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Message started by mpescatori on 07/08/14 at 04:42:11

Title: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by mpescatori on 07/08/14 at 04:42:11

Hi all,

my son has a rather old iPhone 3GS, and I just read Apple "may" launch the new iPhone6 this coming fall.

The same article stated "contract" iPhones retailed for about $199 iPhone5s and $99 for the iPhone4s.

Given these prices... ::) given that prices in Europe are much (much [much!]) higher
I was wondering if anybody could help me source a used, boxed, well kept iPhone4s/5, provided it is unlocked, i.e. can use any SIM chip.

I can PayPal, or pay with colored beads, blingy trinkets, sheepskins or decorated abalone shells ;D

Possibly a 32/64GB phone ;)

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by ToesNose on 07/08/14 at 05:09:59

They have changed the unlocking practices the past year, it is upwards of $100 to unlock iPhones now. The price of unlocked iPhones had jumped quite a bit, and sometimes the unlocking can take up to 30 days....The third party unlocking services aren't as reliable as they used to be.

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by mpescatori on 07/08/14 at 05:53:23

:o

Wow ! That's incredible, here in Italy most phones are sold unlocked in the first place.

Sure, I can go to a service provider and ask for a contract with a free phone, which ties me hand and limb for an average of two years (24 months) to that provider...

...but the phone is still unlocked, only the firmware is reprogrammed so that many services (i.e. find a taxi, phone book, yellow pages etc.) are connected to the service provider's portal.

But if I ... purchase a phone with a (your names here) Verizon contract, and replace the SIM chip with one from T-Mobile, I can still use the phone, only the "portal" services and voicemail will be affected.

Incidentally, at least here in Italy, I can transfer my original cellphone number from one wireless provider to another, and this simple trick has boosted cellphone sales because I can keep my number (and contacts 8-) ) and still get a better deal.

Still... a brand new unlocked 64GB iPhone5S from Applestore.com is $849, which I though was steep...
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-iphone/iphone5s?aid=www-k2-iphone%205s%20-%20index-n@p&cp=k2-iphone%205s%20-n@p

...until I saw the same phone on the same Applestore.it, and it's "only" €949 cheap !!!
http://store.apple.com/it/buy-iphone/iphone5s
:o :o :o
I'll leave it to you guys to do the math... naaah, I'll do it, this side of the Ocean a 64GB iPhone5S retails at $1280...
:-X

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by BalingWire on 07/08/14 at 06:24:36

I have yet to get my first cell phone. Does that make me a bit of a savage? :D

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by jcstokes on 07/08/14 at 21:35:40

They do have their uses in emergencies. They have $NZ19 pre pay ones in our super markets.

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by mpescatori on 07/08/14 at 23:40:19

Talk about prepaid...

There's one thing I can't understand, "untraceable" prepaid phones in the US.

Here in Europe, all cellphones have an IMEI number, a SIM number and a phone number.

The phone number is linked to your phone bill... and goes with the service provider;

The SIM number is linked to the producer of the SIM chip and the initial (original) service provider;
(remember, I explained how you can carry your phone number from an old provider to a new provider? You carry on the phone number but it's "aliased" to a new SIM chip)

The IMEI number is linked to the hardware, i.e. it is just like the VIN / chassis number on a motor vehicle.

So ... how is it that US drama series such as "CSI" etc. will have the detectives cringing "it's a prepaid, we can't trace it"?
It's technical baloney, unless you omit registering the owner at the time of purchase... ::)

(just asking...) ;)

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by old_rider on 07/09/14 at 08:53:42

Usually those that don't want to be "traced" present a false ID to buy the phone.
You have to "call in with a credit card number to fill minutes" or "buy a card at the store and dial in the number on the card to fill minutes".
Either way you don't need an ID to fill in minutes.
And the Credit Card could be stolen....
About not being traced....they can be, electronically like any other cell phone.
But they cannot physically find the owner if the purchase was made with a false ID.

It is a "pay as you go/use" phone, no address needed, they don't send you a bill, they send you a text on the phone with "minutes remaining".

