Factory unlocked iphone 4 in Belgium

cojomo2 · 07-06-2010 09:39PM #1

Ok, the plan is to go to Belgium the night before launch day, up early and try my luck.

Question is:

Are phones in Belgium still , by law, sim free?

and, is it likely they will have it ready to go on launch day? Did they with the 3g and 3gs?

Thanks.

Gumbo · 07-06-2010 10:00PM

cojomo2 wrote: »

Ok, the plan is to go to Belgium the night before launch day, up early and try my luck.

Question is:

Are phones in Belgium still , by law, sim free?

and, is it likely they will have it ready to go on launch day? Did they with the 3g and 3gs?

Thanks.

sorry cant answer the question but if they are can you bring me back one

Kevin! · 07-06-2010 10:14PM

Yup. Italy, HK, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium and a few others still are I think due to legal requirements.

RonanC · 07-06-2010 10:17PM

I bought a 16GB 3GS for €500 last month. This was tax free however. I believe the normal price is ~€615.

Creamy Goodness · 07-06-2010 11:17PM

when is belgium due to release it?

guil · 08-06-2010 01:33AM

sometime in july

whiterebel · 08-06-2010 10:08AM

Jesus, we're not going through all this crap again are we? Is it really only a year since "I'm flying to Rome". "have they got supply in Belgium" "have they got the iPhone in Australia in a shade that matches the colour of me knob.....":rolleyes:

seamus · 08-06-2010 10:13AM

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

when is belgium due to release it?

guil wrote: »

sometime in july

The same time as Ireland.

Is it really worthy flying to Belguim just for an unlocked one? Could you not wait for an unlock and then just buy one here?

cojomo2 · 08-06-2010 10:35AM

is it worth it?

Well, last time I went, I paid about 20 euro for flights, stayed in the Sheraton hotel(about 25 euro each), had a good night out, enjoyin the Belgian beers, and picked up an iPhone the following morning...

Not exactly hassle...

fdevine · 08-06-2010 11:12AM

I had intended to buy a 3GS in Italy last year, but the price was closer to €700 for the 32Gb. I don't recall the Belgian price.

Decided to buy through O2 here for €609 instead. Five minutes had it unlocked and jailbroken.

Hardly worth the extra expense of flights, transfers, accommodation, food/drink etc. only to find out the phone is close on €100 more than here (albeit unlocked)

Would love an unlocked iPhone4 but the sums (c.€200 extra) don't justify travelling to get one.

cojomo2 · 08-06-2010 11:25AM

fdevine wrote: »

I had intended to buy a 3GS in Italy last year, but the price was closer to €700 for the 32Gb. I don't recall the Belgian price.

Decided to buy through O2 here for €609 instead. Five minutes had it unlocked and jailbroken.

Hardly worth the extra expense of flights, transfers, accommodation, food/drink etc. only to find out the phone is close on €100 more than here (albeit unlocked)

Would love an unlocked iPhone4 but the sums (c.€200 extra) don't justify travelling to get one.

You can always bring an extra couple back and sell them @ 50-100 quid profit to offset the expense if you like..you will have no problem shifting them..

deano_rich · 08-06-2010 04:26PM

Hi, I've been reading this and other threads on factory unlocked iphones..

If I were to travel to belguim for a factory unlocked iphone, is it possible to buy international warranty too?

Thanks,

cojomo2 wrote: »

You can always bring an extra couple back and sell them @ 50-100 quid profit to offset the expense if you like..you will have no problem shifting them..

Leiva · 08-06-2010 04:37PM

cojomo2 wrote: »

Ok, the plan is to go to Belgium the night before launch day, up early and try my luck.

Question is:

Are phones in Belgium still , by law, sim free?

and, is it likely they will have it ready to go on launch day? Did they with the 3g and 3gs?

Thanks.

Lol
Cojomo is it groundhog day ?

I am starting the process again myself to get my hands on a 4G .
My 32gb 3gs is up on adverts ( all bells a whistles included ) and aunty Mary in Australia will be doing me a favour again ;-)

Evergreen · 08-06-2010 05:37PM

seamus wrote: »

Is it really worthy flying to Belguim just for an unlocked one? Could you not wait for an unlock and then just buy one here?

Here, here!! I remember all of this going on last year and thought that the 3GS must be some phone if everybody is planning to fly to Rome and Belguim just to get it.

Vodafone upgraded my 3G to 3GS for free during the year and I have to be honest, the only real difference is that there is an App for a compass on the 3GS and I could tether to my laptop. I rememeber thinking that I would be very dissapointed if I had flown abroad specifically to buy an unlocked model for top dollar.

My advice, take it easy and when you get a 4G you get a 4G. Remember, as phones go it is a very average phone

Johnmb · 08-06-2010 05:45PM

Besides not being stuck to a particular carrier, are there any other benefits to getting a factory unlocked phone?

Zonda999 · 08-06-2010 05:56PM

Johnmb wrote: »

Besides not being stuck to a particular carrier, are there any other benefits to getting a factory unlocked phone?

Not sure about the iphone specifically because i dont have one but in general, another benefit is that you're able to get updates straight away, rather than having to wait for them to be approved by the network

Oh, and if you're the type to get a new phone every year, then its worth mentioning that a factory unlocked iphone will sell quicker and fetch more, so its fair to say, you're going to a lot of effort and paying more but you should get more money for it if you sell it on within a year or so of being released

whiterebel · 08-06-2010 06:54PM

Zonda999 wrote: »

Not sure about the iphone specifically because i dont have one but in general, another benefit is that you're able to get updates straight away, rather than having to wait for them to be approved by the network

Oh, and if you're the type to get a new phone every year, then its worth mentioning that a factory unlocked iphone will sell quicker and fetch more, so its fair to say, you're going to a lot of effort and paying more but you should get more money for it if you sell it on within a year or so of being released

Doesn't work that way for the iPhone. Apple release and you can chose to update or not, depending on your jailbreak status. Not so much money in the unlocked phones now that O2 and VF will do it under certain conditions. Still better money than locked, but the difference will be dropping all the time, as more and more unlocked come on the market. The iPhone 4 will of course be worth a lot more factory unlocked, but as people have choice now, maybe not so much.

