A question for the cell phone gurus
 

So a few days ago I had my cellphone stolen. Now, I'm going to purchase a new one, and I've been looking at some on Ebay. These "unlocked" phones, do you just take them down to your service carrier and they set you up to your current network? Will I be able to keep my old phone number? Also, these sim cards that the phones have, if I buy one without it, will I be able to get one from my carrier? Basically I just want to buy a phone cheaper than it would be from the carrier and have them put all my old info back with that phone. Thanks guys :)

i have read a few people that got screwed over from buying a phone on ebay... don't recall if it was this forum or on another... but they all had no recourse except to eat the cost of the sale.

The cell companies are not in the business of saving you money. They don't like phones they didn't supply. That's classic policy anyway. There are enterprising employees who do things under the table. Also, some companies have become more flexible given number portability and the competition it brings.

If you find an ex cell employee or other tech they can program most phones for most networks. If the phone uses a SIM card but it's missing, those can be purchased aftermarket. The trick is choosing the right phone for your network and finding a tech who can program it. Like Cynth said, plenty of scammers out there.

Simplest purchase would be to buy a phone on ebay that was already used for your provider. Providers then charge some activation fee for the 60seconds it takes to program it.

Now that I think about it, might be simpler still to take advantage of number portability. Change providers, and take them up on their free phone offer.

My family is signed up with cingular. My dad, sister and I were all on one plan. I just need to replace my phone, preferably with the same one because I have the computer connector and stuff already to download and retrieve stuff off my phone. =[

Also not to mention I love cingular and have had zero problems with their service.

I just purchased a replacement phone off of ebay. Plenty of choices. Some phones use a sim, some don't. Just stick with one that works on Cingular and you should be fine. BTW - I found a steal with buy it now. It was listed to expire in a few days and no one was paying any attention to it because everyone looks at auctions about to expire.