[Alex Ethridge]

Looking for sites that can unlock a GSM smartphone, I found this in a sponsored Google ad that claims to do it for only $1.89. Look at the obviously-fake IMEI that I entered.

Hmm . . . . The picture didn't make it--again.

[Alex Ethridge]

Here's another try

[Alex Ethridge]

Well, I guess it's no use. The screen shot just isn't going.

[Alex Ethridge]

Here's another try:

[bp936]

what is IMEI?

I don't know if that ad is fake, but I would not trust it to be true.

[Alex Ethridge]

I's sort of like a serial number on all GSM smartphones. No other phone ever has had or will have the same IMEI. People who know how to unlock phones need to have the IMEI in order to calculate a hash code (if that's what its called) to unlock a phone so it can be used with other carriers. Once it is unlocked, it can be used with any GSM carrier (AT&T, T-mobile, etc.).

In this case, the IMEI that I entered was fake. No phone ever had an IMEI of all ones.

[valis]

I'm just being nosy, but why are you trying to unlock the phone in the first place?

[paisanol69]

Originally Posted by valis

I'm just being nosy, but why are you trying to unlock the phone in the first place?

Tim, but he's probably wanting to change providers. Personally, I think that should be allowed. When I carried a cell phone, I purchased a motorola star-tac, for 250.00, and subscribed thru AT&T. Once my subscription was up with AT&T, I found out the hard way, that my cell phone was "locked" into them, and I wasn't able to change providers. (this was back in the early 2001-2002 time period).

Unless a phone service provider provides you with a free phone, what right does that provider have to disable your hardware from being used by other providers. After all, you paid for the hardware,
It seems as stupid as the idea, that back in the old days, before cell phones, if your home phone provider was AT&T, then after you switched to verizon, etc, your home telephone units would not work, until replaced by verizon's units.

I'm just glad that I dont need/use a cell phone anymore...jeeze...

[Alex Ethridge]

Exactly. I just got a Palm Treo 680 for about a third of market value. It's locked to AT&T. I found someone on e-bay who will furnish an unlock code for under three dollars. I've never unlocked a phone, myself, so this will be my first try at it.

I bought my first Treo 680 directly from Palm for $300, my second from a third-party dealer new for $200. This one tonight fell into my lap for $30 when "mint" copies on e-bay sell for $90 and new ones for $130.

So, I figured what the heck; for $30, I can afford another spare.

I also bought two others on e-bay for near nothing with cracks in their cases and in need of parts that required complete disassembly/reassembly. But, I digress.

[valis]

ahhhhhhhh..........see, cell phones ain't my thing. My wife, yes. She's got the iphone that does this, that, and the other. I've got a brick of a clamshell that makes phone calls. Sits in my glove box.

[JohnWill]

FWIW, unlocking in the US is perfectly legal. Also, that outfit that takes PayPal is pretty low risk, they don't have your credit card, and you can take the money back if it doesn't work.

[Alex Ethridge]

My wife, yes. She's got the iphone that does this, that, and the other.

It's the "this, that and the other" that makes this phone so valuable for me. After my first one for a few months, I came to realize how dependent I was on its additional capabilities.

It has a one-touch timer that I use for everything from timing boiled eggs to letting me know when my parking meter is is about to time out.

It has a personal telephone directory (contacts list) with over 2400 telephone numbers, street addresses, e-mail addresses and notes about every one of them.

It has a calculator and appointment calendar with alarms. It has a call-block feature that I have already accumulated over two hundred telephone numbers into. Telemarketers get to call me only once; after that, they are in my blocked list and they go straight to voicemail without even ringing. It has a record-a-call that works perfectly, great for recording tech support calls and going back to them to make notes so the work can be done again if necessary and without having to spend long periods with tech support.

The record-a-call feature has made me money on two occasions when offices made appointments for my service, failed to cancel and denied making the appointment. On those two occasions, I sent a copy of the recorded call to their home office as proof and got paid.

It has a complete dictionary of the English language, an office suite program that handles Word and RTF documents as well as spreadsheets. I can access e-mail and I can tether to my laptop for internet access. There are over 600 documents in there containing troubleshooting notes.

If something happened to this phone, I would be in a pickle, so I have spares.

[Squashman]

I thought it was illegal for Tele-marketers to call Cell Phones.

If you want to block calls, try and get in on Google Voice.

You might want to think about upgrading to a new phone some day. I too love the Palm OS but really want one of the new Palms with the web OS.

[Alex Ethridge]

I thought it was illegal for Tele-marketers to call Cell Phones.

The sad part of those regulations is they always spell out in detail, the rights and powers given to the "aggravateors". Example: The "Do Not Call" registry regulates only telemarketing companies with only Xnumber or more telemarketers in a single location AND who are using AUTOMATED dialers.

So, a telemarketing company could ignore the "Do Not Call" list by simply having their aggravators dial manually. Also, the 'cell phones forbidden' thing affects only those same telemarketers who use automated equipment. So, if some individual wants to go through the telephone book and dial manually, they can call cell phones all day long and not be in violation.

All of my telemarketers are industry-specific. They are trying to get me to buy computers, computer parts, etc. from them. Then I have those aggravators who want me to market their service or trinket along with my daily work so I 'can increase my cash flow'. Then there are those damned bill collectors who are deaf when you try to tell them you never heard of the person they are looking for--and keep calling week after week after week after week.

It was an aggravator from Allied Semiconductor that finally pushed me over the edge to buy this particular phone. He called me 8 weeks in a row and every time I told him to never call again. The last three times, I cursed him out and it still did no good. And it was the same individual every time, not a different person. And here it is two years later and every now and then, just for kicks, I look at the call-block log and see that same dumb *** is still calling two years later (and going straight to voicemail).

You might want to think about upgrading to a new phone some day.

Yes, some day. But I'm not sure I could find the programs for a new phone that would do all this so well. For now, I have no reason to change; I'm sure I will some day.

[Squashman]

What cities' publish Cell numbers in the phone book?

File a complaint with the BBB against the company.