This Dad needs Help

[cbrniner]

Okay , so for my sons Birthday (which isnt till April 10th) we got him a refurbed 8gb Itouch ...We also have our Sprint plan ending at the end of May and we are going to switch to ATT and go with the Iphone , Now I have lots of questions and I cant find specific answers on here and I did do a search ...So here goes ..

1. Should I just try to get my son a refurbished Iphone for now and have him use it as an Ipod for the time being ???

2. Would I have to Jailbreak it or Unlock it ?

3. Could it be restored back to its original form when we switch back to att

4. Does anyone know if ATT online will have the refurbs back up soon ?? LOL

5. Shoud I just give him the touch for now and wait till we switch ??

Thanks for your help in advance ..

 

[jav6454]

Okay , so for my sons Birthday (which isnt till April 10th) we got him a refurbed 8gb Itouch ...We also have our Sprint plan ending at the end of May and we are going to switch to ATT and go with the Iphone , Now I have lots of questions and I cant find specific answers on here and I did do a search ...So here goes ..

Thanks for your help in advance ..

1. Should I just try to get my son a refurbished Iphone for now and have him use it as an Ipod for the time being ???

Get him a Refurb or a new one, and don't give it to him until your plan is up and you can all enter the Family Plan together (saves alot of hassle). Also, your son won't be begging for activation on his iPhone while you wait.

2. Would I have to Jailbreak it or Unlock it ?

If you are switching to AT&T, then the only option for you is Jailbreaking to have access to the various 3rd party Applicatuions already out there. As for using the iPhone on Sprint, can't be done even if you unlock. Sprint uses CDMA technology and AT&T uses GSM. iPhone is a GSM only phone and therefore incompatible wioth Sprint's network.

3. Could it be restored back to its original form when we switch back to att

Since you can't use it if Sprint, nothing should be done to the iPhone.

4. Does anyone know if ATT online will have the refurbs back up soon ?? LOL

AT&T online is as good as calling AT&T directly. There is no garantee you will get refurbs.

5. Shoud I just give him the touch for now and wait till we switch ??

Don't give him the touch. Wait until you get all 3 iPhones (wive's, yours and son's)

 

[cbrniner]

Get him a Refurb or a new one, and don't give it to him until your plan is up and you can all enter the Family Plan together (saves alot of hassle). Also, your son won't be begging for activation on his iPhone while you wait.

He has a Sprint phone now , but he could use the Iphone as an Ipod ? He had a Nano and washed it in his laundry (yes my son does his own laundry at 15 )

If you are switching to AT&T, then the only option for you is Jailbreaking to have access to the various 3rd party Applicatuions already out there. As for using the iPhone on Sprint, can't be done even if you unlock. Sprint uses CDMA technology and AT&T uses GSM. iPhone is a GSM only phone and therefore incompatible wioth Sprint's network.

Is this how you get an iphone to work as just an Ipod till you activate the iphone ??? And can it be restored ???

Since you can't use it if Sprint, nothing should be done to the iPhone.

I know the Iphone wont work on sprint , we are just waiting till are contract ends , but we all have sprint phones currently .....Bascially I was trying to maybe save a buck or two instead of my son having an ipod and an iphone he could just have the iphone and hopefully be abe to use it as an ipod without activating it ...

 

[nickspohn]

He has a Sprint phone now , but he could use the Iphone as an Ipod ? He had a Nano and washed it in his laundry (yes my son does his own laundry at 15 )

You need to activate it. BUT, you can use ZiPhone (www.ziphone.org) and activate it through there. It's really easy to use, you just do what it tells you to do. It basically is just hitting a button and it does the work. AFTER you do that, you can use anything on the iPhone minus anything that requires calling or the internet. Camera will work, notes will work, and obviously, the iPod part of the phone will work.

If you were just to start the phone up after you bought it right in the Apple store, it would show a screen of connecting it to iTunes.

Is this how you get an iphone to work as just an Ipod till you activate the iphone ??? And can it be restored ???

I answered this question above as well, and yes it can be restored. When you plug the phone into your computer, iTunes will show up, and in the Summary tab which shows up at default, you just hit restore and it will put it back to exactly like it was when you got it. Each time you connect the phone to itunes, it does a backup, so all the music and stuff will be restored, minus the jailbreaking / unlocking part.

I know the Iphone wont work on sprint , we are just waiting till are contract ends , but we all have sprint phones currently .....Bascially I was trying to maybe save a buck or two instead of my son having an ipod and an iphone he could just have the iphone and hopefully be abe to use it as an ipod without activating it ...

See: Above.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.

 

[cbrniner]

You need to activate it. BUT, you can use ZiPhone (www.ziphone.org) and activate it through there. It's really easy to use, you just do what it tells you to do. It basically is just hitting a button and it does the work. AFTER you do that, you can use anything on the iPhone minus anything that requires calling or the internet. Camera will work, notes will work, and obviously, the iPod part of the phone will work.

If you were just to start the phone up after you bought it right in the Apple store, it would show a screen of connecting it to iTunes.





I answered this question above as well, and yes it can be restored. When you plug the phone into your computer, iTunes will show up, and in the Summary tab which shows up at default, you just hit restore and it will put it back to exactly like it was when you got it. Each time you connect the phone to itunes, it does a backup, so all the music and stuff will be restored, minus the jailbreaking / unlocking part.




See: Above.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.

So I assume the warranty would still be intact if I did this ?????

Thanks in Advance for your answering the questions

 

[nickspohn]

So I assume the warranty would still be intact if I did this ?????

Thanks in Advance for your answering the questions

Well, Yes.

Nothing should happen to your phone when jailbreaking / unlocking it. It's extremely rare for something to happen during that process.

Plus, it's a Hardware warranty. There is no modding to the hardware to unlock it.

 

[ntrigue]

Why don't you just signup for AT&T as a single user then when Sprint is up you can add the two additional iPhones. The money saved on refurb can be applied to this one month period where you're paying for both accounts. I don't imagine your sons portion of Sprint is much more than $50/month.

 

[cbrniner]

Why don't you just signup for AT&T as a single user then when Sprint is up you can add the two additional iPhones. The money saved on refurb can be applied to this one month period where you're paying for both accounts. I don't imagine your sons portion of Sprint is much more than $50/month.

Many reasons why I am not signing him as a single account on ATT right now ...One of them happens to be that our contract with Sprint doesnt end till end of May , school ends 1st week of June this is one of the incentive's I am using so he doesnt lose focus on his grades So this is setting a goal for him ....He can have it acitvated as long as the grades are good , and for now he can use it as an ipod .... And yes on his phone with Sprint actually cost us nothing because of the discounts I get (thanks to being with them for 13+ years ) ...

 

[flyfish29]

Why don't you just signup for AT&T as a single user then when Sprint is up you can add the two additional iPhones. The money saved on refurb can be applied to this one month period where you're paying for both accounts. I don't imagine your sons portion of Sprint is much more than $50/month.

Or just make your son wait...heck, he is 15 and already getting an iPhone from the coolest Dad in the world!!! He can wait a couple of months!!! Heck, I am 40 and don't even have an iPhone. Granted the only reason I don't have one yeat is because where I live in New England "ya caaan't get there from here!"

Another option is to buy him a shuffle for $49 bucks in the interim. Consider this as a payment to him for doing his own laundry which I'm sure is a dream of any parent of a teenager!