No-Contract, Unsubsidized iPhones Finally Drop $599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB Thursday Mar 19 2009 16:21 EDT Tipped by SuperNet If you recall, when the 3G iPhone first dropped, AT&T hinted that they'd be offering unsubsidized iPhones (iPhones with no long-term contract but at a higher price) albeit at a steep premium. According to the Boy Genius Report, the unsubsidized phones are finally here; $599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB. One catch (an absolutely huge one) is that this appears to be for existing AT&T customers only, somewhat defeating the point entirely. The offer is set to begin March 26. |
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WHEW!Thank goodness they are so expensive! I thought I was just going to have to get one myself! NOT! I'll stick to my $6/month pay-as-you-go plan! | |
| | dcurrey Premium Member join:2004-06-29 Mason, OH |
dcurrey
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 9:38 am
Re: WHEW!Think I would rather get the contract and pay $200 if I cancel early.
With the 16 gig I would only be out $499 worst case. | |
| | | | | | | MrFixitCTpay it forward
join:2000-12-01 Port Charlotte, FL |
Re: find a new good friend for wowummm, spam, yummy | |
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2 recommendations |
to NoOneCares
said by NoOneCares:Thank goodness they are so expensive! I thought I was just going to have to get one myself! NOT! I'll stick to my $6/month pay-as-you-go plan! Welcome to the Wonderful World of Apple Pricing! Steve Jobs has made such complete, blinded fools out of Apple fanboys/girls that they pay anything for the newest Apple product. 16 gig HD? No problem. I'll pay $999 for it on eBay! The iPod is good for a year. YEAH! Pay $69.99 for a maintenance plan that requires $20 shipping. Yes! I'll do it. Nothing makes me laugh as hard as the Apple geek tax. Want the new Apple OS? Buy a new computer! I'll take two, please. Thanks for the laugh this morning, BBR. | |
| | | Matt3All noise, no signal. Premium Member join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 10:13 am
Re: WHEW!said by cameronsfx:said by NoOneCares:Thank goodness they are so expensive! I thought I was just going to have to get one myself! NOT! I'll stick to my $6/month pay-as-you-go plan! The iPod is good for a year. YEAH! Pay $69.99 for a maintenance plan that requires $20 shipping. Yes! I'll do it. Really? My refurbished ($49.99) shuffle is still trucking ... 3 years later. The new shuffle starts at $79. There is absolutely an Apple tax on their desktop/laptop computers, but their iPods and yes, even the iPhone is reasonably priced. Have a look at what it would cost you to buy ANY modern PDA style phone without a contract. A Moto Q will cost you $379 for less functionality, an Xperia X1 will run you $599 and an HTC Touch will run you $599 or so as well. | |
| | | | tiger72SexaT duorP Premium Member join:2001-03-28 Saint Louis, MO |
tiger72
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 11:50 am
Re: WHEW!said by Matt3:There is absolutely an Apple tax on their desktop/laptop computers, but their iPods and yes, even the iPhone is reasonably priced. Have a look at what it would cost you to buy ANY modern PDA style phone without a contract. A Moto Q will cost you $379 for less functionality, an Xperia X1 will run you $599 and an HTC Touch will run you $599 or so as well. That's not necessarily the case. For example: » www.amazon.com/Nokia-Unl ··· 0&sr=1-1$399 and has much better features (and quality) than the iPhone. 5mp Carl Zeiss camera, a full Bluetooth stack (with A2DP), high quality video recording, FM Radio, removable memory, a removable battery, MMS. All for the price without a contract that Apple fanbois paid for to be IN a contract. | |
| | | | | Matt3All noise, no signal. Premium Member join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 3:02 pm
