Unlocked cell phones = bad news?

1755 Views 18 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Valcrist, May 12, 2005

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · May 10, 2005

ok so i guess this belongs in HW discussion...cell phones are hardware after all....

ok so i want to buy a new cell phone. trouble is, i cant buy from Cingular themselves (actually i have ATT which is owned by cingular...they are synonymous though) because i cant sign up for a new plan. my mom and sister are also tied to my plan, so switching me switches them (great). my only chance is to buy from ebay or tigerdirect, etc, because they dont sell the phones retail in stores.

of course, on ebay they sell UNLOCKED phones and the locked (branded) phones. ive seen it twice on the cingular branded ones that the seller has said something about unlocked phones having reception problems. is this true or are they blowing smoke up my ass? i'd really like to know, reception is pretty important to me... does anyone here have an unlocked phone? or is knowedgable in such matters?

(for the record im looking at the motorola razr v3 and the motorola v551...possibly the nokia 6170 but not sure)

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KanedA

· #2 · May 10, 2005

AFAIK no one from my friends with unlocked phones had such problem... what's more, all my phones were unlocked (I unlocked nokia 3210 and 3330 by myself) and nothing bad happend

. Only remamber when you will get rid of simlock, you automaticly lose your warranty

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 10, 2005

well there's no warranty on phones i'd buy from ebay anyway

i dont really see why unlocking a phone would provide poor reception. it doesnt really make sense...the only thing i can think of is that cingular's phones are "tuned" for their own networks or somethign when they get em...

$refraction$

refraction

· #4 · May 10, 2005

all a lock is, is something put on by mobile providers to stop you putting sim cards in from other providers, removing that lock just stops the phone blocking them.

in no way does it even touch the reception, so whoever said that you get reception problems is talking rubbish!

KanedA

· #5 · May 10, 2005

that aRs hole probably wanted to sell you something

caipirinha

· #6 · May 10, 2005

bull****, buy it and be happy.

it's just as refraction says, a software lock, insert a code and it's unlocked, nothing to do with hardware.

KanedA

· #7 · May 10, 2005

baside been stored in memory

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 10, 2005

KanedA said:
that aRs hole probably wanted to sell you something

yeah, that's what i was thinking since the only place i ever saw that information was in the info for two LOCKED phones

anyway, i just bought the phone. ebay and paypal are being really weird right now..i paid and i got the receipt but the auction still says i need to pay oO ill sort it out....

KanedA

· #9 · May 10, 2005

hushypushy said:
ebay and paypal are being really weird right now..i paid and i got the receipt but the auction still says i need to pay oO ill sort it out....

maybe temp script error

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 10, 2005

well, not sure. but i went to school then and i just got home and now it has the thing about leaving feedback, etc, and i got the tracking number. so i think everything is sorted out. cant wait to get a new phone...my Sony/Ericsson T610 died and i have some NEC flip phone now that runs out of battery every day and the receiver is too quiet >_>

Valcrist

· #11 · May 11, 2005

*CAUTION* I bought a phone off ebay and got screwed! The phone does NOT close right unless you rig it which will last for a few open and closes then you have to rig it again or it doesn't really close, which drains the battery FAST (like in 6 hours or so, and thats without using it).

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 11, 2005

well im buying mine closed box so it should be ok. did you get a used one or what?

Valcrist

· #13 · May 11, 2005

Yeah it was used, but the seller said it was in near new condition...

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 11, 2005

eh, yeah...i dont trust buying electronics off ebay unless they are brand new (most of the time anyway). especially things like cell phones. that's the whole reason im buying a NEW one is because i wanta new, fresh one...

VDDZ

· #15 · May 11, 2005

Wait, if I got an unlocked cell from eBay, could I just take my sim card out of my phone and put it in the unlocked one and have service and the same plan etc?

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · #16 · May 11, 2005

yep. you can, in fact, do that with anyone's cell phone as long as it's the same provider (because its locked). the unlocked ones let, say, T-Mobile users use the Motorola Razr V3 (available in the US only for cingular). but let's say you and your friend want to trade phones...just put your sim card in there and bam it works.

Valcrist

· #17 · May 12, 2005

I thought T-mobile used cdma phones?

hushypushy

Discussion Starter · #18 · May 12, 2005

im actually not sure. i was just making an example

i should've thought about that before i said it...i know Verizon uses CDMA too..hmm

Valcrist

· #19 · May 12, 2005

Yeah I use Verizon and they are CDMA, I wub my Verizon.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

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