HTC Surround is coming November 8th afterall - Surround General

But only to Best Buy (US only). Very strange.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/14/dell-streak-htc-surround-white-samsung-fascinate-and-taylor-s/
Is the LG Quantum going to be a Wal-Mart exclusive? lol

RustyGrom said:
But only to Best Buy (US only).
Is the LG Quantum going to be a Wal-Mart exclusive? lol
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LOL! that was funny

The Taylor Swift SE-X10 is what caught my attention. Guess Im gonna have trouble choosing now :-\
lol

I seriously question the validity of Best Buy being the exclusive launch for the Surround. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Being one of the debut phones of WP7 under AT&T, the AT&T store is definitley going to have this. I would expect this, especially after after all the hype that was built for WP7 phones.

Well, after asking an ATT corporate store and multiple Best Buy's, it seems like it is true that it is exclusive to BB. Not sure the reasoning behind it but I put my preorder in anyhow. Usually phones are the only thing I buy from BB anyway since they give instant rebates on phones instead of the usual mail-in variety by ATT.

Just for the record.. Since people don't understand it still. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile are different. There are standalone stores in malls and whatnot for Best Buy Mobile. And they truly do offer the cheapest prices on cellphones(physical in store that is). Instant rebates, none of that mail crap. And I think we're the only ones who offer legit iPhone insurance. Just saying, I feel like people are giving the downs to BBY because they over price everything. But BBYM is completely different. Anyway..
Can't wait to see all these new phones! We were fiddling with the Dell Streak today, sucks vanilla wise. Custom rom would make it worthwhile though. But I don't see us selling many of them with the $300 UPG/ACTV price. And we were lolling the entire day over the OtterBox for the Streak.. enormous!

I guess Best Buy Mobile isn't taking any more preorders?

I found a website that says they are taking preorders: http://www.mobilecityonline.com
Seems to be $600 for most of the WP7 phones, $100 more for it to be unlocked. I'm thinking I'll pass on it due to the price, but maybe someone else will be interested.

XeNoMoRpH1030 said:
I guess Best Buy Mobile isn't taking any more preorders?
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Possibly the closer we get to launch. Haven't heard much yet at work.

xSeany said:
Just for the record.. Since people don't understand it still. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile are different. There are standalone stores in malls and whatnot for Best Buy Mobile. And they truly do offer the cheapest prices on cellphones(physical in store that is). Instant rebates, none of that mail crap. And I think we're the only ones who offer legit iPhone insurance.
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Radioshack and Best Buy alternate between lowest prices, depending on the phones. They don't do mail-in rebates, either. Not that RS is getting the Surround, but the point remains

Well, it seems Best Buy has put it back up

I hoped that we'd be able to preorder this device, but it appears AT&T isn't doing any type of preorder. I talked to them and they said you have to wait till November 8th.
I did notice Letstalk and Amazon Wireless have the devices up, just as coming soon though.

I got a best buy mobile and a att store within 20 feet of eachother in the mall here. I DONT think its as silly as having about 8 tmobile booths through out the entire mall.
There is also another att store in front of the mall. Its just crazy!

Hard to find...
The HTC Surround just showed up in Best Buy's inventory today. I work there full time and I've already got my pre-order. I did it on day one so as to guarantee my phone. Bad news is that the Best Buy I work at (small-end of the large format stores that sells appliances and installs car audio) has only 10 handsets on order. Hope you guys got your orders in early. As far as I can tell they will also have at least one case available for the phone in the stores house brand, Rocketfish. Can't wait to get this thing so I can ditch my Fuze.

Available at AT&T
Trust me it will be at AT&T starting Monday morning. ;-)

Here is a picture of the one I picked up at BB in Atlanta TODAY.

Surround Available at AT&D tomorrow morning
I am picking up my Surround at AT&T in the morning. They have 10 in stock.
AT&T require a minimum $15 data plan which gives you 200 megs monthly which is sufficient for my use since I mostly use WiFi at home. So the phone will cost me $200 and about $45 monthly. The surround reviews look very good. Though I may have preferred an HD7, only T-Mobile has them now and their service would cost a minimum $80 per month.

I just ordered mine online. Should be here in 2-3 days, assuming everything goes well.
Also, you can pre-order the LG from AT&T. Not sure why they didn't let you pre-order the others...

Just picked one up at my local ATT
Just got one, so the ATT stores have the Samsung and the HTC, we shall see how this plays out (gota learn a new windows now)
Cheers
BR

Related

Evo 4G off contract price?

