I am looking to buy the Unlocked version of Treo PRO by Palm for my AT&T cell phone plan.
How exactly do these work? AT&T has sim cards, but Sprint doesn’t. Correct?
Somebody, PLEASE explain this to me. 
A Sprint phone cannot be used on the AT&T network. In the US, there are two different, incompatible cell phone networks, GSM (AT&T and T-Mobile) and CDMA (Sprint and Verizon). Phone made for one type of network cannot be used on the other.
Is it possible to use a Sidekick LX with AT&T if it is unlocked? Also wat will be available to use if i only use it on the AT&T plan. I have heard both sides. That you can have it all or only text and talk. Also i need to know how do you unlock a phone? can you just put in the other SIM card?
Plz and Thx for all help given.
You would need to get the unlock code and instructions from the carrier that the device was made for. The only thing we can guarantee with an unlocked device is that it will make and receive calls. We can usually get text messaging working without too much trouble. Everything else that is data related is a crap shoot. We may be able to get one thing working and not another or we may not be able to get anything data related working. Case in point – I received a call from a person yesterday who had a European model of an LG device and we started going thru the WAP settings but it would not allow him to edit the APN or the IP address and without those the internet will not work. We were not able to help him any further.
I don’t have a particular brand or model in mind, but I don’t want to buy a phone with a plan. My job pays for my service, but I’m kind of on my own for a good phone.
One thing I’m interested in is a phone with a QWERTY keyboard.
eBay.
are there any down falls of buying a unlocked phone? any problems with doing this?
Verizon does not unlock their cell phones. Secondly Verizon phones do not have a place to put in a sim card. Thirdly, Verizon runs on CDMA network while AT&T runs on GSM network. Which means to incompatible. That would never work.
I currently have an ATT plan grandfathered over to Cingular, and because the plan is so good I don’t want to switch to Cingular. With that said, I have an older phone and want a new one. Every person I speak with at Cingular tells me I need to migrate over in order to purchase a new phone that is compatible. I have spoken to several "independent" resellers who say an unlocked phone is the way to go and proceed to tell me it will cost close to $300. Does anyone know of a store or site I can take a look at to shop for a new phone at a drastically lower cost?
do not trust ebay for unlocked phones i have dealt with cell phones too long and people on ebay don’t even know what they are selling half of the time. The best site for unlocked cellphones is Amazon.com amazon checks with their sellers and stuff and it sounds bad but when it comes to cell phones european people know what they are talking about. Also come another I believe my cingular fried has told me not next year but year after if you don’t have the new phones your screwed see your old phone works off an older transmission system where cingular is switching to GSM which is what is used in europe GSM is good no feeback like CDMA but they are switching from the analog and i believe ATT was IDEN but do not quote me on that and as towers switch to GSM their will go your service it is just a matter of time. Good luck
Can I buy an unlocked phone and then get it activated by my cell phone company without the company forcing me to change or upgrade my current plan?
There are actually a couple questions here. unlocked phones as explained in some of the other answers refers to not having a "subsidy lock". A "subsidy lock" means that the wireless provider has had the equipment locked to their network in an effort to minimize financial loss when providing phones at a significantly discounted price or sometimes for free with a new contract. If you have an unlocked phone of the correct technology you can get it activated.
The second part about not changing your plan will depend on a few things. Primarily if your old phone is the same technology or not. Changing phone technology will frequently require changing rate plans. If both old phone and new phone are the same technology you should be able to switch phones. Be sure to notify your provider so they can note the new phone’s identification (IMEI) in their system. That will help confirm that data services will work correctly and if you carry insurance on your phone you can make sure the right phone is insured.
I have Virgin Mobile and I would like to know if I could buy an unlocked phone (env maybe?)and use it with with my current network. If so, is there certain phones that work better unlocked than others?
You can, but it’s not easy, and it’s likely to fail. Virgin is an MVNO of the Sprint network, which is CDMA. You can’t unlock CDMA phones. You can try to have it reprogrammed, but Sprint is notorious for only allowing approved devices on its network, and that includes MVNOs (sorry for all the acronyms).
unlocked phones usually refer to those on GSM networks, which in the U.S. means T-Mobile and AT&T. They use SIM cards. CDMA networks like Sprint, Alltel, and Verizon do not use SIM cards.
Hi,
Im looking for a really nice cellphone. But all the compagnies were I live have some that really sucks or costs a fortune.
Im searching for a website that has unlocked cellphones to buy ( smartphones, qwerty phones ) for low cost and that ships them into Canada.
Thanks a lot.!!
hi,
me too had this question on my mind last year, what i did was bought a smart phone from E bay and i my self unlocked it at my home using unlock codes, which in my presumption is the easiest and economical of all methods, if u feel any qualms about unlocking try using http://www.mobileunlockguide.com/ to glance through the entire process of unlocking before actually procuring codes
so to say if my cell phone provider does not use sim/smart cards and i bought a unlocked cell phone, how would i move the phone number and such over?
You don’t. unlocked phones will only work with networks that use sim cards(unlocked GSM phones with GSM providers and unlocked iDEN phones with iDEN networks). You can’t use unlocked phones with CDMA networks.
I’m curious as to what a unlocked cell phone offers you that a locked cell doesn’t? and how do you get one unlocked if you want to?
u cant set ur security options with a locked phone…let alone probably access anything else…
