Alright, need some outside opinions on this. I want a new phone.
Currently, I'm on Verizon with the Droid 1. Its an excellent phone, and its been a lot of fun modding it, etc. Sapphire and Cyanogenmod have been awesome ROMs.
I've been disgusted with Verizon's, and Motorola's, actions over the past few months. From Moto's locking the bootloads on the Droid 2 and Droid X, to the essentially forced loading of Big Red's VCAST App store to the Incredible. I fully expect Verizon to disconnect their future Android phones form the Android Market in favor of their own VCAST App Store. There's also their whole Bing deal. It wouldn't bother me if I was able to change it easily, but that's not the case without rooting. Verizon's been a control freak in the past, and unfortunately, it seems the Droid 1 is going to be the exception.
While trying to stream some Flash based episodes from the web, the Droid 1 choked bad, even when OC'd to 1Ghz. Min and Max. Shoot, even connected to a PC's USB for power, the battery still drained on the thing. I want something more powerful.
Unfortunately, I am still on contract with Verizon for another year, breaking it carries a 115 USD fee.
Here's my dilemma. I like T-Mobile's myTouch 4G. Now that its been permarooted, bloat can be removed, Genius button remapped, etc, its a very nice phone. I had wanted to pick up one under their Even More Plus plans, however, that made the price too rich for my blood at present. But, it seems TMO's phased those plans out. So, if I want the Glacier, its 199 for TMO.com or 49-79 from Wirefly/Amazon. At 80 dollars, with the free activation offered by Wirefly or Amazon, the price becomes much more attractive even with the ETF from Verizon.
TMO does have a live HSPA+ network in my area. Verizon's LTE network is supposed to go live in December. I've heard conflicting reports for the launch of their 4G phones, everything from January 2011 to 3Q 2011. While I'm sure these phones will be very powerful(Tegra?), how locked down and crippled will they be?
According to TMO's website, my current phone is portable to their network, so I wouldn't have to change my number.
What would you do? If I decide to cancel the Verizon contract, where do I begin? A call to Verizon to cancel? I haven't gone all the way to the checkout at Amazon or Wirefly, is there a form for porting the number? Whats the best way to handle this? Or just wait and continue to give Verizon money despite my conflicts with their ideologies?
Nothing? No opinions?
Bump again.
well i'll help a bit
you can call Tmobile and ask them to help you port the number to Tmobile, all you need is your account details, and then you talk to verizon to break the contract and pay ETF
2nd the droid is useless on tmobile as you know its cdma and tmobile is GSM
now the even more plus plan is there but you can only get in store or on phone its removed from the site to avoid confunsion
also amazon has a high ETF of $200 so if cancell the contract you have to pay the normal ETF + 200$
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I know the Droid is useless on Tmo, but I want something more powerful. The Moto Olympus and the LG Star look like powerful devices, but I'm sure the Moto will have the locked bootloader. No idea about the LG, blurrycam shows it running some UI overlay, not vanilla Android. Could change before release.
You bring up a good point on the Amazon ETF, double wammy. Wirefly is likely similar, and I definitely don't want to be in the same situation again in a year.
I guess my main concern is about the longevity of the Glacier? Or I could sit tight with the Droid for a while and get a Gtablet to satisfy my thirst.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
Bateluer said:
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I know the Droid is useless on Tmo, but I want something more powerful. The Moto Olympus and the LG Star look like powerful devices, but I'm sure the Moto will have the locked bootloader. No idea about the LG, blurrycam shows it running some UI overlay, not vanilla Android. Could change before release.
You bring up a good point on the Amazon ETF, double wammy. Wirefly is likely similar, and I definitely don't want to be in the same situation again in a year.
I guess my main concern is about the longevity of the Glacier? Or I could sit tight with the Droid for a while and get a Gtablet to satisfy my thirst.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
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the new moto is coming to At&t so your outta luck, also buy from T mobile and tell them your breaking your contract for them, so ask them whats the best offer they can give you
Diamond_dawg said:
the new moto is coming to At&t so your outta luck, also buy from T mobile and tell them your breaking your contract for them, so ask them whats the best offer they can give you
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That seems like a good idea. Have to look into it.
So I currently have a Motorola Droid X2... I use cyanogenmod 7.2rc1 beta2 as a custom ROM. Besides that for stable ROMs it's really only eclipse 2.2, liberty, molten or stock 2.3.5 rooted. cm9/miui4 are both in alpha stages of development and have no working camera/data usage yet and mms is shotty as well as other glitches & bugs. having the locked bootloader and all. Plus we don't get official ICS :banghead::thumbdown:
I had a few questions... First off, my 2 year contract with Verizon Wireless USA is over in December however I am eligible for an upgrade in August. I think I remember reading somewhere after all these VZW/MOTO shenanigans you can get a free 3g upgrade, if eligible, but need to renew contract for a 4g device. I'm obviously very confused by these changes and need clarification.. Basically what I'm asking is, would I be able to cop a new phone in August without having to re-up my contract? Use the upgrade for the remaining months and then sell it along with my X2? Not sure how that works and honestly I don't want to call Verizon about it until I'm due for my upgrade.
