in search of a phone

Shyfroggy

Shyfroggy

Member
currently have alltel as our service provider on our cell phone...unfortunately about a month ago our cell phone went through the washer and dryer and it didn't survive that...so we used teh older alltel phone we had and just switched phones so that the service was on the older phone that we had.....well now the antenna has broken on that phone.....alltel won't let you just replace it with one of those 'good deal' phones unless you are starting a new contract, you have to buy the phone at the cost of what it is - cheapest one being $135....so was wondering if anybody knew where I could find an alltel cell phone for cheaper than that...???
 
Ebay. if alltel has sim cards than i would suggest getting a nokia since they can be tweaked to allow any service provider sim to work
 
You can buy unlocked phones but they tend to be quite expensive. You don't have to get one from Alltell . The unlocked phones don't require a contract and you can use it with another provider as long as the phone is compatable with that provider. Verizon uses a different frequency of phone than Alltell.
Check with Alltell and see if your phone has a warranty. If it does then you should get one replaced for around $50.
If your subscription is almost up then go to a different provider. They will charge you a fee for cancelling. It may be cheaper than purchasing a phone. Also Alltell may upgrade your current policy but you may have to sign a new contract. My Mrs. done this a couple of times. The warranty can be purchased with a new phone. (check warranty prices).
Good luck phone hunting. :)
 
as a quick note: u can get a refurbed Nokia 2610 (Refurb) - GoPhone® (Pay As You Go)

* MP3 ringtones, graphics, & games
* MEdia(TM) Net wireless internet access
* Mobile email and instant messaging

List Price (New) $169.99
Refurb Discount - $160.00
Online Price* $9.99


that was already unlocked when i got mine >.> , depends on zip code though, postal code 98110 is mine and i recieved the $10 offer
 
Atown said:
as a quick note: u can get a refurbed Nokia 2610 (Refurb) - GoPhone® (Pay As You Go)

* MP3 ringtones, graphics, & games
* MEdia(TM) Net wireless internet access
* Mobile email and instant messaging

List Price (New) $169.99
Refurb Discount - $160.00
Online Price* $9.99


that was already unlocked when i got mine >.> , depends on zip code though, postal code 98110 is mine and i recieved the $10 offer
Click to expand...

Wow, thats amazing! oh and you just posted your Postal code on a major online forum....
 
rofl i'll even do more: postal code for bainbridge island in kitsap county is 98110...... woot...... lol i dont even live there now since im at college lol
 
Click here for more information from PC World on unlocking cell phones.

As an advocate of fair use, I may call Cingular (I refuse to call them AT&T; to do so would admit that Ma Bell has been reconstructed, T1000-style) and ask them for the unlock code, just on principle.
 
Sim cards are great, makes phone swapping easy... All cell phones (newer) use sim cards, just with some companies (Verizon) they put it IN the phone...
 
ALLTEL is CDMA technology, I suggest going to phonescoop.com and looking at the Alltel phone reviews there.. then go to ebay and try searching for whatever phone you like and meets your needs. A quick look at some reviews the phonescoop.com website and maybe even cnet.com should give you an idea how reliable the phone may or may not be.

If you are not a technology geek unlocking cell phones can be confusing, there are different cell technologies and bandwidths and not all phones work with all carriers.

I don't buy phones from Cingular, I buy from ebay (new phones from POWERSELLERS with return policies) when I want a new phone, sometimes I save money and sometimes I pay more but I have no contract with my carrier so I can call and cancel whenever I want. (Which btw means that when I call to complain about something and tell them I am going to cancel usually gets me a free month or two...)

Good luck and if you have any other questions I will try to answer the best I can.

PS, If you noticed I am with Tek... Cingular bought AT&T, assimilated all of it's "BLUE" customers to "Orange" then waited two years to buy BellSouth and change their name to "The New AT&T"... AHH TOTALITARIANISM IN MARKETSHARE AT IT'S FINEST!
 
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pbshaver said:
PS, If you noticed I am with Tek... Cingular bought AT&T, assimilated all of it's "BLUE" customers to "Orange" then waited two years to buy BellSouth and change their name to "The New AT&T"... AHH TOTALITARIANISM IN MARKETSHARE AT IT'S FINEST!
Click to expand...
Oligarchy masquerading as representative democracy FTL.

</offtopic>

How much time remains on your contract with Alltel?

And do any of your friends have a spare, older cell phone they might let you borrow until the contract ends?

I know that some companies allow you to swap SIM cards between phones. When my friend gave me her Siemens SX66, I was able to take my SIM card out of my Nokia 6102i, pop it into the SX66, and start using the SX66 as my phone.
 
I don't know all of the nitty gritty details about Alltel but i have them and i love it. never dropped calls, great warranty, I get service everyone, and if your cool like me you can hack your phone to be able to read your email on a non-wifi phone ~_~
 
Also, don't be put off by just outright purchasing a new phone. It may seem like a lot to begin with, but long term, it may be much cheaper than going under a new contract.

Earlier in the year, when I was considering getting a PDA phone, I did the math. To get a new contract so I could get a discounted phone, the phone I was looking at would go from 500 to 300 but I'd be locked into the cell company for 2 years, at an additional charge of $20 per month. (due to the differences between cell plans because they no longer offered my plan-and that was even before one added in the cost of the data plan which had to be purchased to get the cheaper price.).

That meant I would have spent an additional $480 over the life of the contract, just to get that $200 "mail-in" rebate, and let's be honest. I stink at remembering to mail those stupid things in.

Let's just say that the sales rep wasn't amused when I pointed out the fallacy of his logic in insisting how great a deal the contract was in a crowded store.
 
well we have a year and a half left on the contract...they won't let you change/upgrade teh contract until it is two months left in the current contract...if it was within two months I could get one of those phones at the deal because we would have to sign a new contract.

alltel does not use sim cards...have to take the phone to the store to be 'activated'.....and to my knowledge you can only use alltel phones. I have already used a friends older phone when our phone that came with this contract went through the washer and dryer. Since we only pay like $13/month it wouldn't be worth it to buy another phone at full price.

I checked ebay and there are a ton of alltel phones, but then I started reading some feed back from some that have already sold and the issue is that sometimes the seller scrathes out the ESN number which I would need to get the phone activated on our plan.

I know alltel has those prepaid phones that you can pick up practically anywere, walmart, target, etc...was wondering if anybody knows if those prepaid phones can be activated and used with a month by month plan...

thanks for the input from everybody.
 
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