300 dollar price point: might it change your mind?

[jcastag]

YES!!! $300 for a handset on a 2 year agreement is NOT acceptable. $250 was pushing it! Lets face it, other than 4G, the handset does not break any new ground - no dual core (yes, I know we dont need it yet, but at this price point the phone should be future proof!), screen is nothing special, and pretty much same specs as the Inc otherwise. Take away the 3G and it coud easily have been a handset specd from a year ago.

The longer this takes to be released, the more I am just happy with my Incredible, and might just wait to use my upgrade until something truly worth it comes along.

The Thunderbolt is losing its luster quickly.

 

[DarkBeer]

Compared to the other options: Atrix, Inspire, Evo 4G, etc., why is Thunderbolt, which isn't even available yet, worth more than $200 more (the similarly spec'ed Inspire is only $70 on Amazon)? On a cost-benefit comparative analysis, the TB fails at $300.
.

Laws of supply and demand will take care of the price. The Inspire looks nice, but smaller SD card, and ATT network versus 4G. Some would argue that being on Verizon alone carries a premium value over a similarly spec'd phone on ATT.


Back to the OP poll, should've had an option for "No, my company is paying for it, so I don't care what the cost is."

 

[ShaggyKids]

jcastagnino - if you're talking about the 1 year upgrade - VZW took that away for existing customers. I just didn't want you to wind up with a big surprise if this is what you're thinking.

 

[jcastag]

Yes, but Verizon does not make the phone, so why should we "pay a premuim" for a piece of equipment just because it works on their network. They make their "premuim" when I pay my bill to them every month!

 

[jcastag]

no, I have my upgrade now, but I might just save it for something down the road a little.

 

[seashepherd]

dont forget tax..its adds up quick.

oregon ftw!

 

[TBolt2011]

You can't base something off an iPhone sale and call it fact. They have their own rules sadly enough...

 

[FatalErrorz]

There is a world of difference between something being overpriced and something being beyond your budget. Would you pay $50 for a can of soda? If you can't afford a $50 soda, then how can you afford a $300 phone? That logic is flawed.

Is $300 a reasonable price for this phone? I don't think so. Can I afford it? Sure, but that's not the point. Compared to the other options: Atrix, Inspire, Evo 4G, etc., why is Thunderbolt, which isn't even available yet, worth more than $200 more (the similarly spec'ed Inspire is only $70 on Amazon)? On a cost-benefit comparative analysis, the TB fails at $300.

My prediction is that if Verizon launches the TB in March at $300, sales will be poor and it will soon be heavily discounted, even buy-one-get-one-free or near free at 3rd party retailers by April.

Since I planned on buying 2 TB's, I'm willing to wait a few extra weeks and save $300-$600 or I'll just stay with AT&T.

There's nothing wrong with my logic, but your attempt to twist mine shows a glaring flaw in yours. You're saying if I won't buy a $50.00 soda, then I shouldn't buy a phone...and that makes no sense whatsoever. A soda is a consumable item, so of course I wouldn't pay $50.00...hopefully you get my point.

I said I wasn't trying to offend anyone, but by your response, you're offended. If you look in the other threads and at least one post in this one, there are many people saying they "can't afford" the $50.00 difference, or their "budget can't afford" the increase. Well, seriously, those people should be looking at Cricket or something if that's the case. Pushing ourselves to our financial limits is how we wound up in this worldwide financial mess we're currently in.

This is my last post on this subject. Feel free rebut or call names. Have a great day.

 

[jcastag]

Also, when you consider the advantages for the CARRIER (capacity, etc) of a 4G network, you would think VZW would want to price the handset to try and get as many customers as possible switched over to the new network. If you price the handset agressively, you can have a huge customer base convert onto the 4G network quickly.

Pricing the initial 4G handset out of reach for most customers is not a good way to launch your 4G network.

 

[DarkBeer]

jcatagnino - So, don't buy it. Again, law of supply and demand will take care of it. If someone has to have it on day one, expect to pay the premium. If they don't move enough units, VZW will get the message and put together a different marketing program to move them. I don't think they just use a random number generator to determine what price a handset will have. They have base costs to cover, and certainly have to consider what other devices are selling for when they sell this device. They are in the business to make money, and have been pretty successful thus far, so don't know why that would change now.

 

[mcwolves32]

phones now poop compared to whats coming out on other carriers WTB dual core or faster processor bigger screen hdmi out not a 300 dollar price tag thats insane you pay more for 4g already and waiting another week or whatever that is dumb

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

phones now poop compared to whats coming out on other carriers WTB dual core or faster processor bigger screen hdmi out not a 300 dollar price tag thats insane you pay more for 4g already and waiting another week or whatever that is dumb

LTE data is supposedly going to be the same price as EVDO data. I had a feeling it would be. If it wasn't, then they would have made the data stick plans more expensive, but they didn't.

