Dual Sim Mobile for Skinny & Vodafone?

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KiwiAdventurer

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#111135 25-Oct-2012 11:18

Can anyone help please?
I am having difficulty finding a dual Sim mobile telephone which will work properly with

1 x Skinny Sim (think it is 2100 htz on 3g)
+
1 x Vodafone standard prepay sim (think it is 850 htz and 2g?)

Preferable would be a fairly basic phone with a camera of at least 1.3mp and a long standby if possible.
A bonus would also be a flip fone or phone with cover but this is not essential.
Anyone know a good store where these are available in North Shore or Auckland?

Any suggestions welcome

Thanks

SaltyNZ

8231 posts

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2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#706185 25-Oct-2012 11:20

Skinny is 850 & 2100 UMTS. Vodafone is 900, 1800 GSM and 900, 2100 UMTS. I am unsure you'll be able to find a dual SIM phone that meets those requirements. In fact, I'm not sure there are any decent dual-SIM UMTS handsets at all.

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scheduler

264 posts

Ultimate Geek

#706186 25-Oct-2012 11:25

Hi,

My Uncle just bought a parrallel imported Sony Xperia Dual Sim from Dick Smith which would think fits the Bill.

Supports 850 and 2100 UMTS and 900 GSM so would have limited 3g connectivity on Vodafone. It would pay to check frequencies as I am writting from Memory. Cost was $199.00

Cheers
Laurie

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#706243 25-Oct-2012 12:47

I still don't believe there is a decent dual SIM quad band UMTS device on the market. Dual SIM devices are typically built for the low end of the market, and feature low cost RF chipsets. NZ is also only one of only 3 or so countries that use both 850 and 900 for 3G networks so the market is extremely small.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#706265 25-Oct-2012 13:21

Any particular reason why you want dual sim?

There are hardly any plans left in the market that value one network over another (i.e. on-net is almost always the same as off-net now), so why not just pick whichever network is best for you and go with that.

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#706270 25-Oct-2012 13:35

sbiddle: I still don't believe there is a decent dual SIM quad band UMTS device on the market. Dual SIM devices are typically built for the low end of the market, and feature low cost RF chipsets. NZ is also only one of only 3 or so countries that use both 850 and 900 for 3G networks so the market is extremely small.

+1
You'll find it hard to find a Dual SIM handset that offers 3G services on Both sims

KiwiAdventurer

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#706281 25-Oct-2012 13:55

I really need 2 sims as I have my old vodafone personal one which is registered with 100's of different things having used it for over 6 years.
The new Skinny one is for the new business and I have unfortunately already used it for publicity and printing etc so I cannot afford to drop it now. I assumed when I did all this 2 or 3 months ago that a dual sim phone would not be a problem.
At the moment I have 2 x mobiles in my pocket, which is not ideal. In fact it is a real pain but it seems that I may have to continue to that.
Hopefully not.
Skinny told me that if a dual sim phone will work on vodafone and 2100 telecom it should work OK.
I would think there must be other people in the same situation and hopefully someone will be able to say- 'Hey I did this and it works great'. Hopefully

SaltyNZ

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2degrees

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#706286 25-Oct-2012 13:59

KiwiAdventurer:
Skinny told me that if a dual sim phone will work on vodafone and 2100 telecom it should work OK.

If you don't have 850 you'll find XT coverage much spottier than you would like.

However it sounds as if you might be OK to only have 2G on Vodafone. That being the case you can at least ignore UMTS900 as a requirement.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

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KiwiAdventurer

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#706299 25-Oct-2012 14:13

yes - I only use vodafone for answering calls and texts so 2g is fine.
had an idea.
Perhaps I could transfer my vodafone number to skinny in addition to my present skinny business number.
Think that would be possible and then maybe it is relatively easy to find a dual sim mobile to work well on just the skinny network.
Do not really want to do it the other way round as I get 60 mins per week talking to any network on skinny for $4 + some texts and bit of internet access. I can also add another 80 mins per week for just another $4 if and when required. This is far more competitive than the other providers for what i need - talking minutes to any network.

scheduler

264 posts

Ultimate Geek

#706305 25-Oct-2012 14:27

Just curious is there a reason you won't consider the sony I mentioned earlier from Dick Smiths. It seems to meet all your requirements except for perhaps battery life?

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#706325 25-Oct-2012 15:31

KiwiAdventurer: yes - I only use vodafone for answering calls and texts so 2g is fine.
had an idea.
Perhaps I could transfer my vodafone number to skinny in addition to my present skinny business number.
Think that would be possible and then maybe it is relatively easy to find a dual sim mobile to work well on just the skinny network.
Do not really want to do it the other way round as I get 60 mins per week talking to any network on skinny for $4 + some texts and bit of internet access. I can also add another 80 mins per week for just another $4 if and when required. This is far more competitive than the other providers for what i need - talking minutes to any network.

that should work. you would just need to make sure you keep the number that only recieves calls/txts topped up once a year to keep it active (but since skinny topups are $5 that shouldn't be a major issue)

bagheera

539 posts

Ultimate Geek

#706350 25-Oct-2012 16:25

personal i would love high end dual sim phone - my work phone data is routed though works web proxy server, so any app that uses none port 80 or 443 do not work, do not mind paying for my data but do not want to have 2 phone in my pocket, but all dual sim phone i have seen have been on the low end of the market.