Used iPhone questions

[toymaker]

I'm looking to buy a used iPhone for my wife for Christmas. If I bought a used iPhone could she pop in her current AT&T sim card and be up and running without needing to do anything special like unlocking it?
She has a Palm, Phone and an iPod that she carries around with her. An iPhone would be the perfect solution for her. Right now we don't have a lot of extra money to spend on a data package that she wouldn't use most of the time anyways and besides we have WiFi at home.

[JFSikora]

Depends on a few things. What kind of iPhone are you looking to buy? First Gen? 3G? Is it jailbroken or unlocked? In order to help you out please be more detailed.

[Microcosmos]

The iPhone needs the data plan to take advantage of the App store & iTunes, no?

[toymaker]

I was hoping for the 3G but if I can find a good deal on the first gen I guess that would be ok too. Does it need to be unlocked or jail broken if we already have AT&T? I don't have a specific iPhone in mind, I was looking at maybe getting one from Craigslist or Ebay.
As for the App store and iTunes store I thought you could access them from WiFi?

[bergman]

I bought a 2G(first gen that is) iPhone on eBay a couple of weeks ago. It happened to be jail broken, but I don't think this made any difference. I pulled the SIM from my ATT Centro and inserted it into the iPhone. It went fine and went through the iPhone activation process seamlessly. I never had to speak with ATT. Unless you will use the 3G speed a lot, save yourself $10- on the data plan with a 2G. I'll wait until something more compelling than the current 3G is released and then I'll use my AT&T upgrade when I'm eligible again.

[Wineadvantage]

I bought an unlocked 2G Iphone on Ebay and inserted my T-Mobile sim card. No problems. I even recently upgraded to 2.1 through ITunes using a Jailbreak system from a jailbreak website. I use the T-Mobile data plan and get everything the Iphone can offer, I think.

[MrEClass]

@toymaker

Just be careful who and where you are purchasing this iPhone from. Also, make sure to check whether it has been unlocked or jailbroken as that can cause issues when your wife attempts to use her SIM card with the phone.

If turns out that the phone has been jailbroken or unlocked...simply restore it to its factory settings! Woila!

[toymaker]

I have another question, Why does it seem so many people are selling their 3G iPhone so soon? I'm finding a lot of units on craislist and I'm wondering why, is there something wrong with them?

[MrEClass]

Every phone has issues...every iPhone has the potential for some issues but nothing that cannot be fixed

My guess is that they are relatively easy to buy and sell now...just be careful of those who are trying to sell stolen iPhones or iPhone 3Gs that have issues and people no longer want.

Always check out your seller and be very careful buying from Craigslist

[toymaker]

Thanks, your posts have been a great help so far.
Does anyone know what things I should look for when I go to "kick the tires" on a used iPhone? I figure I should try my SIM card and make a call, check the GPS and check a game to see if the accelerometer works. Anything else I should look for that might get wonky that only another user would know about?