JerryM Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I am considering getting a smart phone. I currently have a flip top. I am on a plan with my children with ATT. I went by the ATT shop today, and the prices are more than the smart phone would be worth to me, from$200-500. I asked the rep if I could buy a phone from WalMart or Best Buy, and he said I can but it has to be an ATT phone. However, when I went to BB the clerk said I could buy a phone of my choice and he could put the SIM card in it and that would be OK. I assume that is true, but have no experience. Any information you could provide would be helpful. Thanks, Jerry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncarman Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Any smartphone sold by a carrier is "BRANDED" to that carrier. Walmart, Best Buy etc. can sell you phones for the carrier that you are receiving service from. Some phones are "UNLOCKED" these can be used on most US carriers (afik) but these are usually higher priced when purchased new but can be used on any carrier. A used phone might be ideal for you if you dont need the fanciest phone or the have need of the newest apps but will still give you the newer phone advantages. Used phones can be bought locally from users that have paid off their phones & upgraded to newer models & still have the old phone which they can then sell at a much lower price then a new phone. GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Well with any cellphone, it has to be compatible with their network. You can't buy a cdma (Verizon, Sprint, Boost,etc) and it work on a GSM network (like ATT, Tmobile, etc) as the radios use different frequencies. So if your using an ATT phone (gsm uses sims, cdma do not usually), you need to get a ATT phone or an unlocked GSM phone(tmobile or Att). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Swapps is a great place to buy or sell phones. It's person to person sales with pictures, verification, buyer protection (via paypal) comments about condition, etc. I have bought a few devices (and sold a couple) through their site and it works beautifully. You can buy devices unlocked or by carrier. https://swappa.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryM Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 Thanks to All for the information. Swapps does look like a good place to buy a used phone. Thanks for the link and info. Regards, Jerry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Hello, Two years ago, I bought a pre-paid AT&T Go Phone at Fry's Electronics and gave it to my girlfriend, who took it to an AT&T Store and had them swap the SIM from her old phone to it, as well as copy her messages, photos and address book to it. It wasn't a perfect process--I seem to recall there were some minor problems with her address book on the new phone. In any case, AT&T was happy to have here keep using AT&T phones and services and there were no additional charges, not even for migrating the data over to the new device. She's getting a new phone in a few days and will get to repeat the process again. This time, it's a carrier-unlocked device, but I don't expect any problems. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryM Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 Thanks, Aryeh and All. I have decided I don't need a smart phone, but the help and advice I received will be a big help if I decided to go to one in the future. Regards, Jerry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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