Which iphone should I buy?

batperson

I'm thinking about buying an iphone. I would use in different countries and will not sign a contract - pay as I go with vodafone in Ire.

My understanding from searching on boards is that I have two options:

1. Buy from O2 store in UK and pay 15 quid to unlock
2. Buy on ebay a factory unlocked iphone (from a uk seller as I dont want the customs issue or return issue to HK if something goes wrong):
http://cgi.ebay.ie/APPLE-IPHONE-3GS-BLACK-32GB-FACTORY-UNLOCKED_W0QQitemZ180482399607QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MobilePhones_MobilePhones?hash=item2a0596dd77

I'm confused about jailbreaking, unlocking etc. I want a phone that will work fully, can be upgraded at any time without any restictions and I dont mind paying more for this peace of mind - Ive seen posts about firmw problems and not being able to update - I dont want any of this hassle.

If I purchase from O2 UK store and get them to unlock there and then, will it operate just like a "factory unlocked" phone or is it the same as going to a shop in dublin and getting a jailbroken phone and having potential upgrading difficulty sometime in the future?

guil

the issues with upgradin the firmware only applies to jailbroken handsets, at the moment there is no jailbreak option for 3.1.3, if ya dont want to jailbreak theres no need to worry about any updates

gettin the unlock form a carrier will be the same as a factory unlock and the phone wont be jailbroken

batperson

That is great to know. That raises another question for me though:

If I can buy an iphone in o2 UK and get it unlocked and this is the same as a factory unlocked iphone, then why are so many posters ordering from Hong Kong or talking about flying to Italy to get one?

Maybe I'm missing something its also that as uk 02 store "unlocked" iphine works out cheaper, so is it missing something?

batperson

Just to clarify:

O2 SHOP UK - £549 plus approx 15 to unlock for a 32mb 3GS Iphone (either colour).
http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/iphoneindex/Pay_And_Go/3G_S/Black

But...the same phone when advertised as "factory unlocked" is always more expensive on ebay and gumtree etc. so there must be some "value" in purchasing the factory unlocked otherwise why are people paying more.

Ie is the O2 phone unlocked going to work on vodafone ready to go AND in theory could it be negatively effected by an itunes update in the future? Because otherwise I am more confused why people pay more for the factory unlocked phones on ebay!

Creamy Goodness

people are willing to pay more on ebay because not everyone has access to an O2 UK store, think of people in Germany/France/US where no carriers (that i'm aware of) are not unlocking.

Factory unlocked / Unlocked by carrier are the same thing. no updates through iTunes can brick them unless apple don't test the firmware which is extremely unlikely.

alexlyons

batperson wrote: »

If I can buy an iphone in o2 UK and get it unlocked and this is the same as a factory unlocked iphone, then why are so many posters ordering from Hong Kong or talking about flying to Italy to get one?

Because unlocking from o2 is only recent.

Also, Apple will probably be releasing a new iphone in june, so I'd wait if you can. It's only a small probably, more likely a definitely tbh...