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[Q] Questions about buying phone in the US

Hello there, I'm from Indonesia. This summer holiday (Jun-Jul mid) I'll have a trip to the US for the first time and beside that I want to buy a new smart phone.
1. I'm 15 yo and I won't occupied by my parents when in the trip, but I'm given a additional visa credit card by my parent which is issued in my country. Question is, can I use that CC to buy the phone without any additional info needed or what do i need to have/give any additional info/sth like that?
2. What retail stores are recommended there? The price, the service, the easiness for me? As I know there are so many retail stores in US. I'll be in major cities though, like LA, LV, Boston, NYC
3. Any recommended Android phone to buy? Actually I'm aiming for the SGS2 but looks like it won't have come to US when I'm there.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Flyer888 said:
Hello there, I'm from Indonesia. This summer holiday (Jun-Jul mid) I'll have a trip to the US for the first time and beside that I want to buy a new smart phone.
1. I'm 15 yo and I won't occupied by my parents when in the trip, but I'm given a additional visa credit card by my parent which is issued in my country. Question is, can I use that CC to buy the phone without any additional info needed or what do i need to have/give any additional info/sth like that?
2. What retail stores are recommended there? The price, the service, the easiness for me? As I know there are so many retail stores in US. I'll be in major cities though, like LA, LV, Boston, NYC
3. Any recommended Android phone to buy? Actually I'm aiming for the SGS2 but looks like it won't have come to US when I'm there.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Here are some quick thoughts. In the USA, it is often cheaper to buy over the web. They will want to ship to the billing address of the cc to prevent fraud. This will prevent you from using your credit card with most mail order vendors. Is the CC in your parents name or yours? If it is in your name, you should have no problem buying at a retail store as long as you have your passport for identification. Will you be staying with relatives? Could they run the purchase through their CC (reimburse in cash via ATM)?
Most of the carriers in the USA use a different technology than the rest of the world. You need a GSM phone. AT&T and T-Mobile both use GSM but use different frequencies for voice and data than most/all of Asia. So you are looking for a quad band phone that supports the frequency used in Indonesia. 2100? If you bought a prepaid T-mobile phone they would unlock it after 60 days and $10 in your account. (Or pay someone on ebay for the unlock code $10) T-mobile has some good prices but they only have a few prepaid android phones. LG Optimus T/Optimus One ($120) and the Samsung Galaxy S ($350) https://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/prepaid.aspx
You can also buy an unlocked phone that has been imported into the USA. If you buy a quad band phone, you could use it in the usa and in Indonesia. One of the major problems is that the vendors are almost all mail-order firms. If you are dealing with family, you could have them order it before you arrived so that you could have it right away. The Samsung Galaxy S2 looks like it is available via mail order for around $700-$800 USD with NO Warranty.

Explore3 said:
Here are some quick thoughts. In the USA, it is often cheaper to buy over the web. They will want to ship to the billing address of the cc to prevent fraud. This will prevent you from using your credit card with most mail order vendors. Is the CC in your parents name or yours? If it is in your name, you should have no problem buying at a retail store as long as you have your passport for identification. Will you be staying with relatives? Could they run the purchase through their CC (reimburse in cash via ATM)?
Most of the carriers in the USA use a different technology than the rest of the world. You need a GSM phone. AT&T and T-Mobile both use GSM but use different frequencies for voice and data than most/all of Asia. So you are looking for a quad band phone that supports the frequency used in Indonesia. 2100? If you bought a prepaid T-mobile phone they would unlock it after 60 days and $10 in your account. (Or pay someone on ebay for the unlock code $10) T-mobile has some good prices but they only have a few prepaid android phones. LG Optimus T/Optimus One ($120) and the Samsung Galaxy S ($350)
You can also buy an unlocked phone that has been imported into the USA. If you buy a quad band phone, you could use it in the usa and in Indonesia. One of the major problems is that the vendors are almost all mail-order firms. If you are dealing with family, you could have them order it before you arrived so that you could have it right away. The Samsung Galaxy S2 looks like it is available via mail order for around $700-$800 USD with NO Warranty.
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Unfortunately I don't have any relative there. The cc is in my name, so no problem right?
Because of that I'm looking for concrete stores maybe such as BestBuy, Walmart or anything else but I don't know which one of them gives me the best one?
Oh, so altough I buy in stores like I said before, instead of in the carrier's itself store am I still forced to buy the "post-paid system?"
As I know they're able to give it away off-contract but with higher price and locked, right?
I think most of the new smartphones are using quad band so that's not a problem... Because I have a friend here using a Captivate and it is fully functional after he unlocked it to be able to use the SIM cards issued here.
Thanks.