Re: WHEW!said by tiger72:said by Matt3:There is absolutely an Apple tax on their desktop/laptop computers, but their iPods and yes, even the iPhone is reasonably priced. Have a look at what it would cost you to buy ANY modern PDA style phone without a contract. A Moto Q will cost you $379 for less functionality, an Xperia X1 will run you $599 and an HTC Touch will run you $599 or so as well. That's not necessarily the case. For example: » www.amazon.com/Nokia-Unl ··· 0&sr=1-1$399 and has much better features (and quality) than the iPhone. 5mp Carl Zeiss camera, a full Bluetooth stack (with A2DP), high quality video recording, FM Radio, removable memory, a removable battery, MMS. All for the price without a contract that Apple fanbois paid for to be IN a contract. And where is the app store for that phone? Where is the iPod? I'm not an Apple fanboy, but I can do push Exchange, SSH, VPN, and even use a SIP client to connect to my work PBX ... Also, that phone has 8GB internal mem, but no removable memory. It says so in the description. You also don't get the $30 unlimited data plan from AT&T ... you have to buy the more expensive one. I don't care about all that other crap like a 5mp camera, video recording and especially not FM radio. The lack of MMS in the iPhone is appalling though, I agree. | |
| | | | | | tiger72SexaT duorP Premium Member join:2001-03-28 Saint Louis, MO |
tiger72
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 4:25 pm
Re: WHEW!said by Matt3:said by tiger72:said by Matt3:There is absolutely an Apple tax on their desktop/laptop computers, but their iPods and yes, even the iPhone is reasonably priced. Have a look at what it would cost you to buy ANY modern PDA style phone without a contract. A Moto Q will cost you $379 for less functionality, an Xperia X1 will run you $599 and an HTC Touch will run you $599 or so as well. That's not necessarily the case. For example: » www.amazon.com/Nokia-Unl ··· 0&sr=1-1$399 and has much better features (and quality) than the iPhone. 5mp Carl Zeiss camera, a full Bluetooth stack (with A2DP), high quality video recording, FM Radio, removable memory, a removable battery, MMS. All for the price without a contract that Apple fanbois paid for to be IN a contract. And where is the app store for that phone? Where is the iPod? I'm not an Apple fanboy, but I can do push Exchange, SSH, VPN, and even use a SIP client to connect to my work PBX ... Symbian allows the same. And it seems that you've never heard of J2ME apps, or the countless Symbian apps made for the world's most popular OS. Or do you seriously think that the smartphone with 47% of the world's marketshare is really that hard-up for application support? » en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sm ··· _systemsAlso, that phone has 8GB internal mem, but no removable memory. It says so in the description. You also don't get the $30 unlimited data plan from AT&T ... you have to buy the more expensive one. Which more expensive one? All of ATT's smartphone plans are $30/mo. I don't care about all that other crap like a 5mp camera, video recording and especially not FM radio. The lack of MMS in the iPhone is appalling though, I agree. The iPhone is sold as a multimedia phone, yet can't record video or send MMS, has no FM radio, and a poor camera (again, for a "multimedia" phone). Whatever works for you, works. But don't claim that to get the same features as an iPhone you have to pay $599, when you can get top-of-the-line features from a better manufacturer without a contract at the $399 price point. The iPhone is NOT reasonably priced at $200 more than the unlocked competition with less features. | |
| | | | | | | Matt3All noise, no signal. Premium Member join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 5:15 pm
Re: WHEW!tiger72 if that Symbian OS is so popular, why have I never even heard of it? I've never seen a Symbian phone nor known anyone who's owned one. Oh I see why, because they are behind every other manufacturer, even Palm, in North America -- from your Wiki Link: » www.theinquirer.net/inqu ··· nquer-usRegardless, your arguments are all based in your opinion, so here are mine. The iPhone is without a doubt the best music player out there. I can play all my formats, buy songs from iTunes over the air or 3G, or utilize a wide array of streaming music apps like Pandora and soon XM/Sirius. I can watch movies that I sync from iTunes -- that have been purchased through iTunes or not. While I can't utilize MMS (and believe me, I find that unacceptable) I can snap photos and email them to anyone I like. There are native apps for uploading to every photo sharing service out there also. And 3.0 will bring MMS. If I really want video, I can jailbreak it and install Cycorder ... for free. Once I jailbreak it, I have a wealth of awesome apps at my disposal also. I've purchased two of them, iBlacklist and PDANet. While you can argue all you want, read any review of the N95 and 3 things pop up: Complicated, Clunky/Slow interface, Cheap Feeling Hardware (one reviewer called it Fisher Price). The iPhone excels because