Buying cell for Rogers Wireless?

[REDSOX847]

i'm not a cellular tech junkie so i need input on this stuff. i'm under contract with Rogers Wireless right now but i want a new phone. Do i absolutely have to get my phone from Rogers or can i buy it from a different retailer, outlet, etc,,, as long as it meets certain standards and put the rogers SIM card in the new phone? would it matter if the new phone is GSM or unlocked (whatever people call it. i'm not sure what it means) i'm new to this so help me please.

[HL2k]

If your under contract with Rogers, argue with customer service threatening to leave to get yourself a new phone with probably minor contract extension.

If you don't want that route you can buy a phone outright from a retailer, ebay, etc but it may cost you $100-1000 depending on the model phone you want (Blackberry 8800 brand new no contract is around $700)

Rogers will GIVE you the phone for a contract extension because they make an average of $2500/per year per contract.

If you do go get a phone outside of Rogers, it HAS to be GSM. Unlocked just means its not locked to a single carrier (ie: Rogers, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless). Telus and Bell are both CDMA carriers, their phones cannot work on a GSM network, as they are two different network types, with two different bands.