I see $450 being thrown about but come on, that's too good to be true. I called Best Buy and was quoted $700.
sprint email
the sprint email i received said $499 was the price...direct from sprint...see my post under evo 4g launch event...i just left best buy and they told me they have nothing on the pricing yet!! (even though i was going to pre-order!!...they said it is whatever the rebate price from sprint ($199))
adeyo said:
the sprint email i received said $499 was the price...direct from sprint...see my post under evo 4g launch event...i just left best buy and they told me they have nothing on the pricing yet!! (even though i was going to pre-order!!...they said it is whatever the rebate price from sprint ($199))
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actually retail$450.$150 instant discount,u pay $300 up front then u get back $100 mail in rebate that leaves to $199 with new activation.
Wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of misinformation floating out there, but I called a Sprint Store directly and they informed me the retail price is $449. He had to put me on hold to call corporate. $450 is ridiculous for something like this, and I still don't quite believe it.
What sucks even more is my 30 day window closes on June 2nd!! But if I can sell a brand new hero for $200 I won't mind fronting the other $250.
When the EVO was announced at CTIA I immediately signed up for news updates at the Sprint EVO site. Yesterday I received a promotional email FROM SPRINT that says "...$449.99 - $150.00 (two-year activation) - $100.00 (mail-in rebate) = $199.99 (final price).". I literally just now copy and pasted that quote from the email!
So, will Best Buy offer it at the same price or not? I'm ashamed to say, when I was there pre-ordering it this afternoon, I was assured that pre-orders were for unsubsidized phones as well as new service (or upgrades) but I forgot to ask what the non-discount price was because I assumed it was the same. Now I'm wondering...
I just pre-ordered my Evo at BestBuy today and didn't even think to ask what retail was. I just assumed it was the $450 like Sprint said.
Sure hope I'm right. I thought it was too good to be true as well but coming out of Sprint's mouth it was hard not to pay full price.
I preordered at bestbuy too.
occasionally they mess up and give me the lower out of contract price but either way...I'm buying this phone!
Return it
seanlindo06 said:
Wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of misinformation floating out there, but I called a Sprint Store directly and they informed me the retail price is $449. He had to put me on hold to call corporate. $450 is ridiculous for something like this, and I still don't quite believe it.
What sucks even more is my 30 day window closes on June 2nd!! But if I can sell a brand new hero for $200 I won't mind fronting the other $250.
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I have heard that what people are doing in a situation like yours, is that they are just going to return it, get another phone (like the moment or something) and then return it again for the EVO. Sure you'll have to pay restocking fees, but it will cost less then selling your Hero.
449 is probably the starting price based on signing a 2 year contract. It will likely be higher if you are going with a non-contract outright purchase. Our prices at The Shack work that way at least.
With Sprint from the past, whatever the price is before they apply the discount for new service, new line, or upgrade is usually what the price of the phone is. It is a little hard to believe this amazing phone is $450 but I've noticed one thing android phones tend to be cheaper than their WM counterparts, not always but usually. With that said I'm sure Sprints plan is to keep as many customers as possible as well as get more with this phone and they can always make it back with the cost of the plan. I also went to pre-order mines from best buy today but before I commit to it I wanted to make sure what the unsubsidized price would be but unfortunately the guy helping didn't know. He just said it would probably be about 600-700. The email as stated though says $450 so before I committed I wanted to find out what the real price will be before I commit to a higher price than what Sprint is actually selling for since I just used my upgrade in January for the Hero so I have to wait until next January. I have had the experience depending on who you deal with that even if you aren't eligble for an upgrade they would still sell you the phone at the upgrade price. Also a post above stated that they were going to get the 100 rebate still, is that even possible without it being a new activation or upgrade or were they just helping you out?
Chatted with Sprint rep today via website and confirmed...
...that the off-contract price is $449. If this turns out to be true...that's FU*KING GREAT!!! I really hope this phone ends up being the real deal. This could be an all-out effort from Sprint to extend what potentially is the hottest phone of 2010 to anyone who's interested at great price whether new customer or otherwise. Gain new customers and stop the bleeding of existing ones...makes sense.
there also seems to be a very gradual shift away from outrageous off-contract prices (FTC pressure maybe?)... nokia smartphones have been reasonably priced off contract (gsm models anyway) for some time now, and while 450 is a bit low it doesn't seem impossible.
Yeah, I'm going back to BestBuy today to cancel my preorder. Their are just too many rumors of BB charging $600+. Hopefully I will have luck on my side on June 4 when I go to the Sprint store to buy one.
$599 off contract confirmed at BB.$450 at Sprint. My Sprint store isn't doing preorders.. looks like I'll be taking the fourth off from work.
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$450 from Sprint directly. Periord. End of story. Other retailers such as Best Buy and RadioShack have the ability to raise the price if they want, and it has been confirmed that Best Buy will be gouging it to $600. It has been reported that RadioShack will only charge the standard $450.
Can anyone confirm the 450 in writing from a sprint store after you paid for a pre-order?
I will go to 20 sprint stores in my area if one will do that for me.
THANKS!!
Can anyone confirm the 450 in writing from a sprint store after you paid for a pre-order?
I will go to 20 sprint stores in my area if one will do that for me.
THANKS!!
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Sprint sent out the announcement email with the $450 price, and many people have had them confirm it via support.
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Yeah, I've printed a copy of that announcement from a link someone posted to be safe but what I'm most concerned with is trying to get a pre-order confirmed at that price. I don't want to have to wake up crazy early and then hope that they don't try to screw me that morning of by telling me they are only selling to upgrade customers since those are the people they make money off of. That could very well happen, that's exactly why I want to pre-order.
Appears that corp stores are NOT taking pre-orders. If anyone finds out different please post about your story.
Thanks
Will bb price match?

