T Mobile G1 with Pre Paid SIM?

[jameskelsey]

OK I'm a noob about phone stuff and live in the USA. I have a plain old prepaid T Mobile phone because I only use like $50 worth of minutes each year. I've read about getting a G1 and using a prepaid SIM in it.
How to activate a T-Mobile G1 from home – no contract required | Android Community
I'm not on the phone much but like the idea of a G1 with the WiFi turned on for web access but wont use enough to justify a data plan.
Do I need a new G1 or can I buy a used one off EBay?
What should I expect to pay for a new or used one?
Does it need to be unlocked and why?
Any other info I need to do this?
Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[silentsnow31802]

You can get a new or used G1.

When you first turn the phone on it will ask you for a Google login. Without a data plan you will not be able to get past this and it will make the phone unusable.
There are custom versions of software you can load to the phone to give you the option to bypass this but you will need to learn how to install the software to the phone. You can also buy one previously modded to save you the trouble.

I woulds say around 100 for a used one isnt bad. Maybe a little more for something in nice condition.

As long as you have tmobile it does not need to be unlocked.

 

[fratermus]

I'm quite happy with the Tmo prepaid + G1 combo. Like you, I use relatively few minutes. A $100 covers my needs and extends the expiration. This puts my monthly phone costs a little less than $8/month.

As Silent points out, there are some cases that will require a data connection or hack. My used G1 from eBay ($100, rooted/CM5) was wiped but apparently preserved its prior activation; I just turned on wifi and signed into google. Or maybe CM's ROM automagically allows wifi activation but I have not read that.

 

[jameskelsey]

Ok I bought one off EBay today for $120 shipped. It has Cyanogen 6.0 Froyo 2.2 on it. His original phone broke and TMobile sent him a new one 2 months ago which is what I bought. He posted a good YouTube video of the phone in action and it looks in mint condition of course. Could of gotten one cheaper but the lower priced ones look a bit beat up.

 

[jameskelsey]

Got it Wednesday and setup went fine. It was also reset but once it could not find a data connection it asked if it could sync with WiFi. Put my GMail info in and I was good to go. Installed WiSync,WeFi and APNDroid. APNDroid would not work so I just set it manually. I did have to install Titanium Backup to uninstall Google Voice Search and then install the new version. Works great so far.

 

[bluesavannah45]

I have a Optimus T from T mobile . I love te phone but ,,, I live in a town where it drops my calls for T mobile because of the towers. they have verizon in this town and thats all. My question is can i turn this into a pre- paid verizon using my unlocked sim card?