Can I do this? go phone US/Europe? If so, pls advise.. - Page 2

Bossman · 24-02-2009, 21:47

The centro is a quadband smartphone by palm.

Centro Smartphone - Features, Details, Reviews : Palm USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaimon

What is a centro? Is that a gophone? I have no clue what bands the centro has.

Motel75 · 25-02-2009, 00:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

Once, long ago, I bought a phone as a tri-band Moto L7089 and it turned out to be the 1900-only version of the same phone. Seller had little history and vanished shortly afterward. One of a very few bad deals I've made on eBay.

Are you sure? The Timeport was tri-band from the start; in fact, it was the first tri-band phone available, and there was never a single-band version of the 7089 (or WAP-enabled 7389). However, it did not support automatic band selection, and this confused a lot of people. You had to dig down in the menu to find the "Change Bands" option to toggle between 900/1800 and 1900.

jbinbi · 01-03-2009, 14:36

OK. one more piece of info needed on sim cards. I saw a few att phones on craigslist that are quadband. a centro and a razr. However, the owners want to keep their sim cards!

How do I get a sim card if I get a used phone. I was at wallmart yesterday and noticed that the new gophones come with their own sim card. But if I get someone elses phone, where can I get a new sim card? Do I have to purchase a plan from ATT?

Final question: A co worked mentioned that he thought he had an old cingular go phone. Can att re fill these, and again, same question as above. How do I get a new sim card if he doesn't have it. (thought it was lost from kid playing with it). Thanks for all the help!

Bossman · 01-03-2009, 15:12

It depends on what sim card you want. For AT&T and Tmobile you can get them on ebay or walk into a store. They may even give it to you for free as long as you add credit to it right there. For sim cards in other countries, you can do the same. Walk into a store and get a sim card that suits your need. You can also get them on ebay. Heck! In some countries you can get sim cards from the street vendors, at the airport and in vending machines.

PhotoJim · 01-03-2009, 16:07

Bossman has it right. And you can often buy a new phone with a SIM and some airtime cheaply. I bought my AT&T SIM with a basic Motorola dual-band phone in June for about $20 at Wal-Mart. It came with $10 of airtime. I kept the phone (and got it unlocked) but a person could sell a brand new phone like that reasonably easily, and end up getting the new SIM for five bucks or so net.

jbinbi · 01-03-2009, 22:04

OK. Just as I was thinking I was understanding all of this (I know you can't believe I do IT for a living, just having vzw cdma makes all of this unfamiliar) a curve comes in.

ATT Gophone offers razr quadband. Also, on craigslist I saw a att centro (quadband), but it says can be unlocked on TMO?

So I am not sure I really understand the unlocked. I had thought that if I got the gophone quadband, I could use it here, and take the sim card out, go to europe, purchase a simcard there (have a new number) and it would work. But photojim says he unlocked his gophone?

So my questions are: 1)why do you need to unlock the phone, and 2)why is the att centro on craigslist unlockable on TMO?

Again, thanks.

Bossman · 01-03-2009, 22:19

A phone needs to be unlocked so that you can put any carrier's sim card in it. Subsidized phones are usually locked to a carrier and will only take that carrier's sim card. So, say you buy a phone on AT&T or tmobile's website they will only take an AT&T and tmobile sim respectively. So, if you want to use thet phoen with say a prepaid sim you buy in europe or if you want to put a tmobiel sim in the AT&T phone or vice-versa, you will need to get it unlcked. This can be done for free by contacting your carrier or by doing it via a 3rd party. Tmobile and AT&T will give the unlock code for their phones as long as you have been a customer in good standing for at least 90 days. OTOH, you can just buy an unlocked phone from ebay, amazon, buy.com, etc. and you are all set.

jbinbi · 02-03-2009, 04:40

Thank you for all your help. I think I understand pretty much enough to know what to try to do. Appreciate all your time.

