Help how do you buy/activate a used phone?

[Murf1]

I have Virgin Mobile. So if I wanted to buy a used phone and find one that is the same model that is on the VM site - does it have to been using VM as the carrier before?

Can I take the SIM card out of my F3 and put in it?

Some say "Clean ESN" - what does that mean? One I saw on ebay said "It has an ESN that Virgin Mobile says is linked to another account so it will not be able to be linked to an account." So what good would a phone like that be?

I do not want to have to root or do any tweaking to make it work. I want to know what my options/requirements are to by a used phone and simple activate it to use it on the VM network.

thanks,

 

[daffyducknj]

I have Virgin Mobile. So if I wanted to buy a used phone and find one that is the same model that is on the VM site - does it have to been using VM as the carrier before?

Can I take the SIM card out of my F3 and put in it?

Some say "Clean ESN" - what does that mean? One I saw on ebay said "It has an ESN that Virgin Mobile says is linked to another account so it will not be able to be linked to an account." So what good would a phone like that be?

I do not want to have to root or do any tweaking to make it work. I want to know what my options/requirements are to by a used phone and simple activate it to use it on the VM network.

thanks,

If it's a used phone, chances are that you can use it on your VM account. Just enter the ESN and UICC numbers to activate on your account. "Clean ESN" means it isn't attached to any account, thus the phone is unactivated and can be ported to another account. No rooting is required to make this happen.

The SIM card on the F3 really isn't a SIM card, it's a UICC card. Read more here: What is a UICC and how is it different from a SIM card? | Just Ask Gemalto

 

[Murf1]

Does it have to specifically been for Virgin Mobile? Or will a refurbished phone from the Sprint site work?

 

[daffyducknj]

Does it have to specifically been for Virgin Mobile? Or will a refurbished phone from the Sprint site work?

Yes, it must be a VM phone. No other phone will work, unless it's rooted, is a CDMA phone and can at least take VM's PRLs. But that's a hassle, so why bother? Besides, most used VM phones can be had for a decent sum.

Well, okay, not all.

The higher end VM phones can still command relatively high prices, like an iPhone or S3/S5 (unless heavily abused/rooted). I can't imagine someone giving up an S5 so quickly... LOL

 

[Murf1]

I was thinking more about the Samsung S3. It has more memory than this phone and is one that VM has slated to update to KitKat.

BUT, now that I look at the Phandroid S3 forum, it looks like they are saying the KitKat update messes with the SD card access and so maybe you can no longer put apps there without root. So 1 of my main reasons (besides larger screen) for wanting it just went away.

Well maybe, I just remembered that the S3 I think has 16GB built in memory and that is plenty for what I would ever do with it. So maybe it would be ok. Just tossing around ideas in my head...

 

[chucksaysblah]

If it is a virgin mobile phone with a clean esn you can just go to the vm website and do the swap phone. dopesnt matter if it is new or used it will work. Sprint phones wont work unless you can flash them to the vm network. I wouldnt waste the cash I would buy the lg volt brand new from their website it is only 179 bucks!

 

[Murf1]

If it is a virgin mobile phone with a clean esn you can just go to the vm website and do the swap phone. dopesnt matter if it is new or used it will work. Sprint phones wont work unless you can flash them to the vm network. I wouldnt waste the cash I would buy the lg volt brand new from their website it is only 179 bucks!

I was looking at the Volt. I bought F3 when it 1st came out for around $160. I might get it when the price drops like the F3 has now. I also was looking at the Kyocera Hydro Vibe 4G LTE. Compared to Volt, it has .2 smaller screen and is not KitKat, but it has 1.5GB instead of 1GB on the volt.

 

[Kasenomateru]

Hmm I was also wondering about this. I wanted to know if it was possible to port a Verizon phone to virgin mobile I seen people do it with straight talk but idk about virgin mobile though

 

[aml1025]

Virgin Mobile has a "white list" of the MEIDs of all phones produced for use on their service. So, in order to get an outside (non -VM) phone to work, you would either need to get the MEID added to the list, or somehow give a phone an MEID that's already on the list. The former may be possible depending on your social engineering ability. I know the latter is possible, but I don't know the specifics of it. Either way, it seems a lot easier to buy a Virgin Mobile phone and be done with it.

 

[chucksaysblah]

I was looking at the Volt. I bought F3 when it 1st came out for around $160. I might get it when the price drops like the F3 has now. I also was looking at the Kyocera Hydro Vibe 4G LTE. Compared to Volt, it has .2 smaller screen and is not KitKat, but it has 1.5GB instead of 1GB on the volt.

I got my F3 on sale at radio shack for 69 bucks . It was a replacement for the p.o.s motorola triumph i had previously. Coming from that phone to this one is a huge step forward . I will wait till the volt drops in price at radio shack . Then i can trade mine in as I have the radio shack insurance. The insurance covers my current F3 up to the worth of the phone when I bought it which was 179 bucks! If you can get your virgin mobile phones at radio shack and pay the 20 bucks for the insurance it is free replacement for any reason!

 

[chucksaysblah]

just a matter of time beforee I am on a volt!

 

[Sinner67]

I was looking at the Volt. I bought F3 when it 1st came out for around $160. I might get it when the price drops like the F3 has now. I also was looking at the Kyocera Hydro Vibe 4G LTE. Compared to Volt, it has .2 smaller screen and is not KitKat, but it has 1.5GB instead of 1GB on the volt.

