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  1. #1
    Jerry
    Guest
    I have 3 GSM lines on a family plan with a year+ left on the contract.
    My daughter would like a new phone but:

    - I'm not that crazy about their service and the lack of GSM service for
    the vast areas of AZ outside of GSM range. My previous AT&T TDMA phones
    also roamed onto analog, greatly expanding the coverage area.

    - I'm not sure that I even qualify for an upgrade yet

    So, I'm not crazy about lengthening my contract.

    What are good places to buy cell phones without a contract? She's not
    looking for any thing fancy, just a speakerphone and no camera. I've
    thought about eBay but I'm worried that any used phone might be buying
    someone else's problems. If it wasn't a Cingular phone to begin with and
    is unlocked what am I giving up by it not having "Cingular" programming.



    See More: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?




  2. #2
    Kevin K
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?

    On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 16:25:54 -0700, Jerry wrote:

    > I have 3 GSM lines on a family plan with a year+ left on the contract. My
    > daughter would like a new phone but:
    >
    > - I'm not that crazy about their service and the lack of GSM service for
    > the vast areas of AZ outside of GSM range. My previous AT&T TDMA phones
    > also roamed onto analog, greatly expanding the coverage area.
    >
    > - I'm not sure that I even qualify for an upgrade yet
    >
    > So, I'm not crazy about lengthening my contract.
    >
    > What are good places to buy cell phones without a contract? She's not
    > looking for any thing fancy, just a speakerphone and no camera. I've
    > thought about eBay but I'm worried that any used phone might be buying
    > someone else's problems. If it wasn't a Cingular phone to begin with and
    > is unlocked what am I giving up by it not having "Cingular" programming.


    If you want a GSM phone without a camera, it may be more likely that the
    phones are OK on Ebay, since even the "free" phones with contracts
    nowadays have cameras.

    I could have used a phone like this recently while away on business since
    the company I was at didn't allow cameras in the building. So I had to
    leave my phone out in the car. If I was to do this again in the future, I
    may buy a cheap phone for this case.




  3. #3
    Dave
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?


    "Jerry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >I have 3 GSM lines on a family plan with a year+ left on the contract. My
    >daughter would like a new phone but:
    >
    > - I'm not that crazy about their service and the lack of GSM service for
    > the vast areas of AZ outside of GSM range. My previous AT&T TDMA phones
    > also roamed onto analog, greatly expanding the coverage area.
    >
    > - I'm not sure that I even qualify for an upgrade yet
    >
    > So, I'm not crazy about lengthening my contract.
    >
    > What are good places to buy cell phones without a contract? She's not
    > looking for any thing fancy, just a speakerphone and no camera. I've
    > thought about eBay but I'm worried that any used phone might be buying
    > someone else's problems. If it wasn't a Cingular phone to begin with and
    > is unlocked what am I giving up by it not having "Cingular" programming.


    You can get new phones on ebay. Check out a Nokia 6010. You should be able
    to get it for about $50 - $60 new, including shipping charges. WATCH
    SHIPPING CHARGES. They should be no more than $15, MAXIMUM. I've seen some
    shipping charges on ebay for similar phones of 40-50 bucks, which is clearly
    a huge ripoff for something so light (even with charger).

    You shouldn't have to worry about it not being a Cingular phone, as there
    are many cingular phones available. But if it's not Cingular, that means
    that it might come up with someone else's logo when you first turn it on.
    But the SIM will determine what network(s) it connects to. That is,
    assuming it is unlocked. -Dave





  4. #4
    Jerry
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?

    Dave wrote:
    > You shouldn't have to worry about it not being a Cingular phone, as there
    > are many cingular phones available. But if it's not Cingular, that means
    > that it might come up with someone else's logo when you first turn it on.
    > But the SIM will determine what network(s) it connects to. That is,
    > assuming it is unlocked. -Dave


    The thing I was wondering about was that Cingular wasn't allowing ATTWS
    GSM customers to move their ATTWS phones to Cingular. Something about
    the Cingular programming allowing more/better network access than the
    ATTWS programming would.



