BlackBerry Bold up for pre-order at Best Buy: $680 smackers

We already knew RIM's BlackBerry Bold would sell for a stiff $299.99 on contract with AT&T, but if you're one of the many AT&T users who'd rather not sign a new agreement (or renew your current one), you've probably been patiently waiting to hear an unsubsidized price. Here is it, but we're warning you, you might want to sit down. The contract-free Bold is listed at $679.99 at Best Buy, and fittingly enough, the product page offers a convenient link for seeking financing. At any rate, it also tells us that pre-orders will typically ship out within one to two weeks, though we'd be hesitant to bet the farm on that. After waiting for, like, ever, for this handset to finally hit shelves, are you still so anxious to drop nearly seven bills to claim one as your own?

[Thanks, Christen]

[Alex @ Oct 27th 2008 8:19PM]

Woohoo! No interest for 18 months!

[Flashpoint @ Oct 27th 2008 8:58PM]

THEY ARE INSANE.

and they plan to beat the Iphone?
http://www.shipmentoffail.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/security_camera_fail.jpg

[adam @ Oct 27th 2008 9:10PM]

am i that dumb for not being excited for this. i feel like it's pretty much a curve with a nicer (be it a lot nicer) screen and the new software (yay real html?). are people really as excited about this as say, the storm, or android or the iphone?

[noyp @ Oct 27th 2008 9:21PM]

no, flashpoint completely different market. note the buttons.

[Saad Ahmad @ Oct 29th 2008 4:27PM]

or you can live in Canada.

[iEye @ Oct 27th 2008 10:02PM]

Perhaps if you need to finance a cell phone, you should check your priorities... like making sure you have enough to put food on your table instead of a $100 monthly bill (not a joke)

[ethan @ Oct 27th 2008 11:47PM]

I looked up the Bold's SKU in RSS at Best Buy, and I couldn't find any "in transit" or even stock at any store in the west. That's the only region I could look up. (Not even in LA.) What gives?

[nikster @ Oct 28th 2008 5:12AM]

@iEye - Here in Asia, there are no subsidies from carriers and getting financing for a phone is rather normal. In the mall, the phone shops sit right next to the financing shops, and some even offer financing outright.

It's no different than a subsidy, really. In a subsidy, you pay for your phone over time, through your contract, which is more expensive than it otherwise would be. If anything, financing is more transparent as the debt you enter into is not hidden in the access charges - paying for access financing, and the handset price are decoupled and you can pick and choose.

Whereas in the west, the system is set up such that most carriers don't even offer cheaper plans when you don't get a subsidized handset. Though that is changing with the emergence of low cost prepaid carriers in Europe.

As for the Bold - it was always going to be a stopgap for the real iPhone competitor. I am excited for the Storm to hit the market. It will once and for all establish that an on-screen keyboard is not just on par with but actually better than thumbpads.

[Paul @ Oct 27th 2008 8:21PM]

It doesn't make sense to buy contract free. Contract termination is normally no more than $200. If you can buy this thing for $300 with a contract and you decide to terminate you are still up $180.

[digitallysick @ Oct 27th 2008 8:56PM]

Don't say that while you are at the bestbuy store, the bestbuy natzis will kick you out

[iEye @ Oct 27th 2008 9:08PM]

Don't forget to get your

-Airmiles points
-Best buy bonus $50 store card
-Best buy points
-Visa rewards points
-and any other free dealings coming to you

Well they have a choice.. the hard way or the easy way... he he he...

[ethan @ Oct 27th 2008 11:47PM]

But if you do an early termination, you'd have to unlock it and go to T-Mobile. Good lucking making the 3G icon appear there!

[Canoo @ Oct 28th 2008 6:34AM]

That might be true in the states. In Canada they calculate your termination fee based of how much of your contract is left. I have 1 year left on my Telus contract. Would cost me $450 to terminate... 3 years would be like $700 or more.

