Used iPhone 3G questions

[DJohm]

I've been a Macbook Pro user for the past 4 years, love apple products (iTouch, classic) but never had the inclination of buying an iPhone. A co-worker recently offered to sell his good condition 3G with a manufacture date of 49th week of 2008 (Dec.) for $125.00 and NO contract on it. Looked up ebay and appears the price to be fair, especially after seeing the phone in person and played with it. Phone's touch screen works good, plugged it in my iTunes and recognized SW update to 4.0.1. I'd like to pull the trigger on it but with a few concerns.

1. He hasn't erased all info and left his sim card in the phone but not active and no plans to retrieve it. Question is, even though the phone is not active, but having the sim IN it, shouldn't the AT&T name show up on top left corner? It currently shows "No Service". Does the sim need to be active in order for AT&T network to recognize it?

2. Battery life expectancy... not sure how well he maintained the battery but wondering here if the battery is replaceable and how much?

3. I looked at the earphone plug and see that the "strip" is still white not pink, anywhere else to look for indication of water damage?

4. Finally, what other tests do I need to do on it before I decide to go for it or not?

Some may ask, why not just purchase a new 3GS with subsidized price of $99? I don't wanna deal with 2 year contract is the reason. BTW, I know the guy pretty well, seen him use the phone in the past year, we're both licensed professional, so I'm pretty certain that it's not stolen.

I'll appreciate any advice you guys may have for me. Sorry for the noob questions and lengthy post. Thanks in advance.

 

[Intell]

Just so you know. If your current phone doesn't have any data on it's plan. AT&T will add it if you use that as your phone. It may not show up for a little while but, the iPhone standard plan of 200Mb/$15 or whatever it is will be added to your bill.

 

[DJohm]

Just so you know. If your current phone doesn't have any data on it's plan. AT&T will add it if you use that as your phone. It may not show up for a little while but, the iPhone standard plan of 200Mb/$15 or whatever it is will be added to your bill.

I'm actually with T-mobile with no contracts as well. The 3G is not unlocked so I can't test my T-mobile sim card. I did checked with local AT&T store and gave me some info on available plans. They did mention that I won't be in a contract if I sign-up for service. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

There is another water sensor in the dock connector area. If the phone works then you know it's good to go. Since it's a 3G, you can easily unlock it for T-mobile, just make sure not to upgrade to 4.0.1 otherwise it will be too laggy.

 

[Intell]

There is another water sensor in the dock connector area. If the phone works then you know it's good to go. Since it's a 3G, you can easily unlock it for T-mobile, just make sure not to upgrade to 4.0.1 otherwise it will be too laggy.

Same here. I'd suggest keeping it at 3.1.3.

 

[DJohm]

I thought about unlocking it, especially it's not much of an investment. More like experimental phone. It currently has 3.1.3, so i will keep it at that if I decide to unlock it. Now it's time for to look for some tutorials on unlocking the phone. Is it necessary to both jailbreak and unlock? Or unlocking it will do the trick of putting my T-mobile sim to work?

 

[Intell]

To unlock you must jailbreak.