As you may have heard, Verizon Wireless' Motorola-made Droid smartphone goes on sale November 6. It's all anybody can talk about and arguably the most anticipated new phone since, well, the iPhone.
Verizon is selling it for $199.99 after a mail-in rebate, but Wirefly has the Motorola Droid for $149.99 shipped, no rebates required. (As always, there's that pesky two-year contract.)
Do you want to know more about this iPhone killer phone? Start with this CNET video, and then read the complete review.
When you're done watching, check out the Android Atlas blog for a lot of Droid-related goodness. (In case you didn't know, the phone runs Google's Android operating system--hence the name.)
I just got my first hands-on time with the Droid, and it's a mighty nice phone. It's a little heavy, but Android is really looking sharp and a lot of developers are starting to hop on board the platform.
Granted, it'll be awhile before we see 100,000 apps like there is for the iPhone, but you can already get cool stuff like Facebook, Foursquare, Slacker Radio, and the much-ballyhooed new Google Maps Navigation app.
So if you've been drooling over this phone and planning an early morning trip to your local Verizon store, consider Wirefly's deal instead. It'll save you 50 bucks and let you shop in your pajamas (always a plus).
Show of hands: Who's planning to bring home a Droid? If I weren't already an iPhone owner, I'd be very seriously considering it.
On Sale Now: $199.99 - $599.99
View the latest prices for Motorola Droid (Verizon Wireless)
iPhones are great, but they're not for everybody. If you're looking for the next best thing from a carrier other than AT&T, I recommend the Palm Pre. Though Palm recently cut the price to $149.99, Wirefly has the Pre for just $99.99 shipped.
That's for new Sprint customers and with a two-year service agreement, of course. (If you're already a Sprint customer, you can get the Pre for $139.99 with a two-year contract extension.)
I'm not going to run down the Pre's features and all that; you can watch CNET's video review or head over to the actual review.
I will, however, give you my take on the phone, as I've been living with one for a couple months--and writing a book about it. (Don't ask me why the cover photo doesn't look like a Pre. I'm trying to get that fixed.)
I like the Pre a lot. It's much more compact and pocket-friendly than the iPhone, and the way it autosyncs data with Google, Facebook, and the like is just fantastic.
Palm has been slow to get its app store up and running, but there's already a solid selection of apps and an even larger library of homebrew titles.
The WebOS interface is terrific, and I love being able to quickly switch between multiple running apps (the iPhone still can't multitask).
On the downside, battery life bites, podcast handling is terrible, and iTunes syncing is broken again. (With any luck, Palm will fix those last two problems with the next OS update.)
At $99.99, the 8GB Pre is price-competitive with the 8GB iPhone 3G. You'll have to pay $69.99 monthly for voice and data, but that includes unlimited data (i.e. no extra charge for text messaging) and Sprint's new Any Mobile, Anytime deal (unlimited calling to and from any mobile phone).
Over the long haul, you'll spend a bit less on the Pre than you would on an iPhone (especially if you're a heavy texter).
Well? Who's in? I think anyone in the market for an iPhone alternative should give the Pre a serious look--and I say that not as someone who's shamelessly self-promoting his book (now available for preorder!), but as someone who uses both phones. The Pre is a terrific little device, and $99.99 is a terrific price.
Lest you think I'm all about iPhones here at Cheapskate Central, Wirefly has the Samsung Eternity A867 3G smartphone for free (with a two-year service agreement, of course).
Normally, this phone sells for $150, so getting out the door without spending a dime (no activation fees, no shipping charges) is a pretty good deal.
As for monthly service, calling plans start at $39.99, and you can get unlimited Internet for $15. (Gee, thanks a lot, AT&T--why do iPhone users have to cough up $30?)
You can find out more about the Eternity, which CNET called "a solid multimedia device," in the above video.
Me, on I'm vacation, so please excuse the short post. I saw "free," I saw "phone," and now I'm going to go see the pool.
(Credit:
PQI)
Cell phones and smartphones increasingly rely on microSD media for added storage. A 2GB card would let you carry a few ripped movies, about 500 MP3s, loads of photos, countless documents, and so on. SuperMediaStore.com has a PQI 2GB microSD card on sale for just $8.99. No rebates, free shipping, beat that.
The card comes with a fairly important extra: an SD adapter so you can use it with the vast majority of media-card readers (few of which have microSD slots). It even comes in a retail package, so it qualifies for PQI's lifetime warranty. Pretty sweet deal if you want some cheap storage for your phone. If I didn't already have a 2GB card in my Palm Centro, you can bet I'd be snapping one up in a (sorry) flash.
(Credit:
CNET)
In the market for a new smartphone? Consider the T-Mobile Dash, a quad-band handset that compares favorably with the Motorola Q. LetsTalk.com has a pretty sweet deal going:
T-Mobile Dash: Free.
1GB microSD card: Free.
Shipping: Free.
Rebates: Up to $100.
Specifically, you automatically qualify for a $50 mail-in rebate on the phone, but you can get another $50 if you sign up for a $39.99-monthly (or higher) service plan and a $19.99-monthly data plan (fairly standard items for smartphone users anyway).
