i want to break my phone

May 2, 2006 4:36 PM

Anything wrong with getting a Sidekick I from eBay to hold me off until the Sidekick III comes out? [ext]

So, my current phone is dying and I don't like the service, etc. etc. and my contract is set to expire. I've settled on a Sidekick, and there's been lots of chatter indicating that the Sidekick III is in immininent release, likely before the end of summer. Rather than shell out for a soon to be extinct Sidekick II, I was wondering if there's any serious disadvantage, problem, hitch, etc. to getting a Sidekick I off of eBay for $50 and signing up with TMob tomorrow?

And please, let's not this digress into a "Sidekick sux0rz, get a Treo you n00b!!1" thread... (=

posted by whatitis to Technology (9 answers total)

This sounds like a good move; $50 is a decent price for an sk1. The main thing you will lose on that, versus the sk2, is the javascript support in the browser. I have it turned off anyway, because it causes more problems for me that it solves.

FWIW, I work for Danger, so I'm biased :-)
posted by autojack at 4:56 PM on May 2, 2006

Response by poster: i'm noticing that lots of these do not come with sim cards... required? how much do they cost?
posted by whatitis at 5:24 PM on May 2, 2006

I seem to recall that when the Sidekick 2 came out the providers allowed people to upgrade from 1 -> 2 for about $100 bucks so you might want to keep that in mind.

Maybe people around here know more about it as I didn't have a sidekick at the time.

Autojack, wanna hook a programmer up with a dev licence? =)
posted by cbushko at 5:26 PM on May 2, 2006

You will need a SIM but should be able to get one from your wireless provider. You could just take it out of the phone you're using now, of course.

Before taking the plunge check that the device is either coded to your provider's network, or else "unlocked" (able to be used with a SIM card from any provider). Note many places will unlock phones for you, in case you do end up with one locked to the wrong network. But it should be trivial to find one that is either for TMobile, or else unlocked.

Also make sure TMobile will sell you a data plan that will work with a sidekick, without actually buying the sidekick from them.

If you don't get any clear answers here, check out howardforums.com, which has discussion forums on hiptops and also for the specific provider you are interested in. Usually a good place to get info.
posted by drmarcj at 6:06 PM on May 2, 2006

The device is most likely a T-mobile Sidekick, almost no other providers sell them in any significant quantity (yet :). You do not have to buy the device from TMO to use it with them, just bring it to a store and they will set you up with service, including the special Sidekick data plan. You'll get a SIM and be good to go.

The upgrade from Sidekick 1 to 2 was offered at $200, not $100.
posted by autojack at 10:39 PM on May 2, 2006

Cbushko: My email is in my profile, if you want to get in touch re: development licensing and whatnot.
posted by autojack at 10:41 PM on May 2, 2006

I have a never used Sidekick I that is collecting dust; contact me at [e-mail] if you'd like to buy it for cheeapo.
posted by saffron at 11:36 PM on May 2, 2006

One problem would be that the Sidekick I would break internally if you looked at it crosseyed. When I owned one, I had to send it in multiple times to be replaced. From what I have read, I am not the only one that had to do so. All this is a real shame, because I enjoyed it quite a bit when it worked. Caveat Emptor.
posted by jeditanuki at 6:06 AM on May 3, 2006

The Sidekick II is no better. Bought it for $350 new and replaced it 3 times at $70 a pop each time. I finally said enough is enough. And just went back to my old N-Gage.

My advice buy a used TREO 600.
posted by Dreamghost at 9:03 AM on May 3, 2006