where is the safest place to buy an unlocked iPhone?

[helloimD4NNY]

Okay, so i currently have T-Mobile's myfave 700 plan with unlimited texts and data.

I want to buy an iPhone 3G (or preferably the 3G-S) for T-Mobile and i want to know where the safest place is to buy one from. Also, how hard is it to unlock it myself? how long does it take? im a noob when it comes to iPhones. >_>

[TSX]

Buy.com ,but get ready to pay the price.

[Polymira]

Ha, my brother had his iPhone 3G replaced by apple 2x within his first month of ownership. Last one they sent him was factory unlocked (found this out when I was restoring it for him and iTunes told me unlock was successful).

So sometimes you just get lucky =p

But really, buying factory unlocked you always pay a premium. Better off buying one right now locked or not and unlocking it yourself (before they start shipping with version 3.1 on them).

[darngooddesign]

Craigs List and just verify everything works.

[jamaggic]

don't quite see any reason for you to buy 3G or 3GS for use on t-mobile as their 3G network is a different frequency than iphone supports thus you will only ever get Edge. Get a 2G jailbreak/unlock with redsn0w after upgrading to 3.01, (there is no unlock yet for 3.1) and it will do everything you want cept video of course.

[darngooddesign]

don't quite see any reason for you to buy 3G or 3GS for use on t-mobile as their 3G network is a different frequency than iphone supports thus you will only ever get Edge. Get a 2G jailbreak/unlock with redsn0w after upgrading to 3.01, (there is no unlock yet for 3.1) and it will do everything you want cept video of course.

Ignoring the obvious hardware reasons why the GS is a superior phone, it handles EDGE data faster than the earlier phones so it still feels faster than the other two. And for the sake of JBing, the GS is the obvious choice.

[Vegastouch]

I bought mine from ebay and got one that wasnt unlocked because it was cheaper that way and just unlocked it myself.

[helloimD4NNY]

does this look safe? http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-unlocked-Apple-iPhone-3GS-Black-16Gb-3G-S_W0QQitemZ330355848616QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCell_Phones?hash=item4ceabe35a8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_3875wt_953

[jav6454]

does this look safe? http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-unlocked-Apple-iPhone-3GS-Black-16Gb-3G-S_W0QQitemZ330355848616QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCell_Phones?hash=item4ceabe35a8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_3875wt_953

No, it looks fine. The seller is using PayPal and accepts nothing else (you can get your money back thru PayPal if it ends up in disaster). Also, seller has a certificate from eBay.

On top of that, the seller has a 100% feedback rating on over 500 items he/she has sold. I would buy with confidence and do plan to purchase the shipping insurance.

No, I am not the seller:p I just buy alot in eBay (gaming cards and some electronics) and this are the signs I look for in every auction/sale.

[Unspoken Demise]

does this look safe? http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-unlocked-Apple-iPhone-3GS-Black-16Gb-3G-S_W0QQitemZ330355848616QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCell_Phones?hash=item4ceabe35a8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_3875wt_953

That looks like a great option! If you go with that, lets us know your experience.

[koollectablz]

Not knocking the seller in any way but the wording of it being an 'official unlock' isn't true - an official unlock is one that is a factory unlock and wouldn't relock were you to upgrade the firmware.

These are not officially unlocked and would relock were you to upgrade to 3.1 for instance.

These are just unlocked the same way everybody unlocks them themselves - using redsn0w to jailbreak and ultrasn0w to unlock.

Seems a trustworthy enough seller though.

[Vegastouch]

Not knocking the seller in any way but the wording of it being an 'official unlock' isn't true - an official unlock is one that is a factory unlock and wouldn't relock were you to upgrade the firmware.

These are not officially unlocked and would relock were you to upgrade to 3.1 for instance.

These are just unlocked the same way everybody unlocks them themselves - using redsn0w to jailbreak and ultrasn0w to unlock.

Seems a trustworthy enough seller though.

You can always ask the seller questions. I do.