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at &t or legally unlocked iphone?

C

chengershon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 15, 2008
3
0
hi everyone, i want to buy a 16gb iphone & i'm trying to decide what option well be best 4 me. i'll explain, i currently live in the us, but plan on moving back to israel in 6 months. my options are:

1) through at & t, will have to pay early termination fee & from what i know will have to unlock & jailbreak it so itll work w gsm provider in israel.
2) buy a legally unlocked one from ebay or colorwares & it then sd work w sim in israel, right?

do u think the legally unlocked iphone is worth the extra $$ in my situation?
how do i verify that its really factory unlocked? if i dont need turbosim is it enough to know?

thanks,
 
chengershon said:
hi everyone, i want to buy a 16gb iphone & i'm trying to decide what option well be best 4 me. i'll explain, i currently live in the us, but plan on moving back to israel in 6 months. my options are:

1) through at & t, will have to pay early termination fee & from what i know will have to unlock & jailbreak it so itll work w gsm provider in israel.
2) buy a legally unlocked one from ebay or colorwares & it then sd work w sim in israel, right?

do u think the legally unlocked iphone is worth the extra $$ in my situation?
how do i verify that its really factory unlocked? if i dont need turbosim is it enough to know?

thanks,
Click to expand...
Only non-software unlock available for 3G is factory unlock.
 
CocoaPuffs said:
Only non-software unlock available for 3G is factory unlock.
Click to expand...

cd u explain? (sorry im slow:)), maybe i used the wrong term, i just wanted to know whether it's enough to determine an iphone is genuinely legally unlocked by apple ( like in hong kong & other countries) if it works with any sim without the turbosim.

thanks
 
chengershon said:
hi everyone, i want to buy a 16gb iphone & i'm trying to decide what option well be best 4 me. i'll explain, i currently live in the us, but plan on moving back to israel in 6 months. my options are:

1) through at & t, will have to pay early termination fee & from what i know will have to unlock & jailbreak it so itll work w gsm provider in israel.
2) buy a legally unlocked one from ebay or colorwares & it then sd work w sim in israel, right?

do u think the legally unlocked iphone is worth the extra $$ in my situation?
how do i verify that its really factory unlocked? if i dont need turbosim is it enough to know?

thanks,
Click to expand...


1) You'd spend about 490 on the 8 gig iPhone, and then you'd have to use a SIM proxy to be able to use it. Your best bet is getting a 2.1 iPhone, so that most SIM proxy (like turbosim) cards can work. Also for 2.1 there is a possibility of a software unlock coming out within the next month or so. 2.2 apparently has some of those SIM proxys working, but I haven't seen anybody confirming that.

2) If it really is a unlocked iPhone, you won't need turbosim or anything else besides your carrier SIM card. You're always taking a risk when buying from ebay, make sure to check the seller reviews. A lot of carrier locked phones have been sold as unlocked ones. Your best bet is to ask the seller if he can provide you with a screenshot showing the model number, and you can check if it's really from a country that sells unlocked phones (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937).
 
If you go with at&T when you move back to Israel you will not have to pay the early termanation fee because AT&T does not have service there. Then you will be free to unlock it and use with whatever gsm carrier they have in Israel.
 
snook911 said:
If you go with at&T when you move back to Israel you will not have to pay the early termanation fee because AT&T does not have service there. Then you will be free to unlock it and use with whatever gsm carrier they have in Israel.
Click to expand...
Wow really, is it really true?
 
CocoaPuffs said:
Wow really, is it really true?
Click to expand...

Well, at the very least, if you leave the country and don't leave a forwarding address, AT&T will have trouble finding you to present you with a bill. Anyway, chances are any collections agency AT&T might hire to extract the ETF from you wouldn't be bonded to collect debts in Israel, so regardless of whether or not AT&T wanted to collect the fee from you, they would have trouble actually doing it.

I have no idea what would happen years later when you'd forgotten about this and you decided to go on vacation in the USA.

I am not a lawyer. This is a thought experiment performed for my own entertainment. Under no circumstances should it be taken as legal advice.
 
I agree that you can get out of paying the ETF if you sign up with AT&T here in the States. However, I don't think you should just leave the country and not pay. I think when you are moving you could call AT&T and nicely explain the situation and they would PROBABLY let you out of the contract.

The risk of this method, however, is that they could potentially say you are out of luck and charge you the ETF regardless of any excuse.
 
thanks everyone

sorry for disappearing (comp problems).
i am now the proud owner of 16gb white iphone simfree from italy, i decided its worth it for me, so thanks again
 
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