If I buy a Nexus S unlocked, will it pester me about activating it?

[TuxDotKing]

Hello all. I'm planning to buy a Nexus S unlocked from Best Buy this week, with no intention of putting it on a phone or data plan in the near future. I had assumed that there would be no problems with this, but then I came across this post on the site: http://www.androidcentral.com/bypass-activation-screen-your-android-device

This is what concerns me:

The only downside to this is that usually upon rebooting the phone, you will have to do the same pattern, but that's only a small price to pay in comparison to the option of actually activating the device.

So if I don't activate the phone, I'll be greeted with this screen everytime I reboot the phone? Will I be able to sign into my Google Account without activating it? And if I can, will I have to re-sign in everytime I reboot the phone?

If there's anyone here who has a inactive phone (especially a Nexus One) who can shed some light on this conundrum, I'd be very grateful.

 

[Smokexz]

I own a Vibrant and every time I restart it or start it up, it does not ask me to connect to T-Mobile or to sign back on my Gmail, it just starts up and works.
EDIT: That article is if you signed into your Google account in multiple devices and want to just by pass the set up. Or it might just be for cdma devices, whichthe Nexus S is not. The Nexus S is GSM.

Sent from my Samsung Vibrant

 

[TuxDotKing]

I own a Vibrant and every time I restart it or start it up, it does not ask me to connect to T-Mobile or to sign back on my Gmail, it just starts up and works.
EDIT: That article is if you signed into your Google account in multiple devices and want to just by pass the set up. Or it might just be for cdma devices, whichthe Nexus S is not. The Nexus S is GSM.

Sent from my Samsung Vibrant

And the phone is SIM-less/without a data plan?

EDIT: Huh. Well I guess that more generally, my question is, if I get the phone without a SIM, will I have any issue trying to use its features (particulary Market) on Wi-Fi only? Save for the obvious things, like voice and text.

 

[Smokexz]

Yes, I have used it without a SIM card, all I get is that I have no SIM card. If it was cdma it would do that, but since it knows you don't have a SIM card, it won't bother doing this, mainly because the you need a SIM card to register the SIM card on the network

Sent from my Samsung Vibrant

 

[TuxDotKing]

Yes, I have used it without a SIM card, all I get is that I have no SIM card. If it was cdma it would do that, but since it knows you don't have a SIM card, it won't bother doing this, mainly because the you need a SIM card to register the SIM card on the network

Sent from my Samsung Vibrant

So no issues on Wi-Fi only? Sorry if I seem a bit dense, I'm a Verizon customer and this is the first time I've ever bought any phone unlocked, GSM, or without some sort of plan with it; and Googling seems to turn up issues on some unlocked, SIM/data-plan-less phones with doing things like accessing the Market.

 

[Smokexz]

You're fine, GSM is amazing that way... you don't have to register it with the Network you purchased it from. So yes, it can be your dev device while your Droid X is your main device.

 

[TuxDotKing]

You're fine, GSM is amazing that way... you don't have to register it with the Network you purchased it from. So yes, it can be your dev device while your Droid X is your main device.

Thanks, that's all I needed to know. Looking forward to getting this phone!

 

[Smokexz]

You and me both!

 

[anon(52425)]

So your going to buy a Nexus S and your not going to have any plan on it whatsoever? No phone, no data? What's the point?

 

[TuxDotKing]

So your going to buy a Nexus S and your not going to have any plan on it whatsoever? No phone, no data? What's the point?

To use it as a Wi-Fi only device. I can load up my music (and free up some storage on the Droid), load up any apps that work primarily offline (games, emulators, simple apps), load up any apps that work online and use them over Wi-Fi (Google Voice, others), watch videos/movies on the nice SAMOLED screen, video chat over Wi-Fi, hack/tweak it, basically, it's just a nicer, more expensive iPod Touch running Android to me really. (But I guess it could certainly be useful as a phone if I travel outside of the US.)

Even if I got a plan, T-Mobile barely has 2G around here. No 3G at all. And I already have a (starting to show it's age) Droid on Verizon to use as a phone, anyway.

 

[anon(52425)]

To use it as a Wi-Fi only device. I can load up my music (and free up some storage on the Droid), load up any apps that work primarily offline (games, emulators, simple apps), load up any apps that work online and use them over Wi-Fi (Google Voice, others), watch videos/movies on the nice SAMOLED screen, video chat over Wi-Fi, hack/tweak it, basically, it's just a nicer, more expensive iPod Touch running Android to me really. (But I guess it could certainly be useful as a phone if I travel outside of the US.)

Even if I got a plan, T-Mobile barely has 2G around here. No 3G at all. And I already have a (starting to show it's age) Droid on Verizon to use as a phone, anyway.

Cool man. Just curious!

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I thought about doing that very same thing once, but I don't have the cash. Sadly.

 

[ragnarokx]

To use it as a Wi-Fi only device. I can load up my music (and free up some storage on the Droid), load up any apps that work primarily offline (games, emulators, simple apps), load up any apps that work online and use them over Wi-Fi (Google Voice, others), watch videos/movies on the nice SAMOLED screen, video chat over Wi-Fi, hack/tweak it, basically, it's just a nicer, more expensive iPod Touch running Android to me really. (But I guess it could certainly be useful as a phone if I travel outside of the US.)

Even if I got a plan, T-Mobile barely has 2G around here. No 3G at all. And I already have a (starting to show it's age) Droid on Verizon to use as a phone, anyway.

If you have a Droid, you could tether your Nexus S to it and have a connection anywhere.

 

[TuxDotKing]

If you have a Droid, you could tether your Nexus S to it and have a connection anywhere.

I plan to

 

[Smokexz]

So your going to buy a Nexus S and your not going to have any plan on it whatsoever? No phone, no data? What's the point?

I know people who use an Evo as a primary device and have a Nexus One... One is a dev unit(the Nexus) and the other is a personal device.

It isn't a weird question at all.

 

[serpico]

I tether my wifi iPad all the time with my nexus one. Why pay more for a 3G model and another data plan?!

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Protip: Buy a cheap prepaid voice only sim from T-Mo or AT&T (T-Mo is like 10 bucks every three months to keep the number active), drop it in and then you have a phone number tied to the device.

Then you can use the same Google voice number to send messages and check the inbox on both your Droid and Nexus S.

 

[serpico]

Too bad google voice doesn't work in Canada.

 

[TuxDotKing]

Protip: Buy a cheap prepaid voice only sim from T-Mo or AT&T (T-Mo is like 10 bucks every three months to keep the number active), drop it in and then you have a phone number tied to the device.

Then you can use the same Google voice number to send messages and check the inbox on both your Droid and Nexus S.

Sounds good, thank for the tip!

 

[albin]

Just out of curiosity... I am wondering if you purchased the Nexus S yet and if you did have you tried to make a SIP / VOIP call over wifi with out a SIM card (with out a cell plan or data plan). I am thinking about getting this phone (and not getting a service paln), and want to make sure I can make calls via sip through my voip provider (www.callcentric) via wifi.

Thanks