Travel Technology - Where to buy unlocked phone: not eBay

Classmate in academia needs unlocked gsm phone for travel to China (PRC) but can't use eBay as university is going to pay for it. But it can't be the latest hot phone either. She on Verizon.

Can someone recommend third party on-line vendor that sells lower priced models?

Any of these should be fine.

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=63

Her Verizon account will almost certainly be irrelevant unless she wants one of the few GSM/CDMA phones that they sell.

Some of the threads about phones/SIMs for Europe have good suggestions for ways to come by cheap unlocked phones.

www.welectronics.com
www.tigerdirect.com
www.expansys-usa.com

Just to name a few :)

If she just needs a really cheap one, I'd suggest checking out Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUT F8%26index%3Dwireless-accessories%26field-browse%3D283273011&tag=641539-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957), as they often have some cheap models on sale. Just be sure it supports GSM 900/1800 for China.

Thanks, that was fast. I googled and found some but not sure which were reliable.

Thanks, that was fast. I googled and found some but not sure which were reliable.


If its China PRC, Verizon will work there on a CDMA network. All you have
to do contact Verizon and activate it. and CDMA works well in large
cities. Rural areas... I am not so sure.

I'm not sure if Verizon has a CDMA roaming agreement/facility in
Republic of China (Taiwan)

If its China PRC, Verizon will work there on a CDMA network. All you have
to do contact Verizon and activate it. and CDMA works well in large
cities. Rural areas... I am not so sure.

I'm not sure if Verizon has a CDMA roaming agreement/facility in
Republic of China (Taiwan)

Thanks, knew that. She wanted new phone for local sim card and not pay international roaming.

Plus being a professor, she's literally all thumbs with any technology....LOL.

Again thanks for everyone's quick replies, I've emailed her a brief primer.

If she needs a sim card then only GSM phone are for her as Verizon doe not use sims. Also, I found from experience that a lot of phones sold on ebay,Tiger Direct etc. are foreign branded. Son bought a cool Ericsson phone only to find it was from an Australian phone co and most of the features offered on ATT here couldn't be accessed with that phone. It did work for calls and messages. Some sites will say if it is US or European (international)branded, some don't.

She could probably go to WalMart and buy a cheap ATT or T=Mobile pay as you go phone and replace the sim with one from China. It has to have the correct band frequencies as the co in China to work though.

She could probably go to WalMart and buy a cheap ATT or T=Mobile pay as you go phone and replace the sim with one from China. It has to have the correct band frequencies as the co in China to work though.

That only works if you can unlock the phone. Most of those phones are going to be locked so they will only work with TMO or ATT (they won't work with other sim cards).

Thanks, knew that. She wanted new phone for local sim card and not pay international roaming.

Plus being a professor, she's literally all thumbs with any technology....LOL.

Again thanks for everyone's quick replies, I've emailed her a brief primer.

In that case, I'd consider ScottC's suggestions.

In your profile it says "tri-state area." If by chance, this refers to the New York metropolitan area, then Best Buy sells unlocked GSM phones as does J&R.

There was a thread about this a few months ago in this forum.

Others are:

Amazon
Best Buy (yes, they sell unlocked phones)
buy.com
www.samstores.com/

myworldphone.com
simoncells.com

Second the simon cells. Sometimes they have some great deals.

One of the best flyertalk tips I've gotten over the years.

That only works if you can unlock the phone. Most of those phones are going to be locked so they will only work with TMO or ATT (they won't work with other sim cards).

I used to have phone service with Beyond GSM Wireless. I just bought ATT prepaid service phones(Go Phones), removed the sims and replaced them with the Beyond sims. No problems.

That's because Beyond GSM actually uses the AT&T network. You were lucky. Had you bought the quad band GSM t-mobile for $30, it would not have worked.

If you take a locked T-mobile or AT&T phone and put in a non T-mobile or non AT&T sim (even if it's got another name on it like Beyond GSM) it won't work, you need to get the phone unlocked first.

Oh. I see how that worked now. Thanks.

I have bought many unlocked phones from cellhut.com. Simon is also pretty good. All phones I have purchased were new, unlocked and with recent or next to recent FW on them. most were most likely european or UAE devices. good prices, look for discount coupons.

I have bought many unlocked phones from cellhut.com. Simon is also pretty good. All phones I have purchased were new, unlocked and with recent or next to recent FW on them. most were most likely european or UAE devices. good prices, look for discount coupons.

I have bad experiences with cellhut. My son bought an unlocked phone that came from the UK. It died within a couple of weeks. It took us about 50 phone calls and lots of shennanigans to finally get it right. At first they insisted on repairing the phone. This meant a return to them and then they returned it to the UK. Months passed with the phone to be returned "very soon". Finally it came. It was not his phone but a used phone locked to BT. No battery. No battery cover. Finally, finally, finally, they sent a new phone.

Be careful.

Most recently we upgraded the three phones on our account (ATT -> Cingluar -> ATT) when the same son lost his. They would not longer give us the legacy SIMs and we all had to get 3G phones. Reasonable, I suppose after so long. At the time of purchase, they also agreed to unlock all phones via a phone call to their CS since we routinely use the phones overseas. No problems.

FWIW, I've bought from Tiger Direct (http://www.tigerdirect.com) without any hassles or problems.