T-Mobile G1 coming to Walmart for $148.88

Well, now isn't this something? Best Buy has its fancy little iPhone 3G, but it'll be Wally World offering up the G1 outside of official T-Mobile outlets. As we'd heard yesterday, 550 Walmart stores across the country will begin selling the Android-powered handset beginning tomorrow, and folks who opt to pick one up here versus a traditional T-Mob store will save $31.11. Yep -- according to company spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien, the new / upgrade-eligible customer price for a Walmart-sourced G1 will be just $148.88 with a 2-year agreement. Wait, what? You already purchased your G1 at the full price? They always said the early bird pays the premium... or something along those lines.

[Sisyphus @ Oct 28th 2008 12:01PM]

WHAT????

I DEMAND STORE CREDIT FROM.... CATHERINE ZETA JONES!!!

[ironman @ Oct 28th 2008 12:05PM]

So you're saying they're only going to be in 1 out of every 100 Wal-Marts...

[oZ @ Oct 28th 2008 12:04PM]

This means that if you go into a T-Mobile store and ask for a G1, and say that it's $148.88 at Walmart, you'll get it for $148.88. Any T-Mobile company store will price match!

[Lars @ Oct 28th 2008 3:22PM]

Really? Cool, thanks man. I'm planning on snagging one for sure.

[viktoria @ Oct 31st 2008 5:37PM]

tmobile does price match?! do you need proof that there is a cheaper price?!

[Leindurstit @ Oct 28th 2008 12:06PM]

Price war! Hear that, Verizon? Price war!

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Oct 28th 2008 12:45PM]

Screw the price war, Verizon needs to get on board with the feature war :)

[Elad @ Oct 28th 2008 12:08PM]

i hope they will sell the white one as well!

[punkr0csux @ Oct 28th 2008 12:09PM]

Did anyone read the first line of this post in Morgan Freeman's voice: http://xkcd.com/462/.

This is a tempting offer though. It seems like a pretty decent phone.

[Taylor @ Oct 28th 2008 12:34PM]

Haha, win. XKCD rocks, i don't even need to click the link, i know what it leads to, heh.
-Taylor

[pathogen @ Oct 28th 2008 12:11PM]

This is why I bought mine on the amex.

[kgforce @ Oct 28th 2008 1:28PM]

I don't think Amex does price match anymore.

[pathogen @ Oct 28th 2008 1:30PM]

Well at least its on the company amex :P

[DirtyVegas @ Oct 28th 2008 12:13PM]

Nice. Gotta love the free market. I'd really like to see some aggressive marketing for the phone. The ad I see on TV is okay, but I'm sure they can afford to boast a little more.

[htd @ Oct 28th 2008 12:15PM]

a friend of mine got one, it feels pretty solid, like a rock...

[punkr0csux @ Oct 28th 2008 12:21PM]

Is your friend upset about the lack of a headphone jack?

[evercleard @ Oct 29th 2008 2:01PM]

It is solid, like a rock. It's also ugly as a rock. (I have one, and I love it, but let's be honest.)

[wayne @ Oct 28th 2008 12:21PM]

And I just ordered mine from T-Mobile on Friday.

[wayne @ Oct 28th 2008 4:18PM]

And UPS just delivered it. :)

[Liam Wolf @ Nov 6th 2008 11:24PM]

what can brown do for you?

[Robotochan @ Oct 28th 2008 12:24PM]

Can't wait to order mine tomorrow from T-Mobile UK, should have it on Thursday/Friday :) And then I'll geek out forever

[Alex @ Oct 28th 2008 12:28PM]

Waoow... hey $31.00 is still something you can buy some extra stuff for G1 such as the screen protector or something..lol..

[Taylor @ Oct 28th 2008 12:36PM]

Is it YOUR forum? I saw this link the other day, and purposefully avoided it because i assumed you were hawking your own site. Don't do that, we don't like it. If you want to advertise contact engadget, don't post in the forum.
-Taylor

[Valicore @ Oct 28th 2008 2:10PM]

Why Alex... aren't you clever. not. If you're going to shamelessly advertise could you at least make it useful or funny or something? Recommending people buy a screen protector with the money they just saved and then linking to your "forum" where you also happen to sell G1 accessories is fucking lame.

[neoufo51 @ Oct 28th 2008 12:28PM]

I'm going to wait until they upgrade the hardware by adding a 3.5mm screen, improving the processor and perhaps adding multitouch and let the Android software mature a bit before buying my first Gphone. It's just not worth getting yet. Besides, I'm not upgrade eligible until next year anyway.

[spencer @ Oct 28th 2008 12:33PM]

i, for one, do not want a 3.5mm screen. Something larger would be nice on a touchscreen phone.

[neoufo51 @ Oct 28th 2008 12:35PM]

Doh I meant 3.5 headphone jack. Haha.

[breon @ Oct 28th 2008 12:59PM]

Best Buy already sells the G1 in stores. So Wal-Mart won't the be first.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9105461&type=product&id=1218023510008

[michaelportent @ Oct 28th 2008 12:46PM]

Fancy! I'll be sure to pick one of these up when I'm buying my Wal-Mart exclusive AC/DC album. *shakes head*

[4honor @ Oct 28th 2008 12:48PM]

Oh, that's gonna piss some people off...

[noyp @ Oct 28th 2008 10:00PM]

Not as much as the people that got the blackberry pearl flip for regular price, I saw it for something around $50 at Sam's

[peestandingup @ Oct 28th 2008 12:54PM]

So iPhone is to Best Buy, while G1 is to Wal-Mart?? That seems rather fitting.

No, not a fan of either phone. Just saying.

[haX0r @ Oct 28th 2008 1:01PM]

The G1 is at best buy too. I went there last night and taught the reps a few tricks!

[Mega 777 @ Oct 28th 2008 1:22PM]

Im getting that phone since it has a good price
and my contract is about to end.

[Jon @ Oct 28th 2008 1:24PM]

Cool!! Now if only I lived in one of the 4 blocks that T-mob has 3g coverage...

Not hatin' the phone...just the network.

[danielle @ Nov 5th 2008 12:01PM]

4 blocks?? go on tmobile.com and click coverage and data coverage you will see there that the 3g network is growing so rapidly that its updated numerous times in a day. its already in the 20 major cities and is planned in many more for the end of the year. do some research before you critisize, just cause the city you live in isnt 3g doesnt mean the phone wont still be amazing cause it still is.

[HalfJoey @ Oct 28th 2008 1:28PM]

I want this phone. but Verizon has been awesome in my area and I'm not sure about T-mob's service.

[iofthestorm @ Oct 28th 2008 9:29PM]

Same for me, except I'm on a two year plan for Verizon that started this summer. I guess hopefully in two years Verizon will get this phone, knowing their aptitude for getting nice smartphones.

[Mega 777 @ Oct 28th 2008 1:35PM]

True, the phