Need to replace my AT&T cell phone

fatchowmein

My old clamshell phone has a connection problem at the hinge. I don't care about music, camera, data, internet access, etc. Just need a phone that works with address book. Texting is optional (I get maybe 3 text a month). My 700 minute family plan (me + wife) is on month to month ($51 package that I somehow pay $80 a month for).

The AT&T store wants a 2 year renewel and either a $30 monthly texting package or $30 monthly data package just to replace a crippled phone. I told them they're nuts. Wife called AT&T and they told her the same thing.

Is there a simple way for me to just buy a replacement phone and slap my old sim card into it or do I need to switch carriers?

polkatese

Any GSM/SIM card based phone will work, fatchowmein, as long as the phone is unlocked (i.e. can take AT&T SIM card or TMobile SIM card, for that matter, and it should work). Or, buy a phone from a friend who had AT&T before)

Airplay355

check out this website. I've bought phones from them before and it was MUCH better then buying through some sleezy dealer or the actual company. I bought a t-mobile phone but I think they offer ATT too. www.mobilebee.com

Airplay355

I guess I was wrong, I can only find Tmobile phones. Sorry.

Try flea bay? You just need any GSM phone though stuff like buying ringtones or sending pictures might not work.

vlam

Where are you located? I have a used nokia GSM phone if you are interested. Just pay shipping if you are not local.

vlam168@gmail.com

Kex

I thought AT&T only used a SIM card for the iPhone ... We use T-mobile: 1,000 minutes, Blackberry unlimited enterprise plan and two lines for $88-$88.50 per month. The plan rate is about $50 and the Blackberry add on is $30, so we pay about $8-8.50 in fees.

Come to think of it, we have an old T-mobile Blackberry 7290 (IIRC) that still works fine, even if the battery life is not as good as when new, but it's not unlocked, so that might be tricky. Otherwise, you could have it for free if you knew how to unlock it.

fatchowmein

Thanks for the advice and offers guys. Let me hit up the usual suspects first (coworkers, local friends, family).

bobman1235

If you really just want a phone, get any cheap prepaid phone for 20 bucks, and slap your SIM into it. A friend of mine did this when he broke his phone, worked like a champ. AT&T will NEVER tell you you can do this because they want to sell you an expensive phone.

Also, T-Mobile and AT&T both use GSM phones and will be interchangeable.

bruss

craigslist usually has a bunch stuff.. My wifes phone broke the other day and we have been looking for a replacement

dorokusai

I agree, get a prepaid if you're tired of fees.

okiepolkie

bobman1235 wrote: »

If you really just want a phone, get any cheap prepaid phone for 20 bucks, and slap your SIM into it. A friend of mine did this when he broke his phone, worked like a champ. AT&T will NEVER tell you you can do this because they want to sell you an expensive phone.

Also, T-Mobile and AT&T both use GSM phones and will be interchangeable.

This is what I was going to recommend as well. One of the service reps actually told me to do this when my wife threw her phone in with the wash....

Airplay355

t-mobile and att phones are only interchangeable after being unlocked. Unlocked phones work with any/all SIM cards placed in them. I think the only carrier not using SIM card is verizon.

BeRad

Airplay355 wrote: »

Unlocked phones work with any/all SIM cards placed in them.

Yes but they might not be able to make calls!
NA standard frequency is 850/1900 I believe. If the gsm phone is a quad band phone, it will work anywhere in the world on a GSM network for voice. If it is only a dual band phone you need to make sure it runs on NA frequencies as the European frequencies are different.

Data is another story when talking about 3g. Almost all GSM phones that are 3g capable only have a radio for one specific 3g frequency. It would either be NA or Europe so if 3g is important to you, it needs to be considered when shopping for an unlocked phone. If 3g isn't important, any phone that works with your carrier for voice will also work with EDGE (or 2g) as it operates on the same frequency as voice.

As stated, any phone from AT&T will continue to work on that provider unlocked or not.

I'm in the cell phone upgrade zone myself and can't decide between the HTC Touch HD and the HTC s743. (I like my gadgets!)

Sami

dorokusai wrote: »

I agree, get a prepaid if you're tired of fees.

He's actually recommending to get a prepaid phone to use with his existing AT&T account. $20 for a basic Nokia phone from AT&T prepaid works with AT&T account, I don't know for sure if T-Mobile works or not so I would stick with the AT&T prepaids.