Flyer888 said:
I think most of the new smartphones are using quad band so that's not a problem... Because I have a friend here using a Captivate and it is fully functional after he unlocked it to be able to use the SIM cards issued here.
Thanks.
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I will agree that most of the new smartphones sold outside the USA are quadband. Probably most smartphones sold by T-mobile and AT&T or are unlocked will be quadband and most likely support 3g frequency in your country. If the phone is associated with ANY other carrier, 90% of the time it will not support GSM.
PS I never bought from them but if you are in Chicago you could check out http://welectronics.com/gsm/Samsung/SAMSUNG_I9100-GALAXY-S-II-16GB.HTML In NYC - http://www.jr.com/category/office/cellular-phones/n/4294528936-4294605649/sort-by-salePrice-1/ One of the few places that you might be able to haggle on the price (Source: web posting).

[Q] What is the drving factor of why you change servicec providers?

Hello All,
I am one of the people that do more reading on xda than post, so sorry for my low post count. This question is to get more feedback and also allow to me vent a bit.
Like mostly everyone that is on XDA loves their phone or tablet and wants to get the most out of it and/or make it their own. Many of us are gadget lovers and really enjoy the evolution of technology as it comes out. I am sure many of us would love to or have been to CES in Las Vegas (or any electronics show). All and all, when the day is over we are all sophisticated geeks (to others or in our own mind).
Myself, I am in a daily battle to stay on-top of technology as much as I can. What is the problem with that? Money. (can I get a Amen?). We will not even go into the social life talk in this post, because after all it is just a question. I find myself always seeing what service provider will release next. I have once worked for Sprint in the corporate side and know a lot that goes on behind the curtain. Providers are shown many new and current handsets that have and have not launched in the market yet. There is a team that looks at all angles of the phone before giving a thumbs up to it. It all comes down to what the customer will buy.
SO... allow me to get to the point and question....
- Do you find yourself migrating from service provider to service provider based on what type of handset(s) they have new and existing?
- Do you sit there and joggle the pros and cons of dealing with a service provider you know you are not going to want to be with and/or deal with, but they have a handset you want (so badly)?
- Do you try to find ways out of your contract so you can switch providers just to get into that phone?
- Do you put yourself on a pay as you go plan, and just buy the phone out-right just so you are not held down to a contract?
- Are you on the look out for new mobile providers to see what they offer as for phones Vs rate plans? (Example: ting.com in the USA)
Being honest, other than Cicket, and TrackPhone in the USA... I have been on EVERY service provider (in the USA). If I could get frequent flyer miles for my mobile number, I would be PRIME GOLD ELITE by now.
Alright, your turn... what SAY YOU?

I take it for most this is too much or two hard to answer?

Hello there! I always have been on pay as you go, the reason in $, I would get a contract but don't want to be tied down for 2 years, virgin mobile dosent have many Android phones so I just wait till they come out with new ones, I'm patient , service providers to me isn't that great of a deal, as long as service is good and the price is right, service is an opinion, some people think tmobile is better and some think at&t is better, ive been on boost mobile, virgin mobile, at&t and sprint, service seemed the same to me, so I don't research and debate to see what's best, to me I think contract phone bills can be a little to over priced, but this is only my opinion
Sent from my HTC_A510c using XDA App

