Recycle that contract-free iPhone as a holiday gift

Psst. Carphone Warehouse will buy a 3G iPhone (used), even if it's not working, for £190. I did this recently when my phone gave up and died, and I ended up with a brand new phone, a new (cheaper) contract and £100 in my pocket.

I ran an app called "airfoil" by Rogue Amoeba software on my iphone 3g and it streamed for a while, then the wifi cut off. (could be a total coincidence)

now wifi won't come on again. I've read that these chips can overheat?

apple won't fix it, it's out of warantee.

so it could make a good ipod touch. except no wireless of any kind. Can I still do stuff with it?

Or better to sell on ebay for parts?

can you jailbreak or unlock a phone if the wifi is broken?

anyone else lose the wifi on their iphone (the settings are greyed out and it says "no wi-fi" instead.

I've yet to see AT&T actually do this. I would be very interested to know if they will really do that. The wireless industry seems to do a lot of things against moral understanding, I'm just unsure about the laws in this instance.

Why not unlock your iPhone and use it with a cheap prepaid SIM-card?

I paid $249 for a refurbished 4 GB 1st-gen iPhone (the smallest available) and sold it on eBay (with the case, since it wouldn't fit a 3G) for, I forget exactly, but somewhere close to $300--pretty much breaking even. I replaced it with a $199 8GB model (the smallest available) because a true GPS was one of just two features I really felt was missing from the first. About 2 years from my original signup date I was eligible to upgrade to a 16 GB 3GS (the smallest available) for $199 so I did, because videorecording was the *other* feature that I really wanted. So it was $199 plus tax plus AT&T's "because we can" $18 upgrade fee and I sold my 3G on eBay for $305. (They go for $350-375 on average but mine had gotten wet once (months ago, recovered perfectly; disclosed in my listing) and because I lost the headset.)

They sell for a lot because of AT&T's exclusiveness--there's a good market for used iPhones since the unsubsidized ones cost so much, which sucks for most people but it has worked out well for me. For a net of about $150 I've had a current-gen phone for two years that has doubled in size every 12 months, is faster (and has faster networking) than the original, and still has 10 months of warranty left (as long as I don't get it wet again.) The only downside is I preferred the original model's flat back more than the new curvy one, but oh well. I agree that there are a million things wrong with how phone companies do business but AT&T's exclusive deal has worked well for me. :-)

I was planning on using mine as an iTouch after my contract is up. It's already jailbroken and everything so when I upgrade it, do I still need to have the SIM in there? How about when my contract is up, can I still use the SIM to upgrade it or am I boned at that point (cause there is no way I'm staying on AT&T once my contract is done)?

I wiped my jailbroke 1g 16GB and put it in my wives jetta as an iPod. It has a lil hook up in the glovebox.
that sucks.

just sayin

I never did the jailbreak on my original iPhone while I used it. However, after I got my 3GS, I broke the phone so my step son could use it, on my ATT family plan no less - just without the cell data. So he can use it as a cellphone or as a WiFi tablet.

OK, the 1st gen iPhone has to have the original SIM card in at all times in order to function (somewhat) like an iPod Touch. I understand this. But here is my question: If I give or sell the iPhone to someone else who wants to use it as an iPod Touch, is there any risk in also giving them the SIM card. Could they somehow reactivate my account, or get contact or other data off the SIM card?

[duh]or you could jailbreak it[/duh]