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I have a free I-phone4

A

afunnyguy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 22, 2011
1
0
Minneapolis
I have been with Verizon for years, my contract was up and I have a Storm. A month ago or so I found an I-phone4. After much trying and searching, I finally contacted the owner who said it was replaced by his insurance company as he lost it traveling. He said keep it or donate it.
I had been thinking about getting the THUNDERBOLT due out in like a week or so on Verizon.
Now the dilema. ATT is selling Iphone3GS for $49./2 yr contract

One, if I got that 3GS could I easily make my Iphone4 work? is it just a simple switch?
I don't like people who work at the stores, they always seem to treat people like idiots and are very condescending and act as if I am too stupid to realize they are in a sales position when I dont by what they offer.

Last Time i went to ATT they wanted a $700 deposit for my contract. I have been on contract for 8 years with Verizon, so I have stayed with them. i have never been late on a bill.

I am a person who lives on disability and am cautious about my spending

so can I do this or am I better off paying for a whole new Iphone5 when/if it comes out on Verizon or the THUNDERBOLT?
 
afunnyguy said:
I have been with Verizon for years, my contract was up and I have a Storm. A month ago or so I found an I-phone4. After much trying and searching, I finally contacted the owner who said it was replaced by his insurance company as he lost it traveling. He said keep it or donate it.
I had been thinking about getting the THUNDERBOLT due out in like a week or so on Verizon.
Now the dilema. ATT is selling Iphone3GS for $49./2 yr contract

One, if I got that 3GS could I easily make my Iphone4 work? is it just a simple switch?
I don't like people who work at the stores, they always seem to treat people like idiots and are very condescending and act as if I am too stupid to realize they are in a sales position when I dont by what they offer.

Last Time i went to ATT they wanted a $700 deposit for my contract. I have been on contract for 8 years with Verizon, so I have stayed with them. i have never been late on a bill.

I am a person who lives on disability and am cautious about my spending

so can I do this or am I better off paying for a whole new Iphone5 when/if it comes out on Verizon or the THUNDERBOLT?
Click to expand...

Since you already have the phone, you do not need to sign a contract with AT&T. You can use the iPhone 4 without any problems and upgrade the phone at subsidized pricing or cancel the service without any fees. You don't have to buy the 3GS. You can just activate your iPhone 4 and use it until the iPhone 5 comes out and upgrade at the $199/299 price point.

Do not let AT&T fool you into signing a contract.

On the other hand, you could just sell it and use the money to cover the costs of getting a new phone on Verizon.
 
If you already have a phone, I was under the impression that you can get service without a contract. The point of the contract is to subsidize your new phone, but if you're simply activating old equipment, there should be none.
Although I have been wrong in the past, so I could be way off here too.
 
Since you already have the phone, have At&T activate it, choose the plan that you want, and don't sign any contracts.
 
Don't activate it via iTunes - that WILL lock you in to a 2-year AT&T contract. Go to an AT&T store and do it in person.

Since I have no reason to debate the legitimacy of your freebie iPhone, I would though suggest not telling the AT&T people where the phone came from. You never know if they'll try to block the phone as "stolen." Just tell them you bought it on eBay or something because you didn't want to be locked to a 2-year contract...
 
Better yet, buy an original iPhone cheap on eBay or Craigslist (you could easily find one for $50 or so... it doesn't have to be in the best shape).

Activate that on a new line with AT&T. That will get you unlimited Edge data & no contract since you own the phone. Then cut your new AT&T sim card down and pop it in your iPhone 4. Your unlimited Edge data plan will automatically switch to the no longer offered unlimited 3G plan.

End result = Unlimited data w/ an iPhone 4 and no contract.

That, and you will still be eligible for upgrade pricing on the next iPhone if you chose to upgrade later.
 
j.dstasio said:
Better yet, buy an original iPhone cheap on eBay or Craigslist (you could easily find one for $50 or so... it doesn't have to be in the best shape).

Activate that on a new line with AT&T. That will get you unlimited Edge data & no contract since you own the phone. Then cut your new AT&T sim card down and pop it in your iPhone 4. Your unlimited Edge data plan will automatically switch to the no longer offered unlimited 3G plan.

End result = Unlimited data w/ an iPhone 4 and no contract.

That, and you will still be eligible for upgrade pricing on the next iPhone if you chose to upgrade later.
Click to expand...

While this a good idea, and would work, you said you're on disability and have to consider the money aspect, so you may want to consider the 200MB $15/month data plan instead of the $30/month unlimited plan.

The easiest, and cheapest, thing you can do is just go to AT&T and sign up for service (BUT DON'T SIGN A CONTRACT!). You already have the phone so you can just sign up for service. Don't let them talk you into signing a contract (they'll try) because you don't need it and it will cost you more.
 
j.dstasio said:
Better yet, buy an original iPhone cheap on eBay or Craigslist (you could easily find one for $50 or so... it doesn't have to be in the best shape).

Activate that on a new line with AT&T. That will get you unlimited Edge data & no contract since you own the phone. Then cut your new AT&T sim card down and pop it in your iPhone 4. Your unlimited Edge data plan will automatically switch to the no longer offered unlimited 3G plan.

End result = Unlimited data w/ an iPhone 4 and no contract.

That, and you will still be eligible for upgrade pricing on the next iPhone if you chose to upgrade later.
Click to expand...

This.

If it doesn't work, then just do what he told you and when you DO want to upgrade to the new iPhone 4G/5 or whatever it's going to be called, pop your SIM to the original iPhone, reactivate it to get the unlimited data plan and then UPGRADE to the new iPhone. You'll be grandfathered to the 3G/4G unlimited data for sure. That's they way I did it back when the iPhone 4 was released and I wanted unlimited data for sure. :)

Good luck dude, wish I could have gotten this amazing phone for free, and make sure they don't sign you up with a contract!
 
The 3GS is two years old. I'd use it. Realistically you have until June 2012, when the next new Iphone should be announced, to sell the phone. Service, no contract if you go ATT.
 
xraydoc said:
Don't activate it via iTunes - that WILL lock you in to a 2-year AT&T contract. Go to an AT&T store and do it in person.

Since I have no reason to debate the legitimacy of your freebie iPhone, I would though suggest not telling the AT&T people where the phone came from. You never know if they'll try to block the phone as "stolen." Just tell them you bought it on eBay or something because you didn't want to be locked to a 2-year contract...
Click to expand...

I agree with this. It would suck plain and simply for them to lock you into a new contract. Although, since the phone is already activated, you probably won't have to worry about this happening. You could just head into an AT&T store and ask them to activate a line for you and just hand you the SIM card which you can then pop into your phone. Also, AT&T can't block phones from accessing their network like CDMA carriers would by blacklisting the IMEI/ESN.
 
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