Hi All,
- I am living in middle east (GSM networks GSM 900/1800) and planning to buy Motorola DROID 3 - 16GB - Black (Verizon) Smartphone from eBay. Will it be possible for me to use this phone in this part of the world?.
- · I understand that I will have to get the sim unlock code and I saw a vendor in ebay who provides the same. I hope that he will be able to provide me the unlock code. Please let me know if there is any known issues on this.
- · My other worry is on phone activation. Many vendors in ebay has listed their items as brand new not activated. Since I am planning to use it outside of US, does this activation required?. I hope that once I push my sim card , it will start working like any other GSM phone. Please correct me if my understanding is wrong.
- · Do I have to verify the ESN before I purchase the phone?. Someone told me that phones with bad esn will be cheaper than normal phones and we will be able to use it outside US. Please correct me if this info is wrong
I request you to kindly guide me on this. I am sorry for such a long post and for my bad English.
Thanks In advance,
VKS
Regarding Middle East - you are fine - GSM is quad band - has all world bands. If there is 3G on 2100 (Europe and Asia 3G frequency), you might get 3G as well.
As far as sim unlock code goes, the only confirmed unlocks so far have been from users who contacted Verizon Global support (had accounts in good standing/etc/etc). No one has reported yet successful D3 unlock with code provided by online unlocker. Given the bad track record with Droid 2 Global, it is quite likely Verizon did same with D3's and unlock codes online unlockers get will not work. If you feel you can play guinea pig and want to try - our community will be very thankful.
Phone activation is not necessary given the fact you get the phone SIM unlocked. Activation is required only if you plan to use the phone with Verizon. Activation screen upon initial boot can be easily bypassed by tapping in the 4 corners on the screen while the phone is showing the "Lets activate" screen.
ESN is irrelevant if you are not going to use the phone on Verizon. Again - very important - given the fact you can SIM unlock the phone without help from Verizon.
Few other things you should be aware. It is very likely, just like with D2G, Verizon has crippled some features that are necessary for using the phone with foreign SIM card - one of them is USSD codes - those short codes many operators have so you can check your balance, recharge your prepaid card/etc/etc. Another thing is call forwarding - you have no control over call forwarding with this phone unless you are using it on Verizon. 3rd thing some may find important - MMS - likely won't work if not used on Verizon.
I would recommend you to wait for Motorola XT860 4G - a phone which is already confirmed (coming to an operator in Canada) which is essentially the same phone as D3, but is pure GSM/UMTS phone and will be more suitable for the region you are planning to use it. Or eventually wait for the Euro/Asia bond model (Milestone 3?) which unfortunately is not yet confirmed or released, but I am pretty sure it will be.