it does a lot of things ... and does them simply and in a logical manner. That is the sole reason it is as popular as it is. I've used Palm devices, Blackberry devices, and WinMo5/6 devices and while they each have their strengths, none can hold a candle to how simple it is to navigate and do things on my iPhone. As a guy in IT, I don't need my phone to be a UPnP media server, I don't need to to have a 5mp camera, but a 2-3 second delay on the shutter, I don't need to record video on my phone -- but I do need a phone that works as a phone, is fairly functional as a web browser, can sync with my Exchange server, will allow me to VPN into work, SSH into my servers, RDP into my Windows boxes, and maybe provide a little bit of entertainment along with it. You can keep your clunky, open-source style apps that were written by Little Johnny in his basement and half-way work for yourself. I have real work to do. | |
| | | | | | | | Desdinova Premium Member join:2003-01-26 Gaithersburg, MD |
Re: WHEW!I realize we're just sharing opinions here but as someone who's played with both an iPhone and an N95, I chose the N95 without even blinking. The Symbian apps are awesome and there are lots of 'em. BUT I'm not trying to convince you or anyone else what they should or should not use. Lots of folks love their iPhones and that's great for them. But as one who owns an N95, I just had to chime in and say that I disagree (as do the others who have used my phone) that the interface is clunky or that the phone feels Fisher-Price-y. Especially when it's $300 less and does more (if what it does is useful to the user). And I just KNOW I've stirred up a flame war here... | |
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to Matt3
Iphone is a nice device but you still will not have video recording according to many sources. I like the Ipod touch but as a phone the Iphone is not that good. Continued complaints on dropped calls, 3G on ATT continues to be complained about.
If you have never heard of Symbian than you know very little about Smartphones. Symbian is one of the most stable and popular operating systems. Just because the US has not embraced Nokia and Symbian the rest of the world has.
I have owned Winmo 6.0/6.1 and now have a Storm. I would take the Storm over the Iphone any day. It has 3G that works all the time and just about everywhere. I can use MMS, Cut and Paste and Video record without upgrading or jailbreaking my phone. Not to mention I have turn by turn navigation. Yes the Iphone will have that finally but there still things missing. Blackberry has hands down the best Email over anyone.
Lastly my Storm has a replaceable battery and lasts much longer than an Iphone. The Storm screen resolution is alot nicer than the Iphone. I don't have to resort to jailbreaking my phone to do anything. That has to happen on Iphone unless you want a crippled phone. And finally compared to the BS ads AT&T puts out on largest network worldwide the Storm works in more places than the Iphone because it has GSM and CDMA. My phone is unlocked and works on the AT&T and T-Mo network. | |
| | | | | | | | tiger72SexaT duorP Premium Member join:2001-03-28 Saint Louis, MO |
to Matt3
So let me get this straight. Just because you've never heard of Symbian makes it a POS? And then you go on a long tirade about how awful Symbian is vs the iphone, even though you obviously have no knowledge of its capabilities? Way to go! I can watch movies on most cell phones. Hell, convert a movie to 3gp and I can watch a movie on my old Razr. how exciting!Just about every phone in the world can email photos. Again, my free POS RAZR did that years ago. It's good that you had to jailbreak your iphone. The irony that you happily use the term "jailbreak" is humorous. The iPhone, by default, is a jail. As for the reviews - again, i'm not pushing the N95. You made the bogus claim that to get the amazing! awesome! unmatched! features of the iPhone "smartphone", you have to pay upwards of $600. That's not the case. The N95 is certainly not the only phone that you can get for less than $600 that offers more than the iPhone out of the bag. Hell, this even cheaper Nokia offers more: » www.phonescoop.com/phone ··· p?p=1851craaaazy things like voice dialing and tethering. You're digging yourself into a deeper hole each time you spout off how you can SSH, use exchange, vpn, etc. using the iPhone, as if you can't do that with any Symbian or Android device. Whoop-de-doo. You can do all those things on other systems. You're falling right into the stereotype of an Apple fanboi - "my iphone is the best because i'm ignorant about everything else! hooray for me!" You can have your opinions. But don't get all pissy when we point out that you're wrong. | |