I will never buy another Kyocera phone again. I have had 2 that bricked. The bootloaders were locked and Kyocera said that VM never asked for them to be unlocked. With locked bootloaders, you cannot do nandroid backups, so when your phone bricks, that's it.

 

[daffyducknj]

I will never buy another Kyocera phone again. I have had 2 that bricked. The bootloaders were locked and Kyocera said that VM never asked for them to be unlocked. With locked bootloaders, you cannot do nandroid backups, so when your phone bricks, that's it.

I bricked my Rise last September. Got an Event after that. Bought my F3 mid April. I still have my Event, just in case my dad's Optimus Slider goes bust. His phone took on some condensation recently, and had to be partially taken apart to dry out. I was able to revive it, but my Event is ready and unrooted just in case. I still have my super duty V from 2011... currently toying with thekraven's SlimRom JB 4.1.2 ROM on it.

As it is, after a few years I'm still finding VM to be the best bang for your buck as far as decent prepaid service with a smartphone. Very few offer 2.5 GB of high speed data for $35. I am considering increasing my talk minutes to 1200 from 300. Even at $45, if I have to do that, it's not too bad for my budget.

 

[bkttk2]

I bricked my Rise last September. Got an Event after that. Bought my F3 mid April. I still have my Event, just in case my dad's Optimus Slider goes bust. His phone took on some condensation recently, and had to be partially taken apart to dry out. I was able to revive it, but my Event is ready and unrooted just in case. I still have my super duty V from 2011... currently toying with thekraven's SlimRom JB 4.1.2 ROM on it.

As it is, after a few years I'm still finding VM to be the best bang for your buck as far as decent prepaid service with a smartphone. Very few offer 2.5 GB of high speed data for $35. I am considering increasing my talk minutes to 1200 from 300. Even at $45, if I have to do that, it's not too bad for my budget.

I can always count on the Opt V. I keep it just in case my current phone has issues

 

[Murf1]

I will never buy another Kyocera phone again. I have had 2 that bricked. The bootloaders were locked and Kyocera said that VM never asked for them to be unlocked. With locked bootloaders, you cannot do nandroid backups, so when your phone bricks, that's it.

If I don't want to mess with the phone (Just keep it stock or Root, but nothing else), would you say that the Kyocera brand phones are decent quality hardware wise?

 

[daffyducknj]

If I don't want to mess with the phone (Just keep it stock or Root, but nothing else), would you say that the Kyocera brand phones are decent quality hardware wise?

I wouldn't use one stock. At the very least, root it and get rid of some of the bloatware (mostly some Google apps). Use a large SD card and Link2SD if you want to install lots of apps.

Hardware wise, they aren't too bad. My Event has a single core CPU @ 1 GHz. Runs some games just fine... tried Dead Trigger on it last month, after having my F3 for two weeks. Was surprised at how well that moved along.

Flash video runs OK as long as it isn't higher than 360 res. Other video files are OK as long as it isn't hi def.

Audio is decent, but leans on the upper mid - high side without an EQ. That's with a set of earbuds or headphones that don't have much bass response. I have some headphones and buds with enough bass to improve audio quality. The phone call quality does sound a bit like it's 'AutoTuned'.

Camera has no autofocus, maybe ones newer than the Event do. But they do have LED flash.

I think the newer Kyoceras have slightly faster CPUs and GPUs. Not sure if the CPUs are multi core. At least none of them are on VM USA, and maybe that's a good thing!

 

[chucksaysblah]

I wouldn't use one stock. At the very least, root it and get rid of some of the bloatware (mostly some Google apps). Use a large SD card and Link2SD if you want to install lots of apps.

Hardware wise, they aren't too bad. My Event has a single core CPU @ 1 GHz. Runs some games just fine... tried Dead Trigger on it last month, after having my F3 for two weeks. Was surprised at how well that moved along.

Flash video runs OK as long as it isn't higher than 360 res. Other video files are OK as long as it isn't hi def.

Audio is decent, but leans on the upper mid - high side without an EQ. That's with a set of earbuds or headphones that don't have much bass response. I have some headphones and buds with enough bass to improve audio quality. The phone call quality does sound a bit like it's 'AutoTuned'.

Camera has no autofocus, maybe ones newer than the Event do. But they do have LED flash.

I think the newer Kyoceras have slightly faster CPUs and GPUs. Not sure if the CPUs are multi core. At least none of them are on VM USA, and maybe that's a good thing!

The new hydro vibe is a quad core cpu!

 

[daffyducknj]

The new hydro vibe is a quad core cpu!

Ok, thanks for informing me.

Just looked at it. Has more internal memory, but the battery is weak. 2,000 mAh is a bit short for this phone. The CPU alone will eat at the battery fast. Still, fairly impressive for the CPU alone, but the LG Volt looks like a better value overall, even if that has slightly less memory and isn't waterproof. I'd imagine most users would be happy with a 3,000 mAh battery! Hardcore gamers would probably love the Vibe, I'll admit... esp. if it can be rooted.

 

[chucksaysblah]

Ok, thanks for informing me.

Just looked at it. Has more internal memory, but the battery is weak. 2,000 mAh is a bit short for this phone. The CPU alone will eat at the battery fast. Still, fairly impressive for the CPU alone, but the LG Volt looks like a better value overall, even if that has slightly less memory and isn't waterproof. I'd imagine most users would be happy with a 3,000 mAh battery! Hardcore gamers would probably love the Vibe, I'll admit... esp. if it can be rooted.

I will be going with the volt as soon as it goes on sale at radio shack!