T-Mobile, SIM cards, and new phone questions

I had my first T-mobile phone for 3 years before it broke. I then received a new free phone 9 months ago which just broke. I'm now looking for a new phone and was wondering if I was limited to just buying the phones on T-mobiles website?

A came across a Chinese company that has phones that are cheaper and cooler than those T-mobile offers. This is my first time really shopping for a cell phone and I can't say I understand much about the technology. Would I be able to purchase any of these phones here and just insert my SIM card and be good to go? Check the phone section of dealextreme, I can't post URLs. x.x

Is there something I should know before buying phones outside of T-mobile?

Lastly, after my first phone broke and T-mobile sent me a new one, it also came with a new SIM card. I now have two SIM cards which both worked with the phone. Why did they send me a new one? Does this mean I could use 2 phones now, both with the same phone number since my number never changed? I don't think I'm being charged for having two SIM cards.

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You gotta make sure the phones you're purchasing are T-Mobile devices or have been unlocked for use on all GSM (SIM CARD) providers. If they haven't been unlocked and/or they aren't a T-Mobile phone, they will not work...even if you put your SIM Card in. I do not recommend or condone purchasing devices online, especially from foreign countries. You might also want to check to make sure the phones operate on U.S. frequencies, or you may be out of luck.

The reason T-Mobile sent you a SIM Card with the new replacement is because they assumed, as an insurance claim (or warranty) that you had lost your phone, even if you stated you just had broke it. It isn't a big thing, but it's just something they do by default...in case the SIM Card was stolen with the phone.

You cannot simultaneously use both SIM Cards in different phones for the same phone number, this won't work. If you activate the new SIM card, the old one will be deactivated...it goes the other way too.

Originally Posted by Eroge

I had my first T-mobile phone for 3 years before it broke. I then received a new free phone 9 months ago which just broke. I'm now looking for a new phone and was wondering if I was limited to just buying the phones on T-mobiles website?

A came across a Chinese company that has phones that are cheaper and cooler than those T-mobile offers. This is my first time really shopping for a cell phone and I can't say I understand much about the technology. Would I be able to purchase any of these phones here and just insert my SIM card and be good to go? Check the phone section of dealextreme, I can't post URLs. x.x

Is there something I should know before buying phones outside of T-mobile?

Lastly, after my first phone broke and T-mobile sent me a new one, it also came with a new SIM card. I now have two SIM cards which both worked with the phone. Why did they send me a new one? Does this mean I could use 2 phones now, both with the same phone number since my number never changed? I don't think I'm being charged for having two SIM cards.

Thank you for the speedy reply, I appreciate it.

The weird thing is I tried using both SIM cards with my new phone and they both worked perfectly. I don't know if the older one is deactivated now or not though.

I can't post a link to the phone I'm interested in buying. From the looks of it I don't think it was made to be used for any one Cell phone service, but I don't see the words "Unlocked" anywhere? Can any phone be unlocked, and is it even legal?

The phone I want is only $100 and seems to have nice features and a nice design, The specs are:

Brand: HaoXing
Model: N3000
IMEI: Unique
Format: Bar Phone
Cell Phone Weight (w/Battery) 114 grams
Operating System: Proprietory
LCD Screen: 3.0-inch vibrant color
Touch Sensitive: Touch Screen
Network Bands: Quad-band, 850/900/1800/1900MHz
SIM Slots: (Dual) 2 SIM Slots + Dual Network Standby
Data Connections: WAP, GPRS, SMS,MMS
Bluetooth: Bluetooth V2.0
Bluetooth Stereo Music Profile: A2DP Stereo Supported
Wifi/Wireless LAN/WLAN: -
Speakers: 1 Speaker
Memory Slot Type: Transflash TF upto 4GB in size
Built-in/Included Memory: 761KB Built-in, 1GB TF Card Included
Digital Camera(s): 300K Pixels (640 x 480 px)
JAVA: -
Playback Formats: MP3/3GP/AVI/MP4/JPG/TXT
TV Tuner: Built-in TV Tuner (PAL/NTSC/Auto)
FM Radio Tuner: Built-in FM Radio Tuner
Voice Recording: Voice Recording Supported
Batteries: 2 x 700mAh lithium ion rechargeable batteries
AC Charger: 100~240V AC Charger included (Flat Plug)
Recharge via USB Port: Yes
Phone Language(s): English, French, Portuguese, Indonesian, Turkish, German, Malaysian, Thai, and Greek
User's Guide: English user's guide included
Other Accessories Included: Earphone Headset, USB Data Cable, 2 x 700mAh Lithium ion Rechargeable Batteries
Other Special Features: Features 3D accelerometer for automatic screen rotation and controls FM/MP3 and various other operations. Slide-to-unlock interface.
Manufacturer's Warranty: 12 Months excluding physical damages (see specifications for terms and details)

Hope that helps and thanks again.

Usually ALL phones are made for one carrier or another...phones aren't interchangeable...necessarily.

The name sounds Chinese, so it's probably a Chinese phone for a Chinese carrier.

Unlocking phones IS legal under some aspects. The wireless carriers consider it "illegal" unless they're the ones who provide you a lock code. For example, if you take a locked iPhone, try and unlock it, AT&T reserves the right to terminate all services you have with them and attempt to charge you a fine...

I'm not sure how T-Mobile deals with it.

The ratio of people getting caught is very very very very small...since it's so discrete...but you can also kill the phone by unlocking it...in some cases.

Originally Posted by Eroge

Thank you for the speedy reply, I appreciate it.

The weird thing is I tried using both SIM cards with my new phone and they both worked perfectly. I don't know if the older one is deactivated now or not though.

I can't post a link to the phone I'm interested in buying. From the looks of it I don't think it was made to be used for any one Cell phone service, but I don't see the words "Unlocked" anywhere? Can any phone be unlocked, and is it even legal?

Hope that helps and thanks again.

Eroge, according to the specs you posted, the phone will work with T-Mobile or any GSM carrier, for that matter, as it is a quad-band phone. Of course, this assumes that the device is unlocked.

Thank you, after spending more time on the site I found out that all the phones they sell are unlocked. The only thing I was told to look out for is to make sure T-mobile doesn't lock their SIM cards so that they will only work with T-mobile phones. If not then it looks like I can buy it.

Actually, even though I am with T-mobile, my cell phone always connects to AT&T towers and so I use AT&T roaming and never make calls from T-Mobile. Does this mean I need a phone that supports AT&Ts frequencies whatever they may be, and that T-mobiles 850 and 1900 doesn't matter? Some phones I'm looking at are only dual or tripple band and most don't support 850...I'm in the a rural area in Michigan and for all I know I could be using 850.

I get full service here from AT&Ts towers and don't want to lose that. It was hard buying my phone from T-mobile because they said most of them wouldn't work out here. I'm guessing as long as I buy a quad band I'll get the same amount of bars I am now reguardless of which phone I pick?

Quad-band phones will work on any GSM carrier, because there are only four GSM frequencies used in the world. If your phone is roaming, don't worry about it, the SIM dictates that, so if you are roaming, you are allowed to roam. And like I mentioned in an earlier post, the phone (now that you've stated that it's unlocked) will work with any SIM card and it supports all the current GSM frequencies, so it can roam here or internationally.

When I first switched to T-Mobile from AT&T, I had AT&T provide me with the unlock code, and I put the T-Mobile SIM in and I was set to go... except because the phone was a Cingular phone all the defaults for internet and MMS were set for Cingular/AT&T, but I was able to download directly to my phone from T-Mobile's website all the settings for T-Zones and MMS and that AT&T phone has 100% functionality as if I got it from T-Mobile.

Here's the link tmobileuspublic[dot]wdsglobal[dot]com (I can't post links yet)