CNET and CNET readers alike had generally good things to say about the Dash, rating it in the 7-out-of-10 ballpark. Personally, I'm not a big fan of non-touchscreen Windows Mobile smartphones, but there's no denying the Dash packs a ton of power at a pretty unbeatable price.
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Palm)
I'm all tingly: Cell phone store Wirefly is offering the Palm Centro smartphone for free with a two-year Sprint service plan. Normally, the Centro runs $99.99 after a mail-in rebate; this deal requires no rebate and even includes free shipping. Hence the tingling.
I won't go into major detail about the Centro, as I've already written a fairly exhaustive review. What I'll add is that after several months of ownership, I'm very happy with it. It does flake out at times, to the point where I have to yank the battery to reset the phone, but mostly it works like a champ. I have zero trouble using the keyboard, cramped though it may be, and I love being able to run all the Palm software I've enjoyed over the years. (Anyone for Text Twist?)
The Wirefly deal is for the black model only (rats), and of course it requires a two-year service agreement with Sprint. You can choose from any number of plans, starting at $29.99 monthly. Seriously, this is a fantastic deal, folks. If you've never owned a smartphone before, here's your chance to get a great one without spending a penny on the hardware.
Update: Looks like Amazon has this deal, too, and it's even better: You can get the black or red Centro from Sprint or the white model from AT&T.
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Amazon)
I just got back from a winter-camping weekend with some buddies, where the greatest shock was not how many of them snore like chainsaws, but how few of them knew about AmazonMP3. Clearly I've been remiss in my Cheapskate duties!
For others unfamiliar with it, AmazonMP3 sells DRM-free MP3s for 89-99 cents apiece; most albums sell for $9.99 or less. The key phrase here is DRM-free: Songs purchased from the service (which currently boasts about 3 million tracks) have no copy protection whatsoever, meaning they'll work with any gadget that plays MP3s: iPods, Zunes, smartphones, Creative Zens, Sansa e280's, and so on. If you've ever purchased music from an online store, only to discover that it's incompatible with your player or won't play on multiple PCs, this should come as good news indeed.
Another perk: The small utility that downloads songs to your hard drive can automatically add them to your iTunes or Windows Media Player library, ready for syncing to your portable player. Easy-peasy.
To find out more about Amazon MP3, read my complete review of the service. Needless to say, I'm a huge fan, and not just because it saves me money.
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eReader)
I love e-books. For years I've read them on whatever PDA or smartphone I happened to be carrying at the time. (Currently it's a Palm Centro.)
Sure, the screens are small, but you get used to that pretty quickly. For me, nothing beats the convenience of having a good book in your pocket (or clipped to your belt) everywhere you go.
eReader, one of the oldest e-booksellers, was recently acquired by another e-book veteran, Fictionwise. To celebrate, the company just dropped the prices on over 8,000 titles: Every book over $10 has been discounted up to 20 percent.
That's great news, as I think part of the resistance to e-books in general has been their pricing. Surely a book that has zero printing, distribution, and shipping costs should sell for less than its dead-tree counterpart, no?
Anyway, the required eReader software is available for Palm, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices, as well as for Windows and Mac PCs. While you're at it, sign up for the free eReader newsletter to get an additional 10 percent off each purchase.
P.S. I don't care what Steve Jobs thinks about the masses: I read, and I would love to be able to read books on my iPhone or iPod touch. Betcha lots of other folks would, too.
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Samsung)
It's a new year, so why not start it with a new phone? Buy.com has the Samsung BlackJack II smartphone for free, zilch, zip, nada with a two-year AT&T activation. Free shipping, even.
Like its popular predecessor, the BlackJack II runs the Windows Mobile OS (version 6, in this case). I'm not a fan, but if you can live with the abysmal navigation and sluggish performance, you'll find a lot of power under the BlackJack's slim hood. It features GPS, a 2-megapixel camera, and HSDPA support (which helps make up for the lack of Wi-Fi). CNET liked the phone quite well, rating it 7.7 out of 10.
Service plans start at $34.99 per month, and you need to be a new AT&T customer to get the BlackJack II (which is available in black or burgundy) as a freebie. I didn't see anything about when this deal ends, so if you're interested, jump on it quick.
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iGo)
Smartphone keyboards are fine for composing short e-mails and maybe tweaking the occasional Word document. But if you want to get any serious work done on your device, fuhgeddaboudit. Your thumbs don't deserve that kind of punishment. Instead, reach for the iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard, which serves up a full-size set of QWERTY keys and then folds up slim enough to slip into your pocket.
The Stowaway normally lists for $149.99 (ouch!), but Amazon has it on sale for just $29.99--which qualifies it for the store's free Super Saver Shipping. Just make sure you check device compatibility before ordering; although the keyboard works with a broad range of BlackBerry, Palm, and Windows Mobile devices, some customers have complained of compatibility issues (check the user reviews on the Amazon product page).
I've been a big fan of Stowaway keyboards since they first came out for Palm PDAs almost 10 years ago. They're amazingly compact, comfy to type on, and guaranteed to boost your mobile productivity. [via Business Hacks]