  5. #5
    Dave
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?


    "Jerry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > Dave wrote:
    >> You shouldn't have to worry about it not being a Cingular phone, as there
    >> are many cingular phones available. But if it's not Cingular, that means
    >> that it might come up with someone else's logo when you first turn it on.
    >> But the SIM will determine what network(s) it connects to. That is,
    >> assuming it is unlocked. -Dave

    >
    > The thing I was wondering about was that Cingular wasn't allowing ATTWS
    > GSM customers to move their ATTWS phones to Cingular. Something about the
    > Cingular programming allowing more/better network access than the ATTWS
    > programming would.


    Sounds like a crock of **** to me. The main thing you need to worry about
    is whether the phone will accept a 64K SIM or not. That COULD be what
    Cingular was really TRYING to say. It's possible that many of the older
    ATTWS phones won't accept a 64K SIM. In that case, it would make sense that
    Cingular would try to push the customer toward a newer phone. But any phone
    that is currently offered by Cingular *should* be compatible with a 64K SIM,
    regardless of what network the phone was originally intended to be used
    n. -Dave





  6. #6
    Bill Baumgartner
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?

    "Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]
    > "Jerry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> Dave wrote:
    >>> You shouldn't have to worry about it not being a Cingular phone, as
    >>> there are many cingular phones available. But if it's not
    >>> Cingular, that means that it might come up with someone else's logo
    >>> when you first turn it on. But the SIM will determine what
    >>> network(s) it connects to. That is, assuming it is unlocked. -Dave

    >>
    >> The thing I was wondering about was that Cingular wasn't allowing
    >> ATTWS GSM customers to move their ATTWS phones to Cingular.
    >> Something about the Cingular programming allowing more/better
    >> network access than the ATTWS programming would.

    >
    > Sounds like a crock of **** to me. The main thing you need to worry
    > about is whether the phone will accept a 64K SIM or not. That COULD
    > be what Cingular was really TRYING to say. It's possible that many
    > of the older ATTWS phones won't accept a 64K SIM. In that case, it
    > would make sense that Cingular would try to push the customer toward
    > a newer phone. But any phone that is currently offered by Cingular
    > *should* be compatible with a 64K SIM, regardless of what network the
    > phone was originally intended to be used
    > n. -Dave


    Actually, a Cingular store sold me a Nokia 1100 last August that I used with my old sim. A couple of weeks ago I tried to upgrade to a Cingular 64K SmartChip at another Cingular store. It didn't work. It would reboot every 15-30 seconds. Same result with a second Nokia 1100 and SmartChip.



  7. #7
    prc2u
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?

    I have two Cingular phones from Ebay and one the was unlocked from
    another company. I have had not problems with any of them. Your
    account "programming" is in the sim chip. Pop it in and you are done.
    I usually look for new in box cingular phones, they cost a little more
    but then you dont buy other peoples problems.

    On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 16:25:54 -0700, Jerry <[email protected]> wrote:

    >I have 3 GSM lines on a family plan with a year+ left on the contract.
    >My daughter would like a new phone but:
    >
    >- I'm not that crazy about their service and the lack of GSM service for
    >the vast areas of AZ outside of GSM range. My previous AT&T TDMA phones
    >also roamed onto analog, greatly expanding the coverage area.
    >
    >- I'm not sure that I even qualify for an upgrade yet
    >
    >So, I'm not crazy about lengthening my contract.
    >
    >What are good places to buy cell phones without a contract? She's not
    >looking for any thing fancy, just a speakerphone and no camera. I've
    >thought about eBay but I'm worried that any used phone might be buying
    >someone else's problems. If it wasn't a Cingular phone to begin with and
    >is unlocked what am I giving up by it not having "Cingular" programming.





  8. #8
    eightball
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?

