www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Anyone have a recommendation as to what a good pre-paid/throw away US cell phone will accept an ICE or Claro chip and work in CR?
Thx
CH

Anything unlocked that uses a SIM card. I am not side the names of the technology....Cnut if it is compatible on a AT&T network it will work with ICE... ALSO, fwiw, CLARO sucks outside of San Jose.

It's not a U.S. phone, but I buy a $20 (10 Mil.) phone at the Kolbi (ICE) kiosk at the airport or at a Kolbi store in town. It works great in CR for calls and TXT messages. No camera, no touch screen. It comes with a SIM and a new number - - and loaded with about 1,000 when you buy it for $20. Or you can use another SIM if you like.

I've bought several of these over the years to give to the girls. I keep one or two activated phones in my room (locked up for security). A girl who has lost her phone will make you very happy if you give her a working $20 phone.

a US phone must be quad band to work in CR. They are on a different band then the US carriers.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Would Bro Rac's suggestion for local AND Skype or whatever through a laptop for needful US calls be an answer? Seems like the best of both worlds...Skype gives you a US number and the cheap-os can be bought by the bagful--propinas for the civilians too ( Hire a taxi for y'alls bar crawl and tip with a cell + 1K minutes or your fave barkeep/server at the end of your stay--you got a friend...)

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

For basis 2G (non-smart phone) cellular service, you don't need a quad band phone. You don't even need a tri-band phone. You just need an unlocked GSM phone that works on the 1800Mhz band. All 3 companies (ICE, Claro, and Moviestar) run on the 1800 band for 2G. For 3G, ICE uses 850, Claro 2100, and Moviestar uses both 850/2100.

At the airport, I believe they sell dual band phones 900/1800. Those phones will work in CR but may not work in any country that uses different bands.

http://maps.mobileworldlive.com/network ... name=Costa Rica

I just need a phone that will work here on a month to month basis, and in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Argentina with local SIM cards

If you are going to be doing much texting, you need a smart phone. Trying to type letters on a numbers keypad is painful. You can get a new, unlocked BLU Dash Jr smart phone (Model D141T) for under $45 on ebay. It operates on 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 bands; so it should work in all the countries you listed, and in the US. Also, you can use it for Whatsapp. You can't use Whatsapp on the non-smart phones. I bought one and was impressed with the quality. The screen keyboard is responsive and displays the letter/number you type. Some of the no-name Chinese phones that cost almost twice as much have keyboard problems. The screen is small (3.5"), but the phone is small enough to easily fit in your pocket.

And for entertainment, you can exchange photos with the chicas!

Here's the exact listing for that phone: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLU-Dash-Jr-TV- ... 4ae52be58e << It's not mentioned (it may be too obvious to say) but either a charger comes with it or it can use one you already have.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Jazzbo, you have to look at the pictures. A charger, USB cable, battery, screen protector, and ear phones come with it.

Got me good, yes you did.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I heard really bad reviews of BLU phones. Get an LG smartphone, they aren't too expensive, about $100. It will be quadband 2G, and usually covers all 3G bands too.

Orange, why do you need to have a negative response to everything? I am not talking about reading reviews, I am talking about personal experience.

...It might have gone better if he had just mentioned that LG phone by itself, as an alternative, w/o the commentary.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I've got an unlocked Motorola moto G 4G LTE phone I was gonna bring with me to CR. Will this phone work fine in sjo & jaco? If so, which carrier is best to set me up for 7-10 days light usage of calls, texting & data-is the ICE booth at the airport as good as any of the others? How much will I need to spend to cover a week or so?

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"cuz I'm a back-door man" Jim Morrison-1969