Buy a Cell Phone in Dallas (w/o Service Plan)

[Napoleon]

editedNEW TOPIC, BUT SEE FINAL POST


My cell phone was "borrowed" from me this past Sunday night and I need to buy a new cell phone in Dallas. OR, I need to at least get a used one (if I can find one) "unlocked".

Either way, I'm not signing up for a new plan. I just need a phone that I can use in South America. I had a Motorola clam shell for "Cingular" (now AT&T). Basically, NOT a SPRINT phone.

Does anyone know of the "all-in-one" places that unlock phones? I know where I would go in LA, but I don't know Dallas.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dr Fear]

Why don't you just come out and say you want a bootleg Chinese iPhone.

 

[homer]

I don't think he is specifically looking for an iPhone. Not everyone is a fan.

 

[homer]

In my iPhone diss, I forgot to tell you what I meant to say: check out howardforums.com if you need to find a Brick & Mortar cell phone retailer.

 

[Napoleon]

Bueno.

Right now, the only plan I can get in Buenos Aires is a "pay-as-you-go" plan. This allows for:

1) Calling out
2) Receiving calls
3) Sending texts (written only)
4) Receiving texts (written only)

No photos, no surfing the web, none of the frills. I just need a phone (possible with a camera I could later transfer to my computer) that doesn't cost too much and hopefully has an Alarm on it as well.

And I need it UNLOCKED so I can put my new SIM card in it when I get it in the mail.

 

[CaptainEd]

if you can get a nokia, this website has an unlock keygen. just read the forums for the cliffs notes and you'll be unlocked in 30 minutes:

unlock.nokiafree.org/

 

[Napoleon]

Free is good.

In LA, there was a place on Melrose that I took two different friends. They charged me $25 and it was ready in about 20 minutes.

A (girl) friend went to either that place, or one about a block down and they charged her $20.

My place said that if I bought a new phone, they'd unlock it for free. I like free. Especially after my phone that was working fine was "borrowed" from me on Sunday.

I just don't know where the shady places are in Dallas. Garland maybe?

 

[HornsInTheHouse]

I unlocked a Nokia Cingular phone a year ago by just calling up the company. They send you an email with the instructions which is a code you punch in. Took one minute and no money. I believe companies are required by law to let you unlock their phones.

 

[CaptainEd]

In reply to:

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[Napoleon]

I've found out that you can unlock any US phone down in Argentina. Easily. (Now that I think about it, it doesn't surprise me.)So my new need is this:

Where is a place I can buy phone fairly inexpensively w/o a service plan?

I knew a place in LA where I could buy a US$60 phone and they would unlock it with purchase. I might want cheap, but I might be getting a LOCAL ARGENTINE plan next week, so I'm thinking about getting a phone that can (1) surf the web or (2) at least send email.

Do you know of a place that offers these phones in the US$75-$250 range? WITHOUT a contract?

Thanks.

I have until about 3:00pm tomorrow (SUNDAY) to buy one.

 

[rhg84]

You need to try to find some sort of bazaar they usually have the shadier cell phone places that will unlock it. In garland you could always try International Plaza Bazaar on walnut and jupiter

 

[jcazes]

Check Craigslist. Sounds like you just need a GSM phone (although I don't know which frequencies you will need... tri-band or quad-band should cover them, though), so check for people listing phones from GSM carriers (T-mobile, AT&T or Cingular, and possibly one or two other small carriers).

If you don't have enough time for that, check retail stores for US GSM carriers. I'm fairly certain you can purchase a retail phone for under $250.