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Hi,
I was wondering if anyone in Toronto area would know a place to buy the HTC Desire Z that isn't from Bell?
Or if it is from Bell, contains no Bell software (unbranded) and is unlocked?
I've been looking and haven't had any luck.
and has anyone noticed that Rogers is falling behind in the phone model area? Their phones are kind of getting outdated...
Thanks!
I uphave one unlocked with rogers....yeh there wayy behimd in terms of android. I suggest checking out kijiji.com or look at ebay or craigslist. If all else fails pm me and ill find you some online.
Sent from HTC Desire Z using XDA App
I purchased an unlocked/unbranded Desire Z on Ebay to use in the states on the AT&T network. It was a North American Version which had the correct 3G bands for ATT. Had a good seller and good experience but the phone was quite pricey. They go for anywhere between $550 and $650 US.
I would suggest buying it from Bell via FutureShop or BestBuy.
You don't have to get a plan if you do that, plus they offer their extended warranties which still cover you if you root the phone, etc (though you should still make it appear stock).
You can flash the official WWE ROM which is basically stock HTC Sense. It won't have the Bell apps, and you don't need to root or anything to flash the WWE ROM (I think). You just need to make a 'goldcard' which is just a specially formatted SD card.
rewen said:
I would suggest buying it from Bell via FutureShop or BestBuy.
You don't have to get a plan if you do that, plus they offer their extended warranties which still cover you if you root the phone, etc (though you should still make it appear stock).
You can flash the official WWE ROM which is basically stock HTC Sense. It won't have the Bell apps, and you don't need to root or anything to flash the WWE ROM (I think). You just need to make a 'goldcard' which is just a specially formatted SD card.
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Yeah I was gonna buy one from Bell, but I don't know any trustworthy sites I can buy the unlock code from, which was why I opened this thread, but anyone here know one?
Nighte said:
Yeah I was gonna buy one from Bell, but I don't know any trustworthy sites I can buy the unlock code from, which was why I opened this thread, but anyone here know one?
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Be careful, because G2 owners have found big problems when they unlock their phones, like not being able to connect to any network after that
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=835673
Cellunlock.net with the code bbrocks50 for half price. You can find the phone listed a couple different ways. Either by first looking up htc or by first looking up bell. One is chapter than the other. I paid 15.
Zero issues unlocking. I think the issues are limited to g2.
I'm unlocked with Telus currently..and I used HTCsimUnlowNow.com. Seemed to work fine..the only thing was it was initially $15, but then I had to send them another $10 (after paying the 15) because of the Bell carrier or some excuse. So far i've had no problems..and i'm even able to use my BB data plan with the HTC despite Telus telling me it most likely wouldnt work lol.
I was wondering if I'm able to remove Bell's software using a program (TitaniumBackup, for example) or do I have to go through that whole process of flashing this and that to unbrand it?
And how bothersome is the Bell software?
..Although I'm gonna do it anyway but I don't have time right now to mod the phone.
You need root and it takes a lot of time to do it with titanium. It's easier to flash the wwe rom. But the apps aren't too annoying. The lack of htc locations is annoying
To elaborate on my last msg (which I wrote in a rush)..
It's more painful and takes longer to remove the apps manually as you need to root and then use Titanium's force remove method, one by one, which reboots the phone each time and takes forever.
Alternatively you could root and then S-OFF and delete those apps with the root file manager.
Or, the easiest/quickest way imho is to borrow/make a goldcard, download the euro HTC Sync, the WWE Rom, and run the ROM install program. It does the rest of the work for you
I was gonna go buy the phone today but Bell won't sell it unless I go on a plan.
I called up several different places, all the same reply, they won't let the phone go unless it's going out with a plan.
Does anyone know where I could buy it in and around Toronto?
Nighte said:
I was gonna go buy the phone today but Bell won't sell it unless I go on a plan.
I called up several different places, all the same reply, they won't let the phone go unless it's going out with a plan.
Does anyone know where I could buy it in and around Toronto?
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I asked at our local Best Buy (Oshawa) yesterday and they said they can sell the phone without a plan, no problem.
I bought mine today, you can buy it at WirelessWave or Telephone booth for the retail price.
I did notice the timestamp on the text messages are incorrect though, does anyone else have this problem?
I bought mine brand new on ebay for $375, t-mobile branded.. paid $15 to unlock it.
