and calls to the states can cost a trifle. Such as, from the UK to the USA 7 cents/minute, from Israel 22 cents, from Australia 27 cents. Yes, USA Dollar cents! There are today even prepaid service providers in the USA offering rates of 10 cents per minute to call anywhere in the US to any type of phone. No contracts, no credit card checks, no bills. Pre-paid always means no minimums monthly amounts and no obligation. You only pay for the calls made.
You'll need an unlocked GSM tri-band or quadband phone and the phone must be unlocked. You can buy factory unlocked phones and sim cards for more than 160 of the 193 countries on earth from places like www.planetomni.com where much more information is available.
Using a foreign SIM CARD to access data, fax, E-mail, Internet and SMS, (Short Message Service) capabilities on your cell phone and for connection to a laptop for the same. The pros and cons of it all: Trying to use a cell phone to get email overseas or surf the web is still a very difficult thing to do.
Setting up your phone's protocols can take a long time, they can be very tricky. First the international roaming cards usually don't offer data so you'll have to get a country specific card. Same thing if you want to connect your laptop to the NET via a cell phone data connection. In many European countries, Italy for example, hi-speed dialup accounts are 100% free and tel. numbers are available all over the country. Just keep a list of the model tel. numbers in your laptop and as you change cities change the dial-up number. That's what we did for a year and a half across Europe with 3 laptops.
Once you receive email it will cost you data fees and connections can be very slow.
In many European countries, Italy for example, hi-speed dialup accounts are 100% free and tel. numbers are available all over the country. Just keep a list of the model tel. numbers in your laptop and as you change cities change the dial-up number. That's what we did for a year and a half across Europe with 3 laptops. Once you receive email it will cost you data fees and connections can be very slow. Trying to read the tiny print is frustrating and the wait time after pressing buttons can be long and even sometimes lock up a cell phone if you press them too quickly in succession. Same for the web.
Instead, WEB CAFE'S are all over the world and the pluses are great. Usually super fast connections, large screens, just like at home ease-of-use.They are always cheap and in 15 minutes sitting down in comfort you can do more with far greater enjoyment than you can standing up trying to read a tiny screen, particularly in daylight in 3 hrs. on your cell phone. Also, the cost of data can be 10 times more than that of a 15 min. net session. The others in your group will be impatient as you must stop in the shadows to read how much your friends envy you back home. But seat everyone down next to you at a NET CAFE and everyone can be happy, even to check the home town, news, weather and world events etc. if not to read or send email. Also, you can check time tables, get hotel reservations, rent cars, get tickets, check the weather to decide which travel destination to make..also check for paralyzing strikes - avoid those for sure.
It's a waste of your valuable trip time to try and use a cell for that until one day they have it all worked out and connection is seamless, fast and reading is easy on the eyes. Just trying to get the technical protocols for the sim and phone can be very difficult and you'll have to use a regular computer just to find them. Trust me, I've done it. After the 2nd email I read on my phone in Italy I gave up entirely and walked 2 blocks to a net cafe and sat in cool air conditioning surrounded by likeminded Americans all happily tapping away. You can exchange lots of info. with people in the cafe's and often the food and drink are just what you craved anyway. You might even meet an interesting group of kids or adults that seem to know all the best places to go and have all the answers you need for a variety of questions...you may even be able to show off your knowledge and help others out and that's not too bad. See www.planetomni.com for further help.
110-220 Volt Electronics
A multisystem TV is a TV capable of receiving and displaying different video systems like PAL, SECAM and NTSC. You'll be able to operate a multisystem TV in 99% of the world. Their dual voltage design allows them to be plugged into either a 110 voltage source or a 220 voltage source. In some cases, the plug on the television will not fit your country's outlet, so an inexpensive plug-adapter will be needed. They can generally be picked up at an electronics store such as www.planetomni.com for $1.95.
With a multisystem TV, such as a plasma, CRT tube type, LCD or DLP, you'll likely need a codefree (sometimes called region free) DVD player. These exist in many forms. When used with a PAL-NTSC TV you'll be able to see the full 625 lines of resolution available in the PAL system and the full 525 lines used in the USA NTSC system. There exists a converting type of DVD player which is codefree in that it can read all of the world's 6 regions and both standards, PAL and NTSC (all SECAM and PAL-M and PAL-N countries use either PAL or NTSC for the display of DVD movies). This DVD player can do 3 things: 1) Be used strictly as a regionfree DVD player with any PAL-NTSC TV 2)It can convert a PAL disc to NTSC 3) It can convert an NTSC disc to PAL.
In this way it can play any DVD movie from any country on any working TV on earth. They come in portable types as well as desk top decks. Some companies offer lifetime warranties that their players will always be region free and/or region free and converting.
Voltage transformers can be purchased in all sizes and types and many have built-in stabilizers which are great for use in countries in which the voltage can fluctuate wildly and could otherwise damage electronics and appliances.
There exist many other types of electronics for the traveler. At www.planetomni.com you can find thousands of them as lowest prices. They ship worldwide and warranty everything they sell.
The Sharp DV-NC85 and most other combo CODEFREE DVD and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH PAL and all PAL-NTSC tapes but you'll need a video standards converter as these combos don't have built-in converters or a MULTISTANDARD TV in order to see the DVDs and tapes. By buying a true PAL-SECAM-NTSC TV you will see all discs and video tapes in their original full resolution quality exactly as you would in a PAL-SECAM-NTSC country. If you convert the signal from PAL-SECAM to NTSC you will lose 100 lines of resolution to begin with as the NTSC standard has 100 fewer lines than PAL-SECAM. But with a converter you'll be ok.
There also still exists a multisystem converting VCR. This unit is about to be discontinued but as long as there is stock its a great machine. It can play/record and convert all of the world 5 video standards in tape and broadcast.
More helpful information is available here: www.planetomni.com
Source: prweb
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