Expert: DebiN - 8/3/2010

Question
I bought a used Cingular Treo 650 cell phone off ebay and placed my Treo Pro at&t sim card in it and it's not working, wont accept the sim card.  I contacted at&t and they told me the newer sim cards will not work in the older Cingular phones.  I find this amazing and am considering switching providers because of this.

Answer
All SIM cards from AT&T Mobility are backwards compatible, meaning they will work in any Cingular branded or AT&T Mobility branded cell phone, so what you were told is likely not correct. If the SIM card is not working in the phone, it is likely that this old Treo 650 (keep in mind how long ago this phone was made, i.e., the Treo came out in 2005 or 2006, I believe)doesn't work properly and regardless of what SIM card you have, likely will not work. Personally, I wouldn't switch providers because of this problem. What I would suggest is that you return the Treo if possible and purchase a newer model device. I would not suggest a Palm unless you have your heart set on one and might recommend that either you get a new phone from AT&T (if your contract is is up) or if it isn't, purchase a phone on line that is branded AT&T Mobility (versus Cingular) since any phone branded Cingular is at least 3 years old. If possible, you should get a phone that came onto the market 2 years ago or less. Also, if you get a SmartPhone and don't have a data plan with AT&T ($15.00 for 200MB or $25.00 for 2GB), you will be charged per kilobyte for data usage and it will get pretty expensive. I hope this helps.