[lhl]

I'm new to the Blackberry world, but I have my eyes set on the 8100. (Short of having Python and UMTS/HSDPA support, it's my perfect phone; I can live with the SureType for the for the form factor)

I'm able to get an unlocked T-Mobile 8100... Since T-Mobile's connectivity is pretty crap where I live and work, I'd like to put this phone on Cingular.

So, since I am a BB connectivity noob, my questions are:

Will I be able to use my 8100 on a Cingular BIS data plan?
Has anyone done this yet/already or know authoritatively whether it'll work?
What are the possible gotchas if there are issues?
Is this a situation similar to when other BB's (say the 71xx series) was released on different carriers? What happened with those?

I am in SFBay (Peninsula, Silicon Valley) if that makes any difference to these questions.

[edittman1]

Well, I work for Cingular and plan to do the same. I just haven't figured out how i'm going to get the device yet, especially an unlocked one! BB's seem to be fairly tricky to get unlocked at first. THen, most places charge like $40 to unlock them..

If you want, we can try my Cingular sim in the phone and we'll know right away if the BB BIS service will in fact work.

However, I'm pretty confident that adjusting the settings in the phone won't be a problem if it doesn't work right away. In fact, I'm willing to bet it works no problem once unlocked.

How much are you paying for yours? Who is unlocking it?

[lhl]

My brother works for a very large mobile distributor and has lots of dealer contacts. Apparently they do unlocking all the time, so it's basically not a problem.

I haven't confirmed a price yet, but I'm willing to pay a full undiscounted price if I need to. I'll be paying for contract termination fees for Sprint as well, but I'm completely exasperated by my PPC-6700 WM5 device, and I'm pretty over my Treo. Both have problems I'm not willing to live with anymore (unresponsiveness, POS OS's)

(I also was looking pretty closely at the latest Nokia N series, like the N73 but S60v3's new Python signing policies make it pretty much moot and having 3G UMTS but on the wrong band is just plain mean.)

[Boy Genius]

8100 works great on Cingular

[mobilecontrol]

Is there an unlocking clip for the 8700 series and 8100 series yet?

[Pizzle]

Huh?

[mobilecontrol]

Originally Posted by Pizzle

Huh?

A clip that generates the unlock code for each BB device based on its IMEI. It's how all of the old BB's are unlocked. I have one that was $299, but it only unlocks all BB's up to the 7100 series and I have yet to see a clip available to the general public that can unlock 8700/8100.

[Bristol]

Boygenius seems to say that the device does not come locked and thus works almost out of the box on a Cingular SIM. Is this correct? Did you have to enter the Cingular TCP settings to get it to work? Anything else?

[Boy Genius]

Almost all pre-production units are unlocked, retail units that are carrier branded are almost 100% locked to said carrier

[Bristol]

Any idea when and who might be able to unlock it? I know there are services (I would be willing to pay), but what's the lag time from when a device is released until somebody can do this? Any idea if this is a software (give them the IMEI and they give you the code) or hardware (gotta plug it in to something) unlock?

[mobilecontrol]

Originally Posted by Bristol

Any idea when and who might be able to unlock it? I know there are services (I would be willing to pay), but what's the lag time from when a device is released until somebody can do this? Any idea if this is a software (give them the IMEI and they give you the code) or hardware (gotta plug it in to something) unlock?

Service providers can unlock them. T-Mobile will unlock if you've been with the company for 90 days, but I have no idea how they are doing it with the 8700g. I haven't seen an unlock clip for the 8700 series anywhere online and no company that unlocks BB's other than the service provider seems to be able to do it.

[Pizzle]

Folks, believe me when I say that using a TMo 8100 on Cingular, for the time being, is not going to be worth the trouble.

A) Tmo won't unlock it for you. You're a Cingular customer.
B) Cingular can't unlock it for you, because it's not their device.
C) 3rd party unlockers, like GSM Phone Source, won't have the ability to unlock the phones for at least the 90 exclusivity, or whatever it is.

Bottom line...

If you're on Cingular, there are few options other than waiting for them to release their own. Ways around that are unbelievably rare.

[mobilecontrol]

Originally Posted by Pizzle

Folks, believe me when I say that using a TMo 8100 on Cingular, for the time being, is not going to be worth the trouble.

A) Tmo won't unlock it for you. You're a Cingular customer.
B) Cingular can't unlock it for you, because it's not their device.
C) 3rd party unlockers, like GSM Phone Source, won't have the ability to unlock the phones for at least the 90 exclusivity, or whatever it is.

Bottom line...

If you're on Cingular, there are few options other than waiting for them to release their own. Ways around that are unbelievably rare.

Not to mention's Cingular's data plans are off the wall insane for the cost...

[paulbblc]

Originally Posted by mobilecontrol

Not to mention's Cingular's data plans are off the wall insane for the cost...

They were. Not so much anymore. Far more worse out there.

I can't believe I'm defending Cingular....

[Bristol]

I hope you are wrong about the unlocking. GSM phone source has a service to unlock any T-Mobile BB including the 8700g, so presumably they will be able to handle the 8100 as soon as it arrives. But who knows whether BB has some way to stop them during the exclusivity period...

[Postalrecon]

Originally Posted by Bristol

I hope you are wrong about the unlocking. GSM phone source has a service to unlock any T-Mobile BB including the 8700g, so presumably they will be able to handle the 8100 as soon as it arrives. But who knows whether BB has some way to stop them during the exclusivity period...

Bristol: i wouldnt count on that

As for crazy data costs, cingular has gone down a bit, VZW and Nextel, and Alltel still charge 50 bucks a month for BIS, sans a 5 dollar discount for using it with a voice plan

[Pizzle]

A) Don't turn this into a "this carrier is better than that carrier" thread. Not the point of this topic. The question originally was "could you unlock a Tmo 8100 and use it on Cingular". Don't turn this into a "Cingular sucks...just switch" thread.

B) Bristol: I'm not wrong. If you look at the history, it takes weeks and months before an unlocking service has the ability to provide unlocking codes. Sure, they can unlock any Tmo BB NOW...but when the 8700g came out, no unlocking codes could be had for a couple of months at least. It takes time before they can be released.

[mobilecontrol]

BIG NOTE HERE: I am not 100% sure about GSM Phone Source, but, I've contacted so many places who CLAIM ON THEIR WEBSITE to be able to unlock 8700's...then when you call them they say they can't.

[Bristol]

Bummer. The truth hurts. But thanks to those offering facts about unlocking. I used Tmo for years on BB, but the voice coverage never allowed me to have a single device. Now on Cingular with the 7130c it seems to work for me most of the time. But I also have a Q for when I need Verizon's coverage. I much prefer the 7130 form factor and overall operation, but the voice recognition makes me want the 8100.

Out of curiousity, does anybody know much about the Samsung T719, which is a clamshell BB device? I have seen specs, but there is not enough out there to understand its navigation controls or software limitations compared to the 8100. It may be out in unlocked form very soon.

[Pizzle]

GSM Phone Source can, and does. There are quite a few folks on the forums here that have had theirs unlocked by them.