Ericsson T68 color GSM phone(no contract) ->$200

[KIDO1]

$200 for ATT locked phone with no contract. You can purchase it from any Circuit City. The funny thing is that it was $58.00 before they actually had it in the store (I did a the preorder option). Then they raised it to $149.99. After another week they raised it to 199.99 (plus rebate if you activate the phone).
I was so happy to pay $58 for brand new T68.

More details:

Post at PhoneArena.com

 

[iamme]

Buy it from me, before it gets more and more expensive
(check my sig, for this shameless plug)

 

[labooboo]

I paid $400 for the T68i

 

[KIDO1]

T68 is mechanically the same as T68i but with different firmware revisions. You can upgrade it in Europe/Asia. SonyEricsson US is not doing it yet (but they will also).

 

[MJGunn]

This is NOT to crap on your thread, but just so people know, if you're considering buying it at this really good price, and then getting it unlocked somewhere so you can use it on say, voicestream, or cingular, don't. So far the only place I've found that can unlock them is in canada, and they want $100 + you pay shipping both ways. Of course, a total of around $350 (by the time you're done with tax, shipping, etc) is sadly, still not bad, the best price I've seen for a unlocked t68 is around $375

 

[vladgur]

was so happy to pay $58 for brand new T68.

Why didnt you share this deal with us when the phone was $58

 

[KIDO1]

The place in Canada actually charges $140 + shipping! I am sure that someone would be able to unlock those phones here in US soon. Another choise is to send it to Europe. The price is around 30-40$ the most.

 

[Akira13]

Oh man, I almost pissed my pants when I read you got it for $58. But seriously... did you post that when you got it at that price? I just busted my 8290 (Voicestream), and was looking to get one of these unlocked. As for difficulty unlocking, well, I've heard that if you give ATT a call, they'll unlock it for you. All you have to do is tell them that you're gonna sell your phone to a friend where ATT isn't available, or you're going out of country and want to use your phone (you should drop the names of a few international providers).

 

[MJGunn]

I'm sure At&t will want you to have an account though, something a lot of us don't have

Kid01 - The guy I talked to on the howard forums (largely a canadian board) Quoted me "160". I didn't ask of it was US or canadian, I just assumed it was, which would make it $104. If he was talking US prices, then he might have raised his rates!

 

[Akira13]

I was just at howardforums, and I tried to read up on unlocking. I can't find this on circuitcity.com, so I'm just speculating that if you buy the phone from them, you can only get it with activation (but no contract?). So you'd have the service with ATT. Then you call them, say that you hate their service, want to unlock your phone to sell it, and that'll be that. Good idea?

 

[MJGunn]

Possible, but I haven't seen a service yet which lets you sign up without signing a contract.

 

[Akira13]

The title of the thread says no contract, which if true, is unusual. Too bad I'm an hour away from my nearest CC B&M, or I'd go and investigate.

 

[warthogah]

You can get a SonyEricsson T68i in NYC Chinatown for $200 (no tax if paid in cash) when you sign on to Voicestream and commit a 1 year contract. The phone is not SP Locked to any wireless provider. Helped a friend to get one yesterday.

 

[KIDO1]

Go to CC and ask them. I live in Tampa Bay Area (Florida). I have purchased 3 phones. THEY DO NOT ASK YOU TO SIGN A CONTRACT. If you insist you can sign one, and then they will give you a rebate also. The rebate for T68 is $100 (I think) from CC. Final price - $100 with contract. They also have the S46 for $199.99 with no contract and if you sign a contract they have $150.00 rebate for final price of $50.00 (plus tax). The only problem then is to unlock the phone or if you want use ATT as service provider.

 

[SNoWyV82]

So this is only for places where AT&T GSM is currently available? I live in MD near DC and we don't have AT&T GSM yet, however I plan to get it (I am on their TDMA network now) as soon as it is available. If I could get the T68 now at this price and activate it when GSM becomes available it would be great. The price was the only concern for me, and this price is stunning. Damn I want this sooo bad.

 

[MJGunn]

Wow, thats surprising. Is that for their AT&T phones only, or voicestream as well?

 

[KIDO1]

Circuit City does not offer Voicestream phones (at least CC in Tampa Bay).

 

[MJGunn]

do they have service in tampa? they do up here, but around here, we don't have cingular or at&t gsm service

 

[Optical]

Is it really worth it to go through all these troubles especially when area coverage is spotty? Are you guys crazy over this just to be the one to have it? I heard some horror stories about people buy this thing and not having the coverage, no service, and yada yada.

I think it's going to be awhile before good GSM coverage will be available in the states.

 

[MJGunn]

Oh right, I forgot to mention that, the RF on the T68 is reportedly pretty bad, so unless you're in an area with really good coverage, you should avoid it.

 

[tuan121]

I got 2 phones unlocked from voicestream b4 for free =D.

 

[odz]

I live in Spain now, anyone know if I could buy an unlocked GSM phone in the states and use it over here.
The phones are really expensive over here.
Thanks.

 

[KIDO1]

All GSM phones sold by service providers in USA are locked. You can purchase unlocked one from ebbbay probably.

 

[MJGunn]

A good place to get unlocked phones, or to get a phone you've already got unlocked is the sellers on the howardforums (www.howardforums.com) under the "promote yourself" section. I've bought a few phones from lvwireless, and he usually beats ebay prices by anywhere from $15 for the really hot phones, to $75 for phones that are oddly overpriced on ebay.

I know if you're a VS customer, with a voicestream phone, and you're a customer for something like 6 months, you can e-mail them at SIMUnlock@voicestream.com with some info (your account name and #, and the phones IMEI number, which is usually located on a sticker, on the back, under the battery), and they will give you the unlock code. I've actually read that if you get, say, a v60g, they will unlock it a lot sooner than 6 months, because its a world phone, and one of the features they advertise is that it can be used anywhere.

Odz - About buying phones here and using them in spain, make sure that the phone you buy here (if you do) is a "world" phone, or at least one that works on 900/1800mhz. A large number of the phones sold here ONLY work on 1900mhz, and therefore won't work in spain.

 

[swNYC]

All GSM phones sold by service providers in USA are locked. You can purchase unlocked one from ebbbay probably.

Not always true, since some of the phones are World Phones (Tribands), they are usually unlocked by default, but you have to pay the full cost of the phone vs. being subsidized by the SP, and probably have to commit to a contract. For example, the Motorola V70 from Cingular is unlocked. There are some online retailers who sells unlocked phones which could be parallel imports from Asia or Europe.