Moving on to my next problem. I am going to need a new carrier/phone. I figure since sprint still has unlimited data and their service in my area isn't that bad compared to Verizon, I'll probably sign with them. As far as actual devices are concerned, I will only buy a phone with an unlocked bootloader. Since Motorola failed to live up to their promise of unlocking their bootloaders by the end of 2011, and their overall customer support, I am not interested in purchasing any Moto phones.
Which brings me back to Sprint, lol. I know several people who have been on Sprint for a long time and tell me they're okay as long as you don't break your phone. I've heard countless horror stories of friends/family having to jump through countless hoops just to get their defective phone replaced. I've already left AT&T and will never go back to them so my options are pretty limited. I can deal with less than perfect customer support from time to time as long as I have reliable service and a reliable phone I can hack.
I've been looking at the Dinc2, since my friend has one. I know that's unlocked already. I've heard a lot of fuss over its pentile screen, but that honestly doesn't bother me much. So that can be taken into consideration as well.
I appreciate any opinions you can personally offer as to an awesome, unlocked phone, decent carriers as well as new phone releases you are looking forward to. I'd love to hear what unlocked devices you guys have as well as your favorite custom ROMs for them.
Thanks!
Cyanogenmod all day
Well, if you upgrade your phone, you're more than likely going to have to re-up your contract for an additional 2 years. As of right now, for Verizon, I would probably look at the HTC Rezound, or Incredible 4G. If you go to Sprint, I would look at the Evo 4G LTE (HTC One for Sprint), or the Evo Design 4G, but by December, you'll also have the Galaxy S3 to consider. I'm biased towards HTC phones personally, but those are the options I would look at.
I forgot to mention I'm on a family plan with unlimited data...
Sent from my MB870 using XDA
I can't really suggest a phone but I read that you mentioned people having problems with Sprint with getting phones replaced after they get broke.
My sister is good at messing phones up and with the $8 a month insurance you basically can hardball any phone at a wall and they will replace it for $100. I think the one thing is you just never say that you did anything wrong and most sprint stores don't care. They have gotten much better. Whatever you do don't break your phone without insurance because they wont touch the phone in fear you might swear they broke it. Get the phone insured from day one if you are accident prone. That is about all the advice I can give. They have good phones and have good service (not verizon service but still good.)
Yeah, I treat these phones like royalty. Basically it's just a computer in the palm of my hand... Accidents do happen though and I always protect all devices with insurance.
I was in Sprint once with a friend of mine. Keep in mind he wasn't a smartphone owner, but this wasn't too long ago. He had a flip phone and he wanted it replaced. It was his 4th device experiencing the same hardware problems. When we got in there Sprint did pretty much everything in their power to make sure he did not leave with a brand new replacement. They went as far as to literally take the phone apart - right in front of us - and replace internal hardware. They'd put it back together and he'd show them it still wasn't working and they would try replacing something else.
Two and a half hours later of playing with the display evo and listening to "No I don't want you to fix it I want a new phone" and "Here, maybe this will fix it, let's give it a try..." we were finally out of there. They did not give a replacement that day. Just "fixed" it. Until we got back to his house. The very next day I was there when he called customer support. They gave him the business over the phone and were 0 help. We went back to the sprint store and finally got his replacement. I think the only reason they even actually helped him with a new device is because he was mad enough to break every display case and cell phone in the place - and they knew it. It wasn't like a "here let me help you get this resolved so you can enjoy your phone and service!!" Kinda deal it was more like "get him a new phone from the back so he doesn't make a scene and gets the hell out of my store" thing .... As we were leaving, the female rep not only told us we were lucky we even got a replacement in the first place- she did it in a snobby, attitude riddled tone of voice.
For reference this is when I was thinking of terminating vzw early and jumping to sprint. My friend told me sprint is full of people who either don't give two damns or are just plain stupid. He took me along to give me an idea of what I was in for. Needless to say I didn't switch.....
Sent from my MB870 using XDA
Hello all, and first off, let me say congratulations on getting official CM10 and CWM support!
Here's my story (and before anyone asks, I have searched the forums for an answer, but was unsuccessful with finding my specific questions): I am currently on AT&T (was Alltel before they were bought out) with an HTC Aria and my contract for a grandfathered plan was up long ago. It is time for me to upgrade to something a little more modern and I have settled on the Blaze because of its size (I'd like a GNex, but my hands are too small) and a number of reasons. But the biggest reason is that, as I understand, it has full compatibility with both AT&T and T-mobile's 3g (4g for t-mobile) and 2g/EDGE networks.