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to Matt3
That not true i got my att fuze with no contract what so ever for $400 from att. | |
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| | tiger72SexaT duorP Premium Member join:2001-03-28 Saint Louis, MO
2 recommendations |
to cameronsfx
Apple fanbois are funny. They pay more for less capabilities in the name of "exclusivity". Now the iPhone is the new Razr! hAHAHAHAHAHAahaha | |
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1 recommendation |
Re: WHEW!said by tiger72:Apple fanbois are funny. They pay more for less capabilities in the name of "exclusivity". Now the iPhone is the new Razr! hAHAHAHAHAHAahaha Announcing the Apple Mastercard*! With only a 29.99% APR! Buy that new iPhone with it! An iPod! An iMac! Yes, Johnny, this is the best thing since Steve Jobs came back. Pay us even more money for our stuff. No credit check either! *The Apple Mastercard requires purchases from Apple directly. 29.99% APR is standard for all accounts. A Missed payment will go to a collection agency and you will have to return all Apple products, which include a 50% restocking fee. Offer Void in HI, KS, and especially CA and NY. | |
| | | | | amungus Premium Member join:2004-11-26 America |
amungus
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 12:35 pm
Re: WHEW!/extension of sarcasm from above... No love for Kansanians with that 'sweet' deal Dang, I was looking so forward to racking up more debt with insane interest for a relatively useless gadget, and then missing that 3rd payment by a day and crying when my toy gets repossessed by Steve Jobs via the teleportation-repo-GPS-tron-9000 | |
| | | | | | HangmnDon't Fight It...It's Inevitable Premium Member join:2000-04-08 Philadelphia, PA |
Hangmn
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 4:33 pm
Re: WHEW!said by amungus:/extension of sarcasm from above... No love for Kansanians with that 'sweet' deal Dang, I was looking so forward to racking up more debt with insane interest for a relatively useless gadget, and then missing that 3rd payment by a day and crying when my toy gets repossessed by Steve Jobs via the teleportation-repo-GPS-tron-9000 thats the i-teleportation-repo-GPS-tron-9000 | |
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to amungus
said by amungus:/extension of sarcasm from above... No love for Kansanians with that 'sweet' deal Dang, I was looking so forward to racking up more debt with insane interest for a relatively useless gadget, and then missing that 3rd payment by a day and crying when my toy gets repossessed by Steve Jobs via the teleportation-repo-GPS-tron-9000 KS, HI, CA, and NY have laws. | |
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to cameronsfx
I have read in a few different places that AT&T pays Apple $299 per phone so these have quite the markup. | |
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to cameronsfx
said by cameronsfx:said by NoOneCares:Thank goodness they are so expensive! I thought I was just going to have to get one myself! NOT! I'll stick to my $6/month pay-as-you-go plan! Welcome to the Wonderful World of Apple Pricing! Steve Jobs has made such complete, blinded fools out of Apple fanboys/girls that they pay anything for the newest Apple product. And all you Winblows fanboys/girls can enjoy all your viruses and spyware! | |
| | | xrobertcmx Premium Member join:2001-06-18 White Plains, MD |
to cameronsfx
I'm almost inclined to agree about the iPhone. But then I own a 160GB iPod and wouldn't trade it. I've tried several other players and none really live up to it. My Cowon D2 has better sound, a touch screen, and takes up to a 16GB SDHC card, nice, but impossible to use while driving. My two year old MacBook Pro came with 10.4, upgraged to 10.5 no problem (So did the G4 Mini I picked up on Ebay), and I have to say the $2200 Dell's my office bought shortly after I go this don't stack up. And I'm no fanboy. My Desktop is a Phenom II 940 (XP Pro), and little SMD/Media Server is running OpenSuSE. | |
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to NoOneCares
well let's see... I bought a 16 gig iphone for 300 bucks, waited 31 days, closed the account, paid 170 bucks to cancel. Total 470 plus 1 month worth of service.
