Two phones on the same line? (Only one active)

[scootermaster]

So have, like, the world's oldest phone.

No, really. It has an extendable antenna. It's a Samsung A890, from Verizon. I think I want a new phone. I think I might want to switch from Verizon. I think I could be talked into a 3G iphone and all that.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut, going out to the beach all summer, bars, beer-stained tables, parties, etc etc...these are not $500 phone-compatible things. Is it at all possible to, like, have two phones on the same line? Turn one off and activate the other? Pop out a sim card? Stand on my head and do a rain dance?

I thought of (if it was cheap enough) doing a family plan (with my mom or something) and getting another line, and have one forwarded to the other, but that seems like a bit of a kluge.

Anyone get what I'm talking about here? Having a nice phone during the week, but a beater during the weekend?

 

[A5]

If you go to T-mobile or AT&T, you can just swap out the sim cards.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: A5
If you go to T-mobile or AT&T, you can just swap out the sim cards.

Is that particularly difficult?

 

[pm]

No. Usually slide off the battery cover and swap. On the iPhone (with it's non-replaceable battery), you push a paperclip into a hole and out pops the old SIM and you put the new one in. Without a 3G iPhone to look at, it's hard to know if they will follow the same design, but it's probable.

 

[BZeto]

Do people not carry their phones in their pocket? Unless you're talking on it, it wouldn't seem all that difficult to protect it from the elements. Unless you swim and are worried about water damage. Also sources are speculating that iphone 2.0 will be in the $200 range.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: BZeto
Do people not carry their phones in their pocket? Unless you're talking on it, it wouldn't seem all that difficult to protect it from the elements. Unless you swim and are worried about water damage. Also sources are speculating that iphone 2.0 will be in the $200 range.

You're absolutely right. So, for going out at bars and stuff, sure, that'd work.

But during the day, when I'm on the beach all day, playing volleyball or drinking or whatever-ing, I wear boardies.

Boardies, of course, being SoCal speak for boardshorts. Which, natch, don't have any pockets. (or, they do, but not normal side pockets, and certainly not anything you'd want a big phone in).

But this is promising. I've been putting off my "new every two" for like 8 months, and it looks like it's paying off. If I can get a beater phone and swap back and forth, that'd be great!

 

[ViRGE]

If you want a good beater phone, try a refurbished Nokia 2610. The damn things are so cheap that AT&T practically gives them away, and getting the SIM in and out is as easy as pulling off the battery cover. The only real catch to your plan is that there's always a risk that you could lose your beater phone with the SIM card still inside of it.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: BZeto
Do people not carry their phones in their pocket? Unless you're talking on it, it wouldn't seem all that difficult to protect it from the elements. Unless you swim and are worried about water damage. Also sources are speculating that iphone 2.0 will be in the $200 range.

You're absolutely right. So, for going out at bars and stuff, sure, that'd work.

But during the day, when I'm on the beach all day, playing volleyball or drinking or whatever-ing, I wear boardies.

Boardies, of course, being SoCal speak for boardshorts. Which, natch, don't have any pockets. (or, they do, but not normal side pockets, and certainly not anything you'd want a big phone in).

But this is promising. I've been putting off my "new every two" for like 8 months, and it looks like it's paying off. If I can get a beater phone and swap back and forth, that'd be great!

You won't be able to swap the iPhone SIM card to your current Verizon phone; Verizon doesn't use SIM cards, so your new-every-two won't particularly help. You would have to get 2 phones from AT&T (beater and iPhone), or a cheap unlocked phone from eBay and the iPhone.

 

[abaez]

Why don't you just get a nice case for your iPhone? I've seen some that are like tank armor and should protect it well.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Have you called Verizon to ask?

Any SIM card phone you could, as your information is stored on the card not the phone. You would have to buy 2 phones though.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Wonderful Pork

You won't be able to swap the iPhone SIM card to your current Verizon phone; Verizon doesn't use SIM cards, so your new-every-two won't particularly help. You would have to get 2 phones from AT&T (beater and iPhone), or a cheap unlocked phone from eBay and the iPhone.

Oh, I meant to say that I would switch to AT & T. They seem to have better plans anyway. I'm tired of paying out the ass for texting. Before SMS took off in this country, I SWEAR Verizon had an all you can eat plan for like $9.99 or something. Now that gets you 250 texts. Unlimited is a ton more. So I just meant that if I'd gotten a new phone, I'd be tied to Verizon for another two years, and I'm glad I'm a free agent.

Originally posted by: ViRGE
If you want a good beater phone, try a refurbished Nokia 2610. The damn things are so cheap that AT&T practically gives them away, and getting the SIM in and out is as easy as pulling off the battery cover. The only real catch to your plan is that there's always a risk that you could lose your beater phone with the SIM card still inside of it.

Well, the fact that I have a three plus year old phone is testament to the fact I don't lose them...I just tend to drop them, spill beer on them, get sand in them, etc. So it looks like this might be a good solution.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

You can pull the SIM card from your iphone and put it in a regular phone, but then you can't put it back into the iPhone. I don't know if this is 100% accurate, but was told by an AT&T tech support person when I was switching from an iphone to a regular phone.

 

[pm]

I've never had problems swapping SIMs in and out of iPhones. But, that said, I've only used hacked iPhone's.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
You can pull the SIM card from your iphone and put it in a regular phone, but then you can't put it back into the iPhone. I don't know if this is 100% accurate, but was told by an AT&T tech support person when I was switching from an iphone to a regular phone.

I've had no problem switching between an iPhone and an unlocked Razr (on AT&T, unmodified iPhone), so I don't think there should be an issue. However, I had to get a new SIM card when the 1.1.4 firmware update bricked my iPhone (unmodified!) and Apple gave me a new refurb'd one.

So no, the SIM card is not special or anything like that, and you should easily be able to put it in an unlocked phone. The SIM card does need to be activated/tied to the iPhone via iTunes, but thats it, and there was no charge for reactivation when I got a new SIM.