Mellor · 09-06-2010 04:17AM

I don't think they are sim free in Australia anymore.
I was just on the Apple site (Australian) and couldn't buy a sim free 3GS, had to take a contract with AT&T.
I'll check in the actual store later

Danbo! · 09-06-2010 10:50AM

I think what people are forgetting here is that the new iPhone is going to use a micro sim. No one knows what networks will be catering for this (o2 and voda probably) but this could be the end to using random plans on an iPhone. If you go in and ask for a micro sim, they know you have an iPhone, and so they stick you on the iPhone plan.

Unlocked versions will not work on meteor or three unless they offer micro sims!

whiterebel · 09-06-2010 10:57AM

Stee wrote: »

I think what people are forgetting here is that the new iPhone is going to use a micro sim. No one knows what networks will be catering for this (o2 and voda probably) but this could be the end to using random plans on an iPhone. If you go in and ask for a micro sim, they know you have an iPhone, and so they stick you on the iPhone plan.

Unlocked versions will not work on meteor or three unless they offer micro sims!

O2 and VF have confirmed they are getting Microsims - Don't forget they are for the iPad as well.....Ian Dempsey has been saying every morning this week that Three are doing the iPhone from August, on his radio show

seamus · 09-06-2010 11:01AM

Stee wrote: »

I think what people are forgetting here is that the new iPhone is going to use a micro sim. No one knows what networks will be catering for this (o2 and voda probably) but this could be the end to using random plans on an iPhone. If you go in and ask for a micro sim, they know you have an iPhone, and so they stick you on the iPhone plan.

Initially maybe, but the whole point of a micro SIM is to save space - afaik the size of the actual SIM chip hasn't changed in 15 years, only the size of the card which houses it has changed. So I can see other manufacturers moving to MicroSim very quickly to save space, as it doesn't require you to do anything different with the SIM, software-wise.

ntlbell · 09-06-2010 11:04AM

seamus wrote: »

Initially maybe, but the whole point of a micro SIM is to save space - afaik the size of the actual SIM chip hasn't changed in 15 years, only the size of the card which houses it has changed. So I can see other manufacturers moving to MicroSim very quickly to save space, as it doesn't require you to do anything different with the SIM, software-wise.

Wasn't this introduced into the Ipad?

I thought I seen a video of a guy in the guardian slicing his sim with a blade to make it a "micro" SIM?

seamus · 09-06-2010 11:11AM

ntlbell wrote: »

Wasn't this introduced into the Ipad?

Yep, but the iPad hasn't been released in Ireland yet, so we don't have any MicroSIMs in Ireland at present. If someone is using a 3G iPad here, they've probably shaved down a standard SIM.

Danbo! · 09-06-2010 11:34AM

Ah ok, I assumed the actual workings of the sim had changed also. There are probably already sim-cutters available somewhere if its just a change in shape so.

ntlbell · 09-06-2010 11:38AM

Stee wrote: »

Ah ok, I assumed the actual workings of the sim had changed also. There are probably already sim-cutters available somewhere if its just a change in shape so.

I think the guy was just using a razor blade IIRC

heffo500 · 09-06-2010 01:17PM

you can buy a sim card converter on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Convert-standard-sim-card-micro-sim-card-Adapter-/260613436191

like a paper punch.seems easy to use

Gumbo · 09-06-2010 06:48PM

Stee wrote: »

Unlocked versions will not work on meteor or three unless they offer micro sims!

the mods on the meteor forum have confirmed that they will be stocking micro sims to cater for the iPad market.

Hi paddyc
We will be stocking iPad sims.

Also, iPhone users are welcome on our network. We've great Bill Pay Smart plans to support this.

Thanks
Meteor talk to us

Source

Mellor wrote: »

I don't think they are sim free in Australia anymore.
I was just on the Apple site (Australian) and couldn't buy a sim free 3GS, had to take a contract with AT&T.
I'll check in the actual store later

thats strange, their website still states the 3GS is sim free

http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=MTAyNTQzMjI#faqs

BearsyBoo · 09-06-2010 07:16PM

Ill be in hong kong around release time, thinking of picking a few up and sell on when i get home, anyone have an idea what the retail price in hong kong will be?? would it be cheaper as its a tax free city??

Gumbo · 09-06-2010 07:23PM

wardy32 wrote: »

Ill be in hong kong around release time, thinking of picking a few up and sell on when i get home, anyone have an idea what the retail price in hong kong will be?? would it be cheaper as its a tax free city??

i'll buy one from you subject to price!
dont mind paying a bit extra to cover the hassle

BearsyBoo · 09-06-2010 07:25PM

kceire wrote: »

i'll buy one from you subject to price!
dont mind paying a bit extra to cover the hassle

a buyer already!!! seems im to a winner haha.. would have to check the prices etc first see if its worth my while.. just looking here seems i need to order tehm online and get them delievered seems a bit strange.. wll have to do a bit more research

:D:D

Gumbo · 09-06-2010 08:03PM

wardy32 wrote: »

a buyer already!!! seems im to a winner haha.. would have to check the prices etc first see if its worth my while.. just looking here seems i need to order tehm online and get them delievered seems a bit strange.. wll have to do a bit more research :D:D

yeah unless theres an apple store near your hotel you may have to order them and get them delivered to your hotel.

Factory unlocked iphone 4 in Belgium

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