HTC Touch Pro

August 26, 2009 8:45 AM

Questions about HTC Raphael phones...

My goal: I have AT&T, want to upgrade my phone and NOT renew my contract.

My interest: HTC Raphael, HTC Touch Pro, HTC PPC 6850, HTC XV6850, HTC Touch Pro T7272.

Question: Are those phones the exact same thing??! Or is it just cosmetics that differ? In other words, if I buy the Sprint version of the phone, can I unlock it and use it with AT&T, even with customized ROM? Or do I need to purchase a specific one of these?

Side notes: any suggestions on where I can get unlocked phones for cheap? Or suggestions on a phone that's about as good as this one?

posted by Zeker to technology (7 comments total)

FYI:

Main reason for my upgrade... I just learned that I have A.D.D. and want something to help keep me organized. :)
posted by Zeker at 8:57 AM on August 26

Short answer: No.

With the specific example you cite, Sprint is CDMA and AT&T is GSM. These are completely different networks and very incompatible, down to the fact that one (GSM) requires SIM cards and the other doesn't.

Make sure that the phone you buy uses 850 MHz and 1900 MHz, as those are ostensibly the bands AT&T uses. But even if you have a quad-band phone that supports Sprint and AT&Ts bands, you'll need to ensure that the phone supports GSM and a SIM card, since the SIM is how you program the phone with your number and network identification on a GSM phone; it's done differently (straight into the phone) on CDMA.

That said, any T-Mobile phone should work on AT&T, but you WILL EXPERIENCE TROUBLE WITH 3G, as they both utilize different 3G bands. (Read: iPhone 3G; works on TMO, but without 3G.)
posted by disillusioned at 9:01 AM on August 26 [2 favorites has favorites]

There's two versions of these phones, one for Sprint/CDMA, and one for AT&T/GSM (and other carriers who share those network protocols, of course). The boards over at ppcgeeks can tell you all sorts of info on both versions, and that's where I go when I'm wondering something about mine (the CDMA version).

Since a good number of folks will be upgrading to the Touch Pro 2, you'll probably find a lot of Touch Pros available on boards like that one, on ebay, or even possibly at the cell phone stores as refurbs.
posted by Pufferish at 10:30 AM on August 26

So do any of you guys recommend buying now (for approx $449)? Or should I wait or just get something else?
posted by Zeker at 11:10 AM on August 26

Winmo seems to work well on this phone especially with the upgraded rom, but the android phones (like the Hero) look enticing as well...
posted by Zeker at 11:11 AM on August 26

I wouldn't buy one at that price right now, but I've never regretted buying mine. I would think/hope that some careful shopping could get you one of these at least $150 cheaper in the next few weeks (given the Touch Pro 2's imminent availability).
posted by Pufferish at 2:48 PM on August 26

update: I'm actually typing this on my touch pro :D got it off ebay used for about 190 and so far it's un-freakin-believably sweet with the energy rom. thanks for the help guys... in short, my network is gsm so i stuck to gsm ready... att's fuze (their name for the touch pro). thanks for the help ;)
posted by Zeker at 8:38 PM on October 3