I suggest watching for a cheap one on ebay, maybe even try to bargain with some sellers.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
I suggest not buying from bell, or anything that is compatible with bell, unless you need it for ATT US or in Australia. Reason is that they use the wrong frequencies for use in Canada and would lock you to ROBELUS (the old evil phone companies). The US version of the vision is better... still compatible with robbers, but also with the best things that have happened to telecommunications in canada.... ever.
It sounds like we should start an exchange:
T-Mobile/Wind compatible phones exchanged for Bell/Telus/Rogers/AT&T compatible phones...
I'm on AT&T and I'd love to find the Bell Desire Z for purchase at a reasonable price. All the prices I've seen are ~$650 but the phones retail price is $500. Maybe I'm just not used to Canadian taxes... can my Canadian brethren enlighten this ignorant American as to how much the phone would cost unsubsidized after taxes?
You can get them straight from Bell for $565, with tax (13% on 499.95). If you look on kijiji and CL you can get them anywhere from $400-$500.
I bought mine yesterday for $480, no tax, and factory unlocked. It was brand new and sealed and came with a receipt for the warranty.
A lot of people are fooled into paying $600-$650 for an unlocked phone because sellers try to tell them that it costs $80-$100 to unlock it. But if people would take the time to look they would find you can get it unlocked for $25.
MyNameIsWepeel said:
A lot of people are fooled into paying $600-$650 for an unlocked phone because sellers try to tell them that it costs $80-$100 to unlock it. But if people would take the time to look they would find you can get it unlocked for $25.
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You can get it locked for free now, thanks to the fantastic work of scotty. See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=857390
I'm on Rogers and I'm having a heck of a time trying to find out. Everyone wants to charge an arm and a leg. Trying to trade my Xperia X10 and some cash for a Desire Z.
[Q] purchased "unlocked" GSM gnex from ebay, yet locked. need help (t-mobile)
So I purchased this auction http://goo.gl/eErsT (ebay link) for a unlocked GSM gnex. Shipped from Hong Kong and came to me with factory seal intact.
I popped my T-Mobile USA sim card in and the phone worked until I restarted it, at which time it started asking for "SIM network unlock pin". I'ved talked to 3 people at T-Mobile, Samsung USA, Samsung CA, etc, no one can really help me figure out how to unlock the phone, or even tell me who the phone is locked to. I tried ordering from one of those sites that sell unlock codes, but honestly I do not know who the phone would be locked to so I'm not really confident in that.
I guess the first thing I need to find out is to figure out who the phone would be locked to. Any ideas?
(I rooted, unlocked bootloader, installed cyanogenmod 9 nightly to see if that let me around it, no luck).
Did you... contact the seller? They falsely advertised that the phone was fully unlocked. They should be sending you a new one IMO. The least they can do is hopefully tell you what network its locked to.
Contacted today, but eBay merchant based in Hong Kong so not sure when ill hear back or if they'll be any help. They do sell a ton of unlocked phones and have really good feedback so I kind of want to assume the phone truly isn't locked to another carrier.
Anyone else have an issue like this? Is there any way to get this code(or get around needinf it)without knowing who, if anyone, it is locked to?
Why wouldnt you just buy from negri or expansys if you went for a sealed box nexus anyway?
As far as i know all nexus are unlocked.
RogerPodacter said:
Why wouldnt you just buy from negri or expansys if you went for a sealed box nexus anyway?
As far as i know all nexus are unlocked.
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Some models (specifically the Japanese DoCoMo version) are actually locked.
Seem to have gotten it unlocked with a $25 code from http://www.cellunlocker.net/. Said he used the "manufacturer method" which was carrier independent. (funny because Samsung refused to acknowledge that they had the capability).
As to why I didn't buy it from one of the other retailers negri/expansys, this was 50-70 cheaper, came with 2day air shipping from hong kong and accessories, and he had a lot of good feedback with a ton of similar transactions... Not totally sure if the phone was even locked or if something weird happened.
Anyway, thanks for the responses.
Man, I've been having a bad week. First, I break my phone. Then, I search around for a replacement that LineageOS supports. LineageOS has Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ listed on their "Supported Devices" page. Great! So, I run off to T-Mobile and get an S9 for a replacement.
