Database Users

Best place to get a Vibrant off contract

I've been following the Galaxy S and Vibrant releases for a while and love the Vibrant. I however have a problem concerning plans. Since I will only be using its Internet capabilities where I have Wi-Fi (college, home, work), I have no need or desire for a data plan. T-Mobile REQUIRES new devices are sold with data plans so my question is.
1.Would getting a Vibrant from Ebay (for ~$500) and using my old SIM be the best option?
2. Can I just walk into a Tmobile store and tell them I want to purchase a RETAIL ($500) Vibrant with no contract or SIM and get one that way (or are they going to add a data plan and ask me for my Tmobile line credentials to do so)?
3. Is getting a Vibrant on contract for $200 + data plan and then cancelling the contract after the 15th day the cheapest option?
I suppose I would prefer to buy it from Tmobile, even at retail price since I get the manufacturer insurance of 1 year (have needed it before) free though if not possible, Ebay is an option too. I'm just looking at getting it as cheap as possible without having to do a 2-year data plan contract.
Thx.

I bought it at T-mobile off contract, however i made some other account changes while i was there so not sure if they require anything account wise when buying off contract.

I see. What kind of changes did you make? Adding a data plan or something else?
Do you think I can walk into a store, and buy a Vibrant for $500 WITHOUT providing any account information so that they cannot associate my account with the phone?
I'd like to keep my contract AS IS currently, and if possible not renew it (it just passed the 2 years mark so I can technically get a discounted phone if I renew it but I do not like T-Mobile's new contracts. I have unlimited texting on my line through a Family plan)

you might try asking this over in the the Tmobile vibrant forum
i believe you can cancel the data plan after or during the first month but i'm not the expert

costco WAS selling Vibrants off-contract (even more plans) for $229. not sure if its still ongoing.

Either costco or t-mobile. At costco they have to tie it it to a new phone line, which you can cancel at any time since you aren't under contact, pretty sure there is no fee.
I opted to but at tmo, and have the price split up over 20 payments interest free. I already had an existing android plan though.

andy2na said:
costco WAS selling Vibrants off-contract (even more plans) for $229. not sure if its still ongoing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even More plans are contract plans. Are you talking about Even More Plus plans?
Go by a T-Mobile store and ask or call their customer service. You'll get a much better answer straight from the horse's mouth than you will from here.
I've heard about people trying to get a discounted phone with a new contract or making changes to their plan so they qualify and then immediately change things around in a manner that would disqualify them from the discount after they got it and then T-Mobile hit them with the remaining amount for the full price of the phone in their next bill. I guess it's their way of saying "cheaters never prosper".

If I buy it from Tmobile with ANY sort of contract...Even more Plus or Even More, they WILL add a data plan to it. There is also activation fees for a new line so not only will I have to pay the $500 for an even more plus plan, but I would have to CANCEL the line...in that case I may as well get it off of Ebay and save myself the hassle of all that.

The T-Mo forums are really helpful with everything other than development. Try there or stop at an official T-Mo store. The third party official partner places get paid to sell contracts. I've had some bad experiences on eBay and had to go to resolution with the seller twice on pre-smartphone phones, so beware.

What kind of bad experiences exactly?

If I were you and looking for a SGS I'd buy the full model that has all the extras... or possibly even the version with a slide out keyboard and ffc. The SGS Pro i believe it is.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

}{Alienz}{ said:
What kind of bad experiences exactly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong carrier on one occasion and got a refurbished instead of new phone the other time. I have gotten good deals as well, so it's a crapshoot. I probably didn't screen the seller as well as I should have, just looked at the overall rating.
Sent from my T-Mobile G1 using XDA App

you could probably call tmo or stop in to a tmo corp store and ask, I find they are usually very helpful about things like this. side note i actually had a long conversation w/ the rep at the store when i bought my vibrant about cyanogenmod and phone modding, which he has done to his phones.

OMG, costco was selling this for $250 no contract and noone spread the good news. SHAME ON YOU ALL.
Know if i can still get it @ 250?
if you find any good deals please post it here. thanks

engineer14 said:
OMG, costco was selling this for $250 no contract and noone spread the good news. SHAME ON YOU ALL.
Know if i can still get it @ 250?
if you find any good deals please post it here. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. A memo was sent out and they raised the price Tuesday morning to $479. Think the $250 was a pricing error.

