Rogers cellphone upgrade question

[oblisk]

My Rogers contract has expired and they are offering me an upgrade to continue with them. I thought about switching carriers but have decided to stay with Rogers mainly because they have the most advanced GSM network in Canada and I want the flexibility of using my home cell when I travel. I am tired of getting new phones and finding that I need to upgrade 6 months later because of new services that I cannot access with old hardware. I am going to Hong Kong later this month and was thinking of picking up an advanced GSM phone there with a longer tech shelf life as I understand that HK phones generally are ahead of the stuff Roger's sells. I thought this a superior option than rolling the dice at the Pacific Mall (for reliability and cost reasons). Is that a good idea? Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
o

 

[jimace]

not a bad idea for several reasons

1) If you outright buy a phone in HK there is no reason to resign a lengthy contract

2)Make sure the phone you buy is unlocked - then you can use it on other GSM providers (ie overseas)

Also, make sure that you get a quad band GSM phone (or at least one that uses the same frequency band as Rogers). A quad band GSM phone will work anywhere in the world that uses the GSM standard. There is nothing worse than buying an unlocked dual-band GSM cellphone and going to a country that uses one of the 2 bands that your GSM cellphone doesn't support.

 

[Meister]

I am tired of getting new phones and finding that I need to upgrade 6 months later because of new services that I cannot access with old hardware.

What are the new services you need that HK phones offer that Rogers doesn't?

 

[mmouse]

Make sure any phone you buy has 850 band, or reception will suck.

 

[sled1132]

Phones in Hong Kong are on the expensive side. Air time is cheap, the opposite of what we have here.
Better to check out the cost of the phones in HK and compare first. Even though they offer more models to chose from and are more advance.

 

[jimace]

What are the new services you need that HK phones offer that Rogers doesn't?

I'm not sure if you incorrectly used the term "services" but if not, it isn't the services of the cellphone but the features of the cellphone. Services are provided by the cellphone service provider.

In most Asian countries/areas (Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, & Korea), their electronics are more advanced than things sold here (especially in Japan and Hong Kong).

Over there, you can get cellphones with built-in digital cameras where the digital cameras on those cellphones rival a lot of point & shoot standalone digital cameras here. You can also get very small or very flat cellphones. They also have more variety over there.