Deals on new Samsung phones??

So, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone came out but I can't for the life of me find it anywhere as:

1) unlocked (no SIM/carrier committment);
2) 32 GB;
3) GSM version.

Those three combinations seem to be rare all-in-one. Please post any deals you see on this phone, and yes, I know it's very new still. Maybe a coupon or something will pop up. The cheapest I've seen so far is $670, and I think a deal should pop up soon around $600.

 

Isn't the GSM version only available in the UK right now?

 

During this week there was a special on the Galaxy Nexus GSM around $559 or somewhere at that price. Also it was the 16GB. The 32GB not sure.

I'll keep a lookout but not sure when they might lower the price to that price again.

 

Yeah, I definitely want to opt for the 32GB model. I'm thinking this will take the place of my laptop/tablet when away from home. A buddy at work has one but I think it's a Verizon one

Unless I could remove the Verizon SIM card and stick another in there? I'm not entirely versed in rooting phones or anything like that but I could pick it up quick.

 

Verizon is CDMA so they don't even use SIM cards.

 

So is it possible to stick another data plan or carrier on a Verizon Galaxy Nexus? I see some ebay auctions saying "Verizon only" phones, but is there a way to change that? Rooting it?

 

Verizon only is because it's a CDMA phone, hence will not work on GSM carriers like AT&T

 

And what exactly makes a phone a CDMA phone only? Is it a hardware/chip thing in the circuitry? Is it firmware?

I was talking with one of my coworker buddies today who was ex-AT&T and he honestly didn't know, since both AT&T and T-Mobile use the GSM SIM cards.

 

Both different frequencies and different hardware used. That's the simplest way I can think to say it

 

GSM and CDMA are two entirely different approaches to how cellphones connect to their respective carriers.

The main difference is how the phone identifies and authenticates itself with cell towers. They both use similar cellular frequencies and have the cellphone equivalent of a MAC address for the cellular modem in each phone. That is where things change...

CDMA phones have a permanent and singular identity which is what is associated with your phone number. This id is sent to local cell towers whenever your phone searches for service and in essence "logs you in" to the cellular network. After your phones "ID" is successfully authenticated, you are allowed to make calls, use data, etc.

GSM phones have two separate identities, one which is a unique identifier for your cellphone's modem and another which is for your SIM. The first for the most part isn't all too important but I'll explain that in a second. The SIM is in essence an ID card that is paired with your cell number and grants you access to the network. The advantage here is that you can take that card and put it into a different phone at any time and have service. The reason why is that the hardware GSM style carriers (T-Mobile/ATT) have could care less about trying to contact the ID attached to the phone, it just wants to see that SIM card being used. After it verified that SIM as being valid and connected to active service, it will read the ID of the phone and (depending on the carrier) push out the required configuration for your phone to work properly with all the features of your plan. Occasionally, I might add, the SIM itself will have all of the settings stored in it's memory and will allow you instant use of services with minimal configuration.

In Short: GSM is a modular solution to using different phones with the same line with little or no configuration, with the added bonus of worldwide use, and as a backup manual configuration of settings.

CDMA phones have zero configuration needs from the consumers side as all information is sent to the phone from the celltowers, but requires one of the providers towers to activate and use all functions.

In short CDMA sucks since it really limits your options, especially if you travel. The rest of the world doesn't like CDMA, except for random asian countries.

 

there is also World phones called that way because they have both GSM an CDMA radios built in like the blackberry's and those can be unlocked to accept any sim card

 

Thank you sir, I appreciate the summary of the two technologies. Yep, I'm definitely still trying to land a Galaxy Nexus 32GB GSM version for under $620. If I can, that'd be perfect. I know I missed it on 1saleaday.com, but man, NOWHERE else is it right now.

Please post any links as they come.

By the way, I just bought some headphones marked down from $100 to $20 on 1saleaday.com. Also bought a 7" HTC EVO tablet for $230 on there. I'll make a separate thread for that.

 

I feel it should be pointed out that it is rather easy/difficult to switch a CDMA carriers phone to another carrier or vice-verse.

Also several countries have SIM CDMA phones.

Also most modern CDMA phones have a client side configuration. Especially Sprint and the Sprint network.

It is not spoken of much, but you can find such services on ebay and craigslist, and on several forums.

 

Well I'm currently looking at this listing on eBay for a 32GB unlocked Galaxy Nexus and it doesn't say whether it's CDMA or GSM version. It just has the stock listing for both bands/radio specs.

Just to confirm, there's no way to tell whether this is for CDMA or GSM right? Without asking of course...?

 

I'm looking at two listings on cellhut.com right now, and I can't make sense of it one way or another.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G I9250 (Unlocked Quadband) GSM Phone

&

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Telus (Unlocked Quadband) Android GSM Cell Phone

What the the heck is the difference between the Galaxy Nexus 4G I9250 and the Galaxy Nexus Telus?

 

If I'm not mistaken Telus is a canadian phone carrier so the difference might be the "bloatware" that comes with it as the I9250 is just another name for the Nexus.

 

It could also be carrier locked.