Hi all, this is my first post here. I'm relatively tech-savvy but mobile development isn't my forte. Anyway, I've tried many search strings on the site but I haven't found a directly relevant answer.
Essentially the issue is I have a grandfathered service plan from approximately 2004 where I'm getting data for $5/month. I was using a lame HTC Touch Pro until it shattered. Unfortunately, to purchase a new smartphone (figuratively anything that isn't a flip phone), I would need to enter into a new contract on their exponentially more expensive terms. Additionally, I'm going to get nailed with all kinds of new bull**** fees (a 4G fee when it has barely been developed in NYC). Obviously I'm hoping for a more cost-effective approach.
Furthermore, I saw someone briefly mention in another thread that the OP could just buy a phone outright. I'm wondering if purchasing a phone unlocked and then somehow activating it on Sprint's network or some other hack would be possible. Price is a significant constraint; it's not feasible for me to drop $750 on an unlocked smartphone, so it's preferable if I can find some kind of workaround that's subsidized.
Thanks for reading through this, hope you can lend some advice on the optimal solution.
Sprint won't accept unlocked phones. I don't think there is a such thing as a unlocked cdma phone.
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So, I'm new to the world of android phones. I and others like me would like to know: what are the pros and cons of buying a phone unlocked at full price versus buying a phone subsidized? Feel free to use all the technical jargon at your disposal, oh wise people of xda. Thanks in advance.
Buying unlocked will save you a heap of trouble when it comes to flashing a phone to another carrier. It saves the risk of getting odd service. (This occurs when using a donor meid for another phone)
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Oh and I forgot to mention. Paying some Guy to flash to another carrier can cost in the $70 range.
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To be honest, I don't know anyone that would buy a phone full price from a carrier just to get it sim unlocked. Most people get a subsidized phone since its cheaper up front but then you're stuck on a contract, as opposed to buying a phone retail or craigslist where you can just use prepaid service and you're not tied down to a lengthy contract. Keep in mind, you can always pay a couple bucks to get your phone sim unlocked if you choose not to get a phone directly from your carrier. Yes it would be free from your carrier but its not worth it in the long run when you can just check ebay, some third party websites or maybe even unlock it yourself.
I wonder, given the OP's self-confessed newness to phones, he/she is mixing up 'unlocked to any network' with the constant talk of 'unlocking bootloaders' and the like?
I figured sim unlocking since bootloader unlocking wouldnt matter if it was bought at full price or subsidized...I dont think anyways.
The obvious benefits are flashing rims and not being locked to a specific carrier.
Hi Guys
I've finally decided to leave Sprint due to lack of coverage in my area. I already am in the process of moving to a GSM network and am close to the point where I want to actually sell my year-old EVO Shift. I've never sold a CDMA phone before, when I sold my Milestone, I just pulled the SIM, wiped the memory and reflashed the OS to Stock. (Pretty easy) But I'm not really sure what I should do to sell a Sprint phone, as my account info must be tied to the IMEI.
Wiping the memory will be easy, I've already rooted and installed CyanogenMod7, but what else should I do to deregister my device (other than canceling the contract) and prepare my phone so somebody else on Sprint will be able to use it?
That said, anybody here want to buy it? Except for one little dent, it's in great condition - no screen scratches whatsoever and the battery still gets a good 36 hours or more. And as said, it's already been set up to run CM7. If you're interested, make me an offer - I'm not expecting a lot.
Try the xda marketplace you might find a buyer there.
Sent from my PG06100 using xda premium
How much you selling it for? I might be interested. I'm pretty sure once you cancel your contract the phone should be able to be reactivated as long as you pay all cancel fees and there's no balance left on your account. Just to verify, i'd call sprint and ask them if you'd still be able to use the phone later should you decide to return to sprint (play that angle so they don't get too suspicious)
Anyway ... PM me about the phone.
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So towards the end of June I was planning on leaving Sprint and heading over to At&t with the girlfriend. I had a plan with my brother to swap lines, his being off contract, allowing him to continue using my GSII and having me leave Sprint without any ETF worry. However now it seems that my brother is backing out of the whole idea which is leaving me at a whopping $300 ETF that doesn’t look too pretty.
I figure by selling the SII I am still looking at a big chunk just to get out of Sprint and buying a new phone until I realized something. I noticed that the difference between smartphones and basic phones half the ETF fee, $150 in my case. So what if I were to downgrade my plan with a basic phone, pay the ETF, sell the SII for around $200, and have some left over to put into the new phone. It all just seems too good to be true and I might just be overlooking something just in the thought of a somewhat loophole but what do you guys think? Could it be that easy? Should I read the terms and conditions instead of writing a thread out of shear excitement?
What do you think?
