Options / Security Options / General Settings / Menu / Wipe Handheld will take it back to the factory out of the box configuration. You will lose all personal info on the device, so be sure that you have a backup.
Your carrier uses CDMA, there is no unlocking required to change carriers. It is up to the carrier to accept a device they do not support on their network.
If they will approve your device, you can port the existing number, or get a new number.
I have wiped my handheld twice now, using the description you posted, each time my email addresses and BB contacts stay intact, so I don't believe it is going back to out of the box settings, and my camera problems still aren't solved, so is there another option to do a master reset?
If your personal info is still there, you haven't wiped it. Were you prompted to enter the word "BlackBerry"? What camera problem are you attempting to solve? It may not be necessary to wipe your device. Have you rebooted by removing the battery with the phone on? Leave it out for a few seconds, then put it back. When the phone reboots, your camera issue may be resolved.
Perhaps this is a silly question. If I do a wipe on my BlackBerry, will it still know its phone number and PIN or is that something that gets reinstalled from a backup restore?
