Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 3Gs - Italy and Belgium - unlocked?

Phycoduck said:
hey all,

i took the plunge, and ordered a 32gb from handtec. lets hope i don't get screwed.

At the end of the day, i could had got it 50 pounds cheaper in italy... but i sent too long on trying to get one.

hopefully, this will be the end of it.

if anyone gets theirs from handtec... please let us know.

Duck
Click to expand...

hey duck i did the same lol... by the time I added all the extra costs it worked out a tiny bit cheaper to just get it here and wait

Hopefully when firmware 3.0.1 comes out this will resolve a lot of issues and then in 2 weeks I can sell my current locked O2 16gb 3GS
 
i did some more searching on handtec.

they are owned by a company called GPSK ltd, and their office is in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

they are a legit company.

lets see what happens in two weeks.
 
Hope I can sell my locked 3gs pretty quick after paying out for this one... might borrow my friends phone and sell mine sooner rather than later
 
hmmm guys lot of you pre-ordered from handtec... I believe they should pay for me cause I told you about it :p or I should get one free :D
 
samab said:
What planet are you on?

Everything you said is NOT TRUE.

The Belgium laws were struck down because of 2 cases went all the way to the European Court of Justice and Belgium lost both cases: one case is about a Belgium gas company was bundling "3 weeks of free towing insurance" when you buy gas to fill your car and the second case is about a Belgium magazine company was bundling coupons for discount for women's lingerie in their magazines. This is a country where bundling tennis balls with tennis rackets is illegal.

It has NOTHING to do with mobile phones. The rationale behind the strucking down of the law is that a million things will get cheaper in Belgium when they allow bundling. You geeks who live at home with your parents, who doesn't pay for food, who doesn't pay for rent, who doesn't pay for anything --- would worry about your mobile phone getting more expensive with contract bundling.
Click to expand...

You can keep you puerile insults to yourself next time thanks, not only are they unnecessary, but they're way wide of the mark and throw huge doubt on any validity in your post.

I can assure you that I am very close to this, but I'm no lawyer and don't follow the nitty-gritty. I know the potential impact in the telecoms sector because that's where I work.
 
Lycanthrope said:
You can keep you puerile insults to yourself next time thanks, not only are they unnecessary, but they're way wide of the mark and throw huge doubt on any validity in your post.

I can assure you that I am very close to this, but I'm no lawyer and don't follow the nitty-gritty. I know the potential impact in the telecoms sector because that's where I work.
Click to expand...

You can read the actual court cases before commenting --- those 2 cases have NOTHING to do with mobile phones. Just because you work in the telecom sector doesn't mean that your whole country's economy revolves around the telecom sector. This is the actual judgment by the European Court of Justice --- show me a single word that links the case to the telecom market:

http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=EN&Submit=Rechercher$docrequire=alldocs&numaff=C-261/07&datefs=&datefe=&nomusuel=&domaine=&mots=&resmax=100

You think that Finland's relaxation of their regulation is counter-productive --- then why is the Finland government extending the relaxation of their regulation?

Do you think that anti-consumer French market has anything to do with their actual telecom market --- where there are only 3 national mobile carriers, that all 3 are French-owned, that Vodafone and T-Mobile are not welcome as viable competition by the French government. No amount of government regulations forcing Apple to give up their iphone exclusivity and no amount of government regulation on when/how unlocking codes should be given --- will ever fix their already broken telecom market.
 
Phycoduck said:
i did some more searching on handtec.

they are owned by a company called GPSK ltd, and their office is in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

they are a legit company.

lets see what happens in two weeks.
Click to expand...

I agree, this is why i took the risk and ordered from them:

1) first impression reliable email, online and phone support.
2) Google checkout, ISIS certificates.
3) used my credit card to buy

so if the first two reasons failed :(, i hope the third will save my ass, if i was fooled :cool:

Beside the fact that up to now they offer the cheapest prices in the UK, even in compare to ebay. few pounds more expensive than Italy, but at least no need to travel and if any problem with phone, you have a UK company to argue with (an advantage if you are resident in the UK).
 
In Belgium now

Just to let people know, I arrived in Brussels yesterday(especially to get an iphone 3gs) and Im heading back to Ireland this evening and it looks like I will be empty handed.

I tried a load of Mobistars and a few other places such as Macline etc..same story everywhere..no stock

AH crap:(
 
cojomo2 said:
Just to let people know, I arrived in Brussels yesterday(especially to get an iphone 3gs) and Im heading back to Ireland this evening and it looks like I will be empty handed.

I tried a load of Mobistars and a few other places such as Macline etc..same story everywhere..no stock

AH crap:(
Click to expand...

But did you have a nice time otherwise?
 
Lycanthrope said:
They won't call - Belgium is much better than UK in a lot of areas, but customer care absolutely not, in this they are in the dark ages

I never ever rely on Belgian companies to call me back - why? Well because they just don't... Of course there are exceptions, but I tend to fall off my chair in suprise when this happens.

I put my name on the Mobistar list, did they call me? Did they f***
Click to expand...

i will try ringing around again on friday:)
 
cojomo2 said:
Just to let people know, I arrived in Brussels yesterday(especially to get an iphone 3gs) and Im heading back to Ireland this evening and it looks like I will be empty handed.

