Trouble finding Nexus S off contract for AT&T compatability

[danan]

I was planning to get the galaxy nexus, but two things are stopping me.
1. It is too big for me.
2. It isn't on AT&T yet.

So even though I am able to get a knew contract phone now, theres nothing that interests be besides the nexus s, but I donno if it is worth going on contract for the nexus s when I am really looking to get either a galaxy nexus or some other phone that isn't crazily skinned(prefereably smaller).

I would like to get one around 300usd, no more than 350usd but it is really hard to find one that is AT&T bands and that also has the amoled screen. I used to have a captivate and really liked the screen(gave it to my brother).

Anyone have any advice on how to find one and how the model thing works.
I think I am suppsoed to look for the i9020a but sometimes it says that but has tmobile bands. All the sites seem to confuse it all the time.

Otherwise I suppose I could try get a captivate and put CM9 on it or something if that comes out, but would really rather have a nexus s.

Thanks in advance for any advice or thoughts.

 

[Primed4nexus]

hey man, i was in the same boat as you a few months ago. I realized that the first phone to have ICS on ATT would be the Nexus S (even though ATT has never offically had a nexus phone, hopefully that changes w/ the galaxy nexus)

I had bought my ATT Nexus S on the Gazelle webstore - Im sure youve heard of gazelle, they are a website that buys and sells cell phones. i bought mine for $260. it came in the original box w/ everything it comes w/ as if you bought it from bestbuy or google and the phone was used but you could not tell as there were so signs of normal wear and tear. I highly recommend using gazelle as they are legit and have a 30 day return policy too. here is a link to the site:

High-Quality Used Gadgets, Electronic items in Gazelle Store store on eBay!

 

[sp991]

I bought mine from newegg. It looks like the only one they are currently selling ($329) is the Tmobile version. They are selling model i9023.

You are correct that the at&t model is i9020a. I looked at my invoice and that is the model I have.

 

[danan]

Thanks for the replies.
I am hoping the prices drop a little now that the galaxy nexus is out but who knows.

 

[cracktight]

check amazon, it is the white nexus s at todays price of 375, here in canada the white nexus s is exclusive to telus, same bands as att.

HTH.

 

[Android Rookie]

Just look for the white Nexus s. This was supposed to be exclusive to ATT (white), but obviously never released. So if your not sure you got the right one, if it comes in white, you should b good for the ATT bands.

 

[danan]

I actually found a few white ones online. But the one's with reasonable prices all had the TMobile bands. And I even called to check on one of them. So it seems the white one in america is ATT but white in europe is tmobile bands, or inother words 1700

 

[hbananas]

Guess I got lucky, I got mines off Craigslist for $250, great condition. AT&T bands. The phone was already rooted, unlocked, and had ICS installed which was cool. It also had ClockworkMod recovery and a slew of other things but I wiped it clean and installed another custom ICS rom.

Good luck finding one. I'm enjoying every bit of it thus far. Great phone and software, just wished the battery life would be better but google seems to acknowledge the problem and fixing it.

 

[nonie]

I'm looking on Amazon for a Samsung Nexus S, if it says unlocked(USA), warrenty, does that mean I can use the sims card from my att pay as you go phone?
Does the camera have the zoom feature?

 

[hbananas]

I'm looking on Amazon for a Samsung Nexus S, if it says unlocked(USA), warrenty, does that mean I can use the sims card from my att pay as you go phone?
Does the camera have the zoom feature?

The nexus s is easily unlocked so you can use any sim card. The real question is whether it will give you the Max data speeds from your network.

 

[nonie]

So I might not be able to use as hotspot on other devices for wifi?
I do have a data plan on the phone I'm using now.
Just wanna try and figure it all out, before shelling out all them $$'s.:-\

 

[hbananas]

So I might not be able to use as hotspot on other devices for wifi?
I do have a data plan on the phone I'm using now.
Just wanna try and figure it all out, before shelling out all them $$'s.:-\

Yes you can. Just saying if its an att phone and you have a T-Mobile sim, you won't get T-Mobile 3G speeds. You'll just get edge 2G speeds. And vice versa if its a T-Mobile nexus and you have an att sim. Everything else is standard and should work without issues.

 

[nonie]

Ok, I see what you mean. My sims card is att and Nexus s, is for att

Does the camera have zoom in feature, for taking a close up photo?

Are you happy with the nexus s phone?

 

[hbananas]

Ok, I see what you mean. My sims card is att and Nexus s, is for att

Does the camera have zoom in feature, for taking a close up photo?

Are you happy with the nexus s phone?

Yes I love this phone with ice cream sandwich! About the camera, I don't believe the camera has optical zoom. Digital zoom is just software that zooms in. Its like taking a picture and zooming in on it with the zoom tool. Optical zoom is probably what you want and unfortunately the camera doesn't have it. Not sure what phones camera have it. It does have auto focus though.

You won't be disappointed with the phone especially with the huge development community!

 

[nonie]

Is the update available for ICS, via wifi? I think the spec shows gingerbread is what is on it.

 

[SandyDoxy]

No official ICS update has been released for the AT&T Nexus S. I believe there is a CyanogenMod with ICS that is compatible, but I don't want to root my phone.

Also beware of the official ICS for the T-Mobile version. It was pulled but the ZIP download can still be found. It will apparently do bad things (such as bricking your phone) if you try to install it on the AT&T version.

So I'm WAITING WAITING WAITING for ICS...