Android311 said:
Hello there! I always have been on pay as you go, the reason in $, I would get a contract but don't want to be tied down for 2 years, virgin mobile dosent have many Android phones so I just wait till they come out with new ones, I'm patient , service providers to me isn't that great of a deal, as long as service is good and the price is right, service is an opinion, some people think tmobile is better and some think at&t is better, ive been on boost mobile, virgin mobile, at&t and sprint, service seemed the same to me, so I don't research and debate to see what's best, to me I think contract phone bills can be a little to over priced, but this is only my opinion
Sent from my HTC_A510c using XDA App
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Thank you for the reply I agree with you. Looking at T-Mobile for example, their non-contract plans are lower cost then their normal plans. I was lost as to why this is and did not want to go into it with why this is.

ya im not sure why that is, perhaps maybe services use "pre-paid" as a marketing strategy to get new customers to try there service out and experiment how they like and feel about the company, if a customer has been on there prepaid for a while and likes them they might say hey, i like this service provider...maybe i should get a contract with them. Now that customer is with them for 2 years (or what ever the contract is). As price for pre paid and why its sometimes cheaper im not sure, im still trying to figure that out

I have gone back and forth between post paid and prepaid. As for me, the cost on prepaid is much better. However, the customer service is horrible in prepaid. I am with ATT, and recently had switched from postpaid to prepaid, then had an issue with the phone i bought on postpaid and had to pay the etf to get out of contract. Needless to say, I couldn't get any where with customer service, and had to switch back to postpaid to resolve my issue, and then back to postpaid. Why. Because i had so much into the phone. Anyway, customer service is a big difference, even between different service providers.

chrism.brunner said:
I have gone back and forth between post paid and prepaid. As for me, the cost on prepaid is much better. However, the customer service is horrible in prepaid. I am with ATT, and recently had switched from postpaid to prepaid, then had an issue with the phone i bought on postpaid and had to pay the etf to get out of contract. Needless to say, I couldn't get any where with customer service, and had to switch back to postpaid to resolve my issue, and then back to postpaid. Why. Because i had so much into the phone. Anyway, customer service is a big difference, even between different service providers.
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I agree, I have noticed that if you move into Pre-Paid service you fall into the ol' "You get what you pay for" type of deal. I have head through out the roomer mill that some companies may go 100% full automated for all pre-paid accounts. Thus, if the automation service can not fix your problem, then there is no one live that can help you. I can just think how awful that would be if you are trying to port your number over and you run in to issues.

Have any of you guys/gals noticed this? I have seen this time and time again. The quality of phone used in pre-paid Vs. that of Post-Paid. I think the core reason is that people just have issues paying 300.00 or more for a phone. They seem to love only paying 200.00 or less for a smartphone.
Even the same make and model between Pre and post... it just feels cheaper on a Pre-paid device.
Any takers on this?

I wouldn't say it feels cheaper on a prepaid device, maybe its some people mind that they feel there phone is cheap or themselves are cheap because they are on pay as you go, there is nothing wrong with prepaid...just don't have much of a phone selection, in this economy I'm sure alot of people are switching to prepaid due to they pay to much and fear if they can't pay the bills and ruin there credit
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S using xda premium

I just switched to straight talk today. $45 per month. With Att I paid $75 a months,with 500 MB. That was prepaid. So I like saving $30.

im with ATT now, i left sprint because of the prices, they've gotten higher since getting 4g (charging $10 a month per line) and with 5 lines that was to much for me, i went to tmobile next but ever single month they over charged me and then in a 3 month span charged me 4 times, so i left them and now im with ATT no problems so far. i think all carriers have great phones and everyone will find one they like from anywhere its mainly a budget issue with me

Sending an iphone to Brazil..

Been a long time since I've been here, things have changed big time. Anyways i know this isn't an iPhone site but its the only site a trust. I have a girlfriend who currently lives in Brazil and everything there is over priced. A decent cell phone is $2000-$3000. I plan on getting a new phone here in the next month or so and will send my iPhone 4 to her. The iPhone is the att version and she has a gsm carrier so it should work if its unlocked (not sure which carrier she has but i can find out) Is there anything else i need to do besides unlocking it and changing the language? I don't want to send it and it be useless to her.
thanks