Nexus One just arriving at third party outlets?

It was a bargain at Google's online outlet. How can they have the balls to say the phone is a $699.00 retail phone? $300.00 with a new two year T-Mobile contract? This isn't going to help sales.
Here it is at i-wireless
Here it is at Pure Wireless for AT&T - no contract price of $638.00 plus shipping.
Ugh - I hope this isn't going to be a sign of what's to come.
Wow, never even thought of seeing it at those prices. I'm not sure what to make of this actually because they were talking about selling it at retail outlets, not on the internet.
This one is my favorite.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270562235947&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
krabman said:
Wow, never even thought of seeing it at those prices. I'm not sure what to make of this actually because they were talking about selling it at retail outlets, not on the internet.
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Those seem like 3rd party retailers, they always seem to bloat the prices so they make money off of it, if you go directly to an official store, they'll have it at the actual price. I heard t-mobile is going to start selling it officially.
Edit:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/186991/nexus_one_price_drops_for_some_tmobile_upgrades.html
New customers get it for $180, upgrades are another story.
ChillRays said:
This one is my favorite.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270562235947&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
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That one kills me. I didn't know Hong Kong was in Canada.
prophetjinn said:
Those seem like 3rd party retailers, they always seem to bloat the prices so they make money off of it, if you go directly to an official store, they'll have it at the actual price. I heard t-mobile is going to start selling it officially.
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I heard that too. I heard AT&T will, too. But I have serious doubts about that rumor. If they do, they'll insist on screwing it up. You can count on no more "fastboot oem unlock"
attn1 said:
That one kills me. I didn't know Hong Kong was in Canada.
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haha i just noticed that too...
prophetjinn said:
Those seem like 3rd party retailers, they always seem to bloat the prices so they make money off of it, if you go directly to an official store, they'll have it at the actual price. I heard t-mobile is going to start selling it officially.
Edit:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/186991/nexus_one_price_drops_for_some_tmobile_upgrades.html
New customers get it for $180, upgrades are another story.
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NOUN
1. sale to consumers: the selling of goods directly to customers, e.g. in stores
"She works in retail."
ADVERB
1. not wholesale: from an ordinary store or at the regular customer price and in small amounts rather than in bulk
"I bought it retail."
This is something that maybe has a different connotation elsewhere but retail around here refers to brick and mortar. Before there was an internet something not bought at retail or catalog sales from a retailer was either mail order or private sale. Nowdays you can add internet sales to that as a different venue to shop but it is not retail.
edit... Maybe its just because I'm old. Let me rephrase, its not retail to me or basically anyone I know. I'm going to have to ask one of my kids the next time they come over.
This is what I've been saying all along. It's not carriers they mentioned, they said third party retail, like amazon, best buy, frys electronics, etc. I mean what carriers are left? They all passed on the nexus, so the only places left are stores.
krabman said:
NOUN
1. sale to consumers: the selling of goods directly to customers, e.g. in stores
"She works in retail."
ADVERB
1. not wholesale: from an ordinary store or at the regular customer price and in small amounts rather than in bulk
"I bought it retail."
This is something that maybe has a different connotation elsewhere but retail around here refers to brick and mortar. Before there was an internet something not bought at retail or catalog sales from a retailer was either mail order or private sale. Nowdays you can add internet sales to that as a different venue to shop but it is not retail.
edit... Maybe its just because I'm old. Let me rephrase, its not retail to me or basically anyone I know. I'm going to have to ask one of my kids the next time they come over.
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Did I say retail? I asked if this is a sign of things to come because NO ONE has yet announced the Nexus One is slated for their retail outlet. Also, the AT&T version is "temporarily unavailable" from the Google online store.
If sales are so damn bad, how did this happen?
attn1 said:
Did I say retail? I asked if this is a sign of things to come because NO ONE has yet announced the Nexus One is slated for their retail outlet. Also, the AT&T version is "temporarily unavailable" from the Google online store.
If sales are so damn bad, how did this happen?
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Its going to take 3 days to get more AT&T Nexus Ones in. A google employee confirmed this. Sadly I don't have a link to back this up but thats the word going around. =)
ChillRays said:
Its going to take 3 days to get more AT&T Nexus Ones in. A google employee confirmed this. Sadly I don't have a link to back this up but thats the word going around. =)
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And this happened because they are letting inventory drop before allowing a retailer to take over? A $99.00 AT&T Nexus at Walmart would be outstanding. With my luck, it will end up at Radio Shack for $429.00 with a new contract. My wife now wants one.
attn1 said:
And this happened because they are letting inventory drop before allowing a retailer to take over? A $99.00 AT&T Nexus at Walmart would be outstanding. With my luck, it will end up at Radio Shack for $429.00 with a new contract. My wife now wants one.
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Looks like your wife and I are in the same boat I really can't wait for my N1.
ChillRays said:
Looks like your wife and I are in the same boat I really can't wait for my N1.
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Well, we're waiting a few days for the new iphone to come out. If I peddle that on Ebay new and unopened and contract free, it ought to bring enough profit to pay for a good part of a new N1. I just hope it's available for a reasonable price somewhere when we're ready to buy.