[Abhishek @ Oct 28th 2008 10:08AM]

Hmm...that is a surprise to me.
When I got the iphone 3g (got it temporarily, gave it back..not a fan of touchscreens), I was told my cancellation would be the :
total cost of the iphone - $200 (which I'd paid at the start of the contract) + ETF!??

Is it only with the iphone, or is it a general practice to add on the remaining cost of the phone to the ETF? I assume the ETF was set up to counter the cost of a device a person gets and then realizes he doesn't want to be with a particular carrier or for whatever reason.

[mawells787 @ Oct 27th 2008 8:22PM]

and people think the iphone 3G is overpriced LOL RIM must have forgotten we are in a "depression" and that is a little pricey even for must have tech-geeks

[Ruben @ Oct 27th 2008 8:34PM]

http://www.cellhut.com/Apple-iPhone-16GB-Unlocked-4810.html?u=2&ppc=26438&name=Apple-iPhone-16GB-(Unlocked)

That's the unlocked price. The iPhone is no less expensive.

[Das Boot @ Oct 27th 2008 8:55PM]

it's not a depression until george bush says it is. Bush would never lie to us, plus he uses "the google". this depression isnt going to stop me from buying more tech toys.

[phoomp @ Oct 27th 2008 9:13PM]

huh ... iPhone: $299 with contract = DEAL!!!

Blackberry Bold: $299 with contract = THEY ARE INSANE !1!!1!1!!

[Mackinstyle @ Oct 27th 2008 9:15PM]

Well we're in no recession or depression up here in Canada so you can buy our stuff or not. Your choice =)

(If only business actually worked this way)

[dLeet @ Oct 28th 2008 12:43AM]

If you aren't predisposed to either learning the physical tactile keyboard of a blackberry or the touch input offered on the iPhone and putting aside things that are available to each specific platform, remember that iPhone's 299 phone comes with 16gb of memory. I believe the avg going rate of a 16 gb micro SDHC card is 90 bucks since they are just starting to roll off the press. Just something to keep in mind.

[gad get @ Oct 28th 2008 12:57AM]

Umm, depression? No, you mean to say a probable recession.

[gad get @ Oct 28th 2008 1:01AM]

@ dLeet

That's a valid point, but you should also remember that the iPhone's memory is non-expandable, whereas with a BB you can upgrade your memory storage as micro SD gets cheaper and more capacious.

[Paul @ Oct 27th 2008 8:22PM]

Any word on whether this is exclusively ATT?

Forgive me for my ignorance!

[dLeet @ Oct 28th 2008 12:43AM]

ya, it's ATT only for now - there are rumors floating around that T-Mobile has it though (T-Mobile is a carrier for it in Europe). Verizon gets the Storm.

[Alex @ Oct 27th 2008 8:27PM]

Six-hundred and eighty dollars smackers?

:-p

[Chris @ Oct 27th 2008 8:30PM]

The only thing BOLD about it is the price.

[firephoenix @ Oct 27th 2008 9:35PM]

Haha.

Truly brilliant.

[garrenteed @ Oct 27th 2008 8:31PM]

What are best buy's phone sales as compared to direct retailers? I can't see it to compare really.

[Davidw @ Oct 27th 2008 11:09PM]

They do pretty well actually. They are making a big push in to the mobile market operating Best Buy Mobile almost as a second store. They are also making some big steps in the the European markets.

[Anticrawl @ Oct 27th 2008 8:40PM]

I wanna know how much the Blackberry Storm is gonna set me back, already have about 800 set aside but I plan on renewing my contract anyway.

[raging_hamsterx @ Oct 27th 2008 8:45PM]

Blackberry bold? Obsolete, bring on the bold/storm hybrid!!

[Erik Tomlinson @ Oct 27th 2008 8:53PM]

The Bold isn't obsolete; keep in mind the level of information we are seeing on this Bold/Storm hybrid phone was what we were seeing a year ago about the Bold.

I've had a bold for about six weeks now (haha, being Canadian has an advantage with cell phones? Inconceivable!) and I love it. I chose it over the much-more-available iPhone and I don't regret my decision a bit!

