vB Easy Archive - Handspring WILL let you buy a unlocked GSM Treo 600 with no contract worries for $399

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Handspring WILL let you buy a unlocked GSM Treo 600 with no contract worries for $399
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Posted by: deaves

Maybe i'm dense or something but i had a heck of a time trying to understand if i can actualy order a Treo 600 from handspring.com on their $399 discount plan with an old Treo serial number WITHOUT a existing or new cingular plan.

No matter what i did, the web site kept wanting me to pick a provider and pick a plan. I'm in Canada and i don't want to sign up with any USA cell phone carriers.

Their website even says: "..This offer is currently available with plans from Cingular Wireless until November 24, 2003...."

So i called their 1-800 number to ask if it is even possible and it turns out it is!! yOU CAN BUY AN UNLOCKED PHONE WITH NO CONTRACT OR SERVICE DIRECTLY FROM THEM FOR $399 !!!

1. step one: buy a treo serial number from ebay for $5
2. call 1888 565 9393 and ask them to buy a unlocked GSM phone for $400 and give them the serial number.
3. that's it.. forget what the website says... you CAN buy it.

Anyways.. just in case there are others in the same boat as me, i thought i'd post up and let you know...

..adam

Posted by: batgal

Are you serious?? That's GREAT news! Have you ordered yours already? What kind of payments do they take over the phone?

Posted by: deaves

i paid via credit card.. i'll get my new toy in 2-3 weeks !!

Posted by: n11

Quote:

Originally posted by deaves
i paid via credit card.. i'll get my new toy in 2-3 weeks !!

Who did you get the serial number from on ebay?
What happens when that number is resold on ebay?

Posted by: sclui56

Quote:

What happens when that number is resold on ebay?

Serial #'s are single use, first come first serve.

Posted by: deaves

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...ery=treo+serial

i own a treo 180, so i used mine,, but with a little luck, you can get one on ebay for $3 or $5.

it's a pretty safe risk.

.adam

Posted by: mskeen

very tempting ... might be worth $5 to give it a shot

Posted by: mbranscum

I did it and ordered one today online!

Posted by: dchant

Did u have it shipped to Canada? Just called and they said they can't even enter a Canadian address into the system. Love to get in on this.

Posted by: deaves

i rent a post office box 2 minutes from the Canadian border. I use it all the time to order stuff. It's a 2 hour drive from Toronto Canada to Niagara Falls NY.

http://www.mbe.com/ps/ms.html Worth every penny.

Posted by: batgal

which means they still won't ship to Canadian addresses? Argh, that brings me back to square one... There's no way I can drive down to a US mail box every now and then - Edmonton is too far north!!

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

awww crud!!... is there anyway the mail box can tell you that you have mail or something??

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

Quote:

Originally posted by deaves
i rent a post office box 2 minutes from the Canadian border. I use it all the time to order stuff. It's a 2 hour drive from Toronto Canada to Niagara Falls NY.

http://www.mbe.com/ps/ms.html Worth every penny.

can you give me more details of how setting up this works for u?

cause i am interested in doing this..

Posted by: mskeen

Just ordered mine

Now the wait begins ...

Posted by: deaves

You can either rent a mailbox full time for them or just call them and tell them you need a package delivered to them and you wil pick it up when it arrives, and they charge you a small fee per day until you pick up the package..

free simple. give them a call and tell them you are a Canadian. (1/2 of their business is from people like me and you)

Then you drive down to Niaraga Falls after they call you to tell you our package arrived and pick it up. Make a nice afternoon of it and take the GF to dinner in Niagara Falls !

adam

Posted by: mbranscum

Ordered mine on Thursday, November 20th. Called a rep today and he said it would be 3 maybe 4 weeks before shipping on the Cingular. He later said maybe 2 weeks. ... and the wait go on!

Posted by: Quimby

Will this work well on my Rogers account, or will the settings be all screwy?

Posted by: deaves

Quimby.

YES.. if you already have a GSM phone, you can use the Treo 600 with your rogers account. I'm using several phones with my roges account and (when it arrives) will use my Treo 600 too.

Posted by: Quimby

Deaves, I should clarify, I know the phone bit will work, but what about the GPRS settings and all that? Am I going to be stuck with Cingular firmware settings and such?

Posted by: deaves

post a new message in this forum asking for Rogers Treo 600 settings. I'm sure someone will reply.

