Unlocking A Cellphone

[Fishbong]

I want to get a new cellphone, and my eye cought a cheap offer for a simlocked Sony Ericsson V600i with prepaid card.
However i don´t want to use the carrier its simlocked to, so i thought i might try to unlock/debrand it. I already found some commercial Software i could use, but i´m unsure which cable to use. at certain unlock websites you can buy cables that are guaranteed to work with the software they sell, but seeing as they´re quite expensive, i thought maybe i could get a flashcable from ebay or some other place, but i couldn´t find any. Do i have to use the expensive cables then? And do i have to use commercial software? Isn´t there some way to unlock a phone for free?
Any help would be appreciated.

PS: please note that i´m not asking for any specific links to software. A few hints or a PM would be nice though. Debranding cellphones is a matter of reflashing the firmware, a thing that is often discussed on this forum and is not illegal.

 

[Javacat]

You might want to have a look on this forum for a cheap way to unlock your phone - http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/index.php
I've had a quick look and appears as though you will definitely need some sort of cable for your model.

 

[Fishbong]

I think this forum is more for professionals, who use special unlocking hardware. That´s way too complicated and expensive for me. Currently i´m at a losss what to do. there are many websites that offer different unlocking methods. Some even claim you don´t need a cable, just a code generated from the IMEI, but i think that´s a ripoff. I´m willing to spend a few euros on a program that is guaranteed to work though.

 

[nickspoon]

Reflashing the firmware will remove the branding but not unlock the phone, and it can be done with a normal USB cable. In order to unlock the phone, you need special hardware (a box of some kind, usually) and software. At least, in my experience with Motorola phones.

In certain cases, a code generated from an IMEI can be used to unlock the phone, but not always.

 

[Javacat]

That website does actually provide software for normal users, and they also provide the codes you can type in to unlock your phone (to request the code find the appropriate thread in this part of the forum and provide them with the appropriate details). I used that site to unlock my Nokia for free.

I did a search and found this thread which leads me to believe you can't get one of those codes for your model yet and unfortunately the equipment they recommend costs ~ £50 (but will do a lot of phones).

After doing a bit more searching it appears as though the software you will need is called SETool. There seem to be a couple of cracked versions floating around that forum.
Several threads mention another method using 'test points', which appear to be contacts on the phones motherboard.

 

[Fishbong]

OK, thanks for your replys and PMs, but it seems Sony Ericsson phones are a bitch to unlock and i´d require some pretty expensive hardware to do it, so its better to leave this to a professional. I found some shop that will unlock it for 20€.