Bell Mobility: Lost cellphone, cancel contract or buy a new cell? - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Assorted · 05-08-2008, 09:19 AM

I've lost an HTC Touch (I was very satisfied with it), with a long way to go for the plan:

Option 1: Keeping the contract and plan, and to buy a new Touch/equivalent would cost $400+

Option 2: Canceling the contract (so I can start a new plan + new HTC Touch for $100) would cost $200 ~ $400, just for the cancellation, potential gain/loss of $100

Are these the only options I have? In addition, I would like to know:

1. Can I use a different cellphone and make it work with my Bell plan?

1a. If so, can I use it with those robot phones from Japan (or any other thirdparty cellphone for the matter)

2. Can I buy another HTC Touch second-hand and make it work with my Bell plan?

3. iPhones

Any possibility?

roastpuff · 05-08-2008, 10:37 AM

1. Yes.

1a. Very difficult and costly. Most likely will not be successful.

2. Yes, especially if it's a Bell Touch.

3. No. None whatsoever. Slimmer than the chance of you dating Alexandra Ambrosio.

Go trawl on Craigslist and/or Howardforums for a used CDMA Touch for sale.

BetaLyr · 05-08-2008, 10:31 PM

Make sure that the phone is unlocked first! (Bell Mobility uses SIM cards, right?)

It's possible to use an iPhone on your service plan (if your service provider uses SIM cards). You have to unlock the iPhone first (or get an unlocked one), which is perfectly legal, with a minor exception.

anubis404 · 05-09-2008, 01:18 AM

If you can find a hacked or unlocked iphone, then yes, there is a possibility.

roastpuff · 05-09-2008, 02:12 AM

Originally Posted by BetaLyr

Make sure that the phone is unlocked first! (Bell Mobility uses SIM cards, right?)

It's possible to use an iPhone on your service plan (if your service provider uses SIM cards). You have to unlock the iPhone first (or get an unlocked one), which is perfectly legal, with a minor exception.

Originally Posted by anubis404

If you can find a hacked or unlocked iphone, then yes, there is a possibility.

NO NO NO.

You are belaboring under the assumption that Bell Mobility is a GSM system that uses SIM cards. Wrong!

Bell is CDMA, and each phone has to be granted access and given a number manually by someone at Bell. No SIM cards to swap out, or "unlocking" a phone to use on the network. Bell will most likely not allow a phone that is not bought from them onto the network.

Since there is no such thing as a CDMA iPhone... no, you can't use iPhone on the Bell network.

anubis404 · 05-09-2008, 05:10 AM

Ah. I assumed that bell used sim cards, since I don't think I have ever heard of bell, unless you're talking about Pac Bell, which I doubt you are.

Oxyjin · 08-01-2008, 07:36 AM

I can't stand Bell mobility or Bell Canada for that matter! Do me a favor and switch over to rogers. I don't like the idea of not being able to use a SIM card. (Great for imported phones) Isn't Bells network a little to dated?

roastpuff · 08-01-2008, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by Oxyjin

I can't stand Bell mobility or Bell Canada for that matter! Do me a favor and switch over to rogers. I don't like the idea of not being able to use a SIM card. (Great for imported phones) Isn't Bells network a little to dated?

Unfortunately, Rogers being a monopoly... has hideous prices for GSM plans and suck customer service wise. I love my new phones and my Nokia N-series stuff, but I can't live with paying 50-60 dollars a month on my $30 plan because of hidden charges, insane overages and billing errors that continue on and on.

Bell's new EV-DO network is actually quite good and fast, though call quality is not as good as GSM. Coverage is excellent, especially out in the hinterlands. And their best offering is the $7 unlimited EV-DO data on the HTC Touch. Which is just plain awesome.