Was a Palm Pre Justified?

[india349]

I did something on a whim this weekend that I've never done before. I bought a Palm Pre and switched my service to Sprint.

At first, I thought I was downright crazy. I had been with Alltel for about three years and although I wasn't necessarily dissatisfied, I found their smartphone selection to be lacking, and their plans actually not what I was looking for. Here was the plan I had originally with Alltel that I would have upgraded to something else on their service:

• 700 Minutes (Local, so basically, I could call from southern MN, WI, or MI and not be roaming - I couldn't even go to Duluth for vacation) - $40
• Unlim. N/W mins after 9PM
• Unlim. M2M mins (Verizon and Alltel)
• Unlim. Texting - $20

I was paying $60, but I really wanted a national plan (It's 2009 - who's roaming anymore?). I would probably end up paying around $80-$90 for a decent national plan with messaging. And no data. Here's the plan I got with the Pre:

• 450 Anytime Mins (Nationwide)
• Unlim. M2M calling on ANY network (Sprint, T-Mobile, and my old pals Verizon and Alltel...really, any cell phone)
• Unlim. N/W after 7PM
• Unlim. messaging
• Unlim. data
• Sprint Navigation

And this all retails for: $69.99. I was floored. Not to mention the Pre itself, after all the rebates, referrals, AOL Affinity program, and what not, I'm paying about $75 for the Pre. Alltel's data plan that matches as closest to this is about $90. I don't even want to think about what a smartphone would cost from them.

Basically, I want to know if you think this was a good move. I'm selling my iPod touch since I don't think I'll need it much anymore which will help with the cost. I'm paying $200 to get out of my Alltel contract, but I think I'm actually saving money compared to something comparable from Alltel.

Oh, and the reason I would choose a Pre over an iPhone is simple: keyboard. After a year with my iPod touch, I still can't type on glass.

What do you think?

Thanks,
india349

 

[question fear]

It sounds like you got a great deal. If you like the phone and the service that's all that matters.

Congrats on the new toy!

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I'm quite jealous. If my parents were't still paying my cell bill I'd have jumped to a Pre asap. Alas, I'll just wait until the Pixi makes its way over to AT&T and I'll finally upgrade my phone.

 

[jzuena]

If that rate is inclusive of all taxes and fees, it sounds like a good deal. AT&T charges that on its cheapest plan (same number of minutes that you are getting) before you even add in a texting plan, and then has all of its taxes and fees on top of that.

You might want to keep your touch until Palm comes up with a reliable music syncing option that works with iTunes rather than tries to pretend to be an iPod so that it can work on iTunes itself.

 

[india349]

It's not inclusive of taxes and fees, but neither was my Alltel price. I would still think it's a good deal because of the texting and the fact that I basically can call any cell phone in the country for free.

Good idea about keeping the iPod. What about doubletwist though? (I've never used it, so I'm just curious how that works.)