Nub question

[mkerr]

Sorry if this is asked constantly, i tried searching and couldn't see any threads about it.

Basically what i'm wanting to know is if it's possible to unlock a phone that's still locked to a specific carrier (eg, optus or telstra if you're in australia). is this what CID unlocking is?

If so, then i guess i can grab a hermes / jasjam from ebay that's selling for less because it's carrier locked, unlock it, and use it with my current sim card?

Thanks in advance for any advice. :)

[ach2]

You're definately new with a question like that :)

Basically CID unlocking allows you to flash a ROM from any carrier and use it.

SIM unlocking allows you to use any SIM card with your existing (or any other) ROM.

If all you want to do is use a stock phone with any carrier I suggest you use POF's CID and SIM unlocker http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_SimUnlock.

If you want to get better ROMS you'll need to do a whole pile more reading, and before flashing anything else start with Olipro's Hard-SPL 2.10 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=296722 and Mrvanx's Upgrade Guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299462.

Other useful upgrade info can be found in this sticky http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=295751
Sorry if this is asked constantly, i tried searching and couldn't see any threads about it.

Basically what i'm wanting to know is if it's possible to unlock a phone that's still locked to a specific carrier (eg, optus or telstra if you're in australia). is this what CID unlocking is?

If so, then i guess i can grab a hermes / jasjam from ebay that's selling for less because it's carrier locked, unlock it, and use it with my current sim card?

Thanks in advance for any advice. :)

[mkerr]

so all i'd need to do, assuming i keep the stock rom, is to sim unlock it?

[ach2]

Yep, if you SIM unlock you can use the phone as supplied but with any carriers SIM card.

Oh yes, welcome to XDA-developers - I think if you read a bit more you will realise the benefits of the cooked ROMs here and later want to upgrade - it's highly addictive :) :)

so all i'd need to do, assuming i keep the stock rom, is to sim unlock it?

[ach2]

One further bit of advice if buying one of these phones from ebay - ask the seller for a picture of the phone when switched on so you can check it has a radio signal - also get him to confirm that it doesn't display NO GSM on the bottom right when it is booting. The NO GSM indicates a brick which may or may not be fixable by the tools we have here.

Sorry if this is asked constantly, i tried searching and couldn't see any threads about it.

Basically what i'm wanting to know is if it's possible to unlock a phone that's still locked to a specific carrier (eg, optus or telstra if you're in australia). is this what CID unlocking is?

If so, then i guess i can grab a hermes / jasjam from ebay that's selling for less because it's carrier locked, unlock it, and use it with my current sim card?

Thanks in advance for any advice. :)

[mkerr]

cheers for the reply :D
at the moment i've got an imate k-jam, and have been reading up about cooked roms etc, but didn't realise exactly what the unlocking involved (except that it let you play with the roms).