Eureka!

[jacarandr]

I followed the hacktheiphone tutorial to the letter and got to the Flashing the Baseband bit, whereupon it told me the unlock was succesful but the unlock commands weren't.. whatever that means. I tried running simfree a couple more times but no luck.. so I did a complete restore from the 91meg firmware on itunes and all i then had to do was use INdepenedence to activate the phone and BOSH.. I'm using a French pay-as-you-go sim in italy and I'm very chuffed..
Thanks Mr HackTheIphone.. its all good!!