The best deal is with Bing cashback! $325
Go to bing.com
search for tmobile (you should see gold dollar sign w 35% off)
click on the link to tmobile site then do your shopping
I got my phone for $325 and on top of that, 35% off activation and the $59 plan.
so my total saving was $208
But bing is ending its cashback program at the end of july so better hurry!

I don't see the gold $ when I search t-mobile nor when I do my shopping after clicking through bing do I get the discount.
Is there supposd to be some code you put? Is it possible for you to just post a link?

too bad Bing cashback is gone at the end of the month.
@killer bee
See picture

hpz937 said:
you could probably call tmo or stop in to a tmo corp store and ask, I find they are usually very helpful about things like this. side note i actually had a long conversation w/ the rep at the store when i bought my vibrant about cyanogenmod and phone modding, which he has done to his phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to check the phone out the phone at a local store and someone was playing with the demo so the rep let me play with his personal phone. I noticed he had the su app installed lol
Sent from my T-Mobile G1 using XDA App

engineer14 said:
OMG, costco was selling this for $250 no contract and noone spread the good news. SHAME ON YOU ALL.
Know if i can still get it @ 250?
if you find any good deals please post it here. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree! I recently switched our 5 phones over from AT&t and we went with Even More Plus because it's cheaper in the long run and no contract. However, we had to pay full price for the phones. Two of them were basic flip phones, but three of them were Samsung Vibrants at $500 apiece. We bought them at a T-Mobile corporate store and the most they did for us was waive the activation fee (which I found out would have been done anyway as a AAA member) and give us one free car charger when we bought the other two. We shelled out $1500 for the three Vibrants and we could have paid $750 at Costco!!!!! We're still in our 14 day return period, obviously, so if this is all true I'm going to call T-Mobile and see what can be done.

Tmobile wouldn't sell me a Tab

I went down to Tmobile to check out the Galaxy Tab out and possibly pick one up yesterday. I played with it for about 20 min and really liked it. It felt fast and worked well. I did turn flash to on-demand in the browser, and that helped a lot. I tethered it to my EVO wifi and that worked great too.
But when I wanted to buy one with out a contract they said they couldn't do that. The guy was saying that they were in limited supply and could only sell one with the 2 year contract. I called a few other stores and they either didn't get any in or were sold out. Now, it looks like Amazon is sold out too. I guess I will wait for black Friday to see if there are any deals or new tablets announced.

That sucks, my tmobile store is awesome. Its located in Visalia, CA They hooked me up. Have you tried Best Buy?

Sucks and good news at the same time. Sucks you can't buy one, great news that they sold so well that they have to reserve them for contract sales only.
That should loosen up once AT&T launches theirs, as well as the Bell Canada NAM version.

slcEVO said:
But when I wanted to buy one with out a contract they said they couldn't do that. The guy was saying that they were in limited supply and could only sell one with the 2 year contract.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... because selling it with a plan is how the store reps earn commission. I can't imagine that they can legally refuse to sell someone an item when it is in stock... because that is essentially what they are doing.

Can't you just buy it under contract and then cancel right away? Off contract is $599, with contract is $399. They charge $200 early termination fee, so doesn't it just even out?

I looked online today and Best Buy is showing Unavailable for all the stores around here. I also thought the Tmobile one was the only one with the 16GB memory built in. Best Buy shows both with the 16GB built in. One other feature I liked about Tmobile is that they would do a prepaid 3G service. I will mostly use wifi and link to my phone, but I thought it would be good to have an option for 3G when I travel. I'll have to see if Sprint or Verizon can do a prepaid or one month plan.
It is good, that it seems to be selling well. I was also surprised I liked the size so much. I was thinking I would hold out for a 10" tablet but now really like the smaller size. Maybe an 8" would be perfect.

Buying T-Mobile Tab
My goal was to buy one without a contract and monthly charges.
All stores around me had them in stock but one store refused to sell without me committing to a plan even without a contract, another store clerk said that internet Wifi won't work without an activated 3G service and essentially refused to sell. The third store manager sold it without bogus stories, however, he also said that they sell to current T-mobile customers primarily.
Customer service said once that it should not be such conditions to sell the device, however, they also said that store managers can impose such.
The Tab works like a charm with WiFi only but has activated 3G SIM allowing to connect to T-Mobile store for ordering service in case of need.
It is very nice feature because if I need I can order and start using 3G data very quickly without calling rep or going to a store.

chrisreese said:
Can't you just buy it under contract and then cancel right away? Off contract is $599, with contract is $399. They charge $200 early termination fee, so doesn't it just even out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+2
Comes out the same..
$399 contract price... Call T-Mobile and cancel, they will bill you a $200 ETF = $599 total

raqball said:
+2
Comes out the same..
$399 contract price... Call T-Mobile and cancel, they will bill you a $200 ETF = $599 total
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But isnt there activation charge and any other stuff also??

jay_jay_n said:
But isnt there activation charge and any other stuff also??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, they will probably charge for the first month too.
I am not in that big of a hurry, so will probably just order from amazon.

