[8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario General] Starcruiser1229:
Ok, first, the reason to SIM unlock is because then you can swap to a different providers SIM later on, for instance if you dump T-mo or you travel to Europe or something. For me, it simply seems like a good idea to do it now, because then I know I have it if I need it.

CID unlock is for using other providers ROMS. You can just upgrade to the 2.26, but then what happens when you decide you want to upgrade to the cingular 3.xx b/c of some amazing feature... Once you are in a 2.x rom it becomes much harder to do this. It is sooooo simple, why not just do it now? again, your phone, yor decision, and I think flashing an unofficial rom will void the warranty if they can prove it (personally I don't care, some do)

As far as Lokiwiz, I used Lokiwiz 02b, downloaded from this forum. The newer version, .03, is only needed if you have already upgraded to a 2.x ROM.

As far as SIM unlocking after upgrading, I do not know if it is possible to downgrade from a 2.x to a 1.x, especially if you haven't CID unlocked already... I think you may be stuck using the .03 2 sim card method (this is required as the phone dosen't know it needs to prompt for unlock code untill you enter a 'banned (ie from another provider)' sim... get a cheep prepay (NOT T-mo prepay if you have T-mo) from the local drug store/Walmart... This may be easier than downgrading and then upgrading anyway, and since ( I am assuming) you have already CID unlocked, I do not think you will have any problems...

.02 does not need the second sim as it changes the setting directly by accessing some part of the memory on the device, which cannot, apparently be done in the new roms...

O. Brown... SIM, as I mentioned above, is different from CID. You are thinking of CID. I would do it simply b/c you cannot do it later, yet once done it is permanent...

Bittermormon, same idea...

As far as chargeing, I am notorios for taking it out of the box and hitttng the power. If it turns on, well then why should I charge it...? Plus, you can turn it on plugged in, so if you are worried, plug it into the wall and then start playing... but I don't want to promise this won't have some negative effect, do what you feel safe with, all I am saying is what worked for me...

As far as financial software goes, I checked out the PocketPcMag Nominations for best software 2006, in the financial category... Cash Organizer '05 Premium, Pocket Quicken, PocketMoney, Spb Finance, Stock Manager... I have not used any of theese. I do not know if they are what you want... I do not know how much they cost, but it is a place to start at least.

As far as pocket outlook, no problems here, except with gmail pop access, which always seemed kinda... messed up... to me... So, I did something even better... I setup a free exchange account with mail2web.com (I think they call it mail2web live or something...) and my gmail forwards a copy of all incoming mail to the exchange mail address... THis allows me to use PUSH email for my gmail acct (which is my main acct.) If you have a corporate exchange, you can use that instead. The only "Problem" with this is that deleting messages on the phone does not delete them in gmail... I personally like this as I cna then use gmail on my pc to its fullest to label, archive, ect... On the ppc I delete all of the newsletters ect... and only really read personal mail or important stuff. This lets me keep my phone inbok clear, and I can still read all of the other stuff later on the desktop... Or you can always just switch to using the exchange email address as your main...

And as far as the best ROM, well, that is as much opinion as anything else... I am running the T-mo 2.26 with the extended rom installed... I have noit seen any cooked versions of this yet, although I believe someone on the HOFO is working on one... I gotta say, I like this rom. I have a few small glitches, but I think that it is installed software, not the ROM...

A few other tips... I recently discovered microsoft voice command, and I am enjoying it very much... First of all, no setting voice tags, and secondly, for me, I could never remember exactly what the voice tag was for someone, especially when I had one for the house and cell... Now I can just say ther full name ie, Call John Doe on Mobile, and the phone does it... as with any other software, your mileage may vary... PM me if you want me to email the cab...

Also, buying a large miniSD is a great idea, I have a Sandisk 1gb and I love it. Watch out for 2gb cards, a small minority may be valid, most are fakes, and all are probably lower quality...

Any other questions, feel free to ask, or even PM me (especially if I do not seem to be responding fast enough....)

And Uh, SORRY about the length... just trying to answer everythng...