Verizon's Touch Pro 2 @$199.99?

[artika]

Hi there, long time  Sprint customer (10yrs.) and new to these forums.  Verizon's announcement has forced me to register here so that I can get some feedback.  I know that Verizon tends to gimp their phones but looking at comparative specs between their version and Sprint's I see no difference http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=7543 .  So how come they are selling it at that price for either new customers or upgrades?  Also why is the Pro 2 only being sold online through Sprint?  Today I went to my local sprint store looking to get some answers and try out the Pro 2 and its not there.  They could not give me a firm date (maybe the end of the month or October) on when they would be carrying it.  Is Win Mobile 6.5 holding up the in store release date?  I can live with that!  But what I can't live with is how lacking in knowledge Sprint's store reps are.  Thanks!

[Eludium-Q36 · Accepted solution]

Vzn is selling at a lower price because they're gouging customers on the 2-yr lockup! Their comparable data plan (to Sprint's Everything Data 450) costs $30/month more than Sprint, which totals to $720 more over the life of the contract! At that rate they could be giving the phone away at no cost and you as a Vzn customer would still be out of pocket more over the 2-yr contract life than with Sprint!

[halcyoncmdr]

EludiumQ36 wrote:

Vzn is selling at a lower price because they're gouging customers on the 2-yr lockup! Their comparable data plan (to Sprint's Everything Data 450) costs $30/month more than Sprint, which totals to $720 more over the life of the contract! At that rate they could be giving the phone away at no cost and you as a Vzn customer would still be out of pocket more over the 2-yr contract life than with Sprint!

This is what most people don't bother taking a look at. Our society has moved into the era of instant gratification. It's what does it cost right now, not what will it cost overall.

[artika]

Very good to know.  I just wished that the reps at my local sprint store was more knowledgeable on the subject.  Now is Windows Mobile 6.5 officially holding up the release of the touch pro 2 at the local sprint stores?

[Shonendo]

Here's the thing though. As a Sprint customer, I fully understand what it means to save $30+ on a great data plan, but even so, I do believe that the Touch Pro2 is still priced quite high. Seriously never expected Sprint to pull a $350 on the phone, specially after T-Mobile had already done that.

I mean, come on, putting it at $299 would have been the wisest and would have saved so many "O_o" from a lot of folks, while making T-Mobile's version look like a rip off. I had a friend who about to ditch his iPhone for this, but as soon as he saw the $350 price tag, he backed away. As for me, I still own the original Touch Pro whose most hardware is identical to the Touch Pro2, so there's no reason for me to upgrade.

[Eludium-Q36]

The HTC Mogul was $350 after rebates, the HTC Touch Pro was $350 after rebates, so how is the TP2's pricing surprising ?! I had expected $399 after rebates because of the advanced display and technology - it does have a GSM/world radio after all. So $350 is actually a discount, and again, your contract-term cost on Sprint is far less than with Vzn and T-Mo.

And I simply don't understand how you can make you last statement that the TP's h/w is almost identical to the TP2's. The only thing these two have in common is that they're made by HTC and have a slide-out keyboard. EVERYTHING else is more advanced/improved on the TP2.

[Shonendo]

And? What are considered to be the top popular horses right now, the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre, are $149 and $199 respectively. To the NORMAL guy, meaning non-blog reader, they're not going to choose a $350 phone over either of those just because Touch Pro2 just looks pretty.

As for the Touch Pro and Touch Pro2 to only have brand and slide-out keyboard in similarities...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/japongt/Tech/TouchProComparison.png

Please educate yourself before trying to start a decent argument.

[Eludium-Q36]

It's all fun and games until someone starts with the insults. I'd wager I'm FAR MORE educated in absolutely every sense of the word than you are, especially about this device so just go on about your business and have a nice rest of your life. This discussion is closed.

[lacretaloco]

um dude, you were just proven wrong. if you're as smart as you say, you would shut up about it and move on, not reply to look like a fool. and i don't see where you're being insulted either. seriously you kids this days.

hope an admin closes this topic so it doesn't get any worse.

[smotrs]

If anyone is interested, WMExperts did an analysis of the cost of ownership for hte SPrint, TMobile and Verizon TP2, You can read it here

And below is the chart that shows the comparissons they did.

	T-Mobile ($549.99)	Sprint ($599.99)	Verizon ($489.99)
Phone's discounted price	$349.99	$349.99	$199.99
Voice plan (basic)	$29.99	$69.99*	$39.99
-- Number of minutes	300	450*	450
Data plan price (unlimited)	$24.99	Included	$29.99
Text messages	Included	Included	$5
-- Number of texts	Unlimited	Unlimited	250
Total cost over 2 years	$1,669.51	$2,029.75	$1,999.51

[tekdemon]

I think you'd have to be pretty nuts to give up unlimited minutes to every cell phone in the US as well as unlimited texts to save $30 on the Verizon plan...

Not to mention since everyone can get the EPRP price of $59.99 a month it's really not any cheaper. Far as I know Verizon doesn't have a publically available discount that anybody can use.

[smotrs]

Yeah, I agree, just pointing out the cost to ownership as it currently sit's,