I have a company blackberry which is using ATT. The corporate account comes with everything unlimited, took out the sim card popped it into my iphone and wallah I have a working iphone which I don't have to pay for. | |
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I still thing it say's that there is a FORCED DATA PLAN as wI still thing it say's that there is a FORCED DATA PLAN as well. | |
| | Matt3All noise, no signal. Premium Member join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 10:09 am
Re: I still thing it say's that there is a FORCED DATA PLAN as wsaid by Joe12345678:I still thing it say's that there is a FORCED DATA PLAN as well. I also didn't understand the forced data plan, but the iPhone is pretty useless without it. Sure you could use WiFi, but believe it or not, I find the times when I need to use the phone the most is when there ISN'T WiFi. | |
| | MRCUR join:2007-03-09 Lancaster, PA |
to Joe12345678
Why would you expect anything else? I don't understand people's issue with the forced data plan. Without the data plan the phone really doesn't work the way it's meant to.
Apple advertises the iPhone and it's features a certain way. Most, if not all, of this depends on constant data connectivity. Just like a BlackBerry, an iPhone is useless without a data plan, IMO. | |
| | | Matt3All noise, no signal. Premium Member join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 5:15 pm
Re: I still thing it say's that there is a FORCED DATA PLAN as wsaid by MRCUR:Why would you expect anything else? I don't understand people's issue with the forced data plan. Without the data plan the phone really doesn't work the way it's meant to. Apple advertises the iPhone and it's features a certain way. Most, if not all, of this depends on constant data connectivity. Just like a BlackBerry, an iPhone is useless without a data plan, IMO. Not only that, Verizon won't let you buy a PDA or Smartphone AT ALL without adding a data plan anymore. | |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty Premium Member join:2002-05-02 Mount Airy, MD |
pnh102
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 9:34 am
Huh?Why not just buy the phone on contract and break the contract? You'd pay less. | |
| | Asterix Premium Member join:2002-09-18 Nazareth, PA |
Asterix
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 9:36 am
Re: Huh?Doesn't make much sense. If you are on AT&T a lot of the customers must be still on contract. A few who are not on contract or even those who are on contract can get the 16GB for as low as $560 from eBay. Unless these unsubsidized iPhones are unlocked I don't see any good reason to buy one from AT&T. | |
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koitsu MVM join:2002-07-16 Mountain View, CA Humax BGW320-500
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koitsu
MVM
2009-Mar-19 10:12 am
Cost of mobile phones in the States...is absolutely preposterous. Compared to what, you ask? The rest of the world (Europe, Asia, Australasia, and Oceania), and compared to their prices ~10 years ago.
What I'm trying to figure out is why consumers actually agree to pay this kind of money. How do normal blue-collar folks afford this stuff?!? | |
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45071419 (banned)
Member
2009-Mar-19 10:41 am
$599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GBSuckers. | |
| GlaiceBrutal Video Vault Premium Member join:2002-10-01 North Babylon, NY |
Glaice
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 11:26 am
Still expensive..For the casual phone user, it's expensive as fuck...which is typical for most of Apple products. | |
| amungus Premium Member join:2004-11-26 America |
amungus
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 12:30 pm
Let's see..Can't replace the battery, Have to use AT&T and their *awesome* GSM network, Can't expand the memory, "App store" where every useless invention ever thought of can be purchased - sure, there are some useful ones, which might actually be worth buying... but it doesn't seem as expandable as even a blackberry or windows mobile in the free app department... I am glad to have relatively "ordinary" cell phone with the ability to: -replace/upgrade the battery -use CDMA network which has been VERY reliable -use a memory card slot -not care about being able to get an app that calculates how bored I am | |
| | en102Canadian, eh? join:2001-01-26 Valencia, CA |
en102
Member
2009-Mar-19 1:54 pm
Re: Let's see..I have an HTC Tilt (AT&T) and Palm Treo 800w (Sprint)
The only 'good' thing I'm missing on these vs. iPhone is the large display (3.5" vs. 2.8") and better UI.
