Help Trumptman Enter the iPhone World!

trumptmantrumptman
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
As I've noted through many different posts, AT&T reception has been crap in my area for quite a while and that has kept me from buying an iPhone. With the release of the iPhone 3GS, there are a lot of 2G iPhones that are off contract hitting Craigslist.



A few questions here as I consider a way to try the iPhone in an area with questionable reception but no contract.



What would you pay for a 4/8/16 gig 2G iphone in mint and then fair condition?



If a phone has been jailbroken, can it be unjailbroken and returned to a factory state?



When I get this thing in my hand to evaluate, what should I look for and check out with regard to it being used?



I've got experience with prepaid GSM phones, but all my on-contract phones have been with Verizon. I figured I could probably buy a prepaid AT&T card and use it to try out calling on the iPhone to make sure it works.



Thoughts and advice welcome but know the following, I will not just switch from Verizon to AT&T. I have several confirmed instances of terrible coverage with AT&T in my area and my cell phone is my only phone. There is no landline backup. My plan is to make sure it works for a couple months and then switch over if the coverage is good enough.



If it isn't, I'll be that much closer to having something like the Pre show up on Verizon. If it doesn't work out, I can still use it like an iPod touch or sell it off again. I'm not willing to do the 30 day trial either because Apple charges a 20% restocking fee.



Thoughts and advice welcome...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    I sold my gently used 2G on eBay for $200 within 3 hours of listing it ("buy it now"). So I would think that for a full length auction, it ought to fetch at least $250.

    My experience was that it just worked ... even with a couple of little dents in the aluminum shell (I'm not afraid to drop my phone when it needs it!)... so appearances shouldn't matter so long as the screen is clean.

    If you're going to use it in cellular data mode, I'd really go for the 3G... now that I'm no longer using EDGE, I realize just how slow it really was!



    A jailbroken phone can be "Restore"ed in iTunes to its original state.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    mac voyermac voyer Posts: 1,294member
    Perhaps I missed something; why are you not looking for a 3G iPhone instead of a 2G? As for jailbreaking, I would get one that is set with a clean OS from Apple then do your own jailbreaking. I am not personally a part of the jailbreak culture, but I have heard of some problems with some forms of jailbreaking with some version of the OS on the 2G iPhone. My point is, unless you are sure of the particulars, you could be getting something that is not so easy to manage as you may think. As for call quality, go to a few stores that sell them and pop your sim in the display model. I think that will allow you to make calls. Buying an older iPhone for signal test purposes on a jailbroken OS seems to be high risk. You might also check out Howard Forums and see what other iPhone users in your area have to say. Just some food for thought. Good luck.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    The Great Experiment Has Begun!







    There it is! A new for me, iPhone 2G/8GB that I got through Craigslist for $180. There it is sitting next to my LG Dare. I received a pretty thorough list for checking it over at Howard Forums, but thanks for the suggestions here as well. We tried it out with SIMS from T-mobile and AT&T. I went through the checklist and afterwards took the phone to the nearest T-mobile store where I purchased a pre-paid SIM. On the way home I made a few calls and sent myself a few texts (SMS not MMS yet) and so far all is well.



    I've synced it with my iTunes account just fine as well. Amazingly I thought of 8 gigs as a good size and now like most probably wish I had gone larger. Oh well, at least I'll be making the mistake with plenty of resale value and no contract.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    The early 2G iphones had very lousy cell reception. I had an early 8gig 2G, and my newer 16gig 2g blows it away in terms of cell reception. I have to go outside with my old phone, the new one can receive calls inside. Hopefully you got a newer 8g, rather than the earlier one.



    The model number on my good version is A1203, I paid $450 for it (mint, unlocked) on ebay two months ago or so.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post


    The early 2G iphones had very lousy cell reception. I had an early 8gig 2G, and my newer 16gig 2g blows it away in terms of cell reception. I have to go outside with my old phone, the new one can receive calls inside. Hopefully you got a newer 8g, rather than the earlier one.



    The model number on my good version is A1203, I paid $450 for it (mint, unlocked) on ebay two months ago or so.



    I know what the serial number is and if there is a way to check it, I'd be happy to do so. So far the reception has been pretty decent but that is on T-mobile.



    I've also gotten MMS to work and WOW, is it slow. A 63k message took several seconds. I'm not sure if this is due to the network speed or the iPhone hack taking additional time to realize it needs to reduce the photo size to get it to go through.



    At least it works for now though which is more than most iPhone owners can say. As an aside, the battery is terrible.
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