A few questions for cell phone gurus. I need to either get my US phone (cingular/att) unlocked to use it overseas or pick up a say, sub $150 unlcoked quad band phone. I supposed I could just buy a cheap phone to have while in europe for a couple of weeks but I figure I may as well buy one I can use at home as a spare if I go that route (and thus only carry one phone with me as I travel).
Any good sites with info on unlocking phones (I’m doubtful att will send me the subsidy code for my cingular phone) or a good place to buy a decent quad band phone?
After dropping my old Nokia in a toilet in Italy, I paid EUR 39 for the cheapest Vodafone available, popped in my old SIM*, and was good to go without having to unlock anything.
*The SIM was fine, but the Nokia’s LCD was toast, even though I fished it out within seconds and spent a couple of minutes blow-drying it immediately afterward.
“Unlocking” phones is pretty much a joke these days. Long gone are the days of posting your IMEI on a forum somewhere and getting an unlock code for your phone.
Nowadays, with most GSM phones from the last couple years, unlocking involves paying some tapir $60 to do it.
Thankfully, pre-unlocked phones are pretty easy to find. You can even walk into a Best Buy and get them. They don’t have any quad-bands in your price-range, though.
I’d look to eBay. I had good luck 2 years ago buying my one, though that seller appears to have taken a dive to scumville and is no longer reputable. I’m sure if you find a seller with nothing but positive feedback you should be fine.
