Newbie Question...

[c_mazz]

Hi. I have a few newbie questions..

1)If I buy an iPhone 3GS with a 2 year AT&T contract, can I unlock it a day later and then take it to T-Mobile and hook it up with the Even More Plus plan with unlimited minutes and no contract? This won't be a problem will it? (yes, I plan on paying an early termination fee to AT&T after the first bill cycle, cuz their service sucks anyways and I don't want to use it)?

2) Is there any other fee I would have to pay to t-mobile when I bring it in and get it hooked up? I heard someone say that if the phone wasn't sold at a t-mobile store that they would charge me extra or something. Any truth to this?

3) Will I be able to use 3G network if I get it hooked up with t-mobile?

thanks

[babyblue_pimp]

1. Yes, but the problem is if you get a 3gs thats after week 41 it will most likely be on the new bootrom. new bootrom = tethered jailbreak. tethered jailbreak = everytime you want to restart your phone you will need to plug it into the computer and rejailbreak it. which basically means you'd have to be around a computer if your phone ever needed to be restarted.
I've heard of people just getting 3gs's that were "old" stock and lucked out... basically its all about luck at the moment...
You can get a 3g if you don't want to gamble, but i'd go for the 3gs (its 100% a better device), if you do end up getting a new edition 3gs, you most likely will be able to find someone on AT&T that bought a 3gs earlier, just find one in really good condition, and offer them a direct trade. As long as they aren't really interested in jailbreaking, its win win.

2. If my answer to number 1 wasn't a good enough example, then let me be clear, using an iphone on tmobile isn't 100% reliable. I mean as long as you never upgrade without making sure, for the most part you will be okay. But i personally keep my 8320 as a backup, and would never get rid of it, because you never know, one day tmobile could just drop all iphones off the grid, I mean it would probably never happen, but its better to be safe then sorry.
My recommendation is to just sign a 2 year contract, and get whichever "backup" phone you can afford. There are plenty of nice free ones, so its not a bad deal.
Then just swap that sim into your iphone once its unlocked.
3.No, its hardware related, and it will never happen. We use tmobile's edge network. Its not bad, but not the best, its a real bummer because my friends mytouch internet is sooooo much faster...

Thats about it, your welcome. Enjoy your 3gs, they're amazing

[adp]

I do not recommend you buying a phone from AT&T if you're gonna cancel. First, they check your credit - every time this happens your score is decreased (which hurts for your mortgage/car loans). Second, with the $175 ETF, the $30 activation fee, one month of service (roughly $75) and the phone plus tax ($318 or $213) you're looking at about $280 for the service plus the phone you choose:

32Gb = $598
16Gb = $493

You can find a local deal on Craigslist for $400 (if you're lucky 350) for a barely used 3GS in good condition. This will avoid you the headache and credit hit (as minimal as it is). I'd recommend you do this.

The other advantage (as posted before) is that you may get the old bootrom if you buy locally, which will let you jailbreak and unlock. You don't wanna have the tethered jailbreak. There's many times where you just have to reboot and you won't have a computer with you.

As far as Edge goes, it sucks compared to 3G. But it'll get you what you need...eventually.

[c_mazz]

1. Yes, but the problem is if you get a 3gs thats after week 41 it will most likely be on the new bootrom. new bootrom = tethered jailbreak. tethered jailbreak = everytime you want to restart your phone you will need to plug it into the computer and rejailbreak it. which basically means you'd have to be around a computer if your phone ever needed to be restarted.

Wow, that sucks hard. Is there anything I could do to somehow guarantee that the iPhone I get is a pre-week 41 phone; any specific place to buy it, anything I could say to the sales rep? Or it's just pure, unadulterated luck?

By the way, is it always going to have to be a tethered jailbreak? How long before someone comes out with a "real" jailbreak down the line?

[adp]

Wow, that sucks hard. Is there anything I could do to somehow guarantee that the iPhone I get is a pre-week 41 phone; any specific place to buy it, anything I could say to the sales rep? Or it's just pure, unadulterated luck?

By the way, is it always going to have to be a tethered jailbreak? How long before someone comes out with a "real" jailbreak down the line?