attn1 said:
Did I say retail? I asked if this is a sign of things to come because NO ONE has yet announced the Nexus One is slated for their retail outlet. Also, the AT&T version is "temporarily unavailable" from the Google online store.
If sales are so damn bad, how did this happen?
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They said retail in their announcement. You know, it turns out people want to get their hands on them, or whatever the language was. I dont feel like looking it up but I'm sure you recall that. That is why I wonder exactly what this is all about. This isnt going to move many more handsets than their own direct sales. Thats where I was going about it not making sense. It doesnt jive with what they said.
FYI, I Wireless is a cell phone provider based out of Iowa, and is affiliated with T-Mobile USA, although both are still separate companies. They have had the Nexus One since the end of March at select corporate locations. The reason they are priced that much is because they had to buy them 5 at a time from Google in order to offer them to customers. They did this because they wanted to offer their customers the Nexus One, and this was the only way they could at a discount.
With the change in Google policy, they are now available at every location in the company. But here is the thing, Google is still selling the phone to retailers and carriers, and they are charging an arm and a leg for each unit. $300 on contract is still a large discount from what the whole sale price of the phone is for most retailers... some retailers and carriers, ie T-Mobile, are getting a better deal, thus can offer a lower price. But they are also taking a bigger hit than others are (they can afford to because they have a larger customer base, thus if they only make $20 over a 2 year contract off a Nexus One owner, they can handle that because they have so many customers it still adds up to millions in the end).
krabman said:
They said retail in their announcement. You know, it turns out people want to get their hands on them, or whatever the language was. I dont feel like looking it up but I'm sure you recall that. That is why I wonder exactly what this is all about. This isnt going to move many more handsets than their own direct sales. Thats where I was going about it not making sense. It doesnt jive with what they said.
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Yup, agreed.
pjcforpres said:
FYI, I Wireless is a cell phone provider based out of Iowa, and is affiliated with T-Mobile USA, although both are still separate companies. They have had the Nexus One since the end of March at select corporate locations. The reason they are priced that much is because they had to buy them 5 at a time from Google in order to offer them to customers. They did this because they wanted to offer their customers the Nexus One, and this was the only way they could at a discount.
With the change in Google policy, they are now available at every location in the company. But here is the thing, Google is still selling the phone to retailers and carriers, and they are charging an arm and a leg for each unit. $300 on contract is still a large discount from what the whole sale price of the phone is for most retailers... some retailers and carriers, ie T-Mobile, are getting a better deal, thus can offer a lower price. But they are also taking a bigger hit than others are (they can afford to because they have a larger customer base, thus if they only make $20 over a 2 year contract off a Nexus One owner, they can handle that because they have so many customers it still adds up to millions in the end).
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Well, $529.00 retail/no contract is not an arm and a leg. The price should drop in half or more with a new 2 year contract - the plans have fat in the price to provide a hefty $300.00 or more sudsidy. AT&T just increased their early termination contract penalty to $325.00 on smart phones to make sure they recover their subsidy. Something is just not right with this picture.
Man, Google is dumb here.
Why does it have to be online-only or store-only?
What they should have done is send one or two phones to all T-Mobile stores, and maybe have an online kiosk too. Then people can check it out in person and BOOM, sold.
It doesn't have to be one or the other.
attn1 said:
Well, $529.00 retail/no contract is not an arm and a leg. The price should drop in half or more with a new 2 year contract - the plans have fat in the price to provide a hefty $300.00 or more sudsidy. AT&T just increased their early termination contract penalty to $325.00 on smart phones to make sure they recover their subsidy. Something is just not right with this picture.
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I Wireless doesn't charge $325, though. And like I already said, they were buying them 5 at a time at full retail price just to offer them to their customers. That is a $260 subsidy... but that in perspective, if you gave that discount on a BB Bold 9700, the phone would be about $50. In general, most phones are subsidized about $100 for a dumb phone and $200 for a smartphone. And net the carrier about $50-$100 in total profit over a 2 year contract. Verizon and AT&T make much more than the T-Mobile's, and especially I Wireless of the world.
pjcforpres said:
I Wireless doesn't charge $325, though. And like I already said, they were buying them 5 at a time at full retail price just to offer them to their customers. That is a $260 subsidy... but that in perspective, if you gave that discount on a BB Bold 9700, the phone would be about $50. In general, most phones are subsidized about $100 for a dumb phone and $200 for a smartphone. And net the carrier about $50-$100 in total profit over a 2 year contract. Verizon and AT&T make much more than the T-Mobile's, and especially I Wireless of the world.
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How was Google pushing them out to new T-Mo customers for $179.00?
Paul22000 said:
Man, Google is dumb here.
Why does it have to be online-only or store-only?
What they should have done is send one or two phones to all T-Mobile stores, and maybe have an online kiosk too. Then people can check it out in person and BOOM, sold.
It doesn't have to be one or the other.
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Yeah, they could have done something different, that's for sure. Walmart? Best Buy? These guys can buy in enough volume to put them out there are a reasonable price.

