Buying a Treo 600

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

Greetings,

I'm moving to a Treo 600 very soon.

However, I've been told by 2 Sprint CS reps that I am currently only eligible for their
1/2-rebate upgrage-your phone promotion. Further, I won't be eligible for their
full-rebate promotion until the end of August. So the Treo 600 will set me back a cool
$600, today, if I buy it from Sprint.

So, I'm considering buying an "unlocked, unbranded" phone from a reputable eBay merchant.
These seem to average around $520. I think it would be nice to have a phone that is not
restricted to one particular carrier, nor functions as an advertising device for their
network.

But I have a few questions, centering around a comment in the item listings that read,
"...all you need is your SIM card to start using this SmartPhone."

Will someone translate that comment for me? What is this SIM card, and how hard is it to
obtain a SprintPCS SIM card? Where do I get one? How expensive are they?

Thanks,

Tim ==

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

Timothy J. Trace wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I'm moving to a Treo 600 very soon.
>
> However, I've been told by 2 Sprint CS reps that I am currently only eligible for their
> 1/2-rebate upgrage-your phone promotion. Further, I won't be eligible for their
> full-rebate promotion until the end of August. So the Treo 600 will set me back a cool
> $600, today, if I buy it from Sprint.

You may have waited too long. I got mine for $250 after all the rebates
(I was out of contract on my previous phone, and got both Sprint and
Amazon rebates, back in February.) Looks like the current best deal at
Amazon is $520 ($570 Amazon price, less $50 Amazon rebate).

> So, I'm considering buying an "unlocked, unbranded" phone from a reputable eBay merchant.
> These seem to average around $520. I think it would be nice to have a phone that is not
> restricted to one particular carrier, nor functions as an advertising device for their
> network.

Nah, get a new Sprint phone for that price, or go for a used Sprint Treo
for as little as $450, perhaps less at eBay -- but be VERY careful with
eBay purchases.

> But I have a few questions, centering around a comment in the item listings that read,
> "...all you need is your SIM card to start using this SmartPhone."
>
> Will someone translate that comment for me? What is this SIM card, and how hard is it to
> obtain a SprintPCS SIM card? Where do I get one? How expensive are they?

No such thing. SIM cards are a GSM thing. Sprint is CDMA, and there is
no SIM card. Be certain that you ONLY purchase a Sprint phone if you
intend to activate it on Sprint. OTW, you'll be out of luck.