No you're out of luck in choosing the phone. They're not gonna open the box and check it. They'll even question what difference it'll make. It's been over a month since they released the new bootrom, so your odds are pretty much against you by now.

There will probably be a real jailbreak in the future, but how long it will take is out of our hands.

If you want to save some money, just get it off craigslist (see my post above).

[cpjr]

You cant tell what week the phone is until its out of the box - It wont be out of the box until its paid for.

[c_mazz]

I do not recommend you buying a phone from AT&T if you're gonna cancel. First, they check your credit - every time this happens your score is decreased (which hurts for your mortgage/car loans). Second, with the $175 ETF, the $30 activation fee, one month of service (roughly $75) and the phone plus tax ($318 or $213) you're looking at about $280 for the service plus the phone you choose:

32Gb = $598
16Gb = $493

You can find a local deal on Craigslist for $400 (if you're lucky 350) for a barely used 3GS in good condition. This will avoid you the headache and credit hit (as minimal as it is). I'd recommend you do this.

The other advantage (as posted before) is that you may get the old bootrom if you buy locally, which will let you jailbreak and unlock. You don't wanna have the tethered jailbreak. There's many times where you just have to reboot and you won't have a computer with you.

As far as Edge goes, it sucks compared to 3G. But it'll get you what you need...eventually.

I'm aware of the credit-score hit -- it's only temporary. Not a big deal. Also, I've already cheked Craigslist, and there's no 16GB 3GS that falls below $650. Same goes for eBay. And plus, there's no way in hell that I'm going to dish out over $500 for a phone if the phone isn't brand new/straight out of the box, especially in the economy we're living in. Thanks for the advice though.

[adp]

I'm aware of the credit-score hit -- it's only temporary. Not a big deal. Also, I've already cheked Craigslist, and there's no 16GB 3GS that falls below $650. Same goes for eBay. And plus, there's no way in hell that I'm going to dish out over $500 for a phone if the phone isn't brand new/straight out of the box, especially in the economy we're living in. Thanks for the advice though.

Ok no problem. I've been actively looking in Craigslist for iPhone 3GS's and I've seen many going for $400 (people who actually give their numbers out, not the scammers). I live in the South FL tri-county area, with about 5million people, so it also depends on where you live. The smaller the city, the less chances of getting a phone for that price. But I've seen at least 10 going for under $450.

But if you want to go with the AT&T cancellation, that's good too. Just be aware that you'll most likely get the new bootrom.

Good luck!

[c_mazz]

Ok no problem. I've been actively looking in Craigslist for iPhone 3GS's and I've seen many going for $400 (people who actually give their numbers out, not the scammers). I live in the South FL tri-county area, with about 5million people, so it also depends on where you live. The smaller the city, the less chances of getting a phone for that price. But I've seen at least 10 going for under $450.

But if you want to go with the AT&T cancellation, that's good too. Just be aware that you'll most likely get the new bootrom.

Good luck!

Dude, I live in South Florida too (Miami Lakes). If you can find me a 16GB 3GS on Craiglist for under $500, I'll come over your house and suck your **** (this will never happen ofcourse).

[adp]

Dude, I live in South Florida too (Miami Lakes). If you can find me a 16GB 3GS on Craiglist for under $500, I'll come over your house and suck your **** (no homo ofcourse).

This person posted a few hours ago, so it may be gone..

iPhone 3GS 16GB Black Like New

You have to constantly be on the lookout, because it's on high demand. I usually type "3GS" as a search and put $101 to $400 in the range (the $101 is to avoid all the "unlock your phone" scammers)

And don't ever accept deals that are not local.

[cpjr]

Dude, I live in South Florida too (Miami Lakes). If you can find me a 16GB 3GS on Craiglist for under $500, I'll come over your house and suck your **** (this will never happen ofcourse).

Watch the language. PG-13.

[blkcadi]

mmmmmmmmm, wonder what he ment?

[c_mazz]

This person posted a few hours ago, so it may be gone..

iPhone 3GS 16GB Black Like New

You have to constantly be on the lookout, because it's on high demand. I usually type "3GS" as a search and put $101 to $400 in the range (the $101 is to avoid all the "unlock your phone" scammers)

And don't ever accept deals that are not local.

