<p>I plan on buying a Verizon phone for use at Cornell. I currently live on the west coast of Canada. Should I wait until I arrive in Ithaca and buy the phone at the Best Buy or should I order it online or something?</p>
<p>there is a verizon store in ithaca, you can also buy it at a best buy in ithaca, or you can just order it online. </p>
<p>fyi for anyone considering getting a blackberry soon, wait a few weeks because a new one is coming out before the end of the summer (called the tour - not the pearl flip which is also coming out soon)</p>
<p>Or you can always buy online nowadays</p>
<p>But if I buy online, do I get it delivered to Canada? If so, do i have to wait until i get to Ithaca to activate it?</p>
<p>American cell phone providers won’t ship to Canada, so your options are to buy an unlocked GSM phone in Canada or wait until you get to Ithaca to buy a phone under contract.</p>
<p>EDIT: I would recommend buying an unlocked GSM phone, since the combination of no contract and a SIM card would allow you to freely change to a Canadian service provider when you return home for the summer. The Nokia E71 is a great high-end smart phone that you can buy unlocked for US$319.</p>
<p>Hm, Verizon offers a $70 discount when ordering online.</p>
<p>But think of those enormous roaming charges you’ll have to pay when you use your Verizon cell phone in Canada for 3-4 months over the summer. That will quickly erase your $70 in savings.</p>
<p>just buy a pay as you go phone in canada for the summer and dont use the verizon phone. if you are doing internships in the US, you will just use your verizon.</p>
<p>Ah, I got it! I will wait until I arrive at Ithaca, then order the phone online and have them ship it to my dorm. Will this work?</p>
<p>if i get a sim card in a different country, does that mean i will have two diff phone numbers?</p>
<p>ya you would have a different number… if you live abroad and want to buy only 1 phone to use in the US and canada or wherever else, I suggest getting a GSM phone on Tmobile or ATT and getting the phone “unlocked” by the carrier. That way you can fully subscribe to att in the US, and then buy a pay as you go SIM card to use when at home. </p>
<p>this is also helpful if you end up going abroad. if you think you want to go abroad, I would get att or tmobile over verizon so that you dont have to purchase a separate phone.</p>
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<p>If she gets a contract with Verizon, she will have to subscribe to a monthly plan for the extent of the contract, even during those idle months. That’s clearly a waste of money. Buying a single unlocked GSM phone makes things much easier and cheaper.</p>