[olePigeon]

I didn't see a cellphone forum, so I'm posting here.

OK, so I have the chance to buy a brand new Treo 650 for $350. Problem is that it's a locked to Verizon for CDMA. My dad's buddy at his cell phone shop does on-the-side Unlocking of cell phones.

If anyone here has experience with cell phones, can I get a SIM from AT&T, unlock the Treo, upload the AT&T ROM update (from PalmOne's site), then use my AT&T SIM and start dialing?

At $350 for a new Treo 650, I really don't wanna pass this up.

I guess, more importantly, does anyone here know if the Treo 650 uses a SIM card regardless if it's branded for a CDMA or GMS cell carrier?

[the_glassman]

I'm pretty sure you are out of luck. I was just researching this recently myself as my old phone has a SIM card and was a GSM (with T-Mobil) phone and I've been looking at moving to Verizon or Cingular.
Does it even have a place for the SIM card?

Man I thought I was update and understood technology, but with all these competing standards and different features, merging and everything else going on it's hard for me to keep up.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally Posted by olePigeon

I guess, more importantly, does anyone here know if the Treo 650 uses a SIM card regardless if it's branded for a CDMA or GMS cell carrier?

No, it is like asking if a Powermac 6500 will take an AGP Radeon 9800

The two technologies are not compatible, the phone hardware is not made for both.
They must make two versions of the phone and I doubt its easy to switch out the parts inside to make it into the other. Maybe that's why its cheap, almost everyone is moving GSM networks.

[ThinkInsane]

Captain Obvious is right I believe. You can't switch a CDMA phone to GSM or visa versa. They aren't compatible technologies.

For cell phone questions, I would recommend you check out Howard Forums. Its a great cell phone resource.

[olePigeon]

Damn it. OK.

[cjrivera]

I recently purchased a Verizon Treo 650 from Verizon and love it.

I used the treocentral boards (http://discussion.treocentral.com/index.php?styleid=1) to research the purchase. They also have a Mac forum for Treo/Mac discussions.

But I would agree with the others who have posted, you can't switch it over.

[olePigeon]

I was doing a little research. CDMA/TDMA are used in 3G devices for broadband via cell. Verizon is also offering Wireless DSL over their cell phones, which use CDMA.

So I'm thinking of going ahead and getting it cuz my AT&T plan ends in 2 months anyway. I'll use some cheapo $10 phone for 2 months, get the Palm, then roll my phone number over to Verizon and use mah Palm. Then when Verizon offers the wireless internet, I might get that. It's $40/month on top of a cell plan of $40 or more. So it comes out to $80/month. But to have DSL speeds anywhere in Verizon coverage would be cool. Just use the BlueTooth with my PowerBook and I'm up.

[ThinkInsane]

I've been using Verizon for going on 12 years now, from back when it was Frontier Cellular, and I've always been happy with their service and customer support. The only draw back to them is their weak selection of phones, and the raping they try and give you on Get It Now, a stupid service that prompted Verizon to cripple the bluetooth on their very limited selection of bluetooth phones. Their coverage area rocks. In the last couple of years, I can't think of a time that I've been completely without service.

[olePigeon]

OK, I got a new AT&T branded Treo 650 for $400. Looks like a good deal. The cheapest I could find it other places was $500.