I don't really like AT&T as a company and I also really like the monthly 4g plans that t-mobile offers. My problem is that according to t-mobile's prepaid coverage map, I won't have data service for most of the area I travel back and forth in (upper midwest USA). And as much as I dislike AT&T, they have good 3g service almost everywhere I go. So, I'd like to be able to take my current sim card and switch it and a t-mobile sim at will while I test out both service providers.
Therefore, my questions are as follows:
1) Where is the best place to buy a blaze off contract? I'd like to get one on ebay because of the price (~$200 is what I have set aside for a new phone), but there aren't that many there, and even fewer that specifically say they are unlocked - which leads to question 2.
2) Can I unlock any phone that is not on a contract (basically anything I would buy used online)? I spoke with a rep from T-mobile and he seemed to indicate that I could only unlock a phone if I was the original purchaser of it and the plan (and account) to go with it. Therefore, according to him, I would have to make sure the phone I bought was already unlocked, otherwise there would be no chance of unlocking it in the future. I would think (possibly incorrectly) that as long as I have a t-mobile account (I plan on buying and activating the $30 monthly 4g plan as soon as I receive the device to compliment my current ATT service), they shouldn't have a problem with giving me the unlock code because they did not subsidize the phone. Could anyone clear this up?
3) There are a number of sites claiming to sell unlock codes for a myriad of devices. I would consider something like that if there was no other way to unlock a second hand phone, but only if I was sure it would work and the site was legit. Are any of these sites legitimate and have you had experience with any of them?
It would be considerably cheaper and easier to find a used device that isn't unlocked, but like I said, I'm not sure if that would bite me in the rear because there is a strong chance that I will stick with AT&T due to them having service where I travel. Thanks for taking the time to read this text wall, and I can't wait to join the Blaze community! Keep up the good work!
Goodbye_Alltel said:
Hello all, and first off, let me say congratulations on getting official CM10 and CWM support!
Here's my story (and before anyone asks, I have searched the forums for an answer, but was unsuccessful with finding my specific questions): I am currently on AT&T (was Alltel before they were bought out) with an HTC Aria and my contract for a grandfathered plan was up long ago. It is time for me to upgrade to something a little more modern and I have settled on the Blaze because of its size (I'd like a GNex, but my hands are too small) and a number of reasons. But the biggest reason is that, as I understand, it has full compatibility with both AT&T and T-mobile's 3g (4g for t-mobile) and 2g/EDGE networks.
I don't really like AT&T as a company and I also really like the monthly 4g plans that t-mobile offers. My problem is that according to t-mobile's prepaid coverage map, I won't have data service for most of the area I travel back and forth in (upper midwest USA). And as much as I dislike AT&T, they have good 3g service almost everywhere I go. So, I'd like to be able to take my current sim card and switch it and a t-mobile sim at will while I test out both service providers.
Therefore, my questions are as follows:
1) Where is the best place to buy a blaze off contract? I'd like to get one on ebay because of the price (~$200 is what I have set aside for a new phone), but there aren't that many there, and even fewer that specifically say they are unlocked - which leads to question 2.
2) Can I unlock any phone that is not on a contract (basically anything I would buy used online)? I spoke with a rep from T-mobile and he seemed to indicate that I could only unlock a phone if I was the original purchaser of it and the plan (and account) to go with it. Therefore, according to him, I would have to make sure the phone I bought was already unlocked, otherwise there would be no chance of unlocking it in the future. I would think (possibly incorrectly) that as long as I have a t-mobile account (I plan on buying and activating the $30 monthly 4g plan as soon as I receive the device to compliment my current ATT service), they shouldn't have a problem with giving me the unlock code because they did not subsidize the phone. Could anyone clear this up?
3) There are a number of sites claiming to sell unlock codes for a myriad of devices. I would consider something like that if there was no other way to unlock a second hand phone, but only if I was sure it would work and the site was legit. Are any of these sites legitimate and have you had experience with any of them?
It would be considerably cheaper and easier to find a used device that isn't unlocked, but like I said, I'm not sure if that would bite me in the rear because there is a strong chance that I will stick with AT&T due to them having service where I travel. Thanks for taking the time to read this text wall, and I can't wait to join the Blaze community! Keep up the good work!
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1.) Good luck. Not many people are willing to sell their blaze, especially after the past couple weeks three weeks ago you could have had a lot of takers ebay would be your best bet
2.) Tmobile rep led to you like they're supposed to. anybody can request an unlock code for their phone. Naturally if you're on their plan, they'll verify that you are the owner of the account, but still. That being said, just because you can ask doesn't mean they'll give out. If you had a plan (not prepaid) for a year or two in good standings with no late payments and said you were going out of the country for a couple months and want to use your phone on a foreign gsm network, they'd bee more inclined. As a brand new prepaid customer, good luck. Best of buying it unlocked or getting the unlock code elsewhere.
