We finally caved and got cell phones. Unfortunately, AdoptaDaughter washed one in the washing machine today and it doesn’t work anymore.
I took the chip out and put it in my phone, called the corresponding phone # and it rang my phone, so it’s safe to assume the chip is still good?
To replace this, will it be as simple as buying a new phone from Cingular and dropping the chip in?
Is there a way to do this cheaper than buying through Cingular? I Googled the phone model # and saw a phrase about a phone being “locked”. What does that mean?
Any GSM phone with one of the US GSM frequences, 850 MHz and 1900 MHz, will work with your SIM card and service. Avoid phones without the 850 MHz band, though, since that is Cingular’s primary band and you may experience limited service with a phone that only has the 1900 MHz band.
Phones with the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz bands in addition to 850 MHz or 1900 MHz bands are sometimes called “world phones,” since they work overseas. Most cell phones have some sort of this capability.
A phone with neither the 850 MHz nor the 1900 MHz band will not work at all in the US.
Locked means that the cell phone has been configured to operate only with a certain carrier’s SIM card, i.e., the carrier the phone has been locked to. Phones can be unlocked, but you will probably want to stick to unlocked phones or phones locked to Cingular, rather than have to go to the trouble of unlocking another carrier’s phone.