Need info on un-locking and sim cards

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Bob Lambeau" <bob@computer.local> wrote in message
newsan.2004.10.02.15.35.31.159671@computer.local...
> I'm thinking of getting a V600 Motorola which is "unlocked"
> Of course these phones from ebay don't have any warrenty
>

You are aware that the V600 was recalled, right? -Dave

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"Bob Lambeau" <bob@computer.local> wrote in message
newsan.2004.10.02.15.35.31.159671@computer.local...
> I'm thinking of getting a V600 Motorola which is "unlocked"
> Of course these phones from ebay don't have any warrenty
> So the question is does Motorola have any kind service center or is the
> phone toast when it busts?
> There are the claims of "it came unlocked from the factory, so that's
> better..."
> is this true?
> On sim cards, how do they work? If I put a sim card in a phone is the
> phone now "locked" to a certian carrier?
> How does one unlock a phone anyway?
> The reason I'm thinkiong of going with the v600 is every so often I go
> back
> to my realatives in eastern Europe (Poland in my case)
> so when I go there I would have to get
> a sim chip from a phone company over there. That's not a problem, my
> concern is swaping the chips.
> any info anyone could give would be helpful
> TIA
> bob

If a phone is "locked" it means it can only used for a specific service
provider. For example I had a phone that was purchased from T-Mobile and it
was locked. So if I put a SIM in from another provider it would not work The
only network I could use was T-Mobiles.

I now have a V400 which is "unlocked" and I can put a SIM in from any GSM
service provider and the phone will work on their network. This is great for
people who travel to other countries. You can buy a SIM for a local service
provider, have a local number and not pay crippling roaming charges. In my
case I have a pay as you go SIM from Virgin Mobile in the UK.

I am no expert on unlocking phones, but a Google search will give you more
information.

Swapping the SIM is easy, you just need to be careful as they are delicate.

Hope the above helps.