I don't know, i'm a bit hesitant about buying a used iPhone on Craigslist. People know that the phones are in demand and they'll lie about their history just to make a quick buck. Maybe it's a Chinese clone, or maybe it's defective. My cousin for example sold a 1G iPhone on eBay last year that he said he only used for a few months when the truth was that he'd been using it for years. Point in case: be careful when buying used.

[adp]

I don't know, i'm a bit hesitant about buying a used iPhone on Craigslist. People know that the phones are in demand and they'll lie about their history just to make a quick buck. Maybe it's a Chinese clone, or maybe it's defective. My cousin for example sold a 1G iPhone on eBay last year that he said he only used for a few months when the truth was that he'd been using it for years. Point in case: be careful when buying used.

True. Which is why I'll only buy it locally. You can definitely tell between an iPhone and the china clone (unless you've never seen an iPhone before). And if the phone has no scratches on it, and is a 3GS, it can't be that used anyway. The 3GS came out 4 months ago. Just make sure you test out all the features (wifi, data, gps, compass, video, etc) before you buy it. It won't be quick because getting a really good deal takes some time. It took me 2 weeks last year to get a 3G for $350 (back then they were overpriced like the 3GS is now). So you have to be patient. If you want an iPhone tomorrow, then just go with the AT&T deal.

[c_mazz]

True. Which is why I'll only buy it locally. You can definitely tell between an iPhone and the china clone (unless you've never seen an iPhone before). And if the phone has no scratches on it, and is a 3GS, it can't be that used anyway. The 3GS came out 4 months ago. Just make sure you test out all the features (wifi, data, gps, compass, video, etc) before you buy it. It won't be quick because getting a really good deal takes some time. It took me 2 weeks last year to get a 3G for $350 (back then they were overpriced like the 3GS is now). So you have to be patient. If you want an iPhone tomorrow, then just go with the AT&T deal.

I think most people on Craiglist only meet in public places when they do business though, so it wouldn't even matter if you bought it locally or not. By the way do you know if Best Buy sells the iPhones without contract?

[babyblue_pimp]

You cant tell what week the phone is until its out of the box - It wont be out of the box until its paid for.

The serial number is on the box...

you don't need to open it...

[c_mazz]

The serial number is on the box...

you don't need to open it...

Really? Thanks Babyblue. I'll use that to my advantage.

[adp]

The serial number is on the box...

you don't need to open it...

If you use Google, you'll see that:

"If you want to find out the version of the boot ROM running on your iPhone 3GS then the only way to achieve this is to check the System Profiler while the phone is in DFU mode."

So the serial# won't do any good. I doubt they'll show you the box without signing the contract or paying.

[babyblue_pimp]

yeah basically if you can get a friend at AT&T, or even better since your in south florida just go to miami, the people there are willing to do anything for a dollar.
Its how i bought my 3gs aswell.. wound up paying a little less than 600 dollars for a brand new white 32gb the 2nd day they were available...
And i dont know about finding 3gs's on craigslist for 350.00 (not doubting it, as alot of people do steal iphones, i'm just saying its unlikely)... I just sold a NIB 8g 3g for 400....

If you use Google, you'll see that:

"If you want to find out the version of the boot ROM running on your iPhone 3GS then the only way to achieve this is to check the System Profiler while the phone is in DFU mode."

So the serial# won't do any good. I doubt they'll show you the box without signing the contract or paying.

Yeah but i'm just going by the week mid week 40 thing MuscleNerd was talking about... True some week 42 3gs's were on the old bootrom, but just finding a 3gs week 39 or lower is a way to find one that will work 100%, without opening the box...

And like i said earlier, the people in miami will check all of the boxes to get a sale... they don't care what you do when you leave the store, you just need to find a understanding sales person.
"I'll sign a contract right now and buy a 32gb 3gs as long as the 3rd and 4th number on the serial number on the box is 39 or lower"... I mean there are dozens of AT&T stores... one of them has to bite...

[cpjr]

Sounds like an awful lot of trouble to save a buck.

3gs 32gb.....

$299 + ETF $175 + first months "rent" = AT LEAST $550, most likely more. And thats for all that trouble and wasted time.

Or, nab one of ebay for around $600. Hmmm.......