If you’re in the market for a new iPhone, you may be considering purchasing a used one instead. The reasons are many and the benefits, namely savings, can be significant, but there are some things you should know before going in that direction. Otherwise you could find yourself out your money and with a paperweight rather than a working phone.

First, try to stick to reputable sellers like Gazelle or Amazon. Even better, see if your carrier offers used phones for sale, many do. Think hard before buying a used (or new for that matter) phone from Ebay or Craigslist. The risk of getting a broken or stolen phone is quite high on both sites. If you do go the Ebay route, read the seller’s feedback (both received and given) very carefully along with the listing, and buy only with a credit card, which will give you the maximum protection. Unfortunately, when buying from Ebay there is no way to be sure you’ll get a phone with “Find My iPhone” turned off. If it’s not, the phone is useless. There is no way to get around the activation lock without the previous user’s Apple ID and password. If your phone arrives with it turned on, your only hope is to pray the seller will either provide the info needed to turn FMI off or accept the phone back for a refund.

The iPhone 5c 16GB is now available for as low as P1,349 monthly at Plan 499 with a monthly cashout* of P850 for a 24-month contract period. The postpaid plan bundle comes with 300 megabytes (MB) of mobile Long Term Evolution (LTE) surfing and free calls and texts.

On the other hand, the iPhone 5s 16GB is offered for as low as P1,799 monthly at Plan 999 with a monthly cashout* of P800 for a 24-month contract period. The plan is bundled with unlimited LTE surfing and free calls and texts.

“Customers can now purchase the newest iPhones under our suite of fully-customizable postpaid plans at a price that’s easier on their pockets and enjoy the same best deals and innovative offers only from the leader in postpaid and trusted expert in iPhone,” shares Raul Macatangay, Head of Globe Postpaid.

On top of the offers now made more affordable, Globe subscribers also get free subscription to Globe Gadget Care, the complete mobile phone protection program against theft and accidental damage available in the market today, as well as free access to Facebook along with customer experience innovations until January 2014.

Globe is also offering the iPhone 5c 16GB in prepaid for only P29,000 and the iPhone 5s 16GB at P34,400 payable via credit card for up to 12-month installment at 0% interest. The prepaid kit comes with a free prepaid nano-SIM and free 900 MB of mobile browsing for 3 months.

New and existing Globe subscribers who are loyal iPhone users can also avail of the iPhone Forever plan, an exclusive phone upgrade program that allows them to swap their current devices to get a new iPhone every year for free or with minimal cashout. The iPhone 5c 16GB is available at iPhone Forever Plan 1599, while the iPhone 5s 16GB is available at iPhone Forever Plan 1999, both for a contract period of 24 months. Both plans are bundled with 1 gigabyte (GB) of mobile LTE surfing and free calls and texts.

To know more about the Globe iPhone offers, visit www.globe.com.ph or call the Globe Sales Hotline at 730-1010.

*Cash-out for 24 months payable at 0% installment via participating credit cards

Unlocking your iPhone can be extremely beneficial depending on the situation, but you may have heard otherwise and that is causing you to be skeptical about the process. iPhones that are unlocked are able to connect to any wireless provider network – meaning if you have an O2 iPhone but you’ve cancelled your O2 service and are now using T-Mobile, you will need to unlock that iPhone to use it on T-Mobile’s network.

So you know why people unlock their iPhones, but why is it controversial? The main problem is that unlocking a device often voids the manufacturer warranty. If you just bought a brand new iPhone, it may not be in your best interest to unlock it since it has a full warranty life it hasn’t lived. Of course if you are forced to switch phone companies for whatever reason, you may have no other option but to unlock the device.

Other than simply voiding your warranty, unlocking your device can be risky if you try doing it yourself without knowing exactly what to do. It’s not that hard to brick your device and cause it to become unusable because you didn’t perform the unlocking process correctly. In this case you have now broken your phone and voided the warranty.

For those that really do not want to void their warranty, there’s the option of sending the device to your carrier to have it unlocked. This usually costs a decent amount of money (around £99 usually), but the important thing is it doesn’t void your warranty. Honestly this option really is not something you’d want to consider unless your provider has a very low price.

Obviously if you’ve switched carriers and weren’t provided with a new phone, you’ll be forced to unlock your phone or give it away. If you happen to be lucky enough to receive a phone from someone who didn’t want to just unlock it, you could unlock it yourself and use it on any carrier or join the carrier of the phone. If your warranty has expired, you should go ahead and unlock your device if you’re confident you won’t damage it and you want to switch carriers.

If you have some form of third party gadget insurance, that will likely cover your device even if you unlocked it. Each policy will be different, but in most cases you can rest assured your unlocked device is safe. One of the leaders in iPhone insurance is Protect Your Bubble, this third party insurance company offers extensive iPhone 5 Insurance at a very affordable rate.