3.) I've had success and failure here. Most places are what they say, but some won't deliver. Always do research. Google that site or business to see if anybody has complained. And use paypal when you can, you could always claim you didn't get the service you paid for. Same goes with ebay buyer protection.
that chapter book out of the way, always always always research as much as you can. For all you know, I could be lying through my teeth right now
Sent from my CM10 powered Galaxy S Blaze 4G
jparnell8839 said:
1.) Good luck. Not many people are willing to sell their blaze, especially after the past couple weeks three weeks ago you could have had a lot of takers ebay would be your best bet
2.) Tmobile rep led to you like they're supposed to. anybody can request an unlock code for their phone. Naturally if you're on their plan, they'll verify that you are the owner of the account, but still. That being said, just because you can ask doesn't mean they'll give out. If you had a plan (not prepaid) for a year or two in good standings with no late payments and said you were going out of the country for a couple months and want to use your phone on a foreign gsm network, they'd bee more inclined. As a brand new prepaid customer, good luck. Best of buying it unlocked or getting the unlock code elsewhere.
3.) I've had success and failure here. Most places are what they say, but some won't deliver. Always do research. Google that site or business to see if anybody has complained. And use paypal when you can, you could always claim you didn't get the service you paid for. Same goes with ebay buyer protection.
that chapter book out of the way, always always always research as much as you can. For all you know, I could be lying through my teeth right now
Sent from my CM10 powered Galaxy S Blaze 4G
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Thanks for the advice. I would also consider buying one brand new from t-mobile if I knew I could unlock it right away. Do you think they would unlock a prepaid blaze if I bought it brand new and at full price from them through this link? http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/Samsung-Galaxy-S-Blaze-4G-No-Annual-Contract
Otherwise I'll be sure to buy one unlocked off ebay, as it seems that most unlock codes are $25 to $50, which would negate pretty much any cost savings by buying one off ebay that wasn't unlocked.
Code:
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Goodbye_Alltel said:
Thanks for the advice. I would also consider buying one brand new from t-mobile if I knew I could unlock it right away. Do you think they would unlock a prepaid blaze if I bought it brand new and at full price from them through this link? http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/Samsung-Galaxy-S-Blaze-4G-No-Annual-Contract
Otherwise I'll be sure to buy one unlocked off ebay, as it seems that most unlock codes are $25 to $50, which would negate pretty much any cost savings by buying one off ebay that wasn't unlocked.
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Like the other reply. If you bought it from t mobile and said you had to go out of county for work. And would appreciate the unlock code to use other GSM networks. While away. They get commission, so if unlock is the deal breaker, they'll prob give it to you. Or if you ask enough pple. Nicely I'm sure someones bound to give it to you.
I don't recall an unlock code thread here on xda
I've been with t mobile for 12 years if I happen to stop at a t mobile (which I plan too) ill ask for code
Goodbye_Alltel said:
Hello all, and first off, let me say congratulations on getting official CM10 and CWM support!
Here's my story (and before anyone asks, I have searched the forums for an answer, but was unsuccessful with finding my specific questions): I am currently on AT&T (was Alltel before they were bought out) with an HTC Aria and my contract for a grandfathered plan was up long ago. It is time for me to upgrade to something a little more modern and I have settled on the Blaze because of its size (I'd like a GNex, but my hands are too small) and a number of reasons. But the biggest reason is that, as I understand, it has full compatibility with both AT&T and T-mobile's 3g (4g for t-mobile) and 2g/EDGE networks.
I don't really like AT&T as a company and I also really like the monthly 4g plans that t-mobile offers. My problem is that according to t-mobile's prepaid coverage map, I won't have data service for most of the area I travel back and forth in (upper midwest USA). And as much as I dislike AT&T, they have good 3g service almost everywhere I go. So, I'd like to be able to take my current sim card and switch it and a t-mobile sim at will while I test out both service providers.
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Have you considered a carrier like StraightTalk? StraightTalk is a MVNO which resells both T-Mobile AND AT&T service. You can specify what kind of SIM you want when you order it online. Their service prices are pretty good, and in theory their network is basically either AT&T or T-Mo depending on which one you pick.
I've seen mixed reviews on their service and whether or not they'd throttle you on excessive service... some great, some bad, so it'd be caveat emptor, but if your usage pattern doesn't change, you'll likely be fine. Either way, it's up to you to do your own research (as someone else mentioned).
Goodbye_Alltel said:
Therefore, my questions are as follows:
1) Where is the best place to buy a blaze off contract? I'd like to get one on ebay because of the price (~$200 is what I have set aside for a new phone), but there aren't that many there, and even fewer that specifically say they are unlocked - which leads to question 2.
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I like eBay. Craigslist can be a little scary because the phone may or may not be stolen. T-Mobile and AT&T have already started disabling phones by their IMEI that have been reported stolen by the user or by the insurance. Soon they'll also start sharing that database, so the phone won't work anywhere in North America if that's the case. There are plenty of scams when it comes to craigslist where a "brand new phone" is purchased and then suddenly reported stolen because it was noticed missing from a back room.
This was my biggest fear in buying my S3. On eBay you get to see things like ratings on the sellers so you can find someone trustworthy, like I did Also, make sure to exercise common sense. If something's too good to be true, it very well may be.