I don't have my phone yet, so i don't know.

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

Quote:

Originally posted by Quimby
Deaves, I should clarify, I know the phone bit will work, but what about the GPRS settings and all that? Am I going to be stuck with Cingular firmware settings and such?

chances are the gprs will not work with the current settings on the treo600 from cingular.. but thats no probl you just have to get that changed by finding out the settings like i did for my treo 180..

Posted by: Quimby

Thanks Wongster, I'll order that right now.

Posted by: Quimby

Oh Boy Oh Boy!

Only two weeks until it arrives...what'll I do until then?

Posted by: deaves

sell your SE T600! :-)

Posted by: platron

Deaves -

Thanks for clarifying all of this for us. I called Handspring to confirm and learned one additional thing: you can execute the whole transaction online if you want. Just think of "cingular" as a synonym for "unlocked" and choose to "keep my existing service." I just ordered mine, so in 7 months or so when it arrives I'll let everybody know how it went.

A couple of things to keep in mind: First, Nov 24 is the last day for discounted upgrades with "cingular". After today, the discount is only good on ATT, for which the phone will apparently be locked. Second, some of the ebay sellers have an extremely low price for the serial number itself, with a ridiculously high "shipping" price in the small print. I managed to spend $10, while congratulating myself for spending only $1. Still a bargain, all in all, but I feel a little stupid.

Posted by: Quimby

Ten bucks for a serial number? Ouch! I'll hook you up for a dollar.

Posted by: batgal

ARGH!! I'm so frustrated! I bought a serial no. off ebay but I can't buy an unlocked Treo 600 from Handspring cuz they won't ship to Canada. By the time they do, I bet the units would be locked. Grrrr...

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

Quote:

Originally posted by batgal
ARGH!! I'm so frustrated! I bought a serial no. off ebay but I can't buy an unlocked Treo 600 from Handspring cuz they won't ship to Canada. By the time they do, I bet the units would be locked. Grrrr...

I just decided to buy it off ebay.. lol i give up.. bought it for 517 usd.. going to get it in a week or two.. so excited.. woohoooo!!

Posted by: dominguezh

I have serial numbers for you to get the $399.00 price from handspring. Paypal $5.00 to hector@dominguez.cc and I will reply with a number guaranteed to work. Thanks.

Hector

Posted by: snowboom

No luck, tried to order it unlocked and they said I could not.

Also, the cingular promotion had ended so I was unable to get the cingular phone I wanted (I just moved to a new area and didn't even realize cingular was an option till today).

If anyone knows a way I can get an unlocked or cingular branded handspring for the upgrade pricing, please let me know!

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

Quote:

Originally posted by snowboom
No luck, tried to order it unlocked and they said I could not.

Also, the cingular promotion had ended so I was unable to get the cingular phone I wanted (I just moved to a new area and didn't even realize cingular was an option till today).

If anyone knows a way I can get an unlocked or cingular branded handspring for the upgrade pricing, please let me know!

its too late now.. only option is ebay.. thats where i'm getting my treo 600..

Posted by: dominguezh

Yes, the promotion was over. When I called to order the ATT version the girl asked me if I travel a lot. I told her I do. She then said that I should get the Cingular version since it is unlocked. She even put me on hold so she could verify the information. Anyway, ... you need to call them and ask for a Cingular phone. If they ask for a phone number they have no way of checking what carrier you have. Get the Cingular version and you will get an unlocked phone.

Hector

Posted by: tomho

Wirelessly posted (Treo: UPG1 UP/4.0 (compatible; Blazer 1.0))

so...is the Cingular one STILL available for $399?

Posted by: mbranscum

Quote:

Originally posted by tomho
Wirelessly posted (Treo: UPG1 UP/4.0 (compatible; Blazer 1.0))

so...is the Cingular one STILL available for $399?

Ummmm....no

Posted by: snowboom

Quote:

Originally posted by WoNGsTeR
its too late now.. only option is ebay.. thats where i'm getting my treo 600..

Unfortunately ebay is actually more expensive than buying directly from Cingular itself right now.

It's unfortunate, I moved into an area with only ATT & Verizon coverage. Cingular is just now coming into this area apparently, but they have roaming contracts with ATT so I'd have signal at work (which I don't now).

Does anyone know if the Tmobile versions will be locked? I know the ATT ones are.