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by WD on 07/09/14 at 09:12:01

4A4941574C414057250 wrote:

And they are usually on sale at the dollar store for less than $10-20 USD... we had them on sale at the pharmacy a couple months ago for $4.95 flip phone, $14.95 smart phone. You can get unlocked "burner" phones at some of the 'hood pawn shops with no ID or credit card required for just a couple dollars...

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by PerrydaSavage on 07/11/14 at 03:08:36

I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to cellular phones too ... still using an LG flip-phone that I got back in 2009 ... battery doesn't hold charge long anymore. so am looking to replace the phone ... trouble is, I only need a flip-phone and have no need or use for a "smart" phone (talk n' text is all I need) and when I asked my cel provider about getting a new flip-phone, they looked at me like I had some kind of disease and said, "go buy one at Walmart" ... whereupon the Almighty Walmart informs me that they too may no longer be carrying pre-paid flip-phones here locally ... jeesuz, I definitely don't wanna have to be forced to pay for a smart phone and a data package I'll never use ...

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by BalingWire on 07/11/14 at 05:22:06

794C5B5B504D487A485F484E4C290 wrote:

[...]I only need a flip-phone and have no need or use for a "smart" phone[...]

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by RatdogWillie on 07/11/14 at 06:16:03

796471677775607B667D140 wrote:

Have you tried FEEBay?

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by RatdogWillie on 07/11/14 at 06:28:28

5F7C7174737A4A746F781D0 wrote:

[quote author=794C5B5B504D487A485F484E4C290 link=1404819731/0#8 date=1405073316][...]I only need a flip-phone and have no need or use for a "smart" phone[...]

I agree. If I am gadding about the countryside, especially pulling the cattle trailer, my wife will give me her phone, in case I have trouble. I took the cattle trailer a couple hours from home to pick up my Savage last month. She gave me her new "smart" wünderföne. She showed me how to use it. Well, when I went to call, it was on some weird screen that I couldn't escape to save my skin, even by shutting it off for minutes. That persistent feature makes it a Dümbföne to me.

Do these people look "smart?" They can no longer converse with other human beings in a normal social way, making them, in the most literal meaning of the word, "dumb."

http://i62.tinypic.com/oq8x2e.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/29qmkuw.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/6o0sqv.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/6ygxaf.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/zxwur.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/2z4g6rl.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/14aai4n.jpg

Pure electronic heroin, beginning with TV:

"It weakens relationships by reducing and sometimes eliminating normal opportunities for talking, for communicating." ~Marie Winn (1977) THE PLUG IN DRUG. Penguin. p. 25.[/quote]

Those pictures speak volumes!
I worry when I am out riding my Savage and see someone driving using a cell phone or texting at a traffic light. Is that person texting (most of the time female) behind me aware that I am even there?

A while back, I was driving my car on the Washington beltway (RT 495) at night. I watched a woman exit from the Baltimore/Washington Parkway in front of me. She had her dome light on. As she weaved from lane to lane, I could see that she had a cell phone stuck to her left ear and she was dancing in her seat and taking her right arm off the steering wheel waving it as part of her dance moves. I hung back and watched expecting an accident......I got off at RT 450 and don't know what her fate was.....that time.....or others times that must have followed.

I do not own a cell phone. I do not desire to radiate my brain.

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by Arnold on 07/11/14 at 06:54:10

Unfortunately I need one for work as do most people nowadays :(
I would have one otherwise, I dont even have any phone at the house.

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by ToesNose on 07/12/14 at 04:24:51

I'm a cell phone repair tech, it's sad to see the conflict people go through just handing their phones over to be repaired knowing they won't have it for a few hours....really sad actually.

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/12/14 at 08:26:47

30051212190401330116010705600 wrote:

Buy a battery,check,buy 2.. Call a phone repair shop.

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by verslagen1 on 07/12/14 at 08:41:04

you can still get flip phones thru consumer cellular.

Title: Re: How much is an unlocked iPhone ?
Post by RatdogWillie on 07/17/14 at 14:45:43

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