My roomate had the Blackberry Pearl with T-Mobile service. Today he switched to Verison and got a new phone. I'd like to buy his Blackberry from him and use it with my Cingular service, but I wondering if it'd work.
(I currently using the Sony Ericsson W810I as my phone)

I know Cingular offers the Blackberry Pearl as a phone for their service, but I wasn't sure if I could use it because my roomate's is set up with T-Mobile.

Basically Im wondering if anyone could help give me some insight on what I'd need to do to use his Blackberry with my Cingular service.

Thanks!

 

You would have to get a 3rd party to "unlock" your phone. This will enable you to put any carriers SIM chip into the phone. Once that is done, you will have to download the various email settings from Cingular's site.

Good luck

 

This is going to sound really stupid....but how/where do I get a 3rd party to "unlock" the phone??

 

Just it and you will find numerous sites out there that will send you the unlock code and instructions for a fee.

BUYER BEWARE: Not all sites are legit.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/sponsored-sales-group-buys-10/unlock-any-phone-cdma-gsm-360316/

 

I'm suprised raheel isn't here yet. raheel does it for $10-15 plus shipping.

 

I forgot about Raheel. Send Raheel and PM and he should take care of you.

 

Ok, thanks for the help! I started googling and found a Blackberry Messageboard that talked me through it. I actually ended up calling T-Mobile and they sent me the unlock code. Now the phone is unlocked and my SIM works. I just have to download all the Cingular settings and set up the entire phone with my contacts/calender/etc.

Thanks Again!

 

Soo the BlackBerry is unlocked and my SIM works in the phone. I just keep getting error messages saying it cant hook up to the internet. At one point, it woudnt let me make any phone calls. (There's still some "bugs" that I have to work out)...anyone have any suggestions that may help? I'm going to try to call Cingular tech support...but I fear once they hear its a T-mobile phone, they wont be much help. ..

 

go to www.howardforums.com they will have all the cell phone/blackberry info you could ever want/need

 

Like Ctlgo said go to howard forums, you will have to manually set the data settings to the Pearl, There might be a way to flash the whole phone with a cingular flash, so everything looks and works like the Cingular Brand

 

Soo the phone is working...but I've run into one major problem. On my current Cingular phone, I have a data plan for $20 where I can send some 3000 texts and can use the internet for a specific period of time per month. (I only use the internet to check the weather/movie times/ etc.)

Cingular told me if I use the Blackberry, I have to get their Blackberry Data plan which is $49.99...(which will allow me to use the internet/send picture messages)
I cant justify spending $30 more just to be able to use the internet when I barily use it right now.

My question is, does anyone know anything about the B.B. Data plan? I've been told that $49.99 is wayyy high and it should be less than that. Can anyone help?

 

I think that is the correct price based on the website, or you can get the Blackberry unlimited plan for 44.99

Details: "BlackBerry combines Web browsing, wireless email, text messaging, calendar, contacts, tasks and phone calls in an easy-to-use, light-weight handheld for virtually all communication needs. View attachments sent in Microsoft® Excel, PowerPoint and Word; Adobe Acrobat®; HTML; Corel®.

Get wireless email and real-time updates to your calendar while on the road. BlackBerry uses push technology, so you don't have to worry about synchronizing. Your BlackBerry receives email and appointments when you have network coverage. Best of all, your data is protected with encryption."

Hope that helps