[Valicore @ Oct 28th 2008 12:42AM]

Savor that Canadian advantage, 'cause you wont get another taste of discounted goodness for three years with Roger's fricken' until-you-die contracts.

BTW, I love Canada, Canada's cool. Although it kinda sucks that for your elections you had to choose between Stephen Harper and someone who talks like a random word generator with a French accent...

[Michael Scrip @ Oct 27th 2008 8:48PM]

I never really understood a contract-free phone. So, in this case, you pay $680 for the Bold, then pay your monthly service fee in order to use the phone. Or you could pay $300 and you still pay the monthly fee. Am I missing something?

Let's say you bought a $680 Bold, then what? How is this different than someone who buys the subsidized Bold?

I guess there are people who hate contracts... but $380 is a lot to pay to be "free" from a contract.

[Patriks7 @ Oct 27th 2008 9:02PM]

Well I don't know how it works in the US of A, but here in Europe if you buy a phone from a carrier, you can't use it with another carrier..
If you travel a lot, its always easier to just get a pre paid sim card at the place you go to, and for that you need a contract-free phone..

[Alexandre Emond @ Oct 27th 2008 10:25PM]

When you break or lose your phone before the end of your contract, there is only one choice: buy without contract.

[iEye @ Oct 27th 2008 11:33PM]

You are missing the fact that some people just want the device... So they start a new contract, cancel it 24 hours later, pay the fees, come out on top and then toss a PREPAID SIM in the device and away they go!

$8/month prepaid...

[Michael Scrip @ Oct 28th 2008 12:03AM]

> "So they start a new contract, cancel it 24 hours later, pay the fees, come out on top and then toss a PREPAID SIM in the device and away they go!"

Seems like a long way to go to get a Blackberry. Sign a contract, cancel it, pay fees, and use some prepaid plan. It's a Blackberry! It's an email/data/internet device! Does any of the Blackberry services work on a prepaid account?

[N74JW @ Oct 27th 2008 8:58PM]

What is so $680.00 about this thing? If it is anything like my wife's Blackberry (curve), the iPhone will kick it's ass.

[Erik Tomlinson @ Oct 27th 2008 9:02PM]

Physical keyboard, background applications (I can leave Google Talk running all the time), different mindset.

The screen resolution, text quality, and general "feel" of the Bold's operating system is vastly superior to the Curve.

[Paul @ Oct 27th 2008 9:03PM]

So is this how much copy and paste costs?

[contractcooker @ Oct 27th 2008 9:49PM]

You know I've tried to persuade people how great the iPhone is but Erik has it right it's a mindset thing. It's all about what you value the most in a phone. I think what frustrates people the most is that you can't have a conversation about any phone these days without someone mentioning the iphone. The iPhone absolutely blows me away and yet my roommate can't understand how I would choose it over his samsung blackjack III (the epix). It's great that we have these choices.

[MiaCane @ Oct 27th 2008 9:10PM]

Actually the bold i saw today at best buy was $349 on contract.

[Cardbored @ Oct 27th 2008 9:15PM]

680 dollars smackers? That doesn't sound right now does it :p

[apetruck @ Oct 27th 2008 9:20PM]

iPhone 3G 8GB $199 > Blackberry Bold 1GB $299

[noyp @ Oct 27th 2008 9:24PM]

actually, the bold is infinitely expandable.

[happy_penguin @ Oct 27th 2008 9:39PM]

"infinitely"?

Talk about bold...

[chris @ Oct 27th 2008 9:42PM]

Is "infinitely expandable" code for NO MEMORY included?

[Ruben @ Oct 27th 2008 10:50PM]

While it doesn't have as much ram as an iPhone included,
I can guarantee you one thing. The 8GB iPhone will forever have 8GB. The 1GB Bold doesn't suffer that same fate. That's whats great about phones with expandable memory (the Diamond is no different, BTW).

[chris @ Oct 27th 2008 11:27PM]

A $680 multimedia equipped phone that only comes with 1GB of storage is WEAK no matter who makes it!