How to buy a Torch in Europe?

Hi there,

can anyone tell me the safest way to buy a Blackberry Torch in Europe. I live in Belgium and I already called some telco's here and they keep telling me that they have no clue on the release date yet.
So I started browsing the internet, in particular Ebay sites. There are several big sellers offering Torches at pretty high prices. But the price isn't the problem. It's the place of origin that bothers me. A lot of the sellers say that the product will be shipped from Hong Kong. Is it safe to buy a Torch from sellers like these?
Is there another possibility to buy a (unlocked) Torch in Belgium? I'm aware of the fact that the Belgian telco's aren't up to date regarding OS6, but mail, social feed and all the other cool stuff will probably work, I assume...

I'm open for suggestions or any help.

Thanks!

G.

Try vodaphone they have stores in europe

I would suggest that you either buy through a good seller on ebay that is in the uk or google "Torch 9800 sim free" and you will see a list of companies in the UK that will be selling as unlocked. If you can wait until the end of this month more will be available as vodafone will have them from 24th September and o2 4th October.
When this happens more will released to the UK market and the prices will come down.

If you cant wait you can import from USA but you will probably pay import taxes we do here in the UK, and the phone will either locked to AT & T or unlocked but it will still have the bloatware. Its only my personal opinion, but i would always have the factory unlocked version. Hope this helps, any more questions let me know

I leave in France. I suggest you wait until Oct 4th, it will be available to UK and Belgium with AZERTY keyboard. Pre-orders are already possible but I saw 595 Euros in UK and 619 Euros in Belgium !!!

Originally Posted by Cancunlover

Hi there,

Is there another possibility to buy a (unlocked) Torch in Belgium?
G.

Hey, I'm selling one! It's unlocked, unbranded, unused. I live in the Netherlands not too far away from you. PM me if you're interested!

Hmmmm, I think I'm gonna wait just a little longer then... When you guys say it will be available soon.
Vodafone shops in europe aren't hard to find, but will they sell an UNLOCKED Torch? I have my doubts...
Anyway, as I said, I'll wait some more.
Thanks for your advice!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Originally Posted by jacmeister68

If you cant wait you can import from USA but you will probably pay import taxes we do here in the UK, and the phone will either locked to AT & T or unlocked but it will still have the bloatware.

I paid 20 quid import tax...

oh and carriers dont bloatware the OS. If things have been installed on the phone before purchase, then the phone can be simply wiped. The base OS does not have anything installed and carriers only have the ability to push shortcuts to you (when youre on their network) which take up no space at all..

AT&T have one thing Ive found on my torch which is the AT&T address book which after selecting the regular blackberry contacts list as your address book on first run, is bypassed completely. Beyond that, its exctaly the same as every other UK blackberry ive had.

to the OP: I used a guy on ebay called Techno Trader. Shipping was fast (48 hours), the phone was reasonably priced and already unlocked... has worked like a dream since i bought it!