Cell phones: What is the best carrier?
It would need to be unlocked
by DocGSXR - 4/13/07 5:54 AM In reply to: question by kobehaterThe sidekick would need to be unlocked. This can happen one of two ways, either buy or find on the internet an unlock kit for the sidekick. Then buy one off ebay or at the store and unlock it yourself. Or go on ebay and buy one that is already unlocked.
Just go into ebay and search in the cell phone & pda category and subcategory would be phones w/o service contracts and type in sidekick unlocked. Comes up with about 800 choices for me just now. I am switching to cingular myself because they are the only ones to offer HSDPA/UMTS technology (High Speed Downlink Packet Access/Universal Mobile Telephone System) in southern california at this time. This is just fancy terminology for close to broadband speed internet access. Not too many phones support this functionality yet, but you can find a few that do. The Hermes (there are many versions such as the cingular 8525, HTC TyTn, Softbank X01HT, JasJam, etc...)does and it is a pda phone with a slide out Qwerty Keyboard and the screen is a touch screen that you can either use a stylus or your finger and it is running windows mobile 5. You can buy the 8525 at cingular for 449 with a 2 year service contract or you can buy the unlocked version on ebay for 425 with free shipping from one of the auctions that is up right now. Then you dont have to lock yourself into a 2 year contract. I personally would go for the hermes (8525) there is just so much you can do with it. You can even do voip(such as skype) which is integrated into windows mobile 6 which is fairly easy to find on the net for download. Just my .02
It will work as long as
by djmatt6899 - 4/16/07 2:45 PM In reply to: question by kobehateryou have the correct sim for the carrier your getting service fom Tmobile and Cingular phone are interchangeable when unlocked
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, DO NOT DO THAT!
by BigMomma09 - 4/16/07 7:15 PM In reply to: question by kobehaterDo NOT, I repeat Do Not buy an unlocked Sidekick and use it on Cingular, I asked this just a month ago and someone told me all features will be locked such as IM, Internet, and Texting. So the beautiful QWERTY keyboard will be wasted. Also T-Mobile is GSM and it works great in the LA area or SO-CAL area, or at least my cousin says.
Simply not true
by DocGSXR - 4/17/07 5:20 AM In reply to: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, DO NOT DO THAT! by BigMomma09There are two different types of unlocking. SIM unlock and CID unlock. Typically on these boards most people talk about SIM unlocking. CID unlocking is a little different. SIM unlocking is where you unlock the phone to be able to take any SIM card from any gsm network. This can be done usually by calling the carrier themselves and saying that you travel outside of the country and you need to have the device unlocked so you can buy a prepaid sim card in another country. CID unlocking is where you unlock the carrier ID so you can then use ROM's from other carriers on your phone(CID unlocking is out of the scope of this thread so I won't continue). When you SIM unlock your device and you move to a different carrier most people tend to complain that their phone works but internet, im and various other things don't work. So then they call their carrier and the carrier will usually cop out and say that is because we dont support your phone on our network because it is unlocked. Lies. Anyway all you need to do is get the network settings for their network. If using medianet plan for cingular it will be wap.cingular there are other settings, but like i said just ask them what they are and set up your phone yourself. Truthfully though I dont really see any advantage to moving a sidekick phone to a cingular network. T-mobile's plans are a little cheaper imho. I would have stuck with T-mobile myself but they dont have a 3G network in the US. sidekick isnt 3G that I know of so you should probably stick with t-mobile.
Sidekick with Cingular
by anastasia3a - 5/26/07 11:23 AM In reply to: Simply not true by DocGSXRSo, it is possible to use all features of the sidekick 2 or 3 with the cingular network by applying the correct network settings in the phone? Why? It is a cool phone, but T-mobile does not have great service in my area and cingular does. If this is possible, does anyone know the settings that need to be changed?
Thanks in advance,
Stacy
Best carrier
by rbryan - 4/14/07 6:35 AM In reply to: What is the best carrier? by kobehaterStay completely away from Cellular One. Their reception is incredibly shoddy. I live in northern Wisconsin, and have listened to them too many times. I upgraded to GSM/digital to solve reception problems. I cant even get reception at my house, which is less than 10 miles away from their office. And the nationwide service is very spotty. Their service is 'oh, well, we didn't actually guarantee you could USE your phone for that money." I work statewide and can't rely on them for anything.
us cellular for northern new england, esp rural
by rguerriero - 4/14/07 7:50 AM In reply to: What is the best carrier? by kobehateri live in northern new england and travel maine, nh, vt, mass, often... most of the major carriers are fine in more populated areas but if you want decent reception in the white mountains or in the northern ct river valley, us cellular is the best.
the down side of us cellular is that the phone selection and the plans are very limited . . . you won't be able to get a Q and Treo, for example . . . and their phones are pricey and renewal deals are not as good as other carriers . . .
but us cellular does have three blackberry models and a few other decent ones . . .
all in all, if you live outside the city in this area, us cellular is the best bet - in my experience
The OP lives in California
by DocGSXR - 4/14/07 8:39 AM In reply to: us cellular for northern new england, esp rural by rguerrieroJust a little FYI the op was trying to get help about network coverage in California not the new england area.
Verizon Is Best
by ranger93 - 4/17/07 11:05 PM In reply to: What is the best carrier? by kobehaterI live in Monterey Calidornia & Have Been a Verizon user for 15 years
Im Going on my fourth Upgrade cause of New features on The Phone
wat should i get??
by kobehater - 4/20/07 2:28 PM In reply to: Verizon Is Best by ranger93should i stay with cingular and get the iphone? go with tmobile and get the sidekick 3, or go with verizon and get the enz
well
by DocGSXR - 4/20/07 2:56 PM In reply to: wat should i get?? by kobehaterThe iphone is still months away, according to their website the fcc still hasnt approved it. You could always get an LG Prada phone which is almost identical to the iphone, but it is available for purchase now. Or you could go with the other two you mentioned. The only reason I really like cingular is because of the fact that they have a 3G network so I can get broadband internet speeds on a 3G supporting smart/pda phone. Other than that Verizon seems to have the better coverage in the US. I also like GSM networks because I find myself outside of the US alot and GSM is popular in other countries, so really it is up to you. If you dont need broadband speed and are fine with slower data connections go with one of the other carriers. I am not sure if the iphone will support UMTS.
VERIZON, VERIZON, VERIZON!!!!!
by myknowledge - 5/27/07 5:37 AM In reply to: wat should i get?? by kobehaterI've never responded to forums, but have to just say this. With all the new fandangled gizmos on the phones these days, it doesn't really matter if reception is subpar. I've been in dozens of conference rooms where nobody gets reception - NOBODY! - and I always hand my cell phone (Verizon service)around the room because I get reception EVERYWHERE. Elevators. Underground parking. And never (maybe once in a great while)dropped calls. I would never, ever change from Verizon.
Verizon is really the best. Hands down. I'm in So. Cal., too.
Hope this helps!
Renee'
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