[Potatochip]

Hey, so i am new to the forums obviously, and i am looking at getting a blackberry soon after winning my fight with telus about their contract changes (long story short they canceled my contract without a fee) So now i have a basic fido phone and am looking at picking up a blackberry, it would be second hand so an unlocked one and i am curious about this PIN business. What exactly does the PIN do and how can i check if its clean? And any other tips on checkin out a blackberry thats been used already? Also im in canada if that means anything and am looking at grabbin the pearl due to its cheap price point (go for like 100 on craigslist). Any reason to get a different model?

[afropoika]

Howdy brother,

A PIN number is a unique identifier of a BlackBerry device and it needs to be free/available to be registered on a network, otherwise you can't get a BlackBerry data plan. I personally wouldn't buy from craigslist, rather use eBay so you can dispute the transaction via PayPal if necessary. The Pearl is a fine BlackBerry, I had the 8110, but is a bit limited compared to the current generation in that it has only 64MB device memory and won't get the OS 5.0 update. Golden rule: never buy anything from someone who supplies too little information. Ask for the status of the PIN, what the VendorID is et cetera; stuff that only a true BlackBerryist knows

If you need further help feel free to ask. Welcome to CrackBerry!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[dcrider1]

How do you find or figure out if the pin is good to use?

[itsdollar]

PIN or ESN?

[framos242]

Welcome...

[dcrider1]

PIN or ESN?

explain please.... dumb newbie here lol

[Potatochip]

Thanks for the nice response Shinkodachi, when you say a blackberry data plan do you mean the specific ones carriers market, or can i still pick up just a 500mb data plan? And following up with DCrider1 is there a way to check the PIN? And i have a simcard so i shouldnt need to worry about any esn stuff right? Another question the Storm with telus, its a cdma phone but can be unlocked to go with a gsm carrier?? I apologize for all these questions!!

[dcrider1]

Thanks for the nice response Shinkodachi, when you say a blackberry data plan do you mean the specific ones carriers market, or can i still pick up just a 500mb data plan? And following up with DCrider1 is there a way to check the PIN? And i have a simcard so i shouldnt need to worry about any esn stuff right? Another question the Storm with telus, its a cdma phone but can be unlocked to go with a gsm carrier?? I apologize for all these questions!!

We have the same pains buddy. All trees were once twigs though.

[Potatochip]

Haha yea, im just doin all this to try to avoid signing another contract, would rather shell out 100-300 for a blackberry and be able to switch it when i want, or should i say when i can afford to, the life of a student sucks!

[afropoika]

Hello,

Yes I mean the specific plans. You can use a BlackBerry without one or with a generic plan, in this case you do not need to worry about the PIN but eitherway the functionality will be drastically limited (no push e-mail or instant messaging for instance, but many 3rd party apps work fine with a generic plan). There is a way of checking the PIN, log onto the BIS of the carrier and try to register a new account wit the provided PIN; it'll either say the PIN is in use or unregistered. Since we are talking of GSM devices, yes you won't need to worry about ESN (this is for CDMA devices). Storm is a hybrid GSM/CDMA device and the GSM part was originally implemented to use the phone abroad (when roaming), but in fact it can be unlocked and used primarily on the GSM network. If the storm was CDMA only, you would not due to technical reasons use the device on your GSM carrier.

You're welcome

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[dcrider1]

I come from the same place.

[dcrider1]

Hello,

Yes I mean the specific plans. You can use a BlackBerry without one or with a generic plan, in this case you do not need to worry about the PIN but eitherway the functionality will be drastically limited (no push e-mail or instant messaging for instance, but many 3rd party apps work fine with a generic plan). There is a way of checking the PIN, log onto the BIS of the carrier and try to register a new account wit the provided PIN; it'll either say the PIN is in use or unregistered. Since we are talking of GSM devices, yes you won't need to worry about ESN (this is for CDMA devices). Storm is a hybrid GSM/CDMA device and the GSM part was originally implemented to use the phone abroad (when roaming), but in fact it can be unlocked and used primarily on the GSM network. If the storm was CDMA only, you would not due to technical reasons use the device on your GSM carrier.

You're welcome

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Thanks from me also. I will have to try to figure this out, lots of terms to figure out.

[afropoika]

hahah I'm a student too

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Potatochip]

Awesome thanks for helpin me out shinkodachi

[afropoika]

No problem my friend, I'm here to help

I see you are on a tight budget, but if you can name me the absolute maximum you could pay including shipping, I could look around on eBay for something good. I personally started with a low end BlackBerry and slowly upgraded to better models, but going straight to a high end device is no problem.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Potatochip]

My budget all depends on when my work switches pay from weekly to biweekly and if i get a raise this week so ill give a number later on

[afropoika]

My budget all depends on when my work switches pay from weekly to biweekly and if i get a raise this week so ill give a number later on

Best of luck, feel free to PM me later if you wish.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[bitblaster]

I have some stuff to throw in:

I've bought 2 blackberrys on eBay, one used, and one new (a pearl).

I got a new pearl for around $100 on eBay.

[dcrider1]

Hello,

Yes I mean the specific plans. You can use a BlackBerry without one or with a generic plan, in this case you do not need to worry about the PIN but eitherway the functionality will be drastically limited (no push e-mail or instant messaging for instance, but many 3rd party apps work fine with a generic plan). There is a way of checking the PIN, log onto the BIS of the carrier and try to register a new account wit the provided PIN; it'll either say the PIN is in use or unregistered. Since we are talking of GSM devices, yes you won't need to worry about ESN (this is for CDMA devices). Storm is a hybrid GSM/CDMA device and the GSM part was originally implemented to use the phone abroad (when roaming), but in fact it can be unlocked and used primarily on the GSM network. If the storm was CDMA only, you would not due to technical reasons use the device on your GSM carrier.

You're welcome

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

What is BIS of the carrier? I obtained a storm for verizon but will be using it on tmo. How would I make sure this phone is good before doing the changes to make it work on tmo?

[Potatochip]

So i went to send you a PM seems like i am 4 posts short in order to send a PM, is it acceptable if i just make a few bumper posts to get me to 10 or is that going to get me banned on the forums (which i dont want if i get a blackberry!)