[sorrownbliss]

EMERGENCY!!! I NEED TO KNOW THIS WITHIN 2 WEEKS!!!!!!

I apologize... but I feel really dumb about this... but I must ask! So I will just get to the point. I understand there's this whole unlocking and locking and SIM card junk that exists, but I am still very uninformed in this realm of cell service talk and such. But the matter is, I was wondering, is there absolutely ANY possibility that I get a cellphone, that's... say... the LG Chocolate, and want to use it with the T-Mobile service (which does not carry this phone)???

Is there any way that I can go about changing the service providers or say buying the cellphone off the official site or something and then bring it to a Tmobile spot & get them to activate it for me or something? I just don't understand all of this & I was wondering if anyone could thoroughly explain it to me? I need the literal steps that you'd have to go through, if this is a possibility, and the costs involved... But thank you so much for your time all!

[Shukumi]

I'll try to help you with the best of my knowledge.

First off:
Yes, you can indeed use a phone such as the LG Chocolate with a cell phone service provider such as T-Mobile. However, the phone must be unlocked in order for you to be able to use it.

Now:
An unlocked phone is a phone that will work with any SIM Card that is inserted into it.
A locked phone is generally any phone you get from the official store itself, and will only work with that specific company's SIM card.
So, if you buy a phone at the T-Mobile store itself, most likely that it will be locked and will only work with T-Mobile SIM cards. SIM Cards from other companies such as Cingular will not be compatible with your phone.
And just for basics, a SIM Card is generally that tiny little card that is inserted behind the phone's battery. It basically just stores all your phone's data.

Now onto the LG Chocolate:
The LG Chocolate is originally a locked CDMA phone provided by Verizon. What this means is that the phone is built to run on Verizon's network.
The problem with this is that because Verizon uses CDMA technology, it does not use SIM cards. I believe another company that runs on CDMA as well is Sprint.
If you use T-Mobile or Cingular, you are required to use your SIM card in order for your phone to work.
Now, to be able to use the LG Chocolate on T-Mobile's network, you'll need the GSM version of the phone, which means you'll need the unlocked version.
You can get the unlocked version from many different sites, some such as Ebay or LaLa-West.
Assuming you already have a T-Mobile phone with their service, once you have bought the Unlocked LG Chocolate, just reach under your original phone's battery for your SIM Card, insert it into your new LG Chocolate, and it should work work fine :3

[sphynkter]

^ yes, as the above poster said, you need to buy the unlocked gsm version of the phone for it to work with t-mobile. you are looking to buy the korean version and not the verizon version right? if you for some reason are in love with the way the verizon one is designed then you're out of luck.

[hiien]

yeah. you can use the LG Chocolate with T-Mobile service or Cingular. it's the imported version. it's not that different compare to the verizon version. and it costs around $270 or so.
if you already have a service with tmobile, just buy the phone by itself and insert your own sim card in and use it. you can buy it from any phone store or from the internet, whichever you like. once you get it, you dont need to go to a tmobile store to activate it or anything. simply put the sim card in, charge for around 10 hours for first time charging then use it.
if you dont have a service already, go to a phone store, sign up for a plan and you get the discount for the phone. like you only need to pay 70 or so for the phone.

[ktown]

howardforums.com is a good place to find what u need