What you should know about buying iPhones on eBay

HOW TO BUY AN IPHONE

As we all no ebay is the place for buying almost anything imaginable. However there are things that we much watch out for if we intend buying on eBay. Never forget the rule caveat emptor, or buyer beware. As in all facets of life this rule rings true and even more so on ebay. There are steps you must take to be sure that you know what you are buying, do that and you will really get a great deal on an iPhone. On the other hand if you are not careful you can have great disappointment and lose your money. So listen up and take notes.

Firstly, know exactly what you are buying and if you don’t know, ask the seller. They are obliged to answer your questions. Watch out for conflicting information between the title and the extended description. As an example there was a listing for an unlocked 16 GB iPhone, at least that was what the title said. In the description it said that, and it was clearly stated the phone is locked, then they stated that they are using it with a carrier other than AT&T so it clearly must have been unlocked. You could ask the seller for clarification of the issue, but my reaction would be to look for another phone.

Do you know the difference between unlocked and locked? Most of this is covered at iPhonesrin.com but we will give you a rundown here.
If the phone is unlocked, it means the firmware has been hacked and now you can insert any chip that will work on your chosen mobile network. Different countries have different carriers so you should find out what is available to you and what services they are offering. Some features of the phone can be lost if you go away from
Apples recommended carriers. Where your iphone will work has nothing to do with the chip but with wiring of the phone and the radio frequencies of the carriers.

The terms “unlocked” and “new, unopened box” are incompatible. You have to open up the box and hack into the firmware in order to unlock the iPhone. Apple does not ship unlocked iPhones. In order to hack into the iPhone you must open the box, and hook the iPhone up to a computer. This is hardly unopened.  Locked means that the firmware that Apple shipped the phone with is intact and untouched. These phones will only activate and work on the AT&T network. However, a locked phone has no issues or troubles with any firmware upgrades whereas an unlocked phone must be careful when updating to be sure they do not re-lock the iPhone.

Three very important words to look out for when purchasing anything on eBay are, refurbished, new and used. If an instrument has been refurbished, hopefully by the manufacturer, it has been take from not performing the way it should to an as new state. Find one of these and you should get a decent phone at a realistic price. If the seller is for real he will declare what the phone is, either new or refurbished, but watch for those les scrupulous sellers that may not disclose this fact. As always if you’re not sure ask. If in doubt shop elsewhere.

There are many phones that are similar in appearance to the iPhone, but clearly are not. There is only one iPhone. You will see phones called A88 iPhone, PDA, cell phone. This is not an iphone but a look alike. Make sure that any phone you are considering as an iPhone is the Apple brand.

Very important when buying on eBay, make sure that you know the sellers return policies and only pay through PayPal using your credit card. Some will ask you to pay direct to their account.. I never do that, I go somewhere else. Never ever pay with cash or checks or Wester Union wire transfers or money orders. No, no, no, just don’t do it. Stick with Pay Pal and if a dispute arises you have recourse through that company. Sorry if that sounds like a plug for Pay Pal, but we are opening ourselves up to the scammers of the world when we shop on eBay and I have found not safer way. So if you find a seller who does not take credit cards or Pay Pal then I would be most suspicious. Remembered “caveat emptor” and go somewhere else to buy.

eBay tries their hardest to make it safe for you to shop, but you must do your part by educating yourself and giving yourself the best chance of getting a good deal.

Before you buy an iPhone on eBay do your due diligence and research what you want and don’t be disappointed.
MR (ed)

http://www.iphonesrin.com

Downside of the Apple iPhone

I am probably speaking for most people when I say that the biggest feature that people want in a cell phone is simplicity. It is no surprise that a company such as Apple knows what their customers want. With this in mind they created the Apple iPhone and this is one of the reasons that the Apple iPhone is now so popular. Just playing around with an Apple iPhone has so much entertainment value, but there are one or two downsides to the instrument.

What? you ask. Well don’t be surprised nothing in this life is perfect. So lets have a look. The first thing you will find is with the memor. It is not possible to upgrade; you have to choose from 6,8,or 16 Gig models and get your choice right before you purchase. So if you into downloads big time you might find yourself running out of space if you didn’t consider this first up. You really don’t want to find yourself loading and unloading content, it can be such a pain. If you can’t afford the top model then you will find yourself swapping information with your computer more often than you’d like.

Another downside is the calling plans that are offered at AT&T but these issues have been addressed in a lot of countries where you can now use a choice of carriers and plans. Though there are still some problems with area coverage and interruptions. In some countries they call these things “Mobile Phones.” Sure not mobile if the coverage is restricted.

Perhaps the biggest and most important issue is the battery. Now you would think that a company as strong and as popular as Apple would have gotten this right the first time..or maby they did from their point of view.
If the battery dies in your iPhone your only choice is to send it back to them to be serviced, and that costs, boy does it cost. Just as an example I have a an ordinary cell phone of another brand that is 6 years old, used every day and it has the original battery in it. Not just this fact but I know that if ever it dies I just take it out throw it away and put a new one in for about $30 how simple is that.

If your iPhone battery dies think about this. You send it back to Apple or take it to one of their stores and they will service your iPhone for a fee of about $89us and don’t forget shipping and handling if you have to send it to them. They were thoughtful enough to give you some instructions on optimizing the battery life span but hey, come on this could have been done better, and shock horror, if you have to do this you will loose all the data on your phone and you will be without it for a week or more.

Apple has been at the forefront of computer and peripheral devices for decades now and one would have thought that they would have sorted things out by now. Or do they have another agenda. You would think that they are aware of what the shortcomings e.g. memory,batterylife, an affordable user plans would have on their potential consumers.

I wonder if they are going to address these issues in the near future, or if not just what sort of lifespan does the popularity of this wonderful instrument have. After all if we get tired of the shortcomings of the iPhone it won’t matter one bit how many good points it has, the consumer will toss it aside for the next best thing.. it has happened before.

MR (ed)

For lots more information on the iPhone visit iPhonesrin.com

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registered in the U.S. and other countries.
iPhone 3G is a trademark of Apple Inc.
iPod and iTunes are for legal and rights-holder-authorised copying only.

Welcome world!

Welcome to iPhonesrin.com/blog

I bought my first cell/mobile phone when they were the size of a house brick and almost as heavy. I still have it; one day it will probably become a collectors item and I can realise a profit on the $1,200 it cost me in 1980 type money.

Compare this to the tiddly amount we have to hand over for one of the greatest technological advances this century and your laughing all the way to the bank, plus you have a mind boggling amount of features that the average person will never learn to use.

We are all about bringing you the information that you need, to get the most from this magic instrument. To some people it will just be a telephone, to others it might just be a way of sending text messages.

Wouldn’t you like to know exactly what it can do?

We are going to show you all the things you don’t know you don’t know about the iPhone.

So enjoy you stay.

Cheers

MR (ed.)

for all you need to know about the iPhone visit http://www.iphonesrin.com