One thing to also consider because I'm in the same boat is that with being on contract you have the option of the $6 a month insurance, hard to decide since I have a second line just ready for the tab

I'm pretty sure T-Mobile is waiving the activation fee, they did for me.
Also, the T-Mobile version (and I assume the AT&T) is the only one with 16GB built-in with the addition of an available MicroSD slot which is empty. The Sprint and Verizon versions don't have the built-in memory but include a 16GB MicroSD card. That's why I picked the T-Mobile version, so I could add a 16GB card for a total of 32GB of storage.

I experienced the same thing. I went to T-mobile store yesterday tried to buy one without contract. The rep. told me even though without contract, I still have to buy a data plan. This surprised me because I have bought phone without contract and with full price previously, and this has never been a requirement. I think they do it for the commission for the rep/store; and also they try to push people into a 2 yr contract. I do not think this is legal. I think there will possibly a class action law suit against them for doing this.
Anyway, I checked with Amazon today and guess what? They have just lowered the price from $650 to $600, with roughly $6 for standard shipping and no tax. I think I will buy the tab from them. On T-mobile website today, there is no more option for buying the tab without contract.
But I do not know if I buy it from Amazon, when I activate it, will T-mobile require me to buy a data plan? Anyone know the answer?

^ You can bypass the activation screen by touching the 4 corners of the screen, starting from the top left and going in a clockwise motion.
You can just stick with using wifi if that is what you want to do. And not having to activate it.
Yes, you are right. The store and T-Mobile loses money with every product that they sell. They recoup their costs by signing you up on a contract. That is their main way of earning money.

ConceptVBS said:
^ You can bypass the activation screen by touching the 4 corners of the screen, starting from the top left and going in a clockwise motion.
You can just stick with using wifi if that is what you want to do. And not having to activate it.
Yes, you are right. The store and T-Mobile loses money with every product that they sell. They recoup their costs by signing you up on a contract. That is their main way of earning money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ConceptVBS.

I also got the run-around by t-mobile stores until I said that I want it activated on prepaid. That was then apparently just as good as the month-to-month "non"contract. I don't know if its official policy or just a misinformed CSR, but worth a try. The CSR did not think of the prepaid option by herself.
Of course 30$ for 300mb/month is outrageously expensive by European standards, but since I'm in Wifi range most of the time its working out fine so far.
ConceptVBS said:
The store and T-Mobile loses money with every product that they sell. They recoup their costs by signing you up on a contract.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find it hard to believe that they lose money by selling it at 599.- Less profit than when selling it with a contract, sure, but a loss they won't make.

chrisreese said:
Can't you just buy it under contract and then cancel right away? Off contract is $599, with contract is $399. They charge $200 early termination fee, so doesn't it just even out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep cause that's what im doing. my first bill comes in January that's when ill cancel. lol only problem after is no internet from my old sim cause they blocked me.

Its got nothing to do with T-Mobile its the sales reps
They don't make as much commission on phones as they do when they sell u a line

Croak said:
Bell Canada NAM version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does a NAM version mean?

xoltrix2000 said:
What does a NAM version mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could tell you stories about the 'NAM, son. Don't get me started.
...What?... What's that?... North American version?... oh, then, nevermind.

So I'm guessing no installment plan?

I assume since this is going to be sold through Best Buy, similar to that of the nexus being sold through Google, that we can't get this on an installment plan is that correct?
Or is there a way to put this phone on our bill? I don't mind paying for the phone but it helps to be able to spread the payments out. Maybe I'll see if Best Buy will approve me for finance through them.

