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Motarola ROKR E1 Unlocked???

doucy2

doucy2

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 7, 2005
1,013
0
i am thinking about buying this phone but i only want it if it can work with my preexisting sprint pcs

my question is can i buy one of these phone that is pre unlocked (works with pcs)
or can i do something to the phone to unlock it for pcs

any comments would be appreciated
 
Short Answer: No.
Long: Cingular is GSM Sprint is CDMA. Two completly different technologies so there is no way.
 
Got mine from the carphone warehouse in the UK on a contract with 02 - but CPW have done their usual and so mine is completly unlocked - have tried several other networks with it so far!!!! so in the uk - no worries!!!
 
dpclark said:
Got mine from the carphone warehouse in the UK on a contract with 02 - but CPW have done their usual and so mine is completly unlocked - have tried several other networks with it so far!!!! so in the uk - no worries!!!
Click to expand...
I believe in the UK all the cell/mobile phone networks use GSM. In the US, there are a few different technologies and radio frequencies in use that require different phones.
 
zap2 said:
what does verizon use is there any wyay i can use an unlocked rokr with verizon??
Click to expand...

Nope. I wish there was a way to use any decent phone on Verizon. Heh.
 
CRAP o well perhaps i'll get a go phone( my grandmom has been talking about getting a cell phone) so she would haev my phone(its new) andn i would get rokr


can you get rokr on cingulars pay as you go? and have any other phone companies(US) got ROKR cuz in the Uk i heard virgin moble got ROKR
 
I was at Cingular today getting my phone fixed (or not fixed because they tend to be too dumb to understand how to fix things) and tried the ROKR. It was ok, but nothing too wonderful. The middle navi button is odd and feels like it will break easily. However, I did ask them if we can use it as a pre-pay phone and they said nope.
 
jessica. said:
I was at Cingular today getting my phone fixed (or not fixed because they tend to be too dumb to understand how to fix things) and tried the ROKR. It was ok, but nothing too wonderful. The middle navi button is odd and feels like it will break easily. However, I did ask them if we can use it as a pre-pay phone and they said nope.
Click to expand...
Might want to double check that... the salesperson you spoke to might be misinformed. I can't believe it would make a difference what area you are in. On the kiosk in-store, it very prominently has the standard price tag (ie, 2-year contract price, 1-year contract price, and Go-Phone, no-contract price) The no-contract/Go Phone price at the local Cingular is $349. If they really will not let you use it as a pre-pay, I would like to hear why not.
 
I would wait to maybe another phone comes to the market with iTunes. I doubt it, but you never know. I have used the ROKR and in my opinion it isn't big of a deal. The one I used was slow in response time... press a button and 3-4 seconds later the phone responded. Also, if you already got an iPod or any sort, especially a Shuffle... isn't it pretty much useless?

I just think they could have made a better phone, maybe if Apple actually designed it.
 
doucy2 said:
would this work for me??
http://cgi.ebay.com/MOTOROLA-ROKR-B...809637356QQcategoryZ64355QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...

No, it wouldn't.

Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless use a technology called 'CDMA' to connect to their cell systems. These phones are provider-locked to their phone numbers; meaning if you want to change telephones, you need to tell your provider, provide the serial number off the back of the phone, and THEN your new phone switches to your phone number. It also means that Sprint and Verizon will refuse to 'activate' a phone that was sold for the other's network.

Cingular (the only official seller of the ROKR,) and T-Mobile use the 'GSM' technology. These phones are SIM-based. It means that you cell phone number is coded into a small 'SIM' chip that you insert in your phone. This is what tells the phone what your phone number is. To switch phones, you just move your SIM chip to the new phone. Most phones sold in stores are provider-locked, meaning a Cingular phone won't accept a T-Mobile SIM and vice versa. But some phones can be 'unlocked' so that any GSM company's SIM will work in it. (That's what the eBay auction is for.)

CDMA and GSM are 100% incompatible. There is absolutely, positively, no way to get a CDMA phone to work with a GSM provider or vice versa. Even an unlocked GSM phone will still only work with GSM providers. So until Sprint switches to GSM (unlikely,) or Motorola releases the ROKR for CDMA networks (also unlikely,) Sprint customers are out of luck.

(Motorola does make phones for both GSM and CDMA, including some that are near-identical. But they seem to save their good phones solely for GSM network providers. And they seem to give the 'good' GSM phones to Cingular first.)
 
People are actually buying this trash? Why? Please don't encourage Moto into thinking that they released a superior product!
 
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