- I can go WiFi only and not have to pay $$$ for data - I can install Skype Mobile and not have to pay international LD (using Wifi, I wouldn't have to pay INTL roaming either) - No App store BS - I can install what I want. Remote Desktop/ Pocket PuTTy with SSH tunnel - SkyFire works well and supports flash - I can upload/download pictures/mp3s as ringtones, etc.
GSM/UMTS(WCDMA) on AT&T as well as Sprint 1x/EVDO are both reliable here... benefit is on AT&T for use of SIM cards though. | |
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to amungus
My smartphone has a keyboard and a memory port with a 4 gig SD Micro card. | |
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sour_apple
Anon
2009-Mar-19 2:11 pm
$100 for 8 more gigs?They really know how to make money. | |
| | hayabusa3303Over 200 mph Premium Member join:2005-06-29 Florence, SC
1 recommendation |
Re: $100 for 8 more gigs?said by sour_apple :
They really know how to make money. No they know how to FIND SUCKERS that will pay that price. | |
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Radio ActiveMy pappy's a pistol Premium Member join:2003-01-31 Fullerton, CA |
I Don't Hate Apple......but I'll stick with my Voyager. It does everything I need, without a high price for the unit and for the plan. I suppose there's a bit of geek cache with the LG, but very understated. The iPhone is so "in your face" with all the bells and whistles, it's just to elite for me... For the people who have an iPhone and like it, I see no reason to piss in their Wheaties. | |
| caco Premium Member join:2005-03-10 Whittier, AK |
caco
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 2:19 pm
Only 599.00May I have 3 please. | |
| Robert Premium Member join:2001-08-25 Miami, FL |
Robert
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 2:22 pm
Almost got an iPhone.... and I still might.
I'm looking to replace my Razr and I want to get a phone that is more "Internet" friendly. One that I can send text messages, and update twitter, etc all from my phone.
I was at AT&T's website yesterday, almost about to buy a refurb iphone for $99. But they want to lock me into a 2 year agreement, plus I have to pay an additional $30/mo. for the iPhone data plan. So my bill would go to something like $90 with taxes. | |
| | •••• | Randy34 Premium Member join:2006-04-25 Springfield, IL |
Randy34
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 2:52 pm
Why not just buy from apple?Well in a way youd buy it from apple if you did this.
Setup and advance return on an Iphone and when they send you one and you dont send the other one back they only charge $499 for a 16Gb White one.
(I Only know since mine was late going back and they charged me it.) | |
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AppleIs really a horrible company. Gouge the customers behind in anything they accomplish. Great fun. | |
| | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty Premium Member join:2002-05-02 Mount Airy, MD |
pnh102
Premium Member
2009-Mar-19 3:38 pm
Re: Applesaid by NeoandGeo:Is really a horrible company. Gouge the customers behind in anything they accomplish. Great fun. Apple, like any other private company, cannot screw its customers without the consent of those customers. | |
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Re: AppleTrue. Which says a lot for general America. | |
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I still want one.I still want an iPhone, especially bring into account recent developments.
- A | |
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supply, demand, then appleif there wasn't so much fanatical demand for Apple products, they wouldn't be able to price them through the roof and beyond... Apple can't even claim they're making the products in the USA and supporting well paid USA jobs.. so why pay $500+ for an Iphone?
there are comparable products at least $150 less without all the nonsense... and if you just buy a basic phone.. you could save money & buy a portable netbook for $300 which can do TONS more than an Iphone ever will. | |
| | ••••• | dvd536as Mr. Pink as they come Premium Member join:2001-04-27 Phoenix, AZ |
dvd536
Premium Member
2009-Mar-20 12:21 am
Unsubsidized yet locked to T.meh whats the point? | |
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lok2
Member
2009-Mar-21 11:07 am
over price to start with!!!i love how these things come out SOOO over priced that when they drop a bit people go nuts LOL!
for a device that basically blows in the business world, it is pretty pricey for a toy | |
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