[Shop-talk] stupid cell phone question

[Scott]

No one else answered, so I'll take a shot at it--the SIM card is the 
brain of the phone. The minutes and number go with the SIM card. So when 
you swap SIM cards, you get a new number, different minutes, etc. For 
all intents and purposes it's a different phone once you swap SIM cards.

But let one of the EEs on here tell you for sure. That's just my 
experience in Europe. I assume any GSM system would operate the same, 
but I'm not a phone network engineer.

Scott

On 8/25/2013 3:20 PM, Dave C wrote:
> I have relatively modest cell phone needs.  I use a cheap (free) 
> Tracfone and buy more minutes once a year.  It works for what I need 
> but doesn't work in Canada, at least, not reliably.  Since I live in 
> WA I go to Canada occasionally, usually on my motorcycle, and cell 
> phone coverage is kind of a nice thing to have.
>
> Could I buy a cheap, unlocked GSM phone on Amazon, like this one, for 
> example,
>
>> http://www.amazon.com/BLU-T190i-RD-Unlocked-Quad-Band-Bluetooth/dp/B00AA6WTOO/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1377457163&sr=8-8&keywords=unlocked+gsm+phone 
>>
>
> put the SIM card from my Tracfone in it, and then buy a prepaid SIM 
> card in Canada?  If yes, do the phone number and  minutes I have 
> accumulated on my US Tracfone reside on the sim card, and will the 
> phone number and minutes just transfer on to the new phone?