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Using iPhone wifi without cell contract

S

sravana

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 14, 2008
142
0
Texas
Hello all,
I've been searching around for the answer to my Q, but I can't find it anywhere.
I am in the middle of a 2-year ATT contract on my Razr: cell only, no data. I would like to get an iPhone 3G, but only use it as an iPod, camera, PDA and wifi device until I become eligible for a cell upgrade in another year. I don't mind carrying around both the Razr and the iPhone, fwiw.

Can one do this without jailbreaking/pwning the iPhone, or is that necessary to do what I want to do?

Thanks in advance...

Sravana

ETA: I am also wondering if I can just put the SIM card from my Razr in the iPhone 3G, and have it work.
 
Flhusky

Flhusky

macrumors 6502a
Aug 28, 2007
631
0
Florida
Get an iPod touch, seriously it will serve you better.
Or talk to AT&T and see what deal they will work w/you to get you into an Phone.

Just understand you will be losing MMS.
BTW there is no MMS on the iphone
Ohh yeah you can't picture message on the iphone aka MMS
 
S

sravana

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 14, 2008
142
0
Texas
Hi Flhusky,
I was originally interested in a Touch, but I wanted the camera as well.
What is MMS? Unfortunately, I'm not up on all the acronyms around here...

I have been talking to ATT, no resolution of the issue as yet.
 
upsguy27

upsguy27

macrumors 65816
Jun 25, 2007
1,209
19
Utah
sravana said:
Hi Flhusky,
I was originally interested in a Touch, but I wanted the camera as well.
What is MMS? Unfortunately, I'm not up on all the acronyms around here...

I have been talking to ATT, no resolution of the issue as yet.
Click to expand...

MMS is Multimedia Messaging System. Basically sending pictures to people, which show up like texts on their phone.
 
A

aethelbert

macrumors 601
Jun 1, 2007
4,287
0
Chicago, IL, USA
You can most certainly use it without a contract. However, I wouldn't really suggest using the 3G one in that way as it will be significantly more expensive and you won't really receive any benefit. You'll need to pop in a SIM card, but you should be able to get one for free from an AT&T store if you tell them that it's for use in a first generation iPhone.
 
S

sravana

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 14, 2008
142
0
Texas
I'm obviously out of my depth here, because I don't understand the diff. btw the 1st gen iPhone and the 3G, other than to understand that the 3G uses a different cell phone technology.

Here's what I've learned from ATT - they say that I'm not yet eligible for a new phone (6/09), and if I buy a 3G from them it will be $399. I'm not about to do that!

If I buy a 1st gen iPhone from a reseller (eBay? whatevah!) can I just put my SIM card from my Razr into it, and have it work (after connecting to iTunes?)?? Is that what you're saying, akonradi?

I'm going to search around and try to figure out the diff. btw the 1st gen and the 3G.
 
G

grimreaper1377

macrumors regular
Oct 20, 2007
218
0
When you buy the iPhone, you're forced to sign a new two-year contract with AT&T, or add two more years to your existing contract. So far, there's no way to JUST buy the phone without signing the contract unless you pay $500/$600, which is the no-commitment version. You can also buy one unlocked from ebay.

Personally though, I wouldn't just buy the iPhone for the camera. I would get an iPod Touch. Now that they added a speaker and external volume buttons, its practically the same except the camera. The camera in the iPhone isn't that great either.
 
G

gbrant

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2008
11
0
Should I buy an iPhone or iTouch or both or none?

My contract with T-Mobile runs out at the end of Dec 08. Currently, I have a Razr.
I'd like to have a device for phone, email, calendar, jotting down ideas, reminders/alarms, music (I don't have an iPod), maybe watching short videos like youtube. I don't text message (am I really missing something?) and rarely take photos with my cell but it would be fun to store and receive some photos on a device.
It would be great to have one device that does it all but I don't want to spend a whole bunch of $$ on web access.
Should I:
A) renew, keep my Razr and buy an iTouch?
B) Sign up with At&T and buy an iPhone?
C) Find the cheapest phone contract, buy an iPhone 2g, and stick my Razr SIM into it? (As I understand, one can't jailbreak the 3g?)
D) Something else?
I'm not a techie so please speak in plain English and no abbreviations.
Thanks!:)
 
C

CocoaPuffs

macrumors 68020
Aug 23, 2008
2,005
3
Three words, first generation iPhone. There are reasons can be found on this forum why it will continue to hold its value.
 
S

sravana

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 14, 2008
142
0
Texas
How do you know whether or not an iPhone is first or second generation? is the 2nd gen the iPhone 3G? Or is the 3G a *third* generation?

Thanks! I think I'm actually figuring this out.
 
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