Sending Things to Brazil
I can't answer your question about unlocking, etc., but from reading your post, I'm guessing you don't know much about Brazilian Customs and rules.
I am certainly not an expert on those either, but I have sent things to various friends in Brazil many times, and there are some things I learned. Please understand that I do not intend any of this as definitive; I am simply sharing my experiences and what I think I know.
First, I was told by a friend who was running an import/export business in Brazil that importing used electronics into Brazil is illegal.
Next, if you want to send new electronics to Brazil, you need to follow the rules and fill out the customs forms properly, declaring the contents and value. Include the receipt as supporting evidence. Send by FedEx or UPS, and keep the tracking number. Customs will decide their own value of the item, which may be based on the price in Brazil, not the price you paid in the USA, and they will add the shipping costs as part of the total value. The recipient will be charged import duties and other taxes, which can be up to the total value.
Brazil has huge tariffs on electronics, cars, and other things, and along with the 2:1 exchange rate of the Brazilian real to the dollar, that is why things cost so much there. Your gift will be taxed, too.
Also, even if you do everything properly, the phone can be stolen -- oops, I mean confiscated -- by corrupt workers in Brazilian Customs. There are many. For example, I sent an 8 GB USB flash drive to a friend, which I bought for about $8 in the USA. She simply never got it. That was my lesson to ALWAYS get the tracking number, no matter how small the item. I'm assuming that it was taken by a Customs official, but if you write iPhone on the Customs form, anyone along the delivery route can see that. So who knows?
By now you probably decided against your idea. If you want to give her the phone, get a plane ticket and fly there to see her, and leave your phone behind. :angel: Brazilians typically are allowed to re-enter Brazil bringing *one* new laptop, iPod or such. I am not sure whether that is by law, or just Customs policy or typical behavior.
Jay Ts

[Q] GSM Acivation Precautions

Hi,
I am considering buying one of two used Galaxy Notes off craigslist for use with a T-Mobile SIM. One is AT&T and one is an international one.
From some of the research I've done, if buying the ATT one, I should run the IMEI by ATT to make sure it's clean, then make the seller sign a document stating that he's transferring ownership of the phone and IMEI to me to prevent him from reporting it stolen in the future, resulting in the blacklisting my IMEI, right? Also, how do I confirm he's the original owner? Will running the IMEI by ATT tell me that info?
Is it safer to pay more and go with a used international one? In other words do carriers tend to ever blacklist IMEIs of phones not sold by them?
Thanks

Good luck getting some random person from Craigslist to sign that kind of thing (which would have tenuous legal bearing, anyway).
I prefer to buy on eBay so that instead of having to deal with the police / legal system, eBay will handle it if they state something false about what they're selling.
Even if you run the IMEI by ATT, it can take some time for it to have entered their database - and that's assuming the seller already reported it stolen or defaulted on it. Most people trying to do that are smart enough to wait until you have the working phone, then report it - that way your phone works for a while and by the time it doesn't - what... you have a piece of paper they signed ? That's great, but then you have to either get the phone company to believe you or enter a legal dispute with this seller - with a document that's likely not notarized, from a person you probably have no idea where they can even be found - who might have given you a fake name and ID.
Plenty of people take the chance and it turns out okay. Some get burned - taking the chance is up to you. I prefer to go through eBay or a friend - because I know where friends live and generally they're actually friends and don't want to screw me over.

Hi Pennycake,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. The signed document was a suggestion I received from an ATT rep, who said it would show I was the owner and she would unblacklist it for me, and worst case scenario I have something instead of nothing if police are involved. Also both sellers have agreed to sign the documents, but thanks for the good luck
So again, my original questions: how do I identify the original owner of a phone sold by ATT, and secondly, do carriers ever blacklist IMEIs of international phones not sold by them?
Thanks in advance

I'm not sure if ATT and T-Mobile use the same company to manage blacklisting - that it's actually the same list (ie - if you're removed from the ATT list, will you be removed from T-Mobile's list or would they need to do it separately) . So you might have to convince T-Mobile reps - who by and large aren't that well (or at all) trained about the blacklist. I've never dealt with ATT reps, but they sound a whole lot better than the ones at T-Mobile when it comes to the IMEI blacklist (I've had great customer service from T-Mobile, but their training concerning the IMEI blacklist was sub-par, at least when I was on the market a few months ago).
I don't think T-Mobile will personally blacklist international phones. I know that USA carriers are starting to work together more and more - but I don't know about international.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

