Fuze, Touch Pro, and a small local GSM carrier.

[AlaskanGeek]

Hi guys,

Warning: Dumb question ahead!

I have a PPC-6800 and am comfortable with flashing it to different ROMs and have done so many times.

My question is....my father-in-law is with a small local GSM carrier here in Alaska, it is called GCI. AT&T is here as well, but for some reason he went with GCI.

Anyways, GCI's PDA line up is terrible. I want to get him an unlocked Fuze or Touch Pro.

What is the difference between the two and what problems should I be aware of with using one of these phones on different GSM network besides AT&T?
The research I have read online suggests there is no real difference between the phones, except the Fuze is closly tied to AT&T.
So, if I get a Fuze will there be alot of stuff my father-in-law can not use? Like the data connection I am mainly concerned about
I know apps like TV and maybe even GPS will not work...
So maybe I should get him a Touch Pro instead?
But my draw back on that is....I have read on the forums here that you may not be able to use 3G with the Touch Pro here in the US? Or is that just a Tmobile problem?

Also, I assume flashing of the GSM phones is less complicated then a CDMA phone like my 6800, since all the network info is stored on the SIM. Correct?

And which custom ROM does everyone suggest as the best right now?
(I'm more familar with the 6800 ROMs)

Thanks,

[ruskiyab]

Whatever you do... Do not take advice from the post above mine. You cannot put MightyRom or Juicy's Rom on a GSM phone. Check out www.xda-developers.com. The people over there know more about GSM phones and that is where you will find roms for them. As far as the European Touch Pro, I'm pretty sure they have a different frequency they use for data so it won't work in the states, however you should be able to SIM and CID unlock the Fuze one way or another, there are people using the ATT fuze on T-Mobile.

You might have to find out the settings for data to work with the company but in theory, I don't see why you wouldn't get it to work. Does a small GSM company have 3G anyways?

[AlaskanGeek]

Thanks guys.

To KC, believe me, I know there is a lot of info here, so much so, somes people just need to be pointed in the right direction.
I am way more familiar with CDMA phones, not GSM. So I wanted to know where to start looking for info.
And if you read my post, I was asking about GSM versions of the phones, not CDMA.

To Ruskiyab, thanks , yes the small carrier has 3G. I thought XDA would have more info, but was suprised to see a GSM form here at PPC.
Thanks for your help.

But one more question and I'm good to go....

Any real differences between Fuze and TouchPro, (GSM), or will a custom ROM break the close ties that the Fuze has to ATT?
I assume it will.

Thanks.

[ruskiyab]

Like I said, I'm pretty sure the unbranded (European) Touch Pro uses a different frequency from data from the ones used in the US. A custom rom won't break all ties to ATT, but a SIM and CID unlock should, then you'd just need to figure out the data settings for the other carrier

[kdj67f]

I just jumped from verizon to ATT, my Fuze came without SIM locking and I donated to Olipro to get it securrity unlocked. Technically speaking it could use any carriers sim card and network now. I too am more familiar with the CDMA devices as this Fuze ismy first device outside of verizon

I believe the euro versionof the touch pro has different hardware in it that makes the 3g bands inoperable in the US. There is a discussion on xda if you care to read through all the pages.

As for ROMs, I have flashed a few so far and really like energyrom 2.0 41609.

[mindfrost82]

XDA is the place for GSM ROMs. Most chefs are already over there and most just want to support one site/thread instead of posting their ROMs on other sites.

As far as hardware, find out what 3G frequency your carrier is on. T-Mobile is different than ATT, so GCI might use one of those. If you don't have 3G, then it wouldn't really matter.

The unlocked european version has a front camera instead of the back. It has a different keyboard I believe (it has numbers across the top row). It has the non-glossy battery cover. Other than that I think they're pretty much the same.

As far as ROMs go, you need to HardSPL first, which is pretty easy, just MAKE SURE you follow all the steps closely. You can get SIM Unlocked if its locked, that way you can use any SIM. You don't necessarily need to be Security Unlocked, as far as I know that just allows you to install converted radios from other devices (like the Blackstone).

After that, flashing ROMs is just as easy as it is on CDMA versions.

Usually the data connection will set itself up once you put your SIM in. It'll prompt you with the network it found and you choose if you want it to configure it or not.

As far as ROMs go, if you look in the XDA ROM forum for the Raphael, any of the ones on the first page are usually the most popular ones. People reply in the threads all the time and I rarely see the most popular ones go off of the first page. There are plenty of WM6.5 ROMs if you want to try those, and some great WM6.1 ROMs. It all depends on what you want.

[AlaskanGeek]

Thanks guys.

Now I have some good background on what to look for at XDA.

Thanks!

[kcoriginal]

me = pwnd.

<sigh>

[Big D5]

Moved to Main TP Forum