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

[KIDO1]

All phones that I have bought from ANY big provider (ATT, VS, Cingular) have been locked. You can subsiquently unlock them (after a specific period of time - like 3-6 months) and if you are in good standing.

 

[VaG]

I went to a number of CC's and they ABSOLUTLY would not let me walk out of there without a contract so I walked out without a phone.

 

[raskash]

What is the advantage of unlocking a phone? Whats the limitations of a locked phone vs unlocked?

 

[spartan]

You can only used locked phones with the service provider you bought the phone from. If you have an unlocked phone, you can use any GSM service provider.

 

[MJGunn]

Locked just means you can only use a phone on the carrier that you bought it from.

 

[iamme]

once you use it with a particular carrier, does it become locked? or is it forever unlocked?

 

[tboo]

I dont think Cingular locks their phones. Ive had several of their phones that Ive used with US Cellular

 

[MJGunn]

Once its unlocked, its unlocked forever

 

[MitzEclipse]

Originally posted by: 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.

FYI - Not all World Phones are Unlocked - there are locked Ericsson T28's and Nokia 8890's. There is also a such thing as a band lock which locks the phone to a particular band (ie: 1900mhz for North American Only use).

 

[eTaesu]

i have att, and my nokia 8260 stopped working. if i want to get a good phone for a cheap price, what do i do then? the v60s and v70s from motorolas look real nice, but i'm thinking, without a contract, they'll probably cost a fortune. what should i do?

thanks all you anandtechers

 

[MJGunn]

if you have a nokia 8260, that means you have TDMA. In that case, they don't make a v70 for that. v60 without a contract costs around $300

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: MJGunn
if you have a nokia 8260, that means you have TDMA. In that case, they don't make a v70 for that. v60 without a contract costs around $300

actually, Best Buy has the v60 for $150 w/ a $100 rebate from Motorola/ATT, making the phone $50

 

[KIDO1]

Originally posted by: VaG
I went to a number of CC's and they ABSOLUTLY would not let me walk out of there without a contract so I walked out without a phone.

In what state are you?
If you are in Tampa Bay Area, you should go to the CC in Clearwater, on US19 (before Enterprice Road). Or you can go to the one in St. Pete on 66Th str and 22nd Ave. They both do not require a contract on their phones.

 

[MJGunn]

actually, Best Buy has the v60 for $150 w/ a $100 rebate from Motorola/ATT, making the phone $50

But thats only with a new contract, both the $150 Price, and the $100 MIR. Personally, I think Kid01 just got lucky getting out of his CC without a contract, as I don't think CC sells phones without contracts either.

 

[KIDO1]

I got lucky 3 times personally, plus 4 of my friend bough 4 more phones? Is this luck? The luck was to pay $58.00 for T68. But you can still go to the above mentioned CC and get one for $199.99 without contract.

 

[trulfe]

does this only work on the GSM network? Is it TDMA compatible until ATT unveils the GSM network here in Northern Cali?

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: MJGunn

actually, Best Buy has the v60 for $150 w/ a $100 rebate from Motorola/ATT, making the phone $50

But thats only with a new contract, both the $150 Price, and the $100 MIR. Personally, I think Kid01 just got lucky getting out of his CC without a contract, as I don't think CC sells phones without contracts either.

I'm an existing AT&T customer and I picked up the v60 for $150. I called ATT/Motorola rebate center and they said I should still qualify for the $100 rebate, but we'll see....

 

[raskash]

i talked to ATT about GSM in Cali... they said it should launch in late august and around 15 phones are going to be introduced.. Also 2 of those phones are going to be TDMA/GSM capable... soo might want to wait and check the new phones out....

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: raskash
i talked to ATT about GSM in Cali... they said it should launch in late august and around 15 phones are going to be introduced.. Also 2 of those phones are going to be TDMA/GSM capable... soo might want to wait and check the new phones out....

wow, really?

AT&T's current rate is 1 new phone every 15 months

Is there anywhere on the internet that can confirm this?

 

[KIDO1]

No provider introduced 15 phones at one time. This is a complete joke. For the launch of their GSM service ATT introduced 3 phones. I AM 100% that ATT will introduce some new ones, but not 15.

 

[MJGunn]

When they say 15 phones are going to be introduced, they most likely mean 15 phones are going to be introducted TO CALIFORNIA. Which means, what, the probably 10 or so phones they offer now, plus a few new ones. California is going to be HOT this summer with voicestream, at&t moving into the area with GSM to fight cingular. You can expect a lot of new phones to attempt to wow the customers, along with some really good rate plans.

 

[raskash]

oh wow.. Voicestream coming to Cali?? when are they coming to Cali? would be nice to have another competitor. well the guy said around 15 new phones.. but who knows... i am expecting like 1/3 of what he said to be new...

 

[ShinSa]

Originally posted by: MitzEclipse

Originally posted by: 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.

FYI - Not all World Phones are Unlocked - there are locked Ericsson T28's and Nokia 8890's. There is also a such thing as a band lock which locks the phone to a particular band (ie: 1900mhz for North American Only use).

Nobody on howards forums including myself have never came across a nokia 8890 thats been locked. If cingular advertises the phone as being a world phone, and they lock the phone they are looking at a big lawsuit.

 

[Paulj4]

Originally posted by: ShinSa

Originally posted by: MitzEclipse

Originally posted by: 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.

FYI - Not all World Phones are Unlocked - there are locked Ericsson T28's and Nokia 8890's. There is also a such thing as a band lock which locks the phone to a particular band (ie: 1900mhz for North American Only use).

Nobody on howards forums including myself have never came across a nokia 8890 thats been locked. If cingular advertises the phone as being a world phone, and they lock the phone they are looking at a big lawsuit.

The "locked" phone (at least for GSM) as I understand it, means the phone "marries" the first SIM card that is introduced to it. Any other subsequent insertion of a SIM card (other than the network the original SIM card was for) will require a "SIM Unlock code" before the phone will work with that SIM card. When the phones are advertised as "world" phones, this simply means that they have the CAPABILITY of working in places other than the US. They are Tri-band (900,1800,and 1900MHz) and dual band (1900 and one of the other frequencies mentioned earlier). Which places they will work is purely dependent upon which providers your current provider has "roaming agreements" with. A good way to test if your phone is unlocked is to insert another providers SIM card into your phone. If it turns on and registers in the network without any interaction from you then you have an unlocked phone. Hope this helps.

 

[gltyrian]

juss a sort of fyi for those to be excited about voicestraem in cali... they are going to be networking sharing w/ cingular... i dont see how that is a smart idea for cingular customers cuz we all know how busy the networks are already!! supposedly their putitng up 10,000 new towers (thats what cingular cs told me)... but that wont happen till august... so i guess its wait and see...

if u look up the press releases for VS and cingular... what their doing is a network share thing for the cali/nevada and the new york region... cingular will use some of VS'es towers and network space in exchange for letting VS using cali... plans will compete, but the network quality will prolly be the same =(

siao

ps. can someone explain to me what exactly is mlife? there doesnt seem to be a definitive definition on the att website...seems to me like a fancy name for fone features like scores and stocks and text messaging?