[jcmg8]

Hi Folks,

Looking for guidance. My daughter (USA based) is traveling with school to russia, India and China for fall semester. We are Sprint users so I picked up a used ATT 9800 for her to use. I'm looking at a cellular abroad SIM card, with data being off WIFi

Is there any thing we should be doing to ensure a good experience with the torch while traveling? It was formally locked to ATT, has not been used since being unlocked with code from unlockusa.

[rcab]

You can purchase local sim cards to use in the phone for overseas. You may find to have the full blackberry data feature of the phone may be limited depending on each carrier's plans in the foreign countries. Some countries full data plans are not available unless you are on a contract like in the USA. You may be limited to voice features and wifi features only. She will have to check with the local phone carriers and see what is available. I have the torch and I use it when I am in Hong Kong and China for voice and wifi but have not bought a more expensive package for full data usage.

[jcmg8]

Thanks for the encouraging report. I'll be getting the cellularabroad sim card, hopefully get it set up here before she leaves.

In the past, I had a HTC Tilt that ran WM6.5 It was common to flash in generic software to get rid of the ATT junk that was imbedded in their OS version. Does the same apply for the Torch? Is it worth loading a non-branded OS?

[jcmg8]

Wanted to close this out. After doing a bunch more homework that I should have done before picking up the Torch, we are bailing on it. Her Sprint plan was eligible for upgrade, Sprint's international rates were about par with the outfits to get a SIM card here (except Russia) -ended up with a Photon and will not use data, only WiFi when traveling so we will use Skype when talking.

FWIW, Sprint does offer a international SIM card, just not for the 9800. While I suspect it will work, since Sprint does not sell a 9800 in the US, they claimed the SIM card would not work as it's not in their system.