Cheeze[iT] said:
I assume since this is going to be sold through Best Buy, similar to that of the nexus being sold through Google, that we can't get this on an installment plan is that correct?
Or is there a way to put this phone on our bill? I don't mind paying for the phone but it helps to be able to spread the payments out. Maybe I'll see if Best Buy will approve me for finance through them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if the BestBuy sells T-Mo i believe they will do the installments

slowz3r said:
if the BestBuy sells T-Mo i believe they will do the installments
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought only t-mobile retail and do installments, thats why radio shack, walmart, etc couldn't

They have a deal that if you make a purchase over $299 there is no interest for 12 months. Thats not bad at all. You have 12 months to pay off $529 if you buy Nexus S at full price.

i'm not even sure if bestbuy even officially sells tmobile phones. Every one I go to sells only att, verizon, and sprint. They don't even offer tmo phones through the official website afaik. I only see tmo prepaid -_-

Cheeze[iT] said:
I assume since this is going to be sold through Best Buy, similar to that of the nexus being sold through Google, that we can't get this on an installment plan is that correct?
Or is there a way to put this phone on our bill? I don't mind paying for the phone but it helps to be able to spread the payments out. Maybe I'll see if Best Buy will approve me for finance through them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the exact method i'm trying to get the nexus S. It's the ONLY method i'm able to get it right now because I don't have $566 cash. If we can't get it this way, i'm just gonna have to wait a cpl months so I can buy a used one for a cheaper price.

jroid said:
This is the exact method i'm trying to get the nexus S. It's the ONLY method i'm able to get it right now because I don't have $566 cash. If we can't get it this way, i'm just gonna have to wait a cpl months so I can buy a used one for a cheaper price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, but I will just finance through Best buy with their card. 12 months with no interest will be enough for me.

[QUOTE='Cheeze[iT]]Same here, but I will just finance through Best buy with their card. 12 months with no interest will be enough for me.[/QUOTE]
Just got it confirmed through Nexus S support that bb's that sell T-Mobile should be able to sell a nexus S with an em+ plan. Problem is actually finding a store that does. Luckily, I've found one in my area
Sent from my Android phone.

thepoetvd776 said:
They have a deal that if you make a purchase over $299 there is no interest for 12 months. Thats not bad at all. You have 12 months to pay off $529 if you buy Nexus S at full price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct.
Check out Best Buy's Nexus S FAQ for answers to questions like this: http://mobileaccessories.bestbuy.com/samsung-nexus-s-accessories.htm

Selling a Nexus S with an even more + plan does not mean the you will be able to use the T-Mobile Equipment Installment Plan, they are 2 different things.
To the best of my knowledge no 3rd party retailers can access EIP so you would have to do any financing through Best Buy.

best buy is NOT able to do the equipment installment plan. even in Best Buy locations that sell T-Mobile.
youre not purchasing the device from T-mobile when you buy from Best Buy, so why would you slowly be able to pay it off to T-mobile?

cpcrazyfly said:
best buy is NOT able to do the equipment installment plan. even in Best Buy locations that sell T-Mobile.
youre not purchasing the device from T-mobile when you buy from Best Buy, so why would you slowly be able to pay it off to T-mobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There goes my only hope on purchasing the nexus S. I'm glad you answered this though i've been trying to get this figured out before I sell my vibrant. I was told differently from the nexus S support line. I will just hold off selling my phone and go to the location on the 16th to confirm yes/no to make my decision.

In the same boat.. currently trying to sell all kinds of crap on craigslist to come up with the $575 for the phone. I've had about all I can take from this slow ass G1.

Samsung Focus price drop looks PERMANENT

If you haven't heard already, AT&T's website shows a change in price for the Focus which was originally $199 and is now $99 on contract. I was assuming this was just a random New Year's sale but now I'm not so sure.
Yesterday on Gizmodo, I noticed that Microsoft was advertising WP7 and the Focus but those banners had been there for a while. Then I realized it was also advertising the $99 price and I don't remember AT&T advertising many of their sales before.
Today my cousin needed to return a router to AT&T so I went to the local store in Southern California and I decided to check out the price. There it was on the sign: "$99 on contract". That rules out a web-only sale too. So after my cousin had returned the router. I asked one of the employees there about the phone's price. He said they just got word of the new pricing last night and changed it in-store this morning. I asked him if it was permanent and he replied, "I'm not completely sure. Like I said, we only just got the message yesterday and it just said to change the price."
If it were a sale, then AT&T would probably be screaming about it from the rooftops and make their employees tell customers it was a limited time only...but that's not the case. So it looks like the Focus has officially dropped to $99 on contract.
Now the real question is: why? Seems convenient for the price to drop the week of CES so maybe thats a hint that AT&T will be getting some new smartphones in their lineup soon, maybe even more WP7s. Another thing to consider is that AT&T is trying to rope in as many customers as it possibly can before Verizon gets the iPhone 4, which is rumored and has some evidence to support it happening a couple of weeks after CES. Take it as you will, but a great cutting-edge smartphone is now $100 and thats pretty sweet if you ask me.

