best deal on unlocked K800i PAYG?

pigeonpie

CPW, phones4u (etc) have the SE K800i for £70 (ok, less 1p!) but I've called and they are all locked on all networks. I'm with Voda but would prefer a phone not locked to Voda in case I leave them or use it in the EU with a local SIM.
Anyone know where I can get an unlocked one at this price (not ebay)?
Alternatively, what's the best/cheapest way to get it reliably and safely unlocked - I'm wary of warranty invalidation issues. £70 is still a lot of ££s :eek:

Is Amazon the best place to buy it upgraded memory (Sandisk etc) as think it comes with 64MB. I would be getting it for its camera basically as am tired of the lousy one on the K750i.

thanks for any help!

ianonline

pigeonpie wrote: »

CPW, phones4u (etc) have the SE K800i for £70 (ok, less 1p!) but I've called and they are all locked on all networks.

I think the official line is for them to say they're locked because the price of PAYG handsets is subsidised by the networks, and if you were to buy the same handset "sim-free" (ie officially unlocked) it would cost considerably more.

However, whilst they don't advertise the fact, I think a lot of retailers who sell the same handset on more than one PAYG network would generally supply you with an UNLOCKED handset as it's easier for them to bundle the handset with whatever simpack a customer requests rather than keep stocks of different versions of the same handset. This may not ALWAYS be the case, and I'm sure there'll be people on this forum who work for the aforementioned retailers who will be able to offer more detailed "insider info" about how it all works.

I'd suggest buying one over the internet (don't forget cashback - you get £10 from Quidco if you buy from Phones4u;) ) and then you can check it to see if it's unlocked and send it back if you're not happy. Alternatively, if you buy one locked to Vodafone, they will unlock it for free after you've owned the handset for a year.

Ian :cool:

pigeonpie

Suppose I could order online and return if it's locked as the websites don't say either way. CPW went to check and expressed surprise that they may well be locked to either Orange or Voda as normally their phones aren't locked. I could go to a CPW near me and check there with a diff SIM but do you know if their stores and their online store have the same stock?
I prefer ordering stuff online as there's less problems returning it if it's faulty or not quite as expected. Not sure I'd want to wait a year for an unlock !

Sid_Harper

go to a CPW and ask them if it's unlocked before you buy it - or ask to check it before paying up. A lot of their in-store stock is unlocked.

ianonline

Well I've just found this post in a mobile forum which seems to indicate that all/most K800i's tend to be branded with network specific firmware, so it's highly likely that they WILL be locked:
http://www.seuniverse.com/forums/showpost.php?p=25054&postcount=12

If you search the internet, you will see websites and forums which specialise in de-branding SE mobiles, including the K800i, so I think it must be common place for these to be branded and locked.

Ian :cool:

pigeonpie

wonder why it's just this phone? (of the sub £100 ones). I'm on a 30 day contract SIM only with Voda but don't suppose they'd sell me an unlocked one!

Kilty_2

ianonline wrote: »

Well I've just found this post in a mobile forum which seems to indicate that all/most K800i's tend to be branded with network specific firmware, so it's highly likely that they WILL be locked:
http://www.seuniverse.com/forums/showpost.php?p=25054&postcount=12

If you search the internet, you will see websites and forums which specialise in de-branding SE mobiles, including the K800i, so I think it must be common place for these to be branded and locked.

Ian :cool:

I bought a K800i from CPW - in a retail store not online and "on o2".

It's unlocked and unbranded and the salesman told me this when I tried to negotiate a deal like o2 were offering themselves. He actually said "we sell unlocked stock so I can't match what o2 are offering you".

Welliesorter

ianonline wrote: »

If you search the internet, you will see websites and forums which specialise in de-branding SE mobiles, including the K800i, so I think it must be common place for these to be branded and locked.:cool:

One word of warning. Removing a network's branding doesn't have the effect of unlocking the phone.

I have one of these on T-Mobile and used Wotan server to flash the firmware. I did this to fix a problem with Java midlets. I chose the unbranded version and found that, in the case of T-Mobile, there's actually very little difference. I've seen one on Orange and it looks very different; even the icons on the menu are non-standard.

If you're thinking of going for a K800i, bear in mind that it suffers from the same flaw as most SonyEricsson phones. After a year or so, the joystick gets clogged up with dust and becomes temperamental. Also, bear in mind that there's now an improved version (the K810i) with a better lens cover, and one with a 5 megapixel camera (the K850i). Not sure if anyone is offering these on pay-as-you-go yet.

Apart from the joystick issue, it's a superb phone. The camera isn't quite good enough to replace a proper one but you won't be kicking yourself if you spot a photo opportunity and you've got nothing else to use.

indierocker85

I have been filled with suspicion surrounding this topic, that many phones will be actually be "unlockable" so the network has the security of knowing that the user has to stay with them. But this is just me

kevinn13

You can unlock the K800 and all new Sonyericsson with the original cable for only £8.80 per phone.

The service is called ultimate unlocker I did mine and my daughters k800i fine.

the link is

http://www.ultimateunlocker.co.uk

Kev