[Q] How easy is to buy a Focus without a contract?

I will be traveling to the US in about a week, I want to buy a Focus and was wondering if I will be able to do it without having a contract with At&t..
I'm willing to pay the "No Commitment Pricing" of $500+taxes but I don't know what kind of requirements they impose to the actual purchase of a device in the store.
Anybody has info on this?
idloco said:
I will be traveling to the US in about a week, I want to buy a Focus and was wondering if I will be able to do it without having a contract with At&t..
I'm willing to pay the "No Commitment Pricing" of $500+taxes but I don't know what kind of requirements they impose to the actual purchase of a device in the store.
Anybody has info on this?
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Your best bet is Best Buy if/when they get the phone, I think.
When I bought my Focus today in an official AT&T store, they mentioned I would have to purchase some sort of contract to "get the phone today". I didn't mind since I was planning to, but it felt to me like it was a necessity...
Anyone else have problems buying off contract? I used my upgrade on an iPhone 4 and wanted to buy this for the full retail price today.... Hopefully I don't run into any problems =/
I bought mine no contract with no hassle. I'm already an ATT customer and just asked to buy the phone without a contract.
chizzwhizz said:
I bought mine no contract with no hassle. I'm already an ATT customer and just asked to buy the phone without a contract.
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Same here, I was in and out in about 5 minutes.
Bizybone said:
Same here, I was in and out in about 5 minutes.
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phew... load off my mind. now i can sell off my samsung captivate without worrying the whole day if i did it for nothing. THANKS
I got the phone when the stores open in Columbus, OH on the 8th. There were 4 of us in line there. The other 3 were Microsoft employees. Two bought the focus, one the HTC. All bought them with NO contract. Infact I think one guy paid for all three of them lol. I'm pretty sure since you can order them online with no contract for $499.99 at ATT.com that a contract is not needed.
I walked in and out of a official att store with a focus.
Buy it @ at&t stores should be no problem at all. The biggest problem is to get it unlocked.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
You can't buy the Samsung Focus off contract currently. AT&T will sell it outright ($499 + tax), but they will only sell it to you if your an existing on-contract customer or you sign up (with a minimum term). I've already been to AT&T and tried, apparantly my money is not good enough there. I'm not sure how people in the US put up with this rubbish. Either way, the only way to get a Samsung Focus in the US at the moment is to sign up at AT&T.
I've also been to Best Buy, but they only stock the HTC Surround, which I won't buy due to it not having a microSD slot.
I'm currently an AT&T customer who just renewed my contract for another 2 years for the iphone 4. So they'll be able to sell me one full retail price, right?
www.expansys-usa.com
What about Amazon Wireless, I think you can buy there without a plan...
EDIT: I just confirm this, you can buy without a plan!
Most online site still need to verify your status with AT&T (at least that's the policy with Letstalk.com). Stores don't like to sell phones without contract because there is no money to be made (monthly service charges).
jaraya13 said:
What about Amazon Wireless, I think you can buy there without a plan...
EDIT: I just confirm this, you can buy without a plan!
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You can go elsewhere on the net as well. The problem is AT&T has the best price right now. Everyone else is a good 50-80 more expensive. I'd rather save the extra cash and grab a branded one...
bmstrong said:
You can go elsewhere on the net as well. The problem is AT&T has the best price right now. Everyone else is a good 50-80 more expensive. I'd rather save the extra cash and grab a branded one...
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Dude I meant the branded ones (AT&T), for example the HTC SURROUND AT&T BRANDED price is $460 or something like that. And I was able to go through all the checkout process, just that I didn't want to pay, hehehe
OK cool.. I hope there are Focus left when I´m there!
Amazon.com doesn't have Focus in stock. In fact, it only briefly showed up in like 10 seconds before it was sold out @ 11/8.
You go to Dell online and buy any phone on any carrier in the US and some unlocked Nokia's without a contract and in some cases the prices are pretty good...I have a Streak AND a Nokia N8 on the way lol. The Nokia (ugly pea green one) was actually only $450 compared to $550 most other places. If I don't like either one I may be joining the Focus owners club in a few weeks.
craiglist.. thats how i got mine// 400 bucks.. a week old