Goodbye_Alltel said:
2) Can I unlock any phone that is not on a contract (basically anything I would buy used online)? I spoke with a rep from T-mobile and he seemed to indicate that I could only unlock a phone if I was the original purchaser of it and the plan (and account) to go with it. Therefore, according to him, I would have to make sure the phone I bought was already unlocked, otherwise there would be no chance of unlocking it in the future. I would think (possibly incorrectly) that as long as I have a t-mobile account (I plan on buying and activating the $30 monthly 4g plan as soon as I receive the device to compliment my current ATT service), they shouldn't have a problem with giving me the unlock code because they did not subsidize the phone. Could anyone clear this up?
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You can unlock any phone you buy, legal or otherwise. T-Mobile has never cared if I was the original purchaser or not, and they shouldn't. They'll only care if it's an original T-Mobile phone or not. T-Mobile will give you an unlock code for a phone as long as you've had 90 days of uninterrupted service. On prepaid they want you to have 60 days (I think) with enough of a balance in your account to pay for another month's service. Not sure about the prepaid requirements, but you can look those up online.
Also, if you just wanna test service, I wouldn't do the monthly 4g $30, I'd do a daily. $3/day gets you relatively unlimited access, and you only need a few days worth to make a decision. Plus, you likely wanna switch to one of the better all-you-can-eat plans, and wouldn't want to be stuck for a month with the cheaper plan. It isn't easy to switch until the month is up.
Goodbye_Alltel said:
3) There are a number of sites claiming to sell unlock codes for a myriad of devices. I would consider something like that if there was no other way to unlock a second hand phone, but only if I was sure it would work and the site was legit. Are any of these sites legitimate and have you had experience with any of them?
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I've had good luck purchasing codes from eBay. Never had them not work. But with everything eBay, make sure you're using someone reputable.
Goodbye_Alltel said:
It would be considerably cheaper and easier to find a used device that isn't unlocked, but like I said, I'm not sure if that would bite me in the rear because there is a strong chance that I will stick with AT&T due to them having service where I travel. Thanks for taking the time to read this text wall, and I can't wait to join the Blaze community! Keep up the good work!
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If it's cheaper to find it locked, then just get it locked and buy an unlock code later. If you aren't going to use AT&T service, then you don't need to SIM unlock the phone anyways. The phone will automatically work on t-mobile, unlocked or not. Finding a good carrier is difficult, I know.
If you decide to try straight talk, you could probably go with a T-Mobile SIM that wouldn't require unlocking the phone. If you find the service lacking, you could switch to an AT&T sim and then deal with unlocking the phone.
Hope this helps.
Good point about Straight Talk. I didn't mention it in my original post, but that was my third option for service. As for getting an unlocked device, I'll probably have to buy one whether it's locked or not pretty soon, after seeing how much activity has been going on here lately, lol. Ebay again seems to be the cheapest route for getting an unlock code, and I'll have their buyer protection and Paypal in case the code does not work. (I will first, of course, call and/or online request t-mobile for an unlock after I get my T-mo account setup. Maybe I'll get lucky about unlocking before their traditional 60 days of prepaid service - if not, off to ebay it is cause I need to get my current ATT sim + number on it asap)
As for ebay codes, I've seen some cheap services that promise to unlock a phone by setting up some software on my computer and plugging the phone into the computer. They then do the unlock online. They are a lot cheaper than the regular "give us carrier and IMEI and we email code" services also found on ebay and the like. Can I trust this unknown software to be running on my computer and hacking into my phone?
I have not seen or heard of T-mobile's daily plans (like the $3/day you mention). Could you provide a link to where I can find more info on these plans? Also, if you think the $30/monthly unlimited text, data, and 100 minutes plan isn't that great, what plan(s) would you recommend? I am certainly never going to sign another contract, so prepaid or monthly is the only long term option if I decide to kill my grandfathered AT&T data plan (which is looking less likely as I know that I can expect good service where I go). I'm thinking you may be pointing me to one of their plans that allows data roaming on T-mobile affiliates? Because their post-paid data map looks a lot better, even comparable to AT&T.
If it's a T-Mobile phone and you have T-Mobile as your carrier, you can call customer care and tell them you just got service with them and are going overseas and need it unlocked so you can use a foreign sim card in it. Thay usually works well.
If not, ask to speak to a supervisor. When transferred, ask the person if they are a supervisor or just an escalation rep. If they are not a supervisor, ask them if they can help you still.
If they won't, ask to speak to an actual supervisor and try again. If all else fails, you do have a window of time to cancel, so you can always tell them you are thinking of canceling and they will probably transfer you to a retention rep. That one's a gamble since you're bluffing.
If retention won't help, hang up in the middle of a sentence and call back. Chances are, you will get a different call center and you can say you got disconnected and try the process again.
That gives you up to 6 potential reps who can help... and they can. I was customer care for a couple years and then in corporate engineering for several years. They are flexible, you just have to play the game.
