Where to buy IPhone w/o contract?

[gabkwong]

Thinking of getting IPhone. I am with TMobile. Anyone know where is the best place to get it w/o contract form AT&T. Seen some interesting listing on Craiglist, but not sure if they are scams. Can't wait TMobile becomes AT&T. Wants to start the unlimited data plan before AT&T shut that down.

[sammm]

Can't wait TMobile becomes AT&T.

Careful what you wish for...AT&T is evil.

Check Fleabay or CL for a phone.

[gabkwong]

Careful what you wish for...AT&T is evil.

Check Fleabay or CL for a phone.

That is why I want to get the unlimited data plan before the evil AT&T mess it up. I never have problem w TMobile. Are there anything that I need to look for when shooping (new or used)?

[Dave04]

Just keep in mind that the 3G frequencies in use by T-mobile (2100Mhz) and the ones used by AT&T (1900Mhz) are different. If you put your Tmobile SIM in it, you might find it will only work on the slower 2G or EDGE networks.

[Majik]

Check out the forums here to find all you need to know about getting your iphone to work with t-mobile. I think most of the ones on CL are legit. The bad news is without an ATT sim card to test it you cant really check if the phone is working, and most are going to be in a mode that will make you plug them into a computer. I tried to unlock a friends 3gs for t-mobile a while back, and despite several tries it just would not recognize the t-mobile sim. It was really weird and no one had an answer. He did sell them for a pretty penny though, even locked. So you could probably sell it and get your money back.

[POS Racing]

I've seen this mentioned a few times about the merger.

AT&T representatives have casually mentioned that T-Mobile customers will have to replace their 3G phones once the merger is approved. The mandatory upgrade is due to the fact that AT&T will be spending over $8 billion to convert T-Mobile’s entire network of 3G towers to 4G, rendering T-Mobile customers 3G phones obsolete sooner or later.

http://www.slashgear.com/t-mobile-cu...rger-21141342/

[Jiggerachi]

^And effectively forcing all the old t-mobile customers out of their contracts. I wonder if this covers the phones on t-mobile's HSPA network (their version of 4G).

T-mobile is the first mobile carrier that I've felt comfortable with. AT&T is the devil, I am not happy with this merger. I can only hope the FCC blocks it (wishful thinking).

[Titus]

I just got a Samsung Galaxy S (4g) on a T-mobile unlimited plan and I love it. It is blazing fast and runs Android 2.2. It seems to now have all of the iphone type features that my Android 1.6 phone was missing and more. It is a WiFi hotspot out of the box, syncs with your iTunes playlist, does video chat over the 4g with the front facing camera, will record 1280x720 video, includes 2 different free nav programs, and a whole lot more that I haven't figured out yet.

[gabkwong]

I just got a Samsung Galaxy S (4g) on a T-mobile unlimited plan and I love it. It is blazing fast and runs Android 2.2. It seems to now have all of the iphone type features that my Android 1.6 phone was missing and more. It is a WiFi hotspot out of the box, syncs with your iTunes playlist, does video chat over the 4g with the front facing camera, will record 1280x720 video, includes 2 different free nav programs, and a whole lot more that I haven't figured out yet.

I am also looking at the soon to be released G2X. This thing does more. It has due core w 3D gaming graphics and app for watching TV and DMI out.

[jelliott25]

I have a prepaid tmobile sim in my iPhone 3g. Works fine but doesn't connect to Tmobile's 3G network and only works on the older EDGE data network. It's fine for me. I'm running an older version of ios on it since the 4.0 train was just too slow on a 3g. There are certain versions of the firmware on the phone that are harder to unlock than others. I lucked out and both of mine had a rev that was easily jailbroken and unlocked with the standard tools that are available.

I don't know where you can get an unlocked iphone 4 but that big video game/used DVD place on 75 behind Chuy's and Abuelos has used 3g and 3gs phones for sale. At least they did the last time I was in there.

I've been so happy having what is basically a prepaid iphone but I guess the fun will be coming to an end once ATT takes over.

[redmenace]

Semi-related content: AT&T currently pays lip service to both HSPA+ and LTE. Any bets on whether they drop one or the other? Could accelerate the obsolescence of the current 4G offerings.

+1 on hoping/wishing the deal doesn't go through. Happy customer of the current T-Mo here.

[Matt V]

I'm actually selling my mint 8GB iPhone 3GS for $200, jailbroken and can easily be unlocked.

[J8635621]

I thought AT&T shut down the unlimited data plans a while back?

[jeff_man]

I thought AT&T shut down the unlimited data plans a while back?

you have to have bot the plan before ios4 was released about june 2010, att will not give you a unlimited plan anymore if you own a iphone.

on a side note, why would you want a iphone, there are way better phones on the market.

[J8635621]

Yea I agree with that guy^ iPhone 5 comes out in a couple months and Androids have been steadily advancing since the 4 came out.

[goofygrin]

iPhone 5 = likely delayed to November or later as far as I've read.

[J8635621]

Well damn. I just assumed Apple would stay on schedule and release around June-July. That screws up what I had going on for sure.

[altiain]

you have to have bot the plan before ios4 was released about june 2010, att will not give you a unlimited plan anymore if you own a iphone.

on a side note, why would you want a iphone, there are way better phones on the market.

Correction - AT&T won't give you an unlimited plan on any phone anymore, not just the iPhone.

I'm still waiting for a phone that converts Jeffspeak® to normal English. Now that would be a powerful phone.

[CosmosMpower]

I have unlimited data on my iphone 4, grandfathered from when I had the same plan with my 3G.

[altiain]

And I've got it on my 3GS, ported over from my Jack. But they won't write any new plans for unlimited data, unless you previously had it on an AT&T smart phone.