Well, assuming the Surround and Quantum haven't dropped too, the Focus is the only 8GB WP7, and the 8GB iPhone is $99. It could be Samsung/Microsoft/AT&T wanted that price lower so the Focus was clearly a better choice.

@FishFace - Both the Samsung Focus and the LG Quantum are getting the $100-pricepoint-treatment.
wwwDOTwpcentralDOTcom/ATT-lowers-price-quantum-and-focus

GrayWolf said:
@FishFace - Both the Samsung Focus and the LG Quantum are getting the $100-pricepoint-treatment.
www.wpcentral.com/ATT-lowers-price-quantum-and-focus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what is so odd. Why are only the Quantum and the Focus getting the price drop?
My only theory right now is that AT&T wanted all three at the $100 price point but HTC declined while LG & Samsung both agreed. I'm sticking with my master theory that AT&T wants as many people as humanly possible to come to AT&T before Verizon's iPhone is announced as this also makes sense with AT&T offering early upgrades for people interested in buying the iPhone 4.

$99 on contract price is so so as most online dealers already sold them for $49 or free. However, the biggest story in this price reduction is that both Focus and Quantum now sell for $399 off contract. That's a very attractive price for me w/o (not even possible right now) sign up two more years of contract.
I suspect the HTC doesn't sell as well as the other two. And also this move is in anticipation of WP7 phones will be released to Verizon and Sprint soon, not iPhone. iPhone itself has the price drop as well at the same time.

iphone4 is not the threat. It would be the iPhone5 ! Or even WP8 !
And the strategy to go to a $100 now is brilliant. I mean how many smartphones that are really worth buying are at this price point? Seems to me that they have found a great price point and will sell millions of them. They proabably get some kind of rebate from Microsoft for selling so many units and Microsoft will benefit from increased users buying Apps or XboxLive games.
No different than a Toyota Corolla. Make a good car and sell it at a great price point and they sold LOTS of them. Build up a huge customer base and when the customer is ready to replace the Corolla, then they up sell to the Camry or to the Lexus., or sell them another Corolla. Eitherway they have huge following.

HTC doesn't know how to make a reasonably priced phone. Well, they know how to make a phone that should be reasonably priced, that's all they make, but they don't price them according to what they're actually worth.

In case you guys are interested, Amazon Wireless is selling the Focus for $0.01 today. Stock is definitely on the move. I'm guessing a Focus 2 with Super AMOLED Plus might be on the way.

Pretty simple, ATT is the only company presently that has a Galaxy S windows7 phone, my guess is the rest of the cell companies are about to get their versions too, much like they all did with Android.
If the Focus is priced $100 cheaper than tmobile, verizon, sprint galaxy S versions, they hope it will take the steam out of their fanfare.
Only reason there isnt a Windows7 phone in my house currently is cos I only have tmobile and sprint.
EDIT: And no galaxy S with the hummingbird or SAMOLED screen

kponti said:
Only reason there isnt a Windows7 phone in my house currently is cos I only have tmobile and sprint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile has the HTC HD7 ! And yes it's a Windows 7 phone.
Darn nice phone. I had it but could not tether with or get 3G with it on FIDO (Canada). I'm sure there are many more models to come.

Lewisham said:
In case you guys are interested, Amazon Wireless is selling the Focus for $0.01 today. Stock is definitely on the move. I'm guessing a Focus 2 with Super AMOLED Plus might be on the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very unlikely I think, if they had a new Focus coming out it would have been announced at CES. And Focus is still a very new phone and apparently selling very well (no wonder, it's amazing).

PaullikesWINMO said:
T-Mobile has the HTC HD7 ! And yes it's a Windows 7 phone.
Darn nice phone. I had it but could not tether with or get 3G with it on FIDO (Canada). I'm sure there are many more models to come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but too big and heavy, not to mention my Samsungs have consistently had better reception than my HTCs inside buildings where I use the phone 90% of the time

Just bought one off Amazon for $0.01. Friend got one through AT&T for the same price after he told them about the Amazon offer.
ATT told me that most likely its because its a 3g phone and they're in the process of rolling out the 4g network. Whatever, I got the phone for 0.01...Including shipping!