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	(#13)
jbinbi (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 6 Join Date: 23 Feb 2009 Country:	01-03-2009, 14:36 OK. one more piece of info needed on sim cards. I saw a few att phones on craigslist that are quadband. a centro and a razr. However, the owners want to keep their sim cards! How do I get a sim card if I get a used phone. I was at wallmart yesterday and noticed that the new gophones come with their own sim card. But if I get someone elses phone, where can I get a new sim card? Do I have to purchase a plan from ATT? Final question: A co worked mentioned that he thought he had an old cingular go phone. Can att re fill these, and again, same question as above. How do I get a new sim card if he doesn't have it. (thought it was lost from kid playing with it). Thanks for all the help!

	(#14)
Bossman (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,257 Join Date: 22 Apr 2005 Location: Chicago Country:	01-03-2009, 15:12 It depends on what sim card you want. For AT&T and Tmobile you can get them on ebay or walk into a store. They may even give it to you for free as long as you add credit to it right there. For sim cards in other countries, you can do the same. Walk into a store and get a sim card that suits your need. You can also get them on ebay. Heck! In some countries you can get sim cards from the street vendors, at the airport and in vending machines. Phones: Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Samsung Galaxy A50, ASUS zenfone 3, Sim cards: AT&T (Contract), 3 UK, Piranha Mobile

	(#15)
PhotoJim (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 389 Join Date: 10 Dec 2006 Location: Regina, SK, CA Country:	01-03-2009, 16:07 Bossman has it right. And you can often buy a new phone with a SIM and some airtime cheaply. I bought my AT&T SIM with a basic Motorola dual-band phone in June for about $20 at Wal-Mart. It came with $10 of airtime. I kept the phone (and got it unlocked) but a person could sell a brand new phone like that reasonably easily, and end up getting the new SIM for five bucks or so net. CA: SaskTel, Wind postpaid; Rogers, Bell postpaid iPad flex plans; US: T-Mobile postpaid data, prepaid voice; PureTalk (AT&T MVNO) prepaid voice/data; AT&T prepaid iPad plan Hardware: Too much but notably iPhone 5, iPad Mini Retina LTE, Moto G LTE (N.A. version), iPhone 4. All unlocked.

	(#16)
jbinbi (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 6 Join Date: 23 Feb 2009 Country:	01-03-2009, 22:04 OK. Just as I was thinking I was understanding all of this (I know you can't believe I do IT for a living, just having vzw cdma makes all of this unfamiliar) a curve comes in. ATT Gophone offers razr quadband. Also, on craigslist I saw a att centro (quadband), but it says can be unlocked on TMO? So I am not sure I really understand the unlocked. I had thought that if I got the gophone quadband, I could use it here, and take the sim card out, go to europe, purchase a simcard there (have a new number) and it would work. But photojim says he unlocked his gophone? So my questions are: 1)why do you need to unlock the phone, and 2)why is the att centro on craigslist unlockable on TMO? Again, thanks.

	(#17)
Bossman (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Professionist Posts: 1,257 Join Date: 22 Apr 2005 Location: Chicago Country:	01-03-2009, 22:19 A phone needs to be unlocked so that you can put any carrier's sim card in it. Subsidized phones are usually locked to a carrier and will only take that carrier's sim card. So, say you buy a phone on AT&T or tmobile's website they will only take an AT&T and tmobile sim respectively. So, if you want to use thet phoen with say a prepaid sim you buy in europe or if you want to put a tmobiel sim in the AT&T phone or vice-versa, you will need to get it unlcked. This can be done for free by contacting your carrier or by doing it via a 3rd party. Tmobile and AT&T will give the unlock code for their phones as long as you have been a customer in good standing for at least 90 days. OTOH, you can just buy an unlocked phone from ebay, amazon, buy.com, etc. and you are all set. Phones: Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Samsung Galaxy A50, ASUS zenfone 3, Sim cards: AT&T (Contract), 3 UK, Piranha Mobile

	(#18)
jbinbi (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 6 Join Date: 23 Feb 2009 Country:	02-03-2009, 04:40 Thank you for all your help. I think I understand pretty much enough to know what to try to do. Appreciate all your time.