Thunderbolt - Best Buy Availability/Pricing/Ordering Discussion

[KingChicago]

I was just comparing the craftsman ship between the two phones and they don't compare!! And yes I have had both in my hands.

BMX Tweeted a while back that the reason for the steep price has something to do with the cost of LTE Radios.

@droid_life told you it was gonna be high as a kite! those LTE chips arent cheap and economies of scale havent kicked in.. 12:59 PM Feb 10th via web in reply to droid_life

Also, holding a Thunderbolt, huh? Prove it.

 

[Droid800]

BMX Tweeted a while back that the reason for the steep price has something to do with the cost of LTE Radios.

@droid_life told you it was gonna be high as a kite! those LTE chips arent cheap and economies of scale havent kicked in.. 12:59 PM Feb 10th via web in reply to droid_life

Also, holding a Thunderbolt, huh? Prove it.

And it isn't just the LTE chip, its the multimode chip Qualcomm specifically designed for Verizon. It was never meant to be in a phone, and is a sort of stop-gap until the next-gen chips come out.

Now, if all of Verizon's LTE phones use it the price would drop quickly. But you gotta pay to be first. Its the early adopter tax. Its a *****, but you get used to it.

 

[blizz419]

I was just comparing the craftsman ship between the two phones and they don't compare!! And yes I have had both in my hands.

if you had helb both in your hands you would know the thunderbolt is not plastic it has a aluminum unibody so seems unlikely you held the Thunderbolt unless your not capable of telling the difference between plastic an metal lol

Edit: also note there is no iPhone with LTE either so your also paying a bit for capability

 

[jayishere]

We'll see today I guess. Personally, I'm banking on next week

 

[jayishere]

Yeah, they don't compare because the Thunderbolt feels like a real phone, while the iPhone feels like a terd.

 

[Immortalink]

No thunderbolt at Best buy in VA. guy said 28th and thinks its delayed due to shortage of supply

 

[Cory Streater]

Hey dummy, the iPhone IS A REAL PHONE - the Thunderbolt is.... well, WHERE IS IT?!!!!

Looks like Apple will get THEIR Thunderbolt to market BEFORE HTC gets theirs!!!!

2nd post and you're already calling people dummies?

 

[prakash99]

When forums come, can trolls be far behind?

 

[SpaceHippie]

Anyone buying at BB, which i see no reason to unless your an employee, be sure to check VZ's price first to see if it is lower. You can take a copy of the ad and we will price match it.

 

[nutty]

Anyone buying at BB, which i see no reason to unless your an employee, be sure to check VZ's price first to see if it is lower. You can take a copy of the ad and we will price match it.

I plan on buying at BB for the free buy back program. However if the phone comes out after that and/or I am not grandfathered in, then I will probably buy from VZW.

 

[Seminoles fan]

Basically what I was saying was that yes I have held the dummy Bolt, its the real thing just not live and the back half is plastic!! The screen is plastic!! The IPhone is nothing but glass, with a steel band. They are not even comparable on craftsman ship levels. I am not saying the Thunderbolt won't out perform it, but it sure as hell does not meet the same quality as the IPhone. You can't compare plastic to glass and metal, sorry. And the Thunderbolt has very little aluminum on it period, some on the outside of that wraps around to the lower back and the rest is plastic. So it has a 32 gb sd card, big deal, you can buy one for 50 bucks all day. I just don't see how they can justify 300 bucks for this phone!!

 

[SpaceHippie]

The buyback ends on the 26th if im not mistaken. Some BB may allow pre order customers to get it free, pending the approval of a manager, but everyone else is out of luck. With the Buy Back costing money now, there really is no upside imo. Im buying off contract so all my insurance info and such will just transfer over so im not worried about Buy Back anyways. Im keeping this phone until next year and buy that time the buy back will be ridiculously low I'll make more on ebay.

 

[nutty]

I thought the BB free buy back was originally the 26th, but many are advertising it got extended till the 28th.

 

[SpaceHippie]

I didn't hear about that. LEt me check.

 

[nutty]

I see BB.com is still advertising the 26th, however I know some folks around here mentioned the 28th. I also called several BBs here in CO and a couple of them mentioned to me that it was extended to the 28th. I plan on calling my BB in 51 mins to verify it again when I ask about when they will get the phone. If they don't offer it or grandfather me into it, then come Monday when the phone still isn't available, I'll have to get my $$ back on my $50 GC.

Free offer effective 2/13-2/26/11 on post-paid mobile phones.

 

[Nitros7]

Basically what I was saying was that yes I have held the dummy Bolt, its the real thing just not live and the back half is plastic!! The screen is plastic!! The IPhone is nothing but glass, with a steel band. They are not even comparable on craftsman ship levels. I am not saying the Thunderbolt won't out perform it, but it sure as hell does not meet the same quality as the IPhone. You can't compare plastic to glass and metal, sorry. And the Thunderbolt has very little aluminum on it period, some on the outside of that wraps around to the lower back and the rest is plastic. So it has a 32 gb sd card, big deal, you can buy one for 50 bucks all day. I just don't see how they can justify 300 bucks for this phone!!

glass breaks quicker then plastic... why do you think they made plexi glass (glass + plastic). plus the unibody aluminium construction was done first by your precious Jobs... the same type of construction the macbook pros use one piece of aluminium. the plastic back is the battery door not a bunch of plastic there... best check you facts before you come hate'n.

 

[SpaceHippie]

Calling BB now will not help. It's the 26th. Some store may honor pre orders but for everyone else i highly doubt it. We can't keep extending it because we do sell other phones. So i believe if you pre order then mention it during the checkout, you may get it. But if you didn't pre order, i doubt they will give it to you free.

 

[Friend-O]

The screen is plastic!!

Plastic??? Really???

 

[SpaceHippie]

Basically what I was saying was that yes I have held the dummy Bolt, its the real thing just not live and the back half is plastic!! The screen is plastic!! The IPhone is nothing but glass, with a steel band. They are not even comparable on craftsman ship levels. I am not saying the Thunderbolt won't out perform it, but it sure as hell does not meet the same quality as the IPhone. You can't compare plastic to glass and metal, sorry. And the Thunderbolt has very little aluminum on it period, some on the outside of that wraps around to the lower back and the rest is plastic. So it has a 32 gb sd card, big deal, you can buy one for 50 bucks all day. I just don't see how they can justify 300 bucks for this phone!!

Not sure which dummy unit you held, but the build of the TB is very good. The screen isn't gorilla glass but it definitely isn't plastic. It's somewhat like the droid incredibles screen, which i have yet to scratch. And the back is aluminum. All over. It does have a coating layer over it so maybe you confused it. But overall it is very well made.

 

[nutty]

Calling BB now will not help. It's the 26th. Some store may honor pre orders but for everyone else i highly doubt it. We can't keep extending it because we do sell other phones. So i believe if you pre order then mention it during the checkout, you may get it. But if you didn't pre order, i doubt they will give it to you free.

I did mention it, however everyone was sold on the idea of the 24th. If they don't honor the free buy back program, then yeah, I might have to run to BB at lunch and get a refund on my preorder.