Cell phone to send SMSs?

[geoffrey mendelson]

Does anyone know the cheapest (or just a cheap one) GSM phone with a  
USB interface that is supported by a Linux program to send SMSs?

In other words, I want to write a program to monitor various  
conditions and then send me an SMS if they out of the proper range.  
I'm looking to spend as little money as possible.

I was thinking of a cheap GSM phone with a USB interface connected to  
a Linux system. I no longer have a modem for pager emulation, and  
since one of the conditions is a down internet connection, I don't  
want to use the internet to do it (if I could).

The question is which phone and what software drives it? I want the  
SMSs to arrive at an Orange phone, but I have both Cell-Com and Orange  
SIMs, so if one is supported and not the other, it's fine with me if  
they will send SMSs to each other.

I also have a ZTE MF637 modem, I know Linux supports it for dial-up,  
does it support it for SMSs?

Thanks in advance,

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson,  N3OWJ/4X1GM
Occam's Razor does not apply to electronics. If something won't turn  
on, it's
not likely to be the power switch.