I tried a load of Mobistars and a few other places such as Macline etc..same story everywhere..no stock

AH crap:(
Click to expand...

Well that sucks I know how it feels when you go somewhere to get something and come back empty handed.

Did you at least try their beers? ;)
 
samab said:
You can read the actual court cases before commenting --- those 2 cases have NOTHING to do with mobile phones. Just because you work in the telecom sector doesn't mean that your whole country's economy revolves around the telecom sector. This is the actual judgment by the European Court of Justice --- show me a single word that links the case to the telecom market:

http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=EN&Submit=Rechercher$docrequire=alldocs&numaff=C-261/07&datefs=&datefe=&nomusuel=&domaine=&mots=&resmax=100

You think that Finland's relaxation of their regulation is counter-productive --- then why is the Finland government extending the relaxation of their regulation?

Do you think that anti-consumer French market has anything to do with their actual telecom market --- where there are only 3 national mobile carriers, that all 3 are French-owned, that Vodafone and T-Mobile are not welcome as viable competition by the French government. No amount of government regulations forcing Apple to give up their iphone exclusivity and no amount of government regulation on when/how unlocking codes should be given --- will ever fix their already broken telecom market.
Click to expand...

Who cares in this thread about the ins and outs of Belgian trade laws? The discussion was about whether Mobistar would lock the iPhones...

Of course the economy doesn't revolve around telecoms, it's just what's relevant right here.

I personally like the fact that in Belgium you're free to buy a handset without any contractual obligations. I'm lucky though, I can afford to buy high-end devices. However the average Belgian cannot afford, or isn't prepared to pay, and this has impacted greatly the uptake of 3G.

Belgian government (in isolation perhaps from EU), particularly minister Van Quickenborne, have been pushing for introducting a cross-subsidisation law quickly since last year.

The EU ruling, as I understand it, is being used as a precedent at least and you now see several resellers, www.phonehouse.be being the obvious one, bringing subsidised handsets to market. Previously the conditions imposed on the market by Belgian laws meant the opportunities to make these offers were very limited to specific conditions.
 
if anyone hears of any stock in Belgium

specifically Brussels, Leuven ,Antwerp areas....

please let me know .. :)
 
BTW there's a manufacture defect in the 3GS.

Atleast my Italy 3GS has it and inet is full of posts about this rattling sound which i heard when tapping the upside at the back of the phone (near the camera lens).
 
inf said:
BTW there's a manufacture defect in the 3GS.

Atleast my Italy 3GS has it and inet is full of posts about this rattling sound which i heard when tapping the upside at the back of the phone (near the camera lens).
Click to expand...

Isn't it established that the autofocus makes the rattle?

I even read in one thread that a guy took in to an Apple Genious who said so aswell.

Havn't kept myself too updated on the issue though.

Is it loud?
 
cojomo2 said:
Just to let people know, I arrived in Brussels yesterday(especially to get an iphone 3gs) and Im heading back to Ireland this evening and it looks like I will be empty handed.

I tried a load of Mobistars and a few other places such as Macline etc..same story everywhere..no stock

AH crap:(
Click to expand...

People (from Belgium) on this thread have repeatedly advised people to wait a week or two.

You fail :p
 
i still don't understand one thing, does Vodafone Italy also sell unlocked devices or only TIM?
 
boymature said:
Isn't it established that the autofocus makes the rattle?

I even read in one thread that a guy took in to an Apple Genious who said so aswell.

Havn't kept myself too updated on the issue though.

Is it loud?
Click to expand...

That does sound as an excuse. How would the rattle be made by the autofocus if the camera app isn't even running? And the noise is heard if you tap the backside of the phone with your fingers.

Apple Geniusis have also said that it's a manufacturing defect at the moment.
 
inf said:
That does sound as an excuse. How would the rattle be made by the autofocus if the camera app isn't even running? And the noise is heard if you tap the backside of the phone with your fingers.

Apple Geniusis have also said that it's a manufacturing defect at the moment.
Click to expand...

Hmm okay, well the only reason I can imagine is that the autofocus is a moving part, and maybe Apple did not give it a proper way to stay put when not activated. So yes, maybe a manufacturing problem, but nothing that does damage to the phone.

Otherwise, do you like the 3gs?
 
boymature said:
Hmm okay, well the only reason I can imagine is that the autofocus is a moving part, and maybe Apple did not give it a proper way to stay put when not activated. So yes, maybe a manufacturing problem, but nothing that does damage to the phone.

Otherwise, do you like the 3gs?
Click to expand...

yeah not much problem to me, because my phone is always protected by CandyShell, and i don't have a habit of tapping phones :)

i love my 3gs :) this is soooo smoooth compared to 3g
 
Lycanthrope said:
I personally like the fact that in Belgium you're free to buy a handset without any contractual obligations.
Click to expand...
I do too (except that I can't easily take advantage of that fact, not being near Belgium at the moment).

I don't have a problem with allowing subsidized handsets with contract or allowing handsets to be locked to a carrier. What I wish the US had is a requirement that, at a minimum, carriers could not refuse to unlock a handset after the contractual commitment is complete. (Even better would be a requirement that handsets be available unlocked and unsubsidized, but I'd accept the requirement that it be tied to a contract of no greater than 2 years.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back