Buying the Iphone 3Gs In USA

portcrap

Just a couple of questions buying the iphone 3Gs the US. Assuming it will be the same as buying the the iphone 3G, and the fact it will be cheaper than o2's offering here:

1. How can you get round the AT&T contract when buying over there?

2. Where is the best place to buy it?

3. Once bought do you have to jailbreak it and get it unlocked?

Thanks

Kid Nothing

1. You can't

2. Apple Store/AT&T store with a contract. AT&T store without a contract for about $770 for 16GB & $830 for a 32GB but still locked to AT&T

3. I think software 3.0 is already jailbroken but i dunno how far the dev team is with an unlock for the new phones considering i doubt they've managed to lay their hands on one yet!!!

anoble66

http://iphonehelp.in/2009/06/12/how-to-get-the-iphone-3gs-without-the-att-contract-from-apple/


this could be interesting!!

dinneenp

Basic question- what's the cheapest I can get an iPhone for without tying into a contract? I don't mind if it's from Ebay, USA or whereever?

On Craiglist you can get a 16GB unlocked one for about £188 or so. would this be about the cheapest?

Are deals like this too good to be true?

Cheers,
Pa.

Stephen

At that price, its a total scam. You can indeed get them factory unlocked from Italy but for a good few hundred quid more than that!

Tom Dunne

Golden rule of the internet - if it's too good to be true, then it's a scam.

dinneenp

It's so cheap it seems it has to be a scam (and probably is) but if you meet the person in person and can check it out (as with most deals on Craiglist).....

dhaddock

Has anyone bought an iPhone from anywhere where it worked out cheaper than o2's €512 offering?

booyah1024

hey,

i'm in the process of doing this.

here's some facts that i learned.


1. to sign up for any mobile phone contract in the states, the provider does a credit check. to do this the provider requires a social security number (SSN).

2. if you have a social security number (SSN) but only have it for < 1 year, AT&T - in this case cause it's an iphone - require a $500 deposit. deposit must be put on a credit card.

3. the phone is $299 for 32gig + tax, it ended up being $330 including tax.

4. the contract is $30 for data (mandatory) and $45 for 450 anytime minutes (minutes in the states also get deducted if you recieve a call too). i also added 200 text messages for $5.

5. there is a $35 connection fee.

6. you must keep the phone for 30 days minimum, otherwise AT&T require you to return the phone. so factor in the cost of one month of contract.

7. there is a cancelation fee of $175, which gets $5 deducted for every month you stay on the contract.

8. so in summation, you need $833 up front for phone and deposit, minus $70 for one month contract, minus $170 cancellation fee.

9. once you cancel the contract they mail you out a cheque for the remainder of your deposit minus the cancellation fee.


i'm working my way through one month of the contract at the moment, the unlimited data is awesome makes the iphone so good (i previously had a iphone 2g unlocked on o2).

it's messy way of getting a cheaper iphone than o2 but i think it's worth it.


also note the monthly charges above do not include tax, which is different in every state.

Dades

booyah1024 wrote: »

it's messy way of getting a cheaper iphone than o2 but i think it's worth it.

I agree about not being worth it... doesn't sound much bloody cheaper for all that hassle!

Sounds like an option for one of those people with an enormous bee in their bonnet about O2.

dinneenp

they're real feckers aren't they (O2, Apple)
I know it's a phone I'd like but you're basically being fleeced for it. I'm thinking of going for the NOkia N95 instead- great camera etc.

JoeA3

dinneenp wrote: »

I'm thinking of going for the NOkia N95 instead- great camera etc.

Had one before the iPhone. Would not consider ever going back to it! Spec wise it matches the iPhone in a lot of places (and beats it on the camera for sure, but I couldn't care less about the camera personally)... but it has a horrible clunky user interface.

booyah1024

Dades wrote: »

I agree about not being worth it... doesn't sound much bloody cheaper for all that hassle!

Sounds like an option for one of those people with an enormous bee in their bonnet about O2.

well yeh,

only reason i got it is i'm over here on work and work are paying for the contract. i'm here until december and couldn't do without a phone and pay as you go over here is ****e.

RandomPerson13

The o2 way is not so bad. I paid 609 for 32gb on speakeasy, jailbroke and unlocked it this week using meteor in it now. No hassle and literly takes 2 mins to jailbreak.

By the way it is soooo mush better then the n95 in every way bar the camera which is poor ( has a small delay leading to lots of blurry pics)

booyah1024

i think 609 euro is a crazy amount for a phone, iphone or not.

o2 are not a bad network imo, but their iphone contracts suck compared to other iphone carriers.

peediddy

Can i just clarify a couple of things please.

Basically, if i was to buy a non-contract iphone in the US, they cost $599 or $699 for the 16GB and 32GB respectively?

And event still i have to get it unblocked etc.

Is this correct? Still seems very expensive.

Tom Dunne

peediddy wrote: »

Can i just clarify a couple of things please.

Basically, if i was to buy a non-contract iphone in the US, they cost $599 or $699 for the 16GB and 32GB respectively?

And event still i have to get it unblocked etc.

Is this correct? Still seems very expensive.

Yes, and yes.

That's what you pay for a premium product.

booyah1024

yes they are the prices. there are a few rules though.

1. you have to buy in an AT&T store, apple stores only sell iphones with contracts.

2. you have to find an AT&T store that has no preorders for contract customers, i.e. they have stock of the iphone and the stock they are getting in is not just filling preorders.

$699 is under 500 euro, so you are saving 100 euro off the pay as you go price o2 have for the 32gig version.

sure it's not that much cheaper but smart phones are never cheap.

peediddy

Yea i guess when you think about it's not too bad. I'd just be so afraid of losing it when it costs that much!

Do pre-pay sims work fine? Do they eat up the credit?

booyah1024

peediddy wrote: »

Yea i guess when you think about it's not too bad. I'd just be so afraid of losing it when it costs that much!

Do pre-pay sims work fine? Do they eat up the credit?

depends on the provider.

i know o2 ireland costs 99c for 50megs which is valid one calendar 24hour day