Samsung Focus price drop looks PERMANENT

If you haven't heard already, AT&T's website shows a change in price for the Focus which was originally $199 and is now $99 on contract. I was assuming this was just a random New Year's sale but now I'm not so sure.
Yesterday on Gizmodo, I noticed that Microsoft was advertising WP7 and the Focus but those banners had been there for a while. Then I realized it was also advertising the $99 price and I don't remember AT&T advertising many of their sales before.
Today my cousin needed to return a router to AT&T so I went to the local store in Southern California and I decided to check out the price. There it was on the sign: "$99 on contract". That rules out a web-only sale too. So after my cousin had returned the router. I asked one of the employees there about the phone's price. He said they just got word of the new pricing last night and changed it in-store this morning. I asked him if it was permanent and he replied, "I'm not completely sure. Like I said, we only just got the message yesterday and it just said to change the price."
If it were a sale, then AT&T would probably be screaming about it from the rooftops and make their employees tell customers it was a limited time only...but that's not the case. So it looks like the Focus has officially dropped to $99 on contract.
Now the real question is: why? Seems convenient for the price to drop the week of CES so maybe thats a hint that AT&T will be getting some new smartphones in their lineup soon, maybe even more WP7s. Another thing to consider is that AT&T is trying to rope in as many customers as it possibly can before Verizon gets the iPhone 4, which is rumored and has some evidence to support it happening a couple of weeks after CES. Take it as you will, but a great cutting-edge smartphone is now $100 and thats pretty sweet if you ask me.
Well, assuming the Surround and Quantum haven't dropped too, the Focus is the only 8GB WP7, and the 8GB iPhone is $99. It could be Samsung/Microsoft/AT&T wanted that price lower so the Focus was clearly a better choice.
@FishFace - Both the Samsung Focus and the LG Quantum are getting the $100-pricepoint-treatment.
wwwDOTwpcentralDOTcom/ATT-lowers-price-quantum-and-focus
GrayWolf said:
@FishFace - Both the Samsung Focus and the LG Quantum are getting the $100-pricepoint-treatment.
www.wpcentral.com/ATT-lowers-price-quantum-and-focus
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That's what is so odd. Why are only the Quantum and the Focus getting the price drop?
My only theory right now is that AT&T wanted all three at the $100 price point but HTC declined while LG & Samsung both agreed. I'm sticking with my master theory that AT&T wants as many people as humanly possible to come to AT&T before Verizon's iPhone is announced as this also makes sense with AT&T offering early upgrades for people interested in buying the iPhone 4.
$99 on contract price is so so as most online dealers already sold them for $49 or free. However, the biggest story in this price reduction is that both Focus and Quantum now sell for $399 off contract. That's a very attractive price for me w/o (not even possible right now) sign up two more years of contract.
I suspect the HTC doesn't sell as well as the other two. And also this move is in anticipation of WP7 phones will be released to Verizon and Sprint soon, not iPhone. iPhone itself has the price drop as well at the same time.
iphone4 is not the threat. It would be the iPhone5 ! Or even WP8 !
And the strategy to go to a $100 now is brilliant. I mean how many smartphones that are really worth buying are at this price point? Seems to me that they have found a great price point and will sell millions of them. They proabably get some kind of rebate from Microsoft for selling so many units and Microsoft will benefit from increased users buying Apps or XboxLive games.
No different than a Toyota Corolla. Make a good car and sell it at a great price point and they sold LOTS of them. Build up a huge customer base and when the customer is ready to replace the Corolla, then they up sell to the Camry or to the Lexus., or sell them another Corolla. Eitherway they have huge following.
HTC doesn't know how to make a reasonably priced phone. Well, they know how to make a phone that should be reasonably priced, that's all they make, but they don't price them according to what they're actually worth.
In case you guys are interested, Amazon Wireless is selling the Focus for $0.01 today. Stock is definitely on the move. I'm guessing a Focus 2 with Super AMOLED Plus might be on the way.
Pretty simple, ATT is the only company presently that has a Galaxy S windows7 phone, my guess is the rest of the cell companies are about to get their versions too, much like they all did with Android.
If the Focus is priced $100 cheaper than tmobile, verizon, sprint galaxy S versions, they hope it will take the steam out of their fanfare.
Only reason there isnt a Windows7 phone in my house currently is cos I only have tmobile and sprint.