    Jerry wrote:
    > I have 3 GSM lines on a family plan with a year+ left on the contract.
    > My daughter would like a new phone but:
    >
    > - I'm not that crazy about their service and the lack of GSM service for
    > the vast areas of AZ outside of GSM range. My previous AT&T TDMA phones
    > also roamed onto analog, greatly expanding the coverage area.
    >
    > - I'm not sure that I even qualify for an upgrade yet
    >
    > So, I'm not crazy about lengthening my contract.
    >
    > What are good places to buy cell phones without a contract? She's not
    > looking for any thing fancy, just a speakerphone and no camera. I've
    > thought about eBay but I'm worried that any used phone might be buying
    > someone else's problems. If it wasn't a Cingular phone to begin with and
    > is unlocked what am I giving up by it not having "Cingular" programming.

    I have done three mot's this way from established e-bay'r's. new in box
    have not had any prob's
    E-Bay has my vote



  9. #9
    SPR
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?



    --
    Stephen P. Reimers
    Naval Salvage Officer
    BMW Motorcycle Rider
    "Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >
    > "Jerry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> Dave wrote:
    >>> You shouldn't have to worry about it not being a Cingular phone, as
    >>> there are many cingular phones available. But if it's not Cingular,
    >>> that means that it might come up with someone else's logo when you first
    >>> turn it on. But the SIM will determine what network(s) it connects to.
    >>> That is, assuming it is unlocked. -Dave

    >>
    >> The thing I was wondering about was that Cingular wasn't allowing ATTWS
    >> GSM customers to move their ATTWS phones to Cingular. Something about the
    >> Cingular programming allowing more/better network access than the ATTWS
    >> programming would.

    >
    > Sounds like a crock of **** to me. The main thing you need to worry about
    > is whether the phone will accept a 64K SIM or not. That COULD be what
    > Cingular was really TRYING to say. It's possible that many of the older
    > ATTWS phones won't accept a 64K SIM. In that case, it would make sense
    > that Cingular would try to push the customer toward a newer phone. But
    > any phone that is currently offered by Cingular *should* be compatible
    > with a 64K SIM, regardless of what network the phone was originally
    > intended to be used n. -Dave
    >

    Is there any way to tell whether a phone will accept a 64K SIM chip? I have
    a Siemens S56 that I used all the time until my contract ended - it's
    unlocked but I don't know if it will work on a 64K SIM if I were to get a
    pay-as-you-go account from T-Mobile or Cingular... Are they 64K?
    r/
    Steve





  10. #10
    John Navas
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?

    [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

    In <[email protected]> on Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:39:22 -0500,
    "SPR" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Is there any way to tell whether a phone will accept a 64K SIM chip? I have
    >a Siemens S56 that I used all the time until my contract ended - it's
    >unlocked but I don't know if it will work on a 64K SIM if I were to get a
    >pay-as-you-go account from T-Mobile or Cingular... Are they 64K?


    Only the newest handsets are ENS-capable, generally speaking those sold by
    Cingular in the past 7-8 months.

    --
    Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
    John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>



  11. #11
    BBB
    Guest

    Re: good place to buy Cingular GSM phone without contract?

    I bought mine at www.cellhut.com


    "Jerry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >I have 3 GSM lines on a family plan with a year+ left on the contract. My
    >daughter would like a new phone but:
    >
    > - I'm not that crazy about their service and the lack of GSM service for
    > the vast areas of AZ outside of GSM range. My previous AT&T TDMA phones
    > also roamed onto analog, greatly expanding the coverage area.
    >
    > - I'm not sure that I even qualify for an upgrade yet
    >
    > So, I'm not crazy about lengthening my contract.
    >
    > What are good places to buy cell phones without a contract? She's not
    > looking for any thing fancy, just a speakerphone and no camera. I've
    > thought about eBay but I'm worried that any used phone might be buying
    > someone else's problems. If it wasn't a Cingular phone to begin with and
    > is unlocked what am I giving up by it not having "Cingular" programming.






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