Probably not the answer you want, but it's what you will have to do to get it unlocked quickly
Goodbye_Alltel said:
Good point about Straight Talk. I didn't mention it in my original post, but that was my third option for service. As for getting an unlocked device, I'll probably have to buy one whether it's locked or not pretty soon, after seeing how much activity has been going on here lately, lol. Ebay again seems to be the cheapest route for getting an unlock code, and I'll have their buyer protection and Paypal in case the code does not work. (I will first, of course, call and/or online request t-mobile for an unlock after I get my T-mo account setup. Maybe I'll get lucky about unlocking before their traditional 60 days of prepaid service - if not, off to ebay it is cause I need to get my current ATT sim + number on it asap)
As for ebay codes, I've seen some cheap services that promise to unlock a phone by setting up some software on my computer and plugging the phone into the computer. They then do the unlock online. They are a lot cheaper than the regular "give us carrier and IMEI and we email code" services also found on ebay and the like. Can I trust this unknown software to be running on my computer and hacking into my phone?
I have not seen or heard of T-mobile's daily plans (like the $3/day you mention). Could you provide a link to where I can find more info on these plans? Also, if you think the $30/monthly unlimited text, data, and 100 minutes plan isn't that great, what plan(s) would you recommend? I am certainly never going to sign another contract, so prepaid or monthly is the only long term option if I decide to kill my grandfathered AT&T data plan (which is looking less likely as I know that I can expect good service where I go). I'm thinking you may be pointing me to one of their plans that allows data roaming on T-mobile affiliates? Because their post-paid data map looks a lot better, even comparable to AT&T.
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I have always stayed away from anything that requires a cable. If they can't get you a code based on your IMEI, I don't bother. I used one of those once and I don't remember if it ever worked or not.
The daily plans don't seem to be well advertised on the site. I found them this time around by going to the "no annual contract plans" and then scrolling down to the bottom for daily and other services. Check it out here. I believe their prepaid coverage map hasn't been updated in ages on the site. Supposedly their prepaid coverage map is about 98-99% like their postpaid one. The main difference between the two is that prepaid doesn't allow you to do conditional call forwarding. This is necessary if you want to use another service for voice mail instead of T-Mobile's crappy voicemail.
When I signed up for Tmo they gave me 30 days to confirm if I wanted the contract. You can get a plan and if you dont like it you can just return it before the first 30 days are up and only pay for the minutes you used. This was a big deal for me as I cam from ATT like you, but needed to knwo how well the Tmo service was. I would suggest getting the unlimited everything for $60 a month. Tmo I must say has pretty good customer service. I have had a few problems with them but all it takes is a little social engineering on the phone (saying sprint/whoever will pay your ETF) and you can get some pretty good stuff
I got $10 knocked off my bill for the duration (18months or so) off my bill for an overcharge I got. I also got two free blazes 2 months before my contract was up for free as well. Plus, when/if they are bought out there is a good chance contracts will be altered/changed allowing you to get out of your contract early
Thanks for all the advice, guys. I feel like I have all the knowledge I need to go ahead with my plans. Now I just have to play the waiting game for the "right" one to pop up on Ebay. I will report back to this thread when I receive my blaze and whether I was successful with unlocking it, and any first impressions.
On a side note, does anyone know if the new 64 GB microSDXC cards are supported by the blaze? I just know that I'm gonna feel the pinch of 32 GB eventually, lol. (I already had to be picky and choosy about what was on my 16 GB card before it died)
dispozable said:
When I signed up for Tmo they gave me 30 days to confirm if I wanted the contract. You can get a plan and if you dont like it you can just return it before the first 30 days are up and only pay for the minutes you used. This was a big deal for me as I cam from ATT like you, but needed to knwo how well the Tmo service was. I would suggest getting the unlimited everything for $60 a month. Tmo I must say has pretty good customer service. I have had a few problems with them but all it takes is a little social engineering on the phone (saying sprint/whoever will pay your ETF) and you can get some pretty good stuff
I got $10 knocked off my bill for the duration (18months or so) off my bill for an overcharge I got. I also got two free blazes 2 months before my contract was up for free as well. Plus, when/if they are bought out there is a good chance contracts will be altered/changed allowing you to get out of your contract early
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Click to collapse
when I had tmo a couple years ago it was 30 days. I just signed up early september, its down to 7 days :/
Goodbye_Alltel said:
Thanks for all the advice, guys. I feel like I have all the knowledge I need to go ahead with my plans. Now I just have to play the waiting game for the "right" one to pop up on Ebay. I will report back to this thread when I receive my blaze and whether I was successful with unlocking it, and any first impressions.