Generally speaking, it is much harder to downgrade than it is to upgrade. When you entered the contract for the smartphone you agreed to pay for service for a full two years in return for a subsidized phone. Legally they can (and odds are they will) tell you to either keep the phone & plan or pay the etf.
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If your rooted get roam control.
They will drop you after a while.
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Hello,
I hope this is in the right place, I've only made a few posts on here, but I read this site daily. Thanks to everyone who contributes!
I have a quick question I googled around about and couldn't really find an answer too.
I am currently using a T-mobile galaxy S 3 on ST w/ an att sim, but I also have a line on my parents plan w/ an old kin two m feature phone that will be due for an upgrade in the spring. My parents firmly believe that smartphones and data plans are the devil...So we have a talk and text family plan w/ 4 feature phones on it. I am curious if there is any way that when the upgrade is available, I could use it to buy a smartphone(capable of unlock/gsm capabilities), and then continue to use my kin two on the plan.
Does upgrading to a smartphone, from a feature phone, require adding a dataplan to purchase the phone? If so can I add the data plan to a single line for a month, then remove it and switch back to the feature phone?
Sorry if my post doesn't really make sense, any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time!
wxcarne89 said:
Hello,
I hope this is in the right place, I've only made a few posts on here, but I read this site daily. Thanks to everyone who contributes!
I have a quick question I googled around about and couldn't really find an answer too.
I am currently using a T-mobile galaxy S 3 on ST w/ an att sim, but I also have a line on my parents plan w/ an old kin two m feature phone that will be due for an upgrade in the spring. My parents firmly believe that smartphones and data plans are the devil...So we have a talk and text family plan w/ 4 feature phones on it. I am curious if there is any way that when the upgrade is available, I could use it to buy a smartphone(capable of unlock/gsm capabilities), and then continue to use my kin two on the plan.
Does upgrading to a smartphone, from a feature phone, require adding a dataplan to purchase the phone? If so can I add the data plan to a single line for a month, then remove it and switch back to the feature phone?
Sorry if my post doesn't really make sense, any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would add data and could take the phone off back to Kin 2. The problem is you would need to get a phone from VZW that is gsm capable. Their global offerings are lacking and in most cases are locked from using USA gsm signals. Checking newer phones' radios first would be a must.
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Thanks!
Hey, thanks for the input, it's appreciated.
Since I just got this S3 in early Oct I will probably hold onto the upgrade till next fall when hopefully a new note or something else cool is released, (saying that it could be unlocked for GSM). If i am lucky there will be more Verizon 4g LTE phones out that can be unlocked for GSM in a year from now. I never really expected that you would be able to unlock Verizon CDMA phones for GSM, but a guy in my CompTIA A+ cert. class said that his Verizon S3 could be unlocked for gsm and it got me thinking.
It's kinda a long story, but what got me asking about this I originally wanted a note/ note 2.
In September another forum member and I found two galaxy notes for $300 on CL, and the one I picked had motherboard problems of course(Avoid CL phones/tabs please!) I was luckily able to sell the phone for parts on ebay for $150 easily, but I still lost a little money on the unlock code, zagg, and a new S-pen. After that I really just needed a dependable phone fast, and couldn't really gamble on something used, or wait on the US Note 2 release, so I settled on the S3, so here next fall after i've had the phone for about a year hopefully i'll be able to upgrade to something new. I have grown to really like my S3 though.
I hope that this isn't against the rules or in the wrong section but I have questions regarding my topic.
I'm a student so I don't have a ton of money. I've been without a phone for a few months now but I am really looking to get service again if its not too expensive. Currently it seems like VM offers the best deal with $35 a month for unlimited data/sms however they do that buy getting one to buy a new phone. $35 seems do-able for me but adding $300 is a bit too much for me.
I used to have a nexus s 4g when I was on sprint and I also have access to a sprint galaxy s2. Is there any way I can get either to work on Virgin?
Thanks a bunch
snowice0 said:
I hope that this isn't against the rules or in the wrong section but I have questions regarding my topic.
I'm a student so I don't have a ton of money. I've been without a phone for a few months now but I am really looking to get service again if its not too expensive. Currently it seems like VM offers the best deal with $35 a month for unlimited data/sms however they do that buy getting one to buy a new phone. $35 seems do-able for me but adding $300 is a bit too much for me.
I used to have a nexus s 4g when I was on sprint and I also have access to a sprint galaxy s2. Is there any way I can get either to work on Virgin?
Thanks a bunch
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If you have the galaxy S2, then yes you could use it on VM. You would probably have to make sure that it is unlocked. To get it unlocked you can pay someone or look up a website that offers the service because carriers tend to lock the device specifically for the carrier. Either way you shouldn't pay more that 50$ to unlock it and move your S2 over to VM.
thanks; unlocking it shouldn't be an issue so I'll see how things turn out.
I hope VM is down with it on their end though