Unfortunately, now I find out that the T-Mobile S9 cannot be rooted! There goes the main reason I was buying it. What is fortunate, though, is that apparently T-Mobile will allow you to return phones within 14 days. (Although there might be a restocking fee. Boo.)
From all I've been able to find on XDA and other places on the web, as far as anybody knows, the T-Mobile S9 is unrootable, and it will remain unrootable for the foreseeable future. My next question is this: Which phone should I get to replace it? I'd like to get something with similar specs. Does the T-Mobile S10 have the same problems with rooting? What's the most root-friendly, modern phone?
(BTW, I am aware that not all S9s have this limitation, but I can't afford to pay full price for a phone right now.)
Your first mistake was running to a carrier for one of their phones.
Pretty much any US carrier branded phone is unrootable. That's one of their requirements from an OEM... a locked bootloader, to prevent someone from doing what you're trying to do.
They feel that if they are supporting it, they should control what's on it.
Your only real option is to buy a factory unlocked model. Meaning, not a carrier branded model.
fajrero said:
Man, I've been having a bad week. First, I break my phone. Then, I search around for a replacement that LineageOS supports. LineageOS has Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ listed on their "Supported Devices" page. Great! So, I run off to T-Mobile and get an S9 for a replacement.
Unfortunately, now I find out that the T-Mobile S9 cannot be rooted! There goes the main reason I was buying it. What is fortunate, though, is that apparently T-Mobile will allow you to return phones within 14 days. (Although there might be a restocking fee. Boo.)
From all I've been able to find on XDA and other places on the web, as far as anybody knows, the T-Mobile S9 is unrootable, and it will remain unrootable for the foreseeable future. My next question is this: Which phone should I get to replace it? I'd like to get something with similar specs. Does the T-Mobile S10 have the same problems with rooting? What's the most root-friendly, modern phone?
(BTW, I am aware that not all S9s have this limitation, but I can't afford to pay full price for a phone right now.)
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even if it is unrootable, cant you just flash another carriers firmware that is rootable and go from there? The hardware revisions arent vast and as long as youre flashing a version thats built for your processor type and if its for the regular one or the + model, you should be ok
No US carrier phone after the Samsung Galaxy S6 the bootloaders are locked so flashing another carrier wont do you any good. The only samsung phones that can be root are the international variants so you would want the 960f which will still work on tmobile i believe last i was aware of or the SM-G9650/SM-G9600 variant if you want snapdragon hardware.
But i dont think the SM-G9650/SM-G9600 has LOS though.
I am looking to get this phone and needed some advice. I haven't bought a cellular branded phone for a long while. I usually go with the USA Factory unlocked version. On this phone is the cellular named stamped on the back of the phone? I know the model for the USA Unlocked version is G820QM (with a 7 at the end at times) but it is honestly harder to find. What does everyone recommend on this phone in regards to getting the cellular branded one or should I keep trying to find the USA Unlocked version? What about bloatware with the different cellular branded ones? How is that? Can you get rid of the bloatware? I also like what I call the LG Branded ones as they get the updates faster do they not? Please help me. I am looking for a phone and this one stuck out at me unless someone suggests a different phone with similar specs to this one? Thanks so much! :good:
alias4ever said:
I am looking to get this phone and needed some advice. I haven't bought a cellular branded phone for a long while. I usually go with the USA Factory unlocked version. On this phone is the cellular named stamped on the back of the phone? I know the model for the USA Unlocked version is G820QM (with a 7 at the end at times) but it is honestly harder to find. What does everyone recommend on this phone in regards to getting the cellular branded one or should I keep trying to find the USA Unlocked version? What about bloatware with the different cellular branded ones? How is that? Can you get rid of the bloatware? I also like what I call the LG Branded ones as they get the updates faster do they not? Please help me. I am looking for a phone and this one stuck out at me unless someone suggests a different phone with similar specs to this one? Thanks so much! :good:
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Unsure where you're from, but stay away from the AT&T unlocked model (my model G820UM), I'm from the UK and ordered one, big mistake, AT&T does not send any update to their phones if they are not using an AT&T SIM card in the US, some users have been successful in updating they're OS, by just using a AT&T SIM card outside of the US, some haven't and I haven't tried it, because I don't want to waste more money on a SIM card when the results are not 100% guaranteed.