Posted by: snowboom

Quote:

Originally posted by dominguezh
Yes, the promotion was over. When I called to order the ATT version the girl asked me if I travel a lot. I told her I do. She then said that I should get the Cingular version since it is unlocked. She even put me on hold so she could verify the information. Anyway, ... you need to call them and ask for a Cingular phone. If they ask for a phone number they have no way of checking what carrier you have. Get the Cingular version and you will get an unlocked phone.

Hector

Does this mean you actually got one of them to sell you the phone after the promotion ended?

Posted by: mbranscum

Snowboom...you can still buy the Cingular phone from them (unlocked) but NOT at the $399 price.

Posted by: deaves

any word on how much it would be to unlock the phone? maybe just buy an ATT for $400 and unlock it for $50 ?

Posted by: snowboom

Quote:

Originally posted by mbranscum
Snowboom...you can still buy the Cingular phone from them (unlocked) but NOT at the $399 price.

Ah.. I just can't bring myself to spend $100 more on something that was cheaper a couple of days ago. Cingular did have them in stock yesterday (via phone) but then after I had called Handspring to ask if they could extend the special for someone who qualified Cingular had already run out of stock and had no estimated date for more phones coming in.

The best Cingular deal was for $499, with a $50 gift card... which depending on the represenative could or could not be applied directly to the phone price.

The retail store manager is finding out if he can get his hands on one for me, if so I imagine he'll do his best to come close to the Handspring offer. I wish I had started looking for phones a couple of days earlier, but I think I was holding out hope that Tmobile would suddenly develop a signal up here... but they haven't.

:-(

Posted by: snowboom

Quote:

Originally posted by deaves
any word on how much it would be to unlock the phone? maybe just buy an ATT for $400 and unlock it for $50 ?

No clue. If it was that much, getting it from Cingular with the 2yr commitment would be just as cheap.

I was hoping Tmobile would be unlocked, but I just stuck my gf's ATT sim in my Tmobile 3650 and it appears to be locked, so likely the Tmobile Treo 600 would be as well.

Posted by: Goswin

Grrr.. but what if I live in the Netherlands (Europe)? I'd really like to order a Treo 600 GSM but unfortunatelly I cannot open a Canadian postbox, as you might understand

Is there anyone of you that might want to sell me a Treo 600 GSM (unlocked, ofcourse?)

Thanks for the consideration.

Goswin de Rouw
Goswin @ AZET(i-don't-like-spam).com

Posted by: tomho

Quote:

Originally posted by snowboom
No clue. If it was that much, getting it from Cingular with the 2yr commitment would be just as cheap.

I was hoping Tmobile would be unlocked, but I just stuck my gf's ATT sim in my Tmobile 3650 and it appears to be locked, so likely the Tmobile Treo 600 would be as well.

BUT, isn't T-Mobile "good" about UNlocking their phones? I had heard that they do it IF you just ask, especially if you've had service for at least 90 days.

Posted by: WoNGsTeR

Quote:

Originally posted by snowboom
Unfortunately ebay is actually more expensive than buying directly from Cingular itself right now.

It's unfortunate, I moved into an area with only ATT & Verizon coverage. Cingular is just now coming into this area apparently, but they have roaming contracts with ATT so I'd have signal at work (which I don't now).

Does anyone know if the Tmobile versions will be locked? I know the ATT ones are.

maybe for you guys.. but since i live in canada.. if i get it from handspring directly i get hit with border taxes big time.. lol.. so i get it from ebay ask them to put it as give. put value less than $25 and no border taxes lol..

Posted by: klausner

I just got off the phone with Handspring trying to do the upgrade to a Treo 600. They claimed the only phones they are selling are locked to AT&T, and I was SOL if I wanted to use one with anyone else. They didn't care if I bought service, but the phone would still be locked.

This doesn't match other stories here. What's _really_ going on?

Posted by: RAF2

Right now, the only way to get an unlocked Treo 600 is to buy a Cingular unit from Handspring at the full, no contract price (which is $699. ouch!)

The upgrade program is for AT&T only right now. First was Sprint PCS (ended Oct 31) then Cingular (also known as "unlocked'

which ended on the 24th of November.

They say that T-Mo will be avaialble soon, but who knows when that will be. And on top of that, it will probably be locked

.

A cult following can be found at www.treocentral.com