[holiday]

I am currently using an unlocked 8310 Curve on T-Mobile.

A couple of months ago, I bought a beautiful used Bold 9000 off ebay. It had been in a skin case during virtually all of its prior user's contract, so it is in virtually pristine condition. It is still locked to AT&T.

My plan was to switch over to AT&T when my T-mobile contract ended in September, and start a new plan on AT&T and use the Bold 9000.

However, I am now thinking of unlocking the 9000 for use on T-Mo because I can actually save about $50 a month by going to a pre-paid BB plan on T-Mo when my contract ends. I don't *really* want to go on a pre-paid plan, but the savings would be a huge help right now.

One way or another, my goal was to ultimately use the 9000 no matter what as I feel it is such a solid device and an still an adequate performer all things considered.

One thing that I was concerned about on the 9000 was the inability to use 3g on T-Mo. Doesn't really matter to me, because where I live and work (home office) there is no T-Mo 3g service anyway, only EDGE. When I leave the neighborhood, T-Mo gets excellent signal everywhere else (even 3g) but as I am using an older Curve that is EDGE only, it really makes no difference either way. EDGE is fine for my internet needs, and I like the fact that EDGE uses less batter life anyway.

One concern with regards to this 3g was the original inability to toggle 3g off on the 9000. Apparently, this has been remedied on my personal 9000 by the prior owner with whatever updates he did to the phone. I can now toggle between 3g and 2g or 2g only.

My big overarching questions are as follows:

1. Can I unlock the 9000 and use on T-Mo without removing the ability to toggle the 3g off? I mean, is the 3g / 2g switch currently allowed in the OS version on the phone carrier-specific? Will unlocking and sending T-Mo service books / HRT registration kill this option? It seems redundant to assume this, in light of the fact that T-Mo doesn't offer the 3g frequencies needed for this device anyway, but we are talking about unlocking a carrier-specific phone here. I know wierd things can happen...

2. What is the most recent OS I can install on the 9000 if I unlock it and plan to use it on T-Mo? Most recent meaning most up-to-date official release that has been working well for everyone here.

Thanks.