I'm going to london for a business trip next week. so, where can i purchase low priced/cheap good cell phones?

Question

from? any brand advice? british brands, etc? and retailers like walmart, k-mart, etc.

Answer 1

Hello,

How are you? Here is where to purchase a cell phone http://www.tmicell.com/?aid=30920  

Answer 2

Pre-paid mobile phones are widely available in the UK and picking one up should be very simple. You can expect to pay in the region of £40-60 for a basic functional phone (i.e. a low-range Nokia), although it's worth checking the call rates on each network before making a choice if you're going to be making long-distance or cross-network calls.

You won't need any advice on where to find a shop selling mobile phones - they're everywhere. Picking one up in the airport may be an easy option.  If you want the biggest range of choices Tottenham Court Road in the West End is London's electronics mecca (Tube: Goodge St or Tottenham Court Road).

The last thing to take into account when selecting a network is that some will activate instantly while some will take up to 24 hours.  Ask when you buy.

Answer 3

A pay-as-you-talk phone is (probably) your only option as someone without a UK address.  The networks in UK are Vodafone, 3, O2, T-Mobile.  You can get this type of phone in places like:

Carphone Warehouse (phone store)

Dixons, Currys  (electrical stores)

O2, Vodafone (cell-network stores)

a large department store will probably have some cell-phones

large Tesco's (supermarket) will also have them

A basic phone will cost around GBP20, then you have to add credit to the phone using your credit card.  Here's a page from Dixons, showing the type of phones you can get.  Dixons is real-shop too, not just internet.

http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/store/di...

Most of the phone brands you have in US are also available in UK.   If in doubt, go for Nokia - they have a good range of basic phones.  (other brands are good too, but there are so many it gets confusing!)

If you don't need to use your US-number when in London, you can take the SIM card out of your phone and just buy a UK SIM card.  Here's a page from CarphoneWarehouse with information.  (Again CarphoneWarehouse is a physical store as well as internet)

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/commerc...

Pay-As_you-go (PAYG) phones are activated immediately, usually by using the SIM card to call up the supplier.

One last thing...we call it a "mobile phone"...if you're having trouble finding info online, that might be why.