Since paying your carrier to unlock your device can be costly, you should compare the time left on your warranty with the cost of insurance. If your warranty is going to expire in 6 months, you’d be better off just insuring your phone for those 6 months and beyond rather than paying to unlock your phone. Whichever route you decide to go, the process can be a bit tricky; always make sure you know what your coverage is and how to utilise it.

Music always tends to play an important role in everyone’s life. Starting from old era, music has always been taken care of in terms of movies, albums, award shows, occasions, and also in the field of art. The art of music increased rapidly with the enhancement of technologies and music players. Instruments like guitar, sitar, mouth organ, keyboard, drums etc. are used as the source of playing good music. The taste of music varies from person to person. It depends upon the mood, environment, place and kind of people around. Some people also look forward towards owning the best and rare instruments. There is no scarcity of musical instruments, but some extra ordinary versions or models of instruments like guitar and drums are launched very rarely and the quantity of such collection is very limited.

Music lovers can be happy now as they can now enjoy their favourite music on their gadgets such as iPhone 5. IPhone 5 plays a devastating role in terms of music. The latest technology and fantastic sound quality provides the ease of getting instant music. One can listen to any song at any time and any place. The quality of sound compels one to hear the music. IPhone 5 also allows one to browse the net rapidly. One can download tracks at any point of time. One can also download the different music based applications and make use of it. IPhone 5 provides the facility of playing virtual guitars, keyboards and drums. Downloading of song lyrics or guitar nodes are some of its various exciting features. The ease of learning to play an instrument is also provided by the features of iPhone 5. Music can be considered as a form of hobby in multiple ways and aspects. Some people like to listen to different music, some likes to dance on certain kind of songs, some use it as a kind of relaxation, some people learns and plays music for their own happiness and others use it as a field of profession in order to earn.

Women are incomplete without makeup. Women are given the right to look good and beautiful, the ways may vary. Some likes to stay naturally beautiful and some likes to use makeup and accessories in order to look good and attractive. There are three main parts of maintaining beauty. To look completely beautiful, a woman needs to take care of hair, skin and makeup. Healthy, soft and shiny hair makes one look effectively attractive and one does not need to put extra makeup to look good. Healthy hair works completely towards giving a beauty touch to a woman. A healthy looking skin provides natural beauty to woman. No matter how much makeup is applied, if the skin is not healthy then the makeup would be of no use as well.

There are a number of hair problems that a woman relates to. Problems such as dry hair, rough hair, split ends, hair colour, growth, hair fall, dry scalp and dandruff are some of the very common issues. All the above mentioned hair issues can be taken care of with a bit of attention. One needs to understand the type of hair the woman has. Depending upon the type of hair and the problem faced, one can choose the hair product accordingly. There are products available online and even the hair experts are ready to help their clients online. One can simply contact the hair experts or go through the online products and their details and hence chose the best suitable product. One can also look for various salon treatments for getting fast and best results for extra damaged hair quality. Different products work for different aspects of hair problem. There are products for controlling hair fall, providing lengthy hair, volume increment, quality etc.

iPhone is a great gadget helping today’s women to look for beauty tips sitting at home. Today, women can easily search for beauty tips, look for treatments, solve their hair problems, and look for nearby salons and all this can be done on iPhone sitting at home. Gone are the days when you need to struggle looking here and there asking different people so as to get the right solution for your problems. Today with just few touches on your iPhone you can get answers to all your questions and even look for required places. Enhancing your beauty is really easy in today’s time. It is often seen that many women struggle to find the right product for their skin so as to enhance their beauty but now with the help of iPhone you can get the right tips and the best products that will suit your skin.

Skin care products are helpful for making the skin softand glowing. Beauty of a woman depends upon the skin she is in. Healthy skin comes initially from healthy eating. A healthy and nutritious diet provides a glowing skin. A little application of natural products can make the skin look glamorous. Make up is essential for a woman in case of attending ceremonies and different occasions. Makeup is not meant for making a woman artificially beautiful, it is just meant for giving a little touch to the natural beauty. The products related to hair, skin and makeup can be found offline and online. One just needs to choose the correct product depending upon and skin type and tone.

Purchasing the beauty products online has increased rapidly. The new launched products and their details are available and one can choose accordingly. Using an iPhone enhances such purchasing. IPhone provides one with the ease of staying connected to the latest products. It also includes applications that provide healthy diet and beauty tips that are effective. In case some skin problem occurs, one can simply use the iPhone at any time to know about the best possible remedy. IPhone also allows the access of tracking nearby salon and beauty care centres for required products. Getting your iPhone insured is always a wise idea as you are using your gadget every now and then for numerous purposes. Cheap insurance quotes for iPhone can easily be found online and you can get your iPhone insured without any hassle. Use your iPhone for getting some best beauty tips and enhance your beauty so as to look pretty.