Got a couple of questions about phones

[kgb424]

I own a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3, and it is a CDMA phone on Sprints CDMA network, My Sprint 2 year contract expires in Dec 2014, and I can get a upgrade of a Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 and they are both CDMA/GSM network phones, and they said if I get the upgrade after 90 days I can unlock the new phone and make it a GSM network only phone and use Sim cards when I go the Philippines. Is unlocking the phone to a GSM network only a good thing to do. Or is it better to use the Sprint International service on a CDMA phone and network. Or I should go to AT&T and buy a AT&T Samsung phone and AT&T service that are both GSM to begin with and unlock the phone to use different countries Sim cards. I been looking at unlocked GSM phones on Ebay that have clean numbers to get no contract service with any carrier, so that's a option too. I thought about one CDMA phone to use where I live and a GSM phone and just activate it before I travel, and I don't if that will work either cause Sprint is CDMA network, AT&T is GSM network, So how does it work when people travel to different countries. are they using GSM network phones or CDMA network phones with the International service, cause every one of the service carriers offers some sort International service options. and need some opinions on what the best setup.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by kgb424

I own a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3, and it is a CDMA phone on Sprints CDMA network, My Sprint 2 year contract expires in Dec 2014, and I can get a upgrade of a Samsung Galaxy S4 or S5 and they are both CDMA/GSM network phones, and they said if I get the upgrade after 90 days I can unlock the new phone and make it a GSM network only phone and use Sim cards when I go the Philippines. Is unlocking the phone to a GSM network only a good thing to do. Or is it better to use the Sprint International service on a CDMA phone and network. Or I should go to AT&T and buy a AT&T Samsung phone and AT&T service that are both GSM to begin with and unlock the phone to use different countries Sim cards. I been looking at unlocked GSM phones on Ebay that have clean numbers to get no contract service with any carrier, so that's a option too. I thought about one CDMA phone to use where I live and a GSM phone and just activate it before I travel, and I don't if that will work either cause Sprint is CDMA network, AT&T is GSM network, So how does it work when people travel to different countries. are they using GSM network phones or CDMA network phones with the International service, cause every one of the service carriers offers some sort International service options. and need some opinions on what the best setup.

From what I've read all US carriers and phones are going to GSM, Verizon is the main holdout and even they have been using SIM cards for couple years in their smartphones (I don't know about their regular phones). Seems like gsm on gsm network would be best, but google and read up on it.

CDMA vs. GSM: What's the Difference? | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

BYO phones: How to take your phone to another carrier and save money - WhistleOut

[kgb424]

Today I went to the AT&T store, and was told I would have too fulfill another two contract to upgrade phones or unlock one, I'm at that point right now with Sprint my 2 contract expires in December, I was offered a upgrade of a new Samsung S5 and the option to unlock the a new phone after 90 days, if you unlock a Sprint phone you can no longer use the Sprint network since it is CDMA, and unlocking the phone makes it a GSM phone only, so then I went to Sprint and was giving the phone number for there international service on a CDMA phone, I will look at Ebay again and see if I can find a Unlocked GSM and activate it before I travel and un-activate it when I come back from the Philippines. going to call Sprint international and see what they say

[Natedog]

Some companies are offering to buy out your existing contract, give you new phones, etc.

Switch Carriers without Early Termination Fees | No ETF's | T-Mobile

[fr8cture]

I'll be honest I don't think it is worth going another 2 years with sprint. Their service sucks. The two options I would consider is AT&T and Verizon. Verizon has great service in the US but AT&T has pretty good service and is also a GSM network. You couldn't make me get a phone with Sprint. Slowest network in the US.

[kgb424]

A little over 2 years ago, I was in Costco and wasn't even looking for a phone, when I saw the Samsung Galaxy S3 full retail was $600, but if you sign up right then there with Sprint thru Costco, I paid less $250 with a contract out the door and I own the phone it was a full retail phone and I have had the same phone the whole time and never had a problem with the phone or my service other than its not GSM so if I go to the Philippines I have a phone that works to save my ass in case of a emergency that and a lot of cash.

[kgb424]

I found and bought this Pebble Blue unlocked AT&T GSM Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini for $70 with free shipping, its used, every thing works, and too use it only for travel its the perfect size and a great deal to me, plus I already got a S3 so I'm familiar with the phone and don't go thru setting a brand new phone that I no clue of the special features, like the finger print reader on the Samsung Galaxy S5, nice feature but I would never need it, it nothing fancy but it will do the job and it was cheap, and I bought a extra used white Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3, that has lightly cracked glass and everything works for parts or trade in for $46 with free shipping I couldn't pass on it for that price.

[kgb424]

I got the glass screen in my primary S3, replaced which included a new CPU and the assembly and a new glass screen protective cover, that lays over the top of the screen and takes the impacts to the cover not the screen, so hope fully it doesn't crack again, I'll be honest I have drop my phone many times, but this time, it had to land that one time in a million tries on the screen just right and it cracked the glass screen, it was chipped along the cracks, so parts on the screen were sharp and you would get tiny cuts on you finger tips when swiping your finger on the screen to unlock the phone after you turn it on. And since I keeping my primary S3 phone, I had it fixed, it wasn't cheap but I got a new phone to me, and it was under half the price of a new Samsung Galaxy S5. Cause if I buy a new phone its either going to be a reasonably priced straightforward and simple to use phone like my S3's are. Or I'm going big with a IPhone 5s or hold out for the IPhone 6s, or maybe a Samsung S5 or hold for what girlfriend wants the Sony Z2 Experia. or I could do the really smart thing and do my research on phones and see if I can find a used one for 1/4 to 1/2 the price of a new one. in the pictures you see the glass cover around the home button and the ear piece and the new three piece case and most importantly thing, the picture of My Girls face is longer cracked and chipped and I can see how beautiful she is again cause I been hating not being able to see her face clearly, it seriously pissed me off, but its all good now. I'm here in the states, she lives in the Philippines, so her pictures hold me over until we can Skype and I can see her again.

[kgb424]

I went out to my mail box and there was a protective cover from the guy at My local Sprint store, he ordered it and sent it to my house, so now I got a extra one of the Scratch Protection by Invisible Shield Dry made my www.ZAGG.com and it works great with the touch pad, like its not even there, as you can see in the pics above, there is fingers prints on there from me texting right after the phone was repaired and the same scratch protector was applied to my S3, I had to check out the phone and protector, I made sure the phone worked the way it did before the repair and it does and I'm happy with it.