[fenrisswolf]

I recently got myself a pearl, and I have been wondering:

What do I "gain" by unlocking my pearl? Other than the ability to temporarily switch to a cheaper carrier if I travel abroad? (Any Themes, un-crippled applications, or better usability in general?)
I'm in the US, using Tmo, BTW.

I will probably go to tmo in 3 months and have them unlock it anyway, just for the principle of the thing, but it'd be neat if there was some cool "extras" that I'd gain for doing it.

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by fenrisswolf

What do I "gain" by unlocking my pearl? Other than the ability to temporarily switch to a cheaper carrier if I travel abroad?

It typically increases the resale value of your handset if it is unlocked.
Other than that, there's nothing "special" you gain other than being able to use a foreign SIM in the device.
It's not like discovering a secret hidden mushroom level in Super Mario Brothers or anything.

[fenrisswolf]

Cool. Thank you!

Glad to know there are no crippled phone issues similar to verizon's version of the RZOR

[cenner]

I also want to unlock my phone. Any suggestions on where I can get it done?

[NJBlackBerry]

Use one of the commerical unlockers (like GSMPhoneSource) or one of the sponsors here.

[david_uk]

Have I missed something here?

BBs are not like ordinary cell phones because you need a Data Plan to use their messaging functionality. That's why you don't see unlocked BBs in retail or on Expansys.

So, I buy an "unlocked" BB on eBay, I have the original operator branding on device and software, I mess around re-installing the OS, new themes etc, then always wonder if it's going to work as intended.

And if I travel, what's the benefit of installing a foreign SIM? No operator will give me a BB Data Plan without a contract, so I'm limited to voice and SMS. And I lose my messaging - hang on, isn't that the whole point?

I bought into the BB dream because I want an end-to-end solution, not just a smart phone. And, apart from, er, last Tuesday, it works pretty well. Why screw it up?

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by david_uk

Have I missed something here?

Yes, you have.
Unlocking your BB doesn't "screw anything up". It gives you the convenience of being able to use a foreign SIM card in your device while travelling. This is a BIG advantage for many users because the cost of making phone calls from your device is much less when using a local SIM card in the country you happen to be travelling in. There's no roaming charges to deal with.
Yes, you're limited to SMS and voice in most cases... which is perfectly fine for many people.

If you don't feel the need to use a foreign SIM for voice calls... then don't.
You can still roam with your current BB service and use your current SIM card. Your BB will work in most foreign countries exactly as it does in the US.

if you bought an unlocked BB thinking you'd get data features with a foreign SIM card, then you didn't do your homework.

[canonbomb1987]

I unlocked mine so that i can use it in Europe. It will be way cheaper to unlock the Pearl and take it over there than to buy a whole new phone.

[jschlitzer]

I travel worldwide for work and here's something some of you may not know. When you're in a different country using a different sim card, you don't retain any of the "data plan" functionality. Push email won't work, BB messenger won't work, etc... What I do is keep my T-Mobile sim card in my BB while traveling and my email works fine when my phone connects to local networks. I just don't use my BB to make calls cause it's incredibly expensive. I have an unlock RAZR that I use for my calls.

[dovebar27]

Originally Posted by fenrisswolf

I recently got myself a pearl, and I have been wondering:

What do I "gain" by unlocking my pearl? Other than the ability to temporarily switch to a cheaper carrier if I travel abroad? (Any Themes, un-crippled applications, or better usability in general?)
I'm in the US, using Tmo, BTW.

I will probably go to tmo in 3 months and have them unlock it anyway, just for the principle of the thing, but it'd be neat if there was some cool "extras" that I'd gain for doing it.

I unlocked my Pearl because I'm going to be taking it to the Philippines with me next month. It'll allow me to either put my Filipino SIM card into my phone or let me roam on one of the two big Filipino GSM networks out there, "Smart" or "Globe," using my T-Mo SIM card.

SIM unlocking your phone isn't like finding Easter eggs on a DVD, though, sorry. :( You don't get any cool extras. Having a SIM unlocked phone just means that you have much more of a chance of taking your phone with you to another carrier if you choose to switch service at some point or another. For instance...if I ever get upset enough with T-Mobile to leave, I could get service with Cingular and pop in one of their SIM cards and I'd be good to go. But...that's not going to happen anytime soon. So far, I've been very pleased with my T-Mo service and intend to stay for a long time.

[natesel]

ok a noob question that pertains to unlocking. im probably going to get the verizon 8830 world blackberry. if i have the gsm portion unlocked will i have to reset my connection to the BES? or when i swap back to the verizon/vodaphone sim or back to cdma in the US will all my settings be there?

sorry if this was previously answered but i just stumbled ot this forum tonite.

[Bennett5000]

My Cingular BB 8100 works in Europe and Singapore without doing anything. Told Cingular to open access to all countries they support. Japan is a different story..

[Nde]

Originally Posted by Bennett5000

My Cingular BB 8100 works in Europe and Singapore without doing anything. Told Cingular to open access to all countries they support. Japan is a different story..

That would work as well but it's not unlocking. Like another poster here was saying, unlocking your enables you to use different sim cards. When I travel to Hong Kong for example, I pickup a sim card at the airport for couple US dollars, and it works great with the pearl only if it is unlocked. Good luck all.

[TexRob]

So here is my question. My wife and I are both on T-mobile, and we have been for over 6 months. We got our unlock codes, and unlocked both of our 8100s. The reason I did this is because we recently moved from Austin, TX to Raleigh, NC. There is no T-mobile in Raleigh, so you can't get a 919 number from T-Mobile. So I thought we could get out of our contract by telling T-mobile we moved (I don't want to, I love T-mobile, but we need 919 numbers) and needed 919 numbers. The plan was to just sign up for Cingular for us. Contract or pre-paid, those are the only two options? Why can't you just sign up for an open ended contract, where it behaves like a normal contract, you get a bill each month, etc, but you pay a little more? I don't get why they have numbers for plans, for say $89.99 79.99 with a contract, if there is no way to just pay the 89.99? Maybe I was right in thinking we could sign up for a contract we can get out of at anytime at no penalty, but this thread leads me to believe otherwise. Isn't there some sort of legality issue here, where they can't force people to sign contracts to get the same service if they bring their own phone? Seems like they shouldn't be able to trap people from a legal standpoint.

We want to have our options open, in case we decide to go with iPhones down the road.

[Perfect Storm]

Originally Posted by jschlitzer

I travel worldwide for work and here's something some of you may not know. When you're in a different country using a different sim card, you don't retain any of the "data plan" functionality. Push email won't work, BB messenger won't work, etc... What I do is keep my T-Mobile sim card in my BB while traveling and my email works fine when my phone connects to local networks. I just don't use my BB to make calls cause it's incredibly expensive. I have an unlock RAZR that I use for my calls.

This is actually not always true. It depends on the agreements carriers have between one another. Some have more partners than others.

Originally Posted by natesel

ok a noob question that pertains to unlocking. im probably going to get the verizon 8830 world blackberry. if i have the gsm portion unlocked will i have to reset my connection to the BES? or when i swap back to the verizon/vodaphone sim or back to cdma in the US will all my settings be there?

sorry if this was previously answered but i just stumbled ot this forum tonite.

I'm not really sure about the locking on world phones, but I do know that you won't have to reactivate through BES. BlackBerrys are identified by their unique ID (on GSM IMEI and PIN) rather than by phone number or carrier. Doesn't matter the carrier, it'll stay activated.

[tiburone9162003]

hi,anyone knows how to unlock the pearl?