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Question about buying unlocked phones. |
spinal163
Joined: Feb 25, 2005
Posts: 1
PM |
I am new to all these unlock phones and stuff. Right now I have a Samsung a680 with Sprint and my contract is about to expire.
I was just browsing through the internet these past few days and saw some of the nice SE phones from other countries and is very interested. I saw the premini 2 on the japanese SE website and tried to find to see how much it is but have no luck. Does Japan have different types of phone than the rest of the world?
I live in U.S. and retail companies like Cingular and T-Mobile do not sell any of the new SE phones so I was thinking of importing one. Are there any trusted sites that sell unlocked imported phones besides ebay.com and mobilebee.com? If I buy a unlocked phone, does it work with any GSM provider in the Americas with no problems?
Sorry for a long post, I am a newb when it comes to this. Thx |
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knight4led
Joined: May 27, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Califonia, USA
PM |
An unlocked phone should work with any US GSM provider, but you may need to find some settings for the phone once you have it.
It is not entirely true that the US providers don't carry new  phones. Cingular has an exclusive on the S710a which is a very nice phone. And there are plenty of slightly older phones floating around like the T637 or T237.
Japan uses different cell phone technology than the rest of the world and their phones are not compatible with any of the networks in the US. If you were to pick up a japanese phone it would just be a display piece. |
whizkidd
Joined: May 14, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: India
PM, WWW
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While buying phones from abroad make sure they are unlocked and tri-band or quad-band so that you can use it on any gsm network in the world.
This message was posted from a T230 |
spinal163
Joined: Feb 25, 2005
Posts: 1
PM |
do u guys by any chance know any good online retailers that sales imported unlock phones? |
Malachi Constant
Joined: Feb 28, 2005
Posts: 42
PM |
i mainly have to look on ebay for my gsm purchases. its just wierd here...ive been to germany a bunch of times, and over there, you can walk into the electronics store and try out all the new phones and such, and if you like it, you just buy it, put in sim card, and rock n roll. here, IF you can even find the "latest" phones, then you have to find a dealer that will be willing to sell it without a contract, THEN you get to pay through the nose for it. its funny to read these forums too, cause they all think the K700i and s700i are old and getting outdated, and ive never even seen one person with either one! ehhe ahhh the good ol us of a
S700i,T610,T66,T28w,V70,SL55,8890,HBH-60,HBH-660,chatboard |
namal
Joined: Nov 07, 2004
Posts: 279
PM |
Different countries use different gsm bands I think japan use different band frm usa. Make sure the phone supports usa bands before importing.
This message was posted from a WAP device |
ether42
Joined: Mar 08, 2005
Posts: 35
From: chicago il. u.s.a
PM |
simoncells.com is a good place to go to get top of the line phones
i got a p910 shipped to me in chicago from newyork 2 day
for 650 so not bad they have alot of phones all unlocked and ready to go |
vvrrmandiga
Joined: Apr 02, 2004
Posts: 104
From: Hyderabad > San Jose > Chicago
PM |
You can buy from myworldphone.com. I got P910i from them for $625 in two days. |
xxjonneexx
Joined: Mar 06, 2005
Posts: 21
From: michigan (go Green!)
PM |
myworldphone.com is a great place. make sure if you go with cingular to get a quad-band phone or one that supports their crazy 850MHZ range. |
spinal163
Joined: Feb 25, 2005
Posts: 1
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what about for t-mobile i have read around here that some phones will be stuck at the t-mobile loading screen |
serocks
Joined: Apr 13, 2005
Posts: 48
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nope, that's not true..... any unlocked phone will work on t-mobile flawlessly....... I have P910i, it works fine.. one of my friends got RAZR from myworldphone.com (black RAZR), it works great..... |
spinal163
Joined: Feb 25, 2005
Posts: 1
PM |
does 3g phones such as the v800 work wit any gsm network? |
babysmoove
Joined: Dec 06, 2005
Posts: 1
PM |
Personally, I would never order from MyWorldPhone.com again. They have a decent selection of unlocked phones but absolutely the worst customer service. They sent me the wrong phone and I ended up paying a 15% restocking fee and eating a bunch of shipping costs. |
Cyber-Spud
Joined: Dec 15, 2005
Posts: 0
PM |
As a rule, and UNLOCKED gsm phone will work with any service provider PROVIDED that the phone operates in the providers frequency range.
However, all features may not work well (or at all) unless the phone is UNBRANDED as well. ( or branded to your carrier).
I purchased a K750i ( an awesome phone) from simoncell who told me it was both unlocked and unbranded. When i recieved it, turns out it was BRANDED "Vodafone", a British service provider. Simoncells then assured me that ther would be no problems operating on Cingular's net.
Unfortunately, there have been/are all sorts of conflicts.
No sympathy or help from Vodafone, SEUS or SE service center, and am still going round and round with simoncells. |
WelshTom
Joined: May 20, 2004
Posts: 364
From: Costa del Cardiff Phone: K610i
PM |
just send it back to simoncells and demand a refund! there is a big difference between an unbranded phone and a branded one so they have breached their conditions of sale and sold a product that is not as described! they don't have a leg to stand on if it was advertised as unvranded. or use davinci and unbrand it yourself.
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Posted: 2005-02-25 21:56