There is no way of cross flashing a different ROM, so you will be stuck without updates, until someone finds a way of cross flashing a ROM from an unlocked model. I'm checking this forum regularly hoping some has found a solution, but nothing so far
If you are in the US and on AT&T then it will fine, bloatware (which is a lot) can be removed/disabled easily
Honestly, for the price I paid (£280), I think the Xiaomi Mi9 would have been a better option, similar specs, updates every 2 months and you're able to unlock bootloader, not the best process to unlock the bootloader, but still possible (just need to wait for permission from Xiaomi which could take a few weeks), you'll be missing out on the best headphone jack, better cameras (not by much) and better battery life, for a similar price I think this is the best deal for snapdragon 855 phone.
If you don't mind paying a bit more and want the same features as the G8, go for the Samsung S10.
hugoprh said:
Unsure where you're from, but stay away from the AT&T unlocked model (my model G820UM), I'm from the UK and ordered one, big mistake, AT&T does not send any update to their phones if they are not using an AT&T SIM card in the US, some users have been successful in updating they're OS, by just using a AT&T SIM card outside of the US, some haven't and I haven't tried it, because I don't want to waste more money on a SIM card when the results are not 100% guaranteed.
.
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Have you tried updating after taking out the SIM card?
ChrisAG said:
Have you tried updating after taking out the SIM card?
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Yep no luck, I've sold the phone, I was wasting too much time trying to find a solution, so just sold it and claimed my sanity back xD
Going back to the trusty Xperia 5, timely updates and great software and they are going for around £260 so easily recommended.
That's too bad, AT&T must be interfering, because I just purchased an unlocked G8 in Canada, and it updated to 10 over WiFi, before I inserted a SIM from my carrier (Bell Mobility). Phone was not on Bell originally.
ChrisAG said:
That's too bad, AT&T must be interfering, because I just purchased an unlocked G8 in Canada, and it updated to 10 over WiFi, before I inserted a SIM from my carrier (Bell Mobility). Phone was not on Bell originally.
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Yep, this a AT&T "feature", want updates? Buy at AT&T SIM card and use it in the US, guess they don't want anyone outside the US to use their products, unsure why, but it is what it is...
hugoprh said:
Unsure where you're from, but stay away from the AT&T unlocked model (my model G820UM), I'm from the UK and ordered one, big mistake, AT&T does not send any update to their phones if they are not using an AT&T SIM card in the US, some users have been successful in updating they're OS, by just using a AT&T SIM card outside of the US, some haven't and I haven't tried it, because I don't want to waste more money on a SIM card when the results are not 100% guaranteed.
There is no way of cross flashing a different ROM, so you will be stuck without updates, until someone finds a way of cross flashing a ROM from an unlocked model. I'm checking this forum regularly hoping some has found a solution, but nothing so far
If you are in the US and on AT&T then it will fine, bloatware (which is a lot) can be removed/disabled easily
Honestly, for the price I paid (£280), I think the Xiaomi Mi9 would have been a better option, similar specs, updates every 2 months and you're able to unlock bootloader, not the best process to unlock the bootloader, but still possible (just need to wait for permission from Xiaomi which could take a few weeks), you'll be missing out on the best headphone jack, better cameras (not by much) and better battery life, for a similar price I think this is the best deal for snapdragon 855 phone.
If you don't mind paying a bit more and want the same features as the G8, go for the Samsung S10.
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Is 10 really that big a deal from 9? I have 9 on my phone i could care less if it gets 10 and I am pretty sure it wont , lol
I feel like if we have temp root then it's only a matter of time before we get TWRP and roms. I just picked up an AT&T model for $178. Not sure if it's unlocked, but fairly easy through AT&T. Just worried if we have an exploit, updating to 10 might invalidate it.
I come from PS3/xbox 360 hacking, haha.
I recently smashed my old device in my car trunk and needed to find a replacement. I was on AT&T running a OnePlus 8. A friend just bought a Galaxy S21 and had his old Verizon LG G7, stock, sitting around so he sold it to me for $60. I thought I had seen somewhere that it would work so I threw my SIM card in. Turns out it wasn't compatible and it suspended my SIM/account for use on AT&T which was a pain to fix. Before I try to either try to get a refund from him or sell it to someone else, is there anything I can do? I know I read some stuff about cross flashing to other carrier software but that some stuff doesn't work and may stop working when AT&T drops 3G HSPA+ support in 2022.