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Im a complete Newbie-Buying unlocked phone?

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Posted by: igottafc

im very new to this world of cellular phones. Ive gone through most of cingulars higher end model phones but i am not satisfied with the price vs performance. I want to buy a higher end phone and im wondering if unlocked phones will accept my sim-card or is there some sort of computer programming involved. I want a very good phone that will last a while but i want to be able to swap simcards from service to service and keep the phone. thanks -alex


Posted by: DaleJr#8

yes, any unlocked, GSM phone will accept your Cingular SIM card.

*however*

you might want to be sure to choose a phone that operates on the 850 band because thats a very heavily used band when it comes to "most" of Cingular's network.

in other words, you may have little to no service at all if you buy a phone that doesnt run on the 850 band.


Posted by: igottafc

are there some things that i should look out for when buying a phone? how about 3g phones. do they accept sim cards


Posted by: DaleJr#8

you can use a 3G phone with your SIM card as long as the phone is unlocked. but again, just make sure that the phone has the 850 band or you might find you service on the weak side.

oh, and another thing. buy a "3G" phone will litterally mean nothing with your Cingular service. I dont think America is anywhere close to running on the 3G system like they are overseas.

^ someone please correct me if I'm wrong.


Posted by: Serifan

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaleJr#8
I dont think America is anywhere close to running on the 3G system like they are overseas.

^ someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

You are mostly right. Cingular will soon deploy a 3G network similar to the type of 3G network used internationally, meaning that it will use the same technology (UMTS/HSDPA), but it will use a different frequency.


Posted by: dobiegillis

Don't waste your money on a 3G phone right now. Its not worth it until the network is fully deployed. What kind of features are you looking for? We can probably recommend something. The only other thing you'll have to think about in buying some unlocked phones is that you'll have to have your MMS and Internet settings sent if the phone isn't native Cingular. But that isn't hard. We recently purchased a V635 which was originally from Germany. There is a Cingular site that makes it pretty easy to send the settings to your phone. Voicemail and SMS reside on the SIM card so they should work as soon as you pop in the SIM (in most cases anyway).


Posted by: WirelessAndy

igottafc,

Some "gotchas!" that you might want to look out for:

(1) If you use Cingular and you're in a predominantly 850 MHz coverage area, make sure the phone you're looking to buy is capable of that. It might help if you filled us in on where you live? Some parts of the US are more 850-dependent than others. Do you travel to different parts of the US, or pretty much stay in one spot?

(2) If you get an unlocked phone, there is a good chance you may still need to manually enter in your own settings for WAP browsing. Check out some of the Cingular stickies for that info. Some brands (Nokia comes to mind) allow you to have the Cingular settings sent via SMS to your phone. Check out the manufacturer's website to see if you can send carrier-specific settings to that particular model.

(3) Be careful when buying "branded" phones, even if they're unlocked. Although you may be able to use your SIM in an unlocked "branded" phone, you may be stuck with lots of splashy logos, applications, and shortcuts that you can't adjust or delete. Example: I once bought an "unlocked" Sharp GX20 which was Vodaphone branded. Couldn't change the color scheme, change the WAP shortcut button, and was stuck with all sorts of menu options that did nothing on Cingular.

(4) In rare cases, you may not even be able to change the WAP settings if they're locked out. I had a T39m once whose WAP settings were locked onto Rogers. No way to change or delete it.

(5) Cingular supports the Voicemail Waiting Indicator (that little icon). If you get an non-Cingular branded phone, you'll probably get lucky and never have any issues. But once in a while, you'll see a post on HoFo where unbranded phone users get mystery SMS messages out of nowhere instead of seeing the Indicator turn on/off. Some people live with it. But it can be a minor nuisance.

(6) Regional Firmware: Be careful when you boot up! I once got an unbranded SE T630 that booted up in Chinese. Another time, opened up the box and found Hebrew lettering on the keypad. And once, I discovered that although English was supported, the T9 dictionary was not installed to make room for other languages. Naturally, this is all moot if you read Chinese or Hebrew...

Anyway, welcome to the Forums, igottafc!


Posted by: boston_errol

Quote:
Originally Posted by WirelessAndy
igottafc,

Some "gotchas!" that you might want to look out for:

(1) If you use Cingular and you're in a predominantly 850 MHz coverage area, make sure the phone you're looking to buy is capable of that. It might help if you filled us in on where you live? Some parts of the US are more 850-dependent than others. Do you travel to different parts of the US, or pretty much stay in one spot?

(2) If you get an unlocked phone, there is a good chance you may still need to manually enter in your own settings for WAP browsing. Check out some of the Cingular stickies for that info. Some brands (Nokia comes to mind) allow you to have the Cingular settings sent via SMS to your phone. Check out the manufacturer's website to see if you can send carrier-specific settings to that particular model.

(3) Be careful when buying "branded" phones, even if they're unlocked. Although you may be able to use your SIM in an unlocked "branded" phone, you may be stuck with lots of splashy logos, applications, and shortcuts that you can't adjust or delete. Example: I once bought an "unlocked" Sharp GX20 which was Vodaphone branded. Couldn't change the color scheme, change the WAP shortcut button, and was stuck with all sorts of menu options that did nothing on Cingular.

(4) In rare cases, you may not even be able to change the WAP settings if they're locked out. I had a T39m once whose WAP settings were locked onto Rogers. No way to change or delete it.

(5) Cingular supports the Voicemail Waiting Indicator (that little icon). If you get an non-Cingular branded phone, you'll probably get lucky and never have any issues. But once in a while, you'll see a post on HoFo where unbranded phone users get mystery SMS messages out of nowhere instead of seeing the Indicator turn on/off. Some people live with it. But it can be a minor nuisance.

(6) Regional Firmware: Be careful when you boot up! I once got an unbranded SE T630 that booted up in Chinese. Another time, opened up the box and found Hebrew lettering on the keypad. And once, I discovered that although English was supported, the T9 dictionary was not installed to make room for other languages. Naturally, this is all moot if you read Chinese or Hebrew...

Anyway, welcome to the Forums, igottafc!


Good post Andy... should be stickied.


Posted by: WirelessAndy

Quote:
Originally Posted by boston_errol
Good post Andy... should be stickied.


The funny thing is, every time I think about this subject I get deja vu. I'm positive I've posted this about three times. That, and I get deja vu, funny thing.

Time to create a sticky in my blog so I can stop retyping (<- lazy)

EDIT:
I've self-stickied (ewwww) here:
"So you want to buy an Unlocked phone, eh?"

Thanks for the nudge, Errol. I've been procrastinating!




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