The largest GSM carriers in America, T-Mobile and AT&T, are collaborating on efforts in maintaining a national IMEI blacklist for GSM phones to help stop thefts, and began implementing policy beginning last month. This is why I am extra cautious as I have never been over the purchase of a used GSM phone. Which led me to a new question I would never have thought to ask, which was, again, "Do US carriers blacklist IMEIs of international phones not sold by them?"
So an example is if an ATT customer activated an int'l phone sold by Samsung, not ATT, and defaulted on payments. The relevancy of this, if the IMEI was blacklisted, would be that T-Mobile would not activate the phone. Carriers have had incentive to blacklist phones sold by themselves to protect against their investment in subsidizing the phones, but I am unclear on phones not sold by them. Anyone with little or great information would be very helpful in posting.
Thanks
Edit: I feel I may have been unclear, but this is the question I'm mainly trying to get answered: "Do US carriers blacklist IMEIs of international phones not sold by them?" I'm not seeking advice on how to be unblacklisted if my phone is reported stolen or where I should buy my phones from, I am seeking those with experience buying international phones, such as an unlocked iPhone from an Apple Store, for instance, and have defaulted on payments. These phones would never be blacklisted for being reported stolen as they weren't sold by carriers, but have the potential to be blacklisted for a bad account. If the potential is not there then this would be the path I would choose from here into the future when purchasing used GSM phones. If the potential is there then there would be no added benefit of choosing int'l over carrier-sold used phones. Thanks again and I apologize for any ambiguity

I know that, the problem is that if ATT and T-Mobile aren't using the same IMEI blacklist, they would have to each remove the number individually. They could maintain a national list, but still input those values into separate systems.
I'm not really sure where you're going with the example of, "So an example is if an ATT customer activated an int'l phone sold by Samsung, not ATT, and defaulted on payments. The relevancy of this, if the IMEI was blacklisted, would be that T-Mobile would not activate the phone."
Why would they blacklist that phone ? That phone must have already been paid for, to Samsung. If you buy an international phone outright, there shouldn't be any "payments" to default on - sure, maybe you bought it with a credit card, but in that case it was still fully paid for - and if you stop paying the card, they're going to send you to collections and trash your credit score. The phone is your property even if you stop paying for the service it's connected to. If they ARE doing this, it strikes me a slightly illegal unless you sign away property rights under contract or something.
I'd be more worried about the hypothetical international phone's IMEI being reported stolen - since it looks like the FCC efforts are concerned primarily with theft, not with where the phone was purchased - like if you report a car stolen. Their efforts are motivated by preventing phone theft and related crimes - not on carrier subsidies or carriers making money (because, really, carriers stand to lose money by blocking stolen phones).
"T-Mobile USA prevents use of stolen devices internal to its network, and has established connectivity to the GSMA Global IMEI database that is ready for use by other carriers as recommended in the GSMA-NA Report (entitled “Analysis and Recommendations for Stolen Mobile Device Issue in the United States”), and as set forth in the Industry/FCC Agreement"
So I imagine that in the future, if not already, T-Mobile will have the capacity to block stolen international phones.
So, I agree - there's probably no added benefit since IMEI blacklists are on the path to converge with the focus on theft as the goal, not subsidy.

They are using the same blacklist. When they run the IMEI and it's on the list shared by both companies, they don't activate the phone.
Can anyone else please chime in with knowledge and experience with international phones? Thank you much.

Where to buy Xiaomi phones?

I know this might be yet another "where to buy Xiaomi" thread question but after brwosing for a while and already discarding swappa as a "always available alternative" I think I need to be more specific.
Is there is a group or company, that doesn't treat Puerto Rico as international destiny for shipping (we are a US territory and we are under the USPS as our main mail-system), does not obligate me to buy wholesales as I don't have a store nor I can organize a group interested on a same device and that price do not change as much because of the troubles on having Xiaomi products that are not supposed to be available on out market?
Thanks in advance

I guess I answered myself. For those who are in my same needs, -> https://www.gearbest.com/xiaomi-_gear/c_11293/
I simulated trying to buy and have no objections for my address. Should have been a little more patience.