Add a sprint phone to a nextel plan?

[robeats91t]

ok everyone, got some bad news yesterday. maybe someone out there has some info on how to make this work.

I'm a college student sharing a family plan w/ my parents and brothers. i'm away at college, enjoying the multimedia features of my Sprint MM-5600 with my 1gb mini-sd loaded up w/ my favorite tunes, watching entourage, browsing on vision--all features which are a huge step up from those on my old SCP-5300, which I loved, despite its age and shortcomings.

Then I get a call from my mom, apparently my dad decided to switch to nextel, and my new phone (an i265 :indiff: ) is in the mail. now i'm afraid the MM-5600 i've had for only three months (and paid full price for, so as not to re-sign a contract) is going to be worthless.

So, now that you've heard my situation, here are my questions:

Can a sprint phone such as the MM-5600 be added to a Nextel plan? Any word on when it will be possible?

If not, does Sprint/Nextel offer a trade-in or trade-up program where i can recover some of the cost of this phone? i wouldn't mind an i870, although my 512mb and 1gb mini-sd cards would be incompatible...

any light you all can shed on this situation would be really awesome; i really don't want to have to carry around two phones in order to enjoy mp3's, videos, web/text and phone service...especially when i currently get it all from one phone!

[bilbo524]

Sorry, Sprint phones run on the CDMA network, while NEXTEL uses an iDEN network, so you cannot use Sprint phones on NEXTEL plan or vise-versa :(


I don't think there is an upgrade program Sprint-to-NEXTEL or the otherway around... only Sprint-for-new-Sprint-phone :(

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

You could try selling the 5600 on ebay...

[hookedonitunes]

or open your own sprint account (if you have ok credit), get a good phone for a cheap price (sign a 2 year contract), do an ESN swap to the 5600, and sell the new one on eBay

[bilbo524]

Yeah, what he said! :D

[lexington]

if your eligible for a handset upgrade for sprint say $75 or $150 off a new phone, then you would get the same discount by switching to nextel....

[ofgorsi]

im pretty sure u can activate that phone .. and plus u can get a 1 yr agreement which is a good thing .. just go into a sprint store .. and tell them ur prob .. i think u can activate ur 5300 on a one yr cuz ur not paying the price for the phone just getting a contract .. late

[robeats91t]

Sweet, thanks for the help everyone. At first I was rather heartbroken about the switch, but now the more I look at some of the nextel phones the more I feel like i could live with one, especially phones like the i870 and i930. The i930 I especially like because of its built-in contacts and tasklists and SD memory support.

Once I get all caught up on my to-do list I'll head over to sprint/nextel and figure it out. Sorry for the late reply, got hit by a car while riding my bicycle home from school the other day. Nothing too major, but it shook me up a bit, jumbled up my week, and reminded me how fragile we humans are. Anyways, maybe these scrapes and bruises will come in handy when I'm trying to get a deal :-)

Again, thanks for your replies!

[ofgorsi]

i would go with the i870 .. the i930 is too bulky and thick for my taste .. and plus the i870 can do everything the i930 can except it isnt an international phone .. late

[robeats91t]

I've got big (read: clumsy) hands, so I kinda prefer a larger phone--to me the size of the Sanyo MM-5600 is just about perfect. Getting music, sms, web and phone features from a single device--one in a clamshell format--seems to appeal the most to me. My roommate has the Siemens SX66 (http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/phonedetails.jsp?id=cdsku9870024) which he's affectionately dubbed the 'shoe phone'...every time he pulls it out I laugh, because it's just so ridiculously huge--it's like he's talking to a paperback novel.

Anyways, I promise I'm not trying to turn this into a [phone #1] versus [phone #2] thread, and thanks again everyone for all the input :)

If I get any unique info from Sprint when I go I'll be sure to post about it.

[luckievagrl]

by the way, sprintbuyback.com is where they buy back your phones, either pre-sprint or pre-nextel, but you'll get way more money on Ebay

[robeats91t]

Yeow! Just checked sprintbuyback.com, and...$50 bucks?! I guess it may work out well for someone who has an older phone (they're offering $50 for any of the Sanyo's on their list)

For a new phone that's apparently in limited supply, you'd think they'd offer more...

Thanks for the tip though, it was worth a try.

I appreciate all the help :-)

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