Samsung d900 SIMless use

[CelticWhisper]

I just ordered a shiny new Samsung SGH-d900 and it arrived 2 days ago. Looks and feels great, much slimmer than pictures made it out to be, and I like that they included a 256MB microSD card with the phone.

Pity I can't do anything with that 256MB of memory. The phone, upon "boot," prompts for the insertion of a SIM and won't do a whole helluva lot without one. Problem is that I don't yet have a SIM - my contract with Verizon isn't quite up yet and I don't particularly feel like incurring their wrath for killing the service early.

I'm not interested in making any calls or anything on the new phone yet, and of course I don't want to try to hack AT&T or TMobile's networks and steal service or anything like that. I'd just like to get a feel for the device's interface and other features (Camera, media playback, Bluetooth, etc.) without having to sign up for a GSM service and get a SIM.

Is there anyone here who is familiar with this phone and knows how to access the non-communications features of the phone without a SIM installed? I've heard of blank SIMs - would one of those satisfy the d900's demand for a card and just let me play with the phone a bit as a standalone device?

[Kraftman]

I just ordered a shiny new Samsung SGH-d900 and it arrived 2 days ago. Looks and feels great, much slimmer than pictures made it out to be, and I like that they included a 256MB microSD card with the phone.

Pity I can't do anything with that 256MB of memory. The phone, upon "boot," prompts for the insertion of a SIM and won't do a whole helluva lot without one. Problem is that I don't yet have a SIM - my contract with Verizon isn't quite up yet and I don't particularly feel like incurring their wrath for killing the service early.

I'm not interested in making any calls or anything on the new phone yet, and of course I don't want to try to hack AT&T or TMobile's networks and steal service or anything like that. I'd just like to get a feel for the device's interface and other features (Camera, media playback, Bluetooth, etc.) without having to sign up for a GSM service and get a SIM.

Is there anyone here who is familiar with this phone and knows how to access the non-communications features of the phone without a SIM installed? I've heard of blank SIMs - would one of those satisfy the d900's demand for a card and just let me play with the phone a bit as a standalone device?

I know if I had a phone I wouldn't want to just use it as a multimedia device -- it would bother me.

Personally, I would go spend $50 and get an AT&T (or T-Mobile) prepaid SIM. That also means that you will get a number, and can give it out to your friends (for when you switch to GSM).

[DrivenDaily]

I have this phone. I have not tried the blank SIM routine but i have used my old Cingular SIM. They gave me the new one and old when i got the old replaced. The old one may have had something on it to satisfy the phone, but it wouldn't let me connect to the network.

Edit:

Dev menu is accessed by typing: *#8999*8378#

I recommend changing the volume to something higher, stock was pretty low for me.

H/W Test

Audio Settings

Normal

RxPGA : 255

Rx.Vol (Levels 1-5): 30, 70, 120, 180, 255

Edited March 5, 2008 by SlapShot

[pyehac]

I used a dummy SIM card (got it from ebay with a phone) for those times I like to show off my phone collection my person. :D

[CelticWhisper]

Okay. Well, if I can't find a place that sells T-Mobile SIMs (Walgreens has the "refill cards" but they don't have the modules on them) I might just opt for a dummy.

Myworldphone has blank SIMs but the shipping is several times the cost of the card itself.

[panicswitched]

if you go the prepaid card route through tmobile i know they can convert your account to a full monthly account at anytime :)

[CelticWhisper]

Felosis - Will one of these work to set up a new prepaid and/or monthly account, or are they (like the page says) only for people who've lost their SIM on an existing account? Not that I think there's any physical difference, but does T-Mobile treat them the same or is there some BS policy that says they won't activate one for a new account?

Sorry to sound picky, just want to make sure of what I'd be getting.