Can I buy a cell phone on Ebay that will work with my current service provider?

Question

I've never bought a cell phone on Ebay b/c I am worried that it won't work with my current service provider (US CELLULAR). I've heard of TDMA and CDMA and SIM cards and all that jazz.....WHAT INFO do I need to know before buying a phone on Ebay that will work with my SP???

What does locked and unlocked mean...I remember seeing this on Ebay too.

Please help.

Answer 1

A LOCKED phone meas that it can only be used with the carrier brand(ex: cingular) that is marked on the phone.

UNLOCKED means you can use it with any network.

US Cellular uses SIM cards(if you removed you battery you'll see a small white memory card looking thing; that's the SIM card) so you cann ONLY buy phones that use SIM cards. Avoid buying CDMA&TDMA phones... they will not work with your service.

So, when browsing on ebay, look for an UNLOCKED phone that uses SIM cards... check out http://www.cnet.com for some reviews on cell phones. Hope this helps!