iPhone anyone?1: Are you eligible for any upgrade to get the $199-$299 price?
2: Are you stuck with paying $399+ or waiting months to be eligible?
3: Have you borrowed a friends iPhone to activate a iPhone plan on your account to make you instantly eligible before the 11th? Or bought one off Craigslist for just this reason?
I held off a year waiting for the 3G version. Everyone kept demanding it, but turns out 3G coverage from ATT is pretty low right now. People will find they waited for no reason, and now have to pay the full $30 3G data plan with not text, while the $20 EDGE only plan/200-text is just for 1st gen iPhone. Luckily my city is fully covered with 3G, but past my city limits, it's an hours drive before finding 3G again. And even when the 3G iPhone is unlocked, it won't work on t-mobile's 3G network, just gsm I guess.
So I regret waiting now. I passed plenty of opportunities to get a refurb for $250. After the announcement from Steve Jobs, I was excited about the new low price, but had my doubts. So not being eligible, I have to pay the $399 price, + $18 upgrade fee, higher cost $30 data plan with no text, and top it off, even at that high price they reset your upgrade for another 2 years. So it was a worse deal overall.
The original $399 iPhone didn't touch your status for upgrade, and more insulting, original iPhone owners get instant eligibility now, even if they bought a subsidized phone right before the iPhone on purpose to sell online. And then they currently can sell their old iPhone for a killing on ebay.
I have a friend bringing her sync cable for her iPhone tomorrow and I hope activating with my sim card in it over iTunes will make me instantly eligible for $199.
Devious Comments
So, if I want to get it, I will be forced to make a Vodafon connection and it will have a giant "VODAFON" logo on it...
After all, the fact they lowered the price that much is getting me a bit suspicious...
It's cheap now, but only because it's a full subsidized phone at places like AT&T. Many regular phones that are free often cost the companys $200+.
So the iPhone at $199-$299 is only for someone that is upgrade eligible, new customer, or had an original iPhone. They also coin the term, "Early Upgrade" for us that are not-eligible, to get it at a price of $399-$499, which I hear is still somewhat subsidized even though the same price as the first iPhone. They will even have a no-contract version, still locked, at $599-$699
Overall, the darn phone is more expensive over here unless you were lucky enough to upgrade eligible. But even then, the new ATT plan is $10 more a month for data/no-text, which costs $240 over 2 years, so overall making it more expensive than the first iPhone despite the lower initial price.
I'm looking forward to have a good music, calendar, games, apps, internet, maps, video, etc., all in one device. And since I take a cell phone with my everywhere, what a perfect place for all those features
It's also been like 12 something years since I bought an Apple product.
The logo is not the whole problem, the problem is that if ya want it, ya have to make a contract with Vodafon first...
I already have a connection agreement with another company...
And sometimes they do change the software, but lately the avoid doing it.
Anyway, thanks for the information!
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