IPhone Safety

you need to buy an unlocked iphone.
See otherwise this thread.
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=138732

Yes, you need to look after your iphone as well as all other valuables, but it is life. No, it is not safe to walk on the street and answer the phone, but it is perfectly safe to use it in a decent coffee shop (at least in SGN).

If you don't want to watch out, buy a cheap phone as you said.

>Can I just buy a sim card from any cellphone store and replace it myself, or do I need to go see a specialist?

Come one, girl. Do I need to answer this one, seriously?

You can get your iPhone unlock. I think I paid 100,000 or 150,000 VND to unlock mine some where in District 1. Was surprised by how low it was because I paid twice that to unlock my LG phone.

Walking around at night listening to your iPhone can easily get your phone snatched from anyone passing by on their motorbike. So yeah, use common sense and don't be a victim. Having said that, I think iPhones are pretty common. Almost everyone has one.

If your iphone is not the unlocked type and you intend on bringing it back to the US to use, then you should check with one of the better iphone guys.  They can unlock iphone real good and cheap here, but whether it can be used again back in the US is another story.

As for theft, just don't pick-up your phone in high traffic areas or around suspicious people.  I was among the first people to have iphones in Can Tho.  I never had any problem with it, adhering to that policy.  However, after I broke my iphone and my driver lent me his kid's dumb-phone, that the Vietnamese phone bandits finally got hold of me. 

Viettel and VNPT can legally unlock those phones. They are Apple distributors.

Carry a couple of Ziplock bags with you, as the rain can junk them pretty quickly. A new motherboard replacement can set you back around $100.

Talking about losing one's iPhone, here is the recent story about David Pogue's lost phone.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/03/technol … /index.htm

Guess it are not safe anywhere!!

The app used in this instance is this one:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/find-my- … 01648?mt=8

Get your phone unlocked before you come to Vietnam... even in D1 they struggle to unlock phones unless your phones software is 5.1.1..

As for using it in public.... just be sensible with it, its like any other city..if someone wants to pinch your phone then they will try no matter where you are, inside or outside.

Mick

Thief grabs iPhone from cop's hands
Last Updated: Monday, August 06, 2012 11:00:00


Police in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai said they have detained a man who grabbed a cell phone from a police officer but was soon caught.
Mai The Thiet, 34, of Bien Hoa city spotted Pham Nguyen Hoang Tien, an officer in the Emergency Police Division, holding an iPhone 4 in his hands while sitting in a guardhouse early Friday.

He went up to the window and grabbed the phone from Tien's hands and ran away, but Tien gave chase and nabbed him.

Just found it here: http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/page … hands.aspx

Hi EmilyClaire,

I am not sure of what Iphone you are using but what I did and it works for me. I did a jail break on my 3gs Iphone and than I unlocked it to become a GMS phone(World Phone they sometime call it for short.).

I am able to use At&t, Verizon, H20, and T-mobile sims in the USA; I didn't get to try all the sim available to me but those are big companies besides H20, that's a pre paid sim. In Vietnam I used Vinaphone's sim.

I hope that helps.

Talking about safety, this particular clip did not happen in Vietnam (China or Taiwan?), but still quite relevant

http://sohoa.vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/doi- … 18-p8.html

I use a cheap phone generally but carry my  iphone for FaceTime calls. Nobody has ever even looked at my cheap phone but the last time I took a FaceTime call there was an attempt to steal it. My own fault really as when you are using FaceTime you tend to let your guard down.
I don't know if the thieves got to the hospital in time, but I could imagine the blood loss from the snatcher's arm was considerable.
The point is: I left myself vulnerable by using an expensive phone in public; I won't be doing that again.
Be careful, it could happen anywhere.

Halfway wrote:

I don't know if the thieves got to the hospital in time, but I could imagine the blood loss from the snatcher's arm was considerable.

what happened? You cut the guy's arm?

My  iPhone was snatched last month on the street at binh tan  district.

Anatta wrote:

Halfway wrote:

I don't know if the thieves got to the hospital in time, but I could imagine the blood loss from the snatcher's arm was considerable.

what happened? You cut the guy's arm?

I certainly did, but I would never want to be in that position again. I think I got as much of a shock as they did.

I witnessed a bag snatch some years ago where a woman was dragged along the road and I felt helpless. If I had been able to cut her strap it would have saved her from injury. I have always been prepared since.