In the life of a human, a few years isn’t very long at all. In the life of an electronic device, it’s… well, it’s an entire lifetime. Literally. Still, Matt doesn’t understand why his Android tablet, which was manufactured a few years ago, can’t just have a T-Mobile SIM slapped on it so he can use it on a mobile network. He’s been using it on wifi for years, but wants to be all portable, as well as update the OS. This would require a two-year T-Mobile contract. Two years?

A few years back I purchased a Dell Streak 7 as a trial into the world of android and tablets. This has become a nightmare.

My laptop had just finally crapped out and I thought a tablet would be a great replacement as all I did was fart around on the internet. My wife and I had t-mobile servcie for years and were happy and satisfied with the company. Being new to tablets and android, I didn’t think I would need/want mobile service since wifi was everywhere. I decided to play it safe just in case I ever wanted service to buy one manufactured for such a purpose.

Fast forward to today. Dell doesn’t make it and hasn’t for a while. T-mobile doesn’t support it. I am 3 versions of the o/s behind and cannot update to honeycomb or support flash. The only way I can get an unlock code, so I can update the o/s is to sign a 2 year service contract when I paid full retail but the device isn’t supported any way. Any thoughts or advice?

If it’s out of warranty and not much fun to use otherwise, you don’t have much of a choice: you’re going to have to root the device to upgrade the operating system. For the best method to do that, as well as a way to get some mobile Internets into the tablet, we defer to the wisdom of the Consumerist Hive Mind.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.