EDIT: And no galaxy S with the hummingbird or SAMOLED screen
kponti said:
Only reason there isnt a Windows7 phone in my house currently is cos I only have tmobile and sprint.
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T-Mobile has the HTC HD7 ! And yes it's a Windows 7 phone.
Darn nice phone. I had it but could not tether with or get 3G with it on FIDO (Canada). I'm sure there are many more models to come.
Lewisham said:
In case you guys are interested, Amazon Wireless is selling the Focus for $0.01 today. Stock is definitely on the move. I'm guessing a Focus 2 with Super AMOLED Plus might be on the way.
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Very unlikely I think, if they had a new Focus coming out it would have been announced at CES. And Focus is still a very new phone and apparently selling very well (no wonder, it's amazing).
PaullikesWINMO said:
T-Mobile has the HTC HD7 ! And yes it's a Windows 7 phone.
Darn nice phone. I had it but could not tether with or get 3G with it on FIDO (Canada). I'm sure there are many more models to come.
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Yes but too big and heavy, not to mention my Samsungs have consistently had better reception than my HTCs inside buildings where I use the phone 90% of the time
Just bought one off Amazon for $0.01. Friend got one through AT&T for the same price after he told them about the Amazon offer.
ATT told me that most likely its because its a 3g phone and they're in the process of rolling out the 4g network. Whatever, I got the phone for 0.01...Including shipping!
It says in the website that it can be as upgrade to an existing line. My question is, what if your line is not eligible for upgrade yet. Will your bill show up with the list price after a month or two? Has anyone encounter this yet?
If you are not yet qualified, you have to pay full out of contact price which is $399 if you go to an AT&T store or $499 from 3rd party online.
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Syst3m said:
Just bought one off Amazon for $0.01. Friend got one through AT&T for the same price after he told them about the Amazon offer.
ATT told me that most likely its because its a 3g phone and they're in the process of rolling out the 4g network. Whatever, I got the phone for 0.01...Including shipping!
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Could be but somehow I doubt it has anything to do with 4G, since the average consumer I don't think knows about 4G or cares at this point. The fact that they are willing to give you the phone for free tells you they know they will make their money back by the end of the contract, with a sizable profit .
phoneguy 4567 said:
Could be but somehow I doubt it has anything to do with 4G, since the average consumer I don't think knows about 4G or cares at this point. The fact that they are willing to give you the phone for free tells you they know they will make their money back by the end of the contract, with a sizable profit .
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Thats what I feel too. The other thought is trying to get people to Att network before the iPhone comes to Verizon or whatever.
It says in the website that it can be as upgrade to an existing line. My question is, what if your line is not eligible for upgrade yet. Will your bill show up with the list price after a month or two? Has anyone encounter this yet?
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i had 10 months left in my contract, and 2 separate phone calls by me (and one by a friend who got the same deal) said that my old contract was being ended, and they would create a new one that started the day the phone was activated. They know if you're eligible for an upgrade - they ask for your phone # and last name. My friend who called had 3 months left on his contract, and was unable to get the deal at first. When he called AT&T, they cleared his contract and he checked on their again -and it was eligible. He ended up buying through ATT because they said they'd match the same deal.
Syst3m said:
Just bought one off Amazon for $0.01. Friend got one through AT&T for the same price after he told them about the Amazon offer.
ATT told me that most likely its because its a 3g phone and they're in the process of rolling out the 4g network. Whatever, I got the phone for 0.01...Including shipping!
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Click to collapse
Could you ask him how he got it through AT&T? I just asked a branch store and they said they could not offer the $0.01 deal...
I'm thinking of getting one off contract for $400. (don't wanna get locked in to Rogers - $400 voice cancellation + $100 data cancellation, 3 yr contract).
What have your experiences been like with unlocking? I heard ATT is refusing to unlock, and unlock codes go for up to $40 online...
When I was in-store the other day, I'm pretty sure the sale price on the Focus said until 1/31. I think it's only good for a couple more weeks, but we'll see.

