What to look for...

[winndl]

I'm sorry if there is a thread already to this question, but I've tried searching and haven't come up with much. Please point me in the right direction if need be.

I'm thinking of traiding an older laptop I have, for a 32GB iPhone 3Gs, from a person on craigslist who is "moving out of state".
What should I look for to keep from being "taken"?

I have bought and sold on Craigslist before, so its not the transaction part I'm leary of, just what to look for on the phone itself. Like if it's been jailbroken, or tampered with internally, what numbers should I look for on the back, that sort of thing. I won't be jailbraking it. Does it need to be unlocked?

I'm hoping I can just put my current 3G sim card in it and sync it on my computer and everything will be good. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[Behshad]

Id say sell your laptop and use the money to buy a 3Gs for $99 this July

 

[lungho]

1. Make sure the guy shows proof of ownership. The phone could be stolen.
2. Get a receipt showing a bill of sale/trade.
3. You can't unlock without jailbreaking. And you only need to unlock if you are going to use the phone on a different network then it was intended for.
4. If the phone is updated, it's possible that you won't even be able to unlock it anyway.
5. The more I think about it, the more this deal stinks.

I like Beshad's advice. Sell the laptop and use the money to buy a 3Gs later this year. You can't put a price on peace of mind.

 

[Jellotime91]

Or buy an iPhone G4 instead of a 3GS this summer?

 

[winndl]

I'm only concidering it because the laptop I'm giving up is a HP zd7000, that I never use anyway. It's in great shape, but I've gone all Apple, iMac, MacBook pro... And I have an iPad 3G on order (hope it shows up Friday).
How could I know if it's stolen? The AT&T store is just down the road. Could I call them with a serial number or something?
Am I right, that I should be able to swap my current sim card and be good to go, if the phone is legit?

 

[lungho]

I'm not totally sure about swapping SIMs. From my own experience, the guy at the AT&T store gave me a brand new SIM when I upgraded from a Motorola Razr to the iPhone. He said it was required but I didn't ask him any specifics as to why.

You can take the phone to an AT&T store and they should be able to tell you if it's stolen or not. If there is an easier way to do this, I don't know what it is if it exists. Heck, for all you know, he might be trying to sell you a cheap Chinese knock-off.

If this guy hesitates for a second about jumping through all of these hoops, walk away from the deal.

 

[winndl]

It's actually an older lady. I kind of feel like i'm ripping her.
I will check it out thoroughly first.
I think my plan will be to give her something like my drivers license to hold while I go to the AT&T store and get it checked out. If she qwabbles about that, the deals off.

Thanks for the input, y'all.

 

[suitebliss]

That was going to be my suggestion for the two of you to go into the AT&T store together. I purchased two phones off craigslist and as far as the serial # is concerned I'm not sure that AT&T cares because the iphone doesn't have insurance plans. I just took my earring off slid it in the sim slot hole and inserted my sim card and I was good to go.

I'm new with AT&T, so I'm not sure how the deal with the serial #'s and stuff.

 

[winndl]

I just thought of another question...
Does iTunes recognise the sim card or the iPhone itself? If this turns out to be a good deal, will I have to resync all of my info manually or can i use the backup in iTunes?

 

[peanutgallery]

I just thought of another question...
Does iTunes recognise the sim card or the iPhone itself? If this turns out to be a good deal, will I have to resync all of my info manually or can i use the backup in iTunes?

iTunes will recognize the iPhone itself I believe.

If I were you I'd back up your current 3g and then when you get the 3gs you can 'restore' it using the 3g back up. At least I think you'll be able to use the 3g back up on the 3gs...but I could be way off.

 

[Jellotime91]

iTunes will recognize the iPhone itself I believe.

If I were you I'd back up your current 3g and then when you get the 3gs you can 'restore' it using the 3g back up. At least I think you'll be able to use the 3g back up on the 3gs...but I could be way off.

No you're right, You can restore the 3GS from the 3G backup.

 

[winndl]

Everything worked out great and I got the 32Gig 3Gs. I had AT&T check it out first. I feel pretty lucky, and the lady was happy with the computer as well. I restored it, when I got it home, put in the sim from my 3G and restored it from back up and its all good. Thanks for the input.