 

[azdmelani]

The price definitely changed my mind about a 1Y contract if that's the case. The NE2 is too valuable to pass up

 

[drhere]

I was waiting on this, right now I am currently without a phone. I was given a Droid X as a gift by my employer, but a low life cabbie in NYC stole it.
Long story, I left it in the back seat as it fell out of my coat heading home I was sick as a dog (pre-existing condition). Walked into my house realize it was gone, tracked it for a few hundred feet, tried contacting the phone, sent a scream command to it with a message to contact me as I had my firm's Blackberry with me (no landline). All of a sudden the tracking stopped, I sent a wipe command to it (admin of the app said it was successful), PIN lock with 10 or wipe anyway, and suspended the service.
Now, I am on a month to month with vzw, and I was willing to go into a contract with vzw, but I left my job this week as i have to move away for emergency reasons to another city, I had turn in my firm's Blackberry, and I got a cheapo GoPhone.
I wanted this phone, but now, I am not going to pay $300 for it, I can afford it, but that is too much. I used my DroidX as basically my computer as I was away from home alot and didn't want to keep dragging my laptop with me.
I saw I can get a Droid 2 Global for $20 from Amazon, but I am not sure if maybe I should hold out, I did research on the Droid 2, but I hear it is already reaching end of life, does anyone know if this is true?

Thanks.

 

[HiPower]

Anyone else thinking about passing on the TB? With the later than expected launch, and the higher than anticipated pricing. Are we better off waiting until the HTC and Moto dual cores come out? I was excited about the TB but now, waiting for dual core is starting to make more sense.

 

[htowngator]

Is that even confirmed or just rumor?

 

[tekhna]

I really don't understand the argument that LTE is going to be some kind of futureproofing feature. We have no idea what LTE will do to battery drainage, it's still not clear to me what I need 10mbps+ internet on my phone for, and assuming we did need 10mbps+ on our phones, will the uses that will require need greater hardware than the 'Bolt requires? Processor functionality instead of internet speed seems to be the better safeguard against having a less useful phone in two years.

I'm by no means arguing that I think the Atrix is better, I'm obviously in the Thunderbolt camp, but the reasons for going with one over the other are less obvious than they were.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I really don't understand the argument that LTE is going to be some kind of futureproofing feature. We have no idea what LTE will do to battery drainage, it's still not clear to me what I need 10mbps+ internet on my phone for, and assuming we did need 10mbps+ on our phones, will the uses that will require need greater hardware than the 'Bolt requires? Processor functionality instead of internet speed seems to be the better safeguard against having a less useful phone in two years.

I'm by no means arguing that I think the Atrix is better, I'm obviously in the Thunderbolt camp, but the reasons for going with one over the other are less obvious than they were.

If you want to game with your phone, then feel free to go with whatever phone you feel would be better, but for those people that want a quick phone that also allows you to get stuff done quickly because of the internet speeds, the Thunderbolt is still a no brainer over the other phones (even the other "4G" phones).

I like gadgets, but I'm not going to game on my phone. What do most people do on their phones now? They use it as a quick and easy way to look something up, whether it be through the actual browser or other apps. The LTE speed is a HUGE selling point for something like that. What good is a "fast" phone if the network behind it isn't fast?

In all honesty I'd rather pay more for the phone up front than pay extra for the upgraded service. I may not be happy about the apparent price jump (we don't know, this could be a misprint or Verizon could still sell it for $249), but there is a reason the other phones are cheaper. It's because they truly don't have the "goods" to support a higher price.

LTE is a big deal. It may not seem like it because of everyone else hyping their "4G", but there are even a few people on here who have returned their Atrix and Inspire because they weren't what they were hyped up to be.

 

[tekhna]

If you want to game with your phone, then feel free to go with whatever phone you feel would be better, but for those people that want a quick phone that also allows you to get stuff done quickly because of the internet speeds, the Thunderbolt is still a no brainer over the other phones (even the other "4G" phones).

I like gadgets, but I'm not going to game on my phone. What do most people do on their phones now? They use it as a quick and easy way to look something up, whether it be through the actual browser or other apps. The LTE speed is a HUGE selling point for something like that. What good is a "fast" phone if the network behind it isn't fast?

In all honesty I'd rather pay more for the phone up front than pay extra for the upgraded service. I may not be happy about the apparent price jump (we don't know, this could be a misprint or Verizon could still sell it for $249), but there is a reason the other phones are cheaper. It's because they truly don't have the "goods" to support a higher price.

LTE is a big deal. It may not seem like it because of everyone else hyping their "4G", but there are even a few people on here who have returned their Atrix and Inspire because they weren't what they were hyped up to be.

You don't give any substantive reason why 4G is a huge deal, and why having data speeds that fast on a phone matters. You just assert it.

Here's all I can figure--LTE matters for video. That's about it. In some ways though HPSA+ seems like the sweet spot where it can move quickly enough for just about every task, but without the battery drain of LTE or WiMax. I don't play games on my phone, nor do I stream video, but I do use my phone seriously for work, email, browsing. Do I need 4G for that? What's the selling point? I've used WiMax on my Evo twice, and the battery drain was so bad I haven't used it since September. If an LTE radio draws power in anything like the same way as a WiMax radio, it's not worth it. I just don't need that extra speed at the expense it requires. I guess I can send email more quickly, maybe Pandora will work marginally better, but that's about it. I don't totally get how tripling the bandwidth available on my phone will revolutionize my phone experience. But maybe I'm just old school in my usage. I'd be happy to be wrong about this.

Edit: put differently, what can't you do on your phone now that LTE would let you do?

 

[Duvi]

With LTE capable, 32gb micro SD (pre-installed), 1.3 front facing cam (whereas a lot of other devices come with VGA cams), I can see why it's priced more than a lot of the smartphones now.

IMO, nothing is more overpriced then the XOOM! So $300 is chump change if you compare it a device that was worth more than my laptop (which runs circles around the XOOM in specs).