On a side note, does anyone know if the new 64 GB microSDXC cards are supported by the blaze? I just know that I'm gonna feel the pinch of 32 GB eventually, lol. (I already had to be picky and choosy about what was on my 16 GB card before it died)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope. there's not many devices out there that support SDXC yet. As time goes on, it'll gain more popularity, but lets face it, as awesome as it is, the blaze is only a mid range device. I wouldnt trade it for any other phone out there, i love my blaze, but still.
jparnell8839 said:
when I had tmo a couple years ago it was 30 days. I just signed up early september, its down to 7 days :/
nope. there's not many devices out there that support SDXC yet. As time goes on, it'll gain more popularity, but lets face it, as awesome as it is, the blaze is only a mid range device. I wouldnt trade it for any other phone out there, i love my blaze, but still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that's mildly disappointing, but it doesn't affect my decision making about the phone. I'll have to somehow get by with only 32GB of storage. Speaking of which, how close is a solution to the camera only being able to save to the paltry internal storage? I do like to take lots of pictures with my phone, so this is obviously something I would hope to find a solution to.
Goodbye_Alltel said:
Well, that's mildly disappointing, but it doesn't affect my decision making about the phone. I'll have to somehow get by with only 32GB of storage. Speaking of which, how close is a solution to the camera only being able to save to the paltry internal storage? I do like to take lots of pictures with my phone, so this is obviously something I would hope to find a solution to.
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Click to collapse
You can do that with cm9. Idk why cm10 doesn't have it :/
Sent from my CM10 powered Galaxy S Blaze 4G
jparnell8839 said:
You can do that with cm9. Idk why cm10 doesn't have it :/
Sent from my CM10 powered Galaxy S Blaze 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. In a sense, CM9 has a bunch more features. When CM10 started, they basically started from scratch, and the focus was on project butter and some other things. Then they had to start forward porting their CM9 additions into CM10. There are a bunch of things in CM10 now that weren't there just a week or two ago. I think the camera thing will come, just like other features. It seems like the features are starting to come quicker too.
Keep an eye on the changelog. It lists the changes with each release
Goodbye_Alltel said:
On a side note, does anyone know if the new 64 GB microSDXC cards are supported by the blaze? I just know that I'm gonna feel the pinch of 32 GB eventually, lol. (I already had to be picky and choosy about what was on my 16 GB card before it died)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a 64gig card off Newegg about 3 months ago and it's been working just fine in this phone. In fact, what I read online indicated that just about every "recent" Android phone had no problems reading them at all.
So hey, ther'es that.
And yeah, having 64gigs is nice, especially since this phone has such small amount of user storage on the phone.
Cirkustanz said:
I bought a 64gig card off Newegg about 3 months ago and it's been working just fine in this phone. In fact, what I read online indicated that just about every "recent" Android phone had no problems reading them at all.
So hey, ther'es that.
And yeah, having 64gigs is nice, especially since this phone has such small amount of user storage on the phone.
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Click to collapse
Is it standard sd or sdxc? I read the specs said it doesn't support it :/ but, trial and error trumps all I suppose
Sent from my CM10 powered Galaxy S Blaze 4G
jparnell8839 said:
Is it standard sd or sdxc? I read the specs said it doesn't support it :/ but, trial and error trumps all I suppose
Sent from my CM10 powered Galaxy S Blaze 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all 64gb microsd are categorized as sdxc, and most of recent android phones do work with them.
I just switched to T-Mobile and got 3 Blaze phones. They should arrive today. I only took them because they were free, and I didn't want to pay for GS3's. I'll be selling one right away after the Note 2 is released. If your still looking for one in a couple weeks, lemme know.
Rob the plumber said:
I just switched to T-Mobile and got 3 Blaze phones. They should arrive today. I only took them because they were free, and I didn't want to pay for GS3's. I'll be selling one right away after the Note 2 is released. If your still looking for one in a couple weeks, lemme know.
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Click to collapse
Dude, can I ask a HUGE favor? can you not root them immediately?
I'm trying to help the dude that's been helping me with the CM access. He wants to get a copy of a partition in a virgin state (ie... not rooted or modified at all). He's trying to find a way to reset the flash counter. I'm trying to assemble a stock ROM that will be pre-rooted and won't trigger the counter.
If you can avoid rooting 1 (or better yet, 2 in case more testing necessary), I'd really appreciate it. And it'll help the community in the end
I won't root them. What do you need?
Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2
Has anyone tried to flash the s5 to boost mobile yet? Just wondering
robert93436 said:
Has anyone tried to flash the s5 to boost mobile yet? Just wondering
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Click to collapse
No, but my Boost S5 is flashed with a Sprint rom, working very well.
Sent from my LG G3
Can't do it. When you repair the MEID you break the IMEI certification which breaks your signal. Unless you or someone else knows of a way yo get around this...?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app
I bought a used sprint gs5 off ebay for about 150 after reading a few articles I found video a google searching this subject.
I can't remember where I saw it, but one post highly suggested buying a spesific sim card.
I bought the card as well for about 12 bucks.
After I got the phone and the card I called Boost support. They pretty much told me I'm screwed and said the phone was not compatable. I knew better.