It says in the website that it can be as upgrade to an existing line. My question is, what if your line is not eligible for upgrade yet. Will your bill show up with the list price after a month or two? Has anyone encounter this yet?

If you are not yet qualified, you have to pay full out of contact price which is $399 if you go to an AT&T store or $499 from 3rd party online.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Syst3m said:
Just bought one off Amazon for $0.01. Friend got one through AT&T for the same price after he told them about the Amazon offer.
ATT told me that most likely its because its a 3g phone and they're in the process of rolling out the 4g network. Whatever, I got the phone for 0.01...Including shipping!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be but somehow I doubt it has anything to do with 4G, since the average consumer I don't think knows about 4G or cares at this point. The fact that they are willing to give you the phone for free tells you they know they will make their money back by the end of the contract, with a sizable profit .

phoneguy 4567 said:
Could be but somehow I doubt it has anything to do with 4G, since the average consumer I don't think knows about 4G or cares at this point. The fact that they are willing to give you the phone for free tells you they know they will make their money back by the end of the contract, with a sizable profit .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what I feel too. The other thought is trying to get people to Att network before the iPhone comes to Verizon or whatever.
It says in the website that it can be as upgrade to an existing line. My question is, what if your line is not eligible for upgrade yet. Will your bill show up with the list price after a month or two? Has anyone encounter this yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had 10 months left in my contract, and 2 separate phone calls by me (and one by a friend who got the same deal) said that my old contract was being ended, and they would create a new one that started the day the phone was activated. They know if you're eligible for an upgrade - they ask for your phone # and last name. My friend who called had 3 months left on his contract, and was unable to get the deal at first. When he called AT&T, they cleared his contract and he checked on their again -and it was eligible. He ended up buying through ATT because they said they'd match the same deal.

Syst3m said:
Just bought one off Amazon for $0.01. Friend got one through AT&T for the same price after he told them about the Amazon offer.
ATT told me that most likely its because its a 3g phone and they're in the process of rolling out the 4g network. Whatever, I got the phone for 0.01...Including shipping!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you ask him how he got it through AT&T? I just asked a branch store and they said they could not offer the $0.01 deal...

I'm thinking of getting one off contract for $400. (don't wanna get locked in to Rogers - $400 voice cancellation + $100 data cancellation, 3 yr contract).
What have your experiences been like with unlocking? I heard ATT is refusing to unlock, and unlock codes go for up to $40 online...

When I was in-store the other day, I'm pretty sure the sale price on the Focus said until 1/31. I think it's only good for a couple more weeks, but we'll see.

Bell Galaxy S2 4G - Canadian Release (July 14th) - First in North America

Bell Canada and Virgin Mobile Canada will be releasing the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G (the 4G is Bell's naming, its still 21Mbps) July 14th. Many retailer already received the unit, but they will go on sale only on the 14.
This thread is to collect information, tips, and rooting/unlocks tips.
Similar thread over howardforum: http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...will-sell-it-unlocked?p=14466326#post14466326

Price is gonna be 599.95$ without a contract an around 150$ with a 3yr contract.
Sadly, it seem for reason I don't undersand that retailer, will not let the phone go out of the store un-activated (need a new contract or an existing customer transfering phone). The minimum "contract" seem to be a 30day 50$ plan from virgin, bell offer a similar but add initial fees, which virgin don't.
If anyone find a way around this, or store willing to sell without activating the phone, post it over here.....
So far Futureshop, Bestbuy and some the source all told me the same... But feel free to give it a try.
More to come shortly

x-cimo said:
Price is gonna be 599.95$ without a contract an around 150$ with a 3yr contract.
Sadly, it seem for reason I don't undersand that retailer, will not let the phone go out of the store un-activated (need a new contract or an existing customer transfering phone). The minimum "contract" seem to be a 30day 50$ plan from virgin, bell offer a similar but add initial fees, which virgin don't.
If anyone find a way around this, or store willing to sell without activating the phone, post it over here.....
So far Futureshop, Bestbuy and some the source all told me the same... But feel free to give it a try.
More to come shortly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From polling a few retailers (The Source, Future Shop, Bell Mobility Stores, Wireless Wave, etc.) I found it's pretty much hit and miss. Usually 1 store is willing to sell it to you off contract for every 4 asked, but, then that could change if they fly off the shelves.

