Will it work?

My service provider is Cingular and I am looking to upgrade my old Nokia 6230 (a great phone in its time) to something newer and better. What is offered by Cingular leaves a lot of room for improvement...so I am thinking of just buying an unlocked phone from a different source.

The phone that I really like is the SonyEricsson K800i...which is the cousin of the 790a but with 3G and a dual camera.

The problem is that K800 is not a "us phone" and only works on
GSM 900
GSM 1800
GSM 1900
UMTS

I realize that I would need a 3G sim, which I would buy from Cingular. But would it then work well? Have good coverage in most areas that I have coverage now? Will all the apps work?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My service provider is Cingular and I am looking to upgrade my old Nokia 6230 (a great phone in its time) to something newer and better. What is offered by Cingular leaves a lot of room for improvement...so I am thinking of just buying an unlocked phone from a different source.

The phone that I really like is the SonyEricsson K800i...which is the cousin of the 790a but with 3G and a dual camera.

The problem is that K800 is not a "us phone" and only works on
GSM 900
GSM 1800
GSM 1900
UMTS

I realize that I would need a 3G sim, which I would buy from Cingular. But would it then work well? Have good coverage in most areas that I have coverage now? Will all the apps work?

Thank you in advance for your help!

You will be able to use the 1900MHz frequency but you will not have good coverage. The other thing is that Cingular does not support the 2100 MHz for UMTS

Cingular does support UMTS, depending upon where you live. You can check out their website for the coverage area. They call it "3G". If you aren't covered by 3G, then the phone will still work, just using EDGE or GPRS for data and 1900 MHz for voice.

Also, you will likely have to update the text, multimedia, and internet settings so that they are compatible with Cingular's network. Those settings are available at Cingular's website as well.

While Cingular does support UMTS/HSDPA, it only supports the 850/1900 Bands. The 2100 band is used overseas (pretty much the whole world except the US). Some Cingular phones have the 2100 band but it's only used for overseas travel.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

While Cingular does support UMTS/HSDPA, it only supports the 850/1900 Bands. The 2100 band is used overseas (pretty much the whole world except the US). Some Cingular phones have the 2100 band but it's only used for overseas travel.

This is correct...As far as the coverage goes...anything covered under 850 frequency you will not be able to use...which, depending on where you live...may not matter at all. Most towers are pushing more than frequency to pick up all the phones out there. Missing the 850 band may hurt you a little bit regarding coverage...but would it be worth it for the phone?

We are talking about possibly a 20% decrease in coverage for GMS but 90% better coverage in a UMTS area

you would need to get the phone unlocked first from who ever youre buying it from, even at that cingular doesnt guarantee that any of their services will work on it especially internet service, also you would need to be in an area that supports 3G because alot dont, its only in major metropolitan areas

Cingular uses mainly the 850 band they are weeding out the 1900 band so any phone with out the 850 band is not worth the money

[midnightfox00]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Cingular uses mainly the 850 band they are weeding out the 1900 band so any phone with out the 850 band is not worth the money

This is highly inaccurate...cingular is actually trying to weed out the lower frequencies...mainly because the higher frequencies have less density and travel further...

in retrospect...they are trying to week out everything and go with UMTS w/ HSDPA which is their newest technology...so....yeah