I found a number from a youtube video and called some boost store in Michigan, they were a little aprehensive at first, then finally told me they can do it for 50 I told them I had seen other offers of 20 for this service. They agreed to the 20 if i pay with h google wallet. I agree and give them the IMEI and SIM numbers. They walk me through a few easy steps and after a. reboot, the phone was on Boost service with full LTE.
I had also had a custom rom instaled which allowed me to block and remove bloatware and unlock Hotspot.
I'm quite sure any Boost agency can do this if properly motivated. They obviously try to get you to buy the phone from them for 500 instead.
The happy ending is that I now have a pretty sweet S5 on boost for 30 a month, hotspot, growing data all for under 200.
I see the phones getting cheaper all the time. I bet it could be done for much less now.
You don't need to pay anyone or flash anything. Period. If you look at the list of allowable sprint phones on boost the s5 is on it. Mine is for sprint and I'm using it on boost. You just call boost and say you have an s5 that needs to be reprogrammed. They send the programming straight to the phone. Then you just have to tell them you need the lte Sim card sent to you for boost. That's it. If you paid you got ripped off.
that is what I thought as well, but I tried for a week to get it activated and everyone (3 different customer care agents and 2 storefront techs) told me I had to buy a Boost S5 because my 900p was not compatible when I knew it indeed was.
I'm quite sure Boost corporate has told them all to not reprogram used higher tier phones
kingofgreens said:
that is what I thought as well, but I tried for a week to get it activated and everyone (3 different customer care agents and 2 storefront techs) told me I had to buy a Boost S5 because my 900p was not compatible when I knew it indeed was.
I'm quite sure Boost corporate has told them all to not reprogram used higher tier phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just called for a friend and did it 2 days ago because she didn't know what to say. You just tell them you bought an s5. If they ask if it's for boost you say yes. I don't know why they wouldn't do it for you.
I tried that. I lied and told them it was a boost phone.
3 seperate occasions on the phone, a few tries online and twice in a storefront (not necessarily in that order) they all told me the system rejected it as a non compatable phone.
I agree that I got ripped off a bit. Apparently any one of them could of probably done it.
I just wanted to add my experience. I just purchased a Sprint S5 off of eBay as well and just went to the Boost store to have it activated. The guy did it all for free. Didn't even need to change the SIM card.
I just got a used S5 on amazon literally 4 days ago. First thing I did was go to a Sprint store and got a Sprint SIM card for the S5. I got it for free luckily. If you can't find them sprint will mail them to you for free. Then I called Boost Mobile and they activated my Sprint G900p to boost. Now I am using ressurection remix ROM. Though I had to flash a Universal boost mobile apn fix to get it working on this ROM. Everything works. What exactly is the problem?? On their website the S4, S4, S6 is able to go to boost. Unless you got a fake phone it should be fine. Download AnTuTu Officer to see if your phone is fake. Based on the same situation with the S4. I had to call at least 5 or 6 times to get my phone activated. Some customer reps are idiots and some know their job. Try that app. And just try back with boost.
I have a friend who has Sprint Galaxy S5, moved over to Boost, and now wants to move back to Sprint. She's taken the phone to corp Sprint store, but the tech has had a problem "re-skuing" the phone. There has to be a method out there. Anyone?
kingofgreens said:
I bought a used sprint gs5 off ebay for about 150 after reading a few articles I found video a google searching this subject.
I can't remember where I saw it, but one post highly suggested buying a spesific sim card.
I bought the card as well for about 12 bucks.
After I got the phone and the card I called Boost support. They pretty much told me I'm screwed and said the phone was not compatable. I knew better.
I found a number from a youtube video and called some boost store in Michigan, they were a little aprehensive at first, then finally told me they can do it for 50 I told them I had seen other offers of 20 for this service. They agreed to the 20 if i pay with h google wallet. I agree and give them the IMEI and SIM numbers. They walk me through a few easy steps and after a. reboot, the phone was on Boost service with full LTE.
I had also had a custom rom instaled which allowed me to block and remove bloatware and unlock Hotspot.
I'm quite sure any Boost agency can do this if properly motivated. They obviously try to get you to buy the phone from them for 500 instead.
The happy ending is that I now have a pretty sweet S5 on boost for 30 a month, hotspot, growing data all for under 200.
I see the phones getting cheaper all the time. I bet it could be done for much less now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's REALLY sketchy. Why were they able to do it ONLY after you paid a fee? Aren't they a dealer store? Shouldn't they do their job without an extra charge? As far as I know, they shouldn't have charged you at all for putting your sprint phone on their network. I'm not saying you're at fault at all, you were just trying to get a working phone...they are the ones at fault. Crooks
Sent from my SM-N920T using XDA-Developers mobile app
I know it. They just wanted me to buy their GS5 for 500 bucks instead.
I just recently tried it again with a Galaxy Note 4, Same story. All the storefronts say it can't be done, Boost coustomer care won't do it either. They have to have been instructed to not flash phones anymore.