Most of the store I found had either them on order (avg 6 units), or in stock (avg 3 units)... So be there early.
Was there any Bell store willing to sell off contract? (I haven't tried thoses.) Assuming they would be less flexible.

x-cimo said:
Most of the store I found had either them on order (avg 6 units), or in stock (avg 3 units)... So be there early.
Was there any Bell store willing to sell off contract? (I haven't tried thoses.) Assuming they would be less flexible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found one Bell store willing to do it, but, there was a condition that it would be a final sale.

They can say whatever they want but any phone sold by Bell will have to be honored by their warranty program. You can talk to Bell corporate about this and they'll confirm it. They'll also tell you that if you want to buy the phone off-contract they can't refuse you. Store owners are just being dicks because they get no commission with no plan activation. Had the same sort of issues when the Nexus S was released in Canada and people wanted to buy off-contract since they were unlocked (despite Rogers/Telus/Bell claiming they were locked).
knowthenazz said:
I found one Bell store willing to do it, but, there was a condition that it would be a final sale.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

knowthenazz said:
I found one Bell store willing to do it, but, there was a condition that it would be a final sale.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think that would be legal... How would they enforce this..
Sell a 599$ phone, but say, no warranty for you.
Really, I am looking at a the source flyer, and it say 599$ with no contract. There is no place where it say you need a minimum 30 days plan required.
Other than: to get the reduce price with a X year contract you need a minimum 50$ plan.
I just don't know how to force them to sell me the phone, even if I think they are lying about the 30 day

I'm definitely going to look in to getting one off-contract, as I'm currently with Rogers...
Anyone know of any issues so far that would prevent the phone from working properly on Rogers?

knowthenazz said:
I found one Bell store willing to do it, but, there was a condition that it would be a final sale.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the impression that he was referring to not being able to return the phone within the 14 day return period. I don't think he was talking about the warranty.
Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks!

fongoid said:
I'm definitely going to look in to getting one off-contract, as I'm currently with Rogers...
Anyone know of any issues so far that would prevent the phone from working properly on Rogers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
but I just ordered it from Handtec. It's kinda sad that Rogers has let us down yet again.

fongoid said:
I'm definitely going to look in to getting one off-contract, as I'm currently with Rogers...
Anyone know of any issues so far that would prevent the phone from working properly on Rogers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is all that you'd have to do is root and unlock the phone, and it should work fine on the Rogers network.

News that the release date could be July 21st:
http://mobilesyrup.com/2011/07/12/b...p+(mobilesyrup.com)&utm_content=Google+Reader
When Bell announced they’ll be one of the carriers who will release the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G they never confirmed a launch date, only that it will be available “in the coming weeks”. Carriers usually state this just in case there are shipping issues or problems meeting software tests. Rumours surfaced over the past few weeks of a July 14th release, but we are now hearing the launch date is officially set for Thursday, July 21st.
Apparently us Canadians will be getting the latest software and Bell wants to ensure that enough supply is available. The internal doc we received says that Bell is “anticipating very strong demand for the device” and waiting for “adequate supply to arrive”. Samsung recently announced that worldwide sales of this Android has already topped 3 million in just 55 days. This will be available for $599.95 on a no-contract and it’s expected the 3-year price will be $169.95.

Every store I been to told me july 14. I don`t think they will push it to 21.

My Bell rep forbade my Best Buy from selling it before the 21st and I got confirmation of this via an internal memo. We have it, but can't sell it.

BS.... We will see..

Whether we want to believe it or not, it's the truth... I'm as frustrated about it as you are, as I sold my Nexus last week to pay off my Telus cancellation fees, and now I'm going to be phone-less another week and a half...

go to wireless wave or phone booth. they let you purchase the phone out right. the warranty is void if you unlock the phone no matter where you purchase the phone.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Yea. that was my plan, walk around im sure somebody will sell it..

Just got back from Future Shop. Their live display model is out, and I managed to play with it a bit.
They confirmed as well that July 14 is the release date.

I got a question for you guys: Why don't you just buy one from a UK site instead of waiting for Bell/Virgin's release?
Warranty will be void anyways if you buy from Bell or Virgin without contract. You have to pay $599 + activation + possible minimum plan + tax + cancellation fee(?).
If you order from Clove or Handtec, you can get a UK warranty (meaning to ship back if anything unfortunate happen to the phone...better than no warranty!). It'll only cost less than $640 including shipping.
Anyone frankly explain it to me?