Best Buy and Pricematching

I had to upgrade to my Evo before the April 1 deadline because of the Premier Program changes and I was able to jump in the best buy buyback program for free. And since I don't think I am the only one around here I was wondering.
When I look at what the retail price for phones on bb.com compared to sprint's retail prices, bestbuy is almost $100-200 more. (e.g. sprint Evo $450/ BB Evo $600) Has anyone tried to get them to pricematch sprint when buying a phone at retail price? If you go to bestbuy's pricematch policy the first FAQ is
"What is considered a local retail competitor? "
and the answer is ....
"A retail store located in the same market area as your local Best Buy store."
The reason I ask is this. On the same web page there is a link for a New York Price Match Class Action lawsuit about a similar situation where an individual bought a camera from Best Buy then found the same camera at a "local" camera retail shop for less, and BB wouldn't price match it. And this individual won. (Reference the Decision and Order Document. The conclusion is on the bottom of page 31)
Note : There is more to the story, but this is what started the wheel turning in the lawsuit. I recommend reading that specific document thoroughly so you can see how scandalous retail can be.
I can understand not matching contract prices, although in the past they have for me. But in this case we are talking "retail" price. I have up til August to get 50% for my Evo ($300) and I was thinking for future sake how i would attack the upgrade. I could either do an ETF (about $180) and lose my mobile #, but pay contract price ,or I could just cash in the Evo for the program and buy phone at retail.
Has anyone had any experience with this situation with BB?
Typed on my CyanoSavaged SuperEvo.
I'm not sure why you'd want to sell your phone to best buy when you can get more for it on here, craigslist, or ebay. There is a reason they want to buy it back from you at that price.
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I had to purchase my Evo at full retail price and i looked into this too. I was inclined to purchase it at Best Buy because they actually had it in stock where as the sprint stores near me put me on a waiting list (this was during the 2 week wait list stuff)
I hoped to price match because i knew people there from working there 3 years beforehand
They wouldn't price match for me either
I ended up getting my Evo at Radioshack after walking in randomly to see if they had them in stock. It was like 25 bucks more, but after being on a wait list for over a month i decided 25 bucks more than Sprints retail price was worth it
A little off topic, but on the price match subject at Best Buy. I just bought a new high end refrigerator from best buy, and before she rang it up she went online and checked all the major appliance sellers for the product and Lowes had it for $159 cheaper so they matched that price with out even asking. Of course, I had already shopped around and new of the lower price and was planning on making them price match. I prefer shopping at best buy for big purchases to maximize my reward points.
OneStepAhead said:
I'm not sure why you'd want to sell your phone to best buy when you can get more for it on here, craigslist, or ebay. There is a reason they want to buy it back from you at that price.
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$300 for an EVO which is nearly 2 generations old hardware is a VERY good amount to receive for it.
They only fetch $200-250 average on craigslist, and that's begging the buyer to pay more.
I have purchased a phone from best buy at retail price and they matched the price to sprint for me. I don't know why they would not. That seems kind of stupid.
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princessakiki said:
I have purchased a phone from best buy at retail price and they matched the price to sprint for me. I don't know why they would not. That seems kind of stupid.
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A lot of times it depends on the sales person. Same thing when you walk into a Sprint store for an upgrade, exchanges, or just service.
OneStepAhead said:
I'm not sure why you'd want to sell your phone to best buy when you can get more for it on here, craigslist, or ebay. There is a reason they want to buy it back from you at that price.
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Evo's go for about $200-$250 here in the Phoenix area, you will occasionally see the $300, but I doubt that is where the negotiating settles at.
I have purchased a phone from best buy at retail price and they matched the price to sprint for me. I don't know why they would not. That seems kind of stupid.
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Obviously you didn't read the Class Action I referenced. In the reading the customer was told he could not price match because the identical camera was sold at a local retailer that specifically sold photography equipment, not an electronics chain store like Ultimate Electronics or Circuit City for example. Also they were practicing within the Best Buy chain that they would not price match it it was not cost effective, like a percentage of profit over cost.
Now I know from being a part time manager in the past at an Autozone store that we were not allowed to price match oil/antifreeze products against Wal-Mart, Target, etc., specifically for the reason they were big box stores. But we "could" pricematch other auto part retailers (Checkers, Napa, etc.) This is why I asked the question, because I was wondering if Best Buy has ever said that when buying a phone retail. Because I could see something said along the lines of, "Well they have lower retail because they receive your monthly payment."
In a "for profit" business, I don't think it would be stupid on their end not to price match as they give back considerably higher buy back on phones over Sprint. Also Best Buy may not buy as many phones as Sprint so their bottom line could be slightly higher.
The best buy buy back program is a scam. I'm glad you got it for free; its like saying hey you pay me $250 upfront to purchase this $1000 laptop, and when you trade it back you only get 500. This is stupid and Best buy wins. I used to shop at best buy all the time until realizing that their markup on everything is like 30% higher than normal retail value. I purchased my heroc on launch day at best buy and paid 100 bucks for it with upgrade. I believe at the time sprint had it for 199 with upgrade. I think their full retail price is much higher on phones because they just cancel out the rebates. I purchased my evo at radio shack for 99.88 but their full retail price was also much higher than sprint's as well. Hmmm
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Yeah, there is no way I would have purchased it.
However, the situation was at the time was that I had an upgrade that I was going to lose in April whether I used it or not. So now with the EVO3D and the Nexus S coming out, I would like to take advantage of it if necessary.

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