Roaming means connecting to a different network provider when the provider you have your contract with is out of range. So the only way to connect to the internet abroad is via roaming (as t-mob don't extend there ). So you will need to roam, check how much it will cost you though if you decide to.

I'm going to Italy in a few weeks and hoping I can just nab free WiFi hotspots and do mass updates!

 

T-Mobile offer a few data bundles for use when roaming in the EU. Without them you will be charged

 

I went to Poland some time ago and received a text from t-mobile about their bundles. As far as i remember it was

 

Quick silly question but is there is Data Roaming toggle option like there is on the Desire or is it a case of turning off mobile network option?

 

you can switch off mobile network and this will turn roaming off or when mobile network is on you can turn roaming off.
Settings > Networks >mobile network / settings

 

When turned off, you will still get an 'R' against your network strength indicator (to show you are on a roaming netwrok) but no data (foreground or background) will get used.

In order to sync things, either enable roaming (and incur the data costs) or find a wifi hot-spot for (potentially) free updating. Since having the desire I've tried this in France, Italy and Ireland and it works just fine.

 

What about new Roaming Europe services that dont use dongles but use Mi-Fi's?
These are easier to use and you dont have to muck-around with a dongle hanging out of your laptop, carry it around in your pocket and you can have up to 5 devices connected to the same SIM.
Check it out for yourself if you want www.roamingeurope.com

 

Go and visit the local McD. Free wifi.