• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

unlocked phones?

Y

YoungGun21

Platinum Member
So I'm due for an upgrade this summer. I'm stuck with Verizon and I can't change my plan. I don't have a data plan or anything of the sort. I'm kind of new when it comes to unlocked phones and I was wondering which of the newer phones not branded with Verizon would work with Verizon if they were unlocked? Would an iPhone work? I'm really wondering about the LG Shine, would that work with Verizon if I bought an unlocked one?

If yall can't tell me those things then could you tell me what determines whether an unlocked phone would work with Verizon or not? That way I don't have to keep coming back here and asking.
 
Verizon is on a type of technology called CDMA which is used by Sprint, Nextel, Alltel, and Cricket among others. CDMA is completely incompatible with the other major digital wireless technology used in the US (and most of the rest of the world) called GSM. Normally when people use the word "unlocked" they mean that it is a GSM phone that can take a SIM card from any other GSM company that is plugged into the phone and carries all the information to activate and use the phone.

CDMA phones are generally "unlocked" in that you can convert a CDMA phone from Sprint to Verizon and visa-versa by activating it on their respective websites. But you can't use a GSM phone - like an iPhone - on a CDMA carrier.

There is a line of phones from LG with models called "Shine". The LG Shine 8700 is CDMA and will work with Verizon/Sprint. The LG TU720 Shine is GSM and will work with AT&T/T-Mobile.
http://ca.lge.com/shine/shine_en.html (Adobe Flash required)

If the "Shine" that you are talking about is the 3G TU720 GSM one, then a pretty nice LG touchscreen phone that you might want to look at is the LG Voyager. It's got a slide-out keyboard, a GPS and GPS navigation software, two 400x240 resolution screens (one touch, the other not) and reminds me a bit of the GSM Shine on steroids:
http://us.lge.com/products/mod..._verizon_VOYAGER.jhtml
 
So that means you're saying I can't use the slider or the bar Shine with Verizon. Grr. Those are some nice phones.

Any chance that LG with make a CDMA version of those or its new KF510? Don't they usually produce both versions?
 
No, unfortunately you can't. GSM and CDMA are very different. There's no plausible way to hack one into the other.

These are the LG CDMA phones:
http://us.lge.com/products/cat...0carrier_verizon.jhtml

As for their future plans... I have no idea. 🙂 A Google search of "KF510 CDMA" doesn't seem to look promising though.


Check out the Voyager though... it looks nice.

Another one which might work and looks like the Shine is the Glimmer:
http://us.lge.com/products/mod...r_alltel_GLIMMER.jhtml

It's dual-band CDMA and should work (but check with Verizon before you buy it)
 
I've played with the Voyager and wasn't too impressed. The Pearl 8130 is what I really want but since VZW screws people like me who don't want to change their plan when it comes to BlackBerrys, I won't be getting that phone. The Venus and the Z6c look to be the only good phones (for me) right now.
 
I keep editing while you are posting. 🙂

Now that I look closely at the Glimmer... it's the CDMA shine. If you can get it without an Alltel contract (ie. Ebay where it's about $300) then it should work with Verizon (but, again, call them to be sure).
 
Originally posted by: pm
I keep editing while you are posting. 🙂

Now that I look closely at the Glimmer... it's the CDMA shine. If you can get it without an Alltel contract (ie. Ebay where it's about $300) then it should work with Verizon (but, again, call them to be sure).
Click to expand...

Well that is some good news! Hopefully I can find one for a little cheaper than that though.

 
The Glimmer won't work with Verizon till somewhere near Q4, IF LG even sends them a model to "certify" under the Open Access initiative. You're better off getting a phone that's known to work with VZW - mainly a VZW phone. Most RAZRs or KRZRs from other CDMA companies work with VZW. If you're looking to use a non-VZW phone on VZW, your best option is to wait and see what works Q4 of this year, or get a vowel-challenged Motorola phone and flash with a non-VZW firmware.
 
