3G Sim problem

Deadly Ferret · 9 Mar 2007 at 22:30

I know very little about mobile phones!

I found a contract deal that was right for me, with Three, and it came with a newish phone: Nokia 6280. However, I despise the thing. It's flimsy and overly complicated for my purposes (I just use mobiles to talk and read texts that get sent to me).

I wanted to stick with the simpler and much tougher Samsung phone I have. However, after paying some immigrant on a stall a fiver to unlock it from Orange, I subsequently found out that "3G" sims can't be used in it. :mad:

Q.1 - Is there any phone similar to a Samsung X700 in age, style and build quality which can be bought cheaply (and unlocked) on Ebay, and which I could definitely put my new sim in?

Q.2 - I have also discovered that my new phone can't be unlocked, or at least not easily...? Assuming it can't be unlocked at all, does it still have enough resale value being locked to Three to make it worth flogging on Ebay?

Thanks very much.

mrochester · 9 Mar 2007 at 22:43

You need a 3G phone to use your Three sim card. The X700, as you have found out, is not a 3G phone. The 6280 can be unlocked. You need to call Three and pay whatever they are asking for the unlock code.

pitchfork · 10 Mar 2007 at 10:18

Yeah but they charge a lot.

I bought a 6630 off a friend for a tenner as a phone to use when doing something were I might break my D900, rock gigs, say no more.
I thought ahh nokia you can unlock them for free, how wrong was I.

went to carphone warehouse and was quote £70 to unlock it, three themselves said £40. Well I wouldn't pay that, then I found out I need a 3g sim card.
I just went to cash converters and bought a battered k750i for £40.

clv101 · 10 Mar 2007 at 10:22

mrochester said:
You need a 3G phone to use your Three sim card.

Do you? Orange USIMs work fine in 2G phones - I have one in my Treo 650.

A2Z · 10 Mar 2007 at 11:17

clv101 said:
Do you? Orange USIMs work fine in 2G phones - I have one in my Treo 650.

yes, as its against there T&C not to use the 3G part of their service, or something along those lines, cant remember the exact words, ie. you cant just stick to using 2G

spirit · 10 Mar 2007 at 12:59

A2Z said:
yes, as its against there T&C not to use the 3G part of their service, or something along those lines, cant remember the exact words, ie. you cant just stick to using 2G

that WAS the case for three when they were using o2 as their backup when they switched to orange it became OK to lock it to 2g (AFAIK)