So Verizon won't allow a new non-VZW phone onto it's network until it's been tested by VZW? And that testing takes roughly 7-9 months? (Glimmer release in Mar. 08, open access certified in Q4 => 7-9 months )

When I heard 5 months or so ago that Verizon was implementing an "open access" policy to their network and would allow any compatible device and any compatible app onto their network, I somehow thought that "open" meant open. An 8 month certification process is not what I would normally call open. I had thought that "open access" meant something akin to GSM where you plug a SIM in and if it works, it works, and if doesn't, then get a different phone. I mean, when I hacked my iPhone to work on T-Mobile in Sept. of last year, T-Mobile hadn't done any public certification of the iPhone on T-Mobile's network, and yet, I plugged in a SIM and (nearly) everything worked great right away. Within days of the hack's release in late Aug/early Sept. 2007, people in New Zealand and Argentina and Poland were doing the same thing and (generally) everything worked fine. One presumes that Apple didn't run around the world having their US-limited locked iPhone certified for worldwide use by a whole bunch of networks that were presumably locked out of the iPhone due to the locked Apple software. The kind of freedom that if it works, it works, is to me open... Verizon's version of open where it takes half a year to have them certify a phone isn't what I think of when I think of the term "open access".

Reading a bit, I see that you are, of course, correct, Raduque... but still the sound bite description of VZW's "open access" seemed to promise a lot more freedom than the reality.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ar...pp-on-its-network.html
 
Wow ok so that is not promising at all. The current selection of VZW phones is well... not the best. The enV and Voyager are the formfactor I don't particularly like, even though they aren't too bad of phones. The Venus still has some bugs. I'm stuck getting a RAZR I guess. Either that or the Q9m (which still isn't that great of a phone).

I don't see why they don't have a bigger selection of phones....?

EDIT: Looks like the enV2 and VX8610 will be out soon. They look like some nice phones. Maybe I'll actually have to try out a clamshell and get the enV2. It looks much better than the enV and doesn't have the annoying camera-bump on the back. The inside screen is much bigger and the keyboard has been cleaned up a bit. Supposedly going to be $130, I just might have to give this phone a try.
 
Yea, it's not going to be near as easy as using an unlocked GSM phone. What I meant by Q4 is when they will start accepting handsets for testing from mfgs. It's reported to take 4-6 wks for certification, at that point customers will be able to activate that model using the normal activation procedures.

For the record, CDMA has a provision for a SIM-like spec - it's called R-UIM. It's pretty much unused outside of Korea and possibly China. No US carrier uses or wants to use it, because not using it allows them to squeeze control just that much tighter.

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the cellphone industry, hell the communications industry as a whole, is one of the most consumer un-friendly industries around. The only reason it's so easy to switch phones on GSM is because that's a base part of the spec - R-UIM cards aren't a base part of CDMA, it's optional.
 
Originally posted by: Raduque
Yea, it's not going to be near as easy as using an unlocked GSM phone. What I meant by Q4 is when they will start accepting handsets for testing from mfgs. It's reported to take 4-6 wks for certification, at that point customers will be able to activate that model using the normal activation procedures.

For the record, CDMA has a provision for a SIM-like spec - it's called R-UIM. It's pretty much unused outside of Korea and possibly China. No US carrier uses or wants to use it, because not using it allows them to squeeze control just that much tighter.

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the cellphone industry, hell the communications industry as a whole, is one of the most consumer un-friendly industries around. The only reason it's so easy to switch phones on GSM is because that's a base part of the spec - R-UIM cards aren't a base part of CDMA, it's optional.
Click to expand...

I think most people are beginning to realize this. Heck people on my area get screwed when it comes to high speed internet because only one company offers speeds over 5mbps and they charge a fortune for it (Mediacom). Verizon Fios is just getting started here but maybe in the next year it could become a contender.

 
I'm crossing my finger's for verizon's new "open" network. They did a complete 180 on the FCC lawsuit and I found it quite surprising. This is probably wishful thinking... but I can hope, haha. Unfortunately, I'm due for a new phone now, so the enV(2) will have to do... now just release it so I can try it out already.
 
The enV2 and VX8610 are due out sometime this month so hopefully they hit their deadline.

On a related note, isn't there something about you can upgrade your phone a certain amount of time before your actual 2 years is up?
 
Originally posted by: YoungGun21
The enV2 and VX8610 are due out sometime this month so hopefully they hit their deadline.

On a related note, isn't there something about you can upgrade your phone a certain amount of time before your actual 2 years is up?
Click to expand...

You can get your new every two at 20/22 months sometimes. You can technically upgrade anytime, just can't cash in on the loyalty discounts.
 
There's also the samsung glyde which is coming out May-early June. it's similar to the voyager but only has a single screen and the keyboard slides out. The glyde was supposed to be out in Mar but it got delayed. I'm waiting on the env2 myself, since I don't need all the fancy extras.

glyde
 
Originally posted by: Metron
Verizon just announced that the HTC Touch, aka VX6900 at Verizon, is available online today and in stores on April 30.
Click to expand...

Sorry YoungGun21 for the hijack.

Metron can you tell me if the XV6900 has Wifi, and what BroadbandAccess Connect is

Thanx
 
Originally posted by: shootinyou
Originally posted by: Metron
Verizon just announced that the HTC Touch, aka VX6900 at Verizon, is available online today and in stores on April 30.
Click to expand...

Sorry YoungGun21 for the hijack.

Metron can you tell me if the XV6900 has Wifi, and what BroadbandAccess Connect is

Thanx
Click to expand...

Sorry YoungGun21, though I posted my reply on the tangent that Verizon is beginning to offer some interesting phones.

Wifi?
Apparently, yes (though this is from HTC's website, not Verizon)

*EDIT*
The Wi-Fi is DISABLED. *sigh*

Broadband Access Connect?
Is Verizon marketing speak for their CDMA 3G/EV-DO Rev-A wireless data connection.

Metron

2nd *EDIT* I have ordered one, and I will give you an update next week.
 
Sorry again YoungGun21,

Metron, I'll be waiting to hear what you think.

YoungGun21, My local Verizon store told me 2 weeks ago to expect the new phones the 3rd week in April. I haven't been back to check, but intend on going in on Monday to see what and if any showed. Sales guy I talked to didn't mention the VX6900, so thanks to your thread I may have found my next phone.

I see Verizon has it @ 399 - 100 online discount - 50 MIR and with my new every two I get another 100 off. So this seems to be a great phone for 149. Weather or not WiFi can be inabled is my main concern at this point, and may send me looking at something else. A BlackBerry perhaps.

Thanks all.
 
As far as Verizon phones are concerned, what annoys me is what they cripple. Many of these phones can do simple things like transfer files via Bluetooth but VZ puts the same boring software on every single phone and then charges fees to be able to do what the phone already can in the first place. It sucks. Their phones don't even come with games specific to that phone or manufacturer and makes all the phones pretty much the same and boring.
 
Originally posted by: randomlinh
Originally posted by: YoungGun21
The enV2 and VX8610 are due out sometime this month so hopefully they hit their deadline.

On a related note, isn't there something about you can upgrade your phone a certain amount of time before your actual 2 years is up?
Click to expand...

You can get your new every two at 20/22 months sometimes. You can technically upgrade anytime, just can't cash in on the loyalty discounts.
Click to expand...

You can do an Early upgrade after 12 months, but you only get the 2 year pricing and MIR, plus a $20 or $25 early upgrade fee.
 
Originally posted by: Raduque
Originally posted by: randomlinh
Originally posted by: YoungGun21
The enV2 and VX8610 are due out sometime this month so hopefully they hit their deadline.

On a related note, isn't there something about you can upgrade your phone a certain amount of time before your actual 2 years is up?
Click to expand...

You can get your new every two at 20/22 months sometimes. You can technically upgrade anytime, just can't cash in on the loyalty discounts.
Click to expand...

You can do an Early upgrade after 12 months, but you only get the 2 year pricing and MIR, plus a $20 or $25 early upgrade fee.
Click to expand...


Well that I did not know but how early can you upgrade and still get the New Every 2 discount?
 
Originally posted by: Metron
Originally posted by: shootinyou
Originally posted by: Metron
Verizon just announced that the HTC Touch, aka VX6900 at Verizon, is available online today and in stores on April 30.
Click to expand...

Sorry YoungGun21 for the hijack.

Metron can you tell me if the XV6900 has Wifi, and what BroadbandAccess Connect is

Thanx
Click to expand...

Sorry YoungGun21, though I posted my reply on the tangent that Verizon is beginning to offer some interesting phones.

Wifi?
Apparently, yes (though this is from HTC's website, not Verizon)

*EDIT*
The Wi-Fi is DISABLED. *sigh*

Broadband Access Connect?
Is Verizon marketing speak for their CDMA 3G/EV-DO Rev-A wireless data connection.

Metron

2nd *EDIT* I have ordered one, and I will give you an update next week.
Click to expand...

Thats the GSM touch. The CDMA Touch's dont have a wifi radio, so no wifi no matter what. There is a microsd wifi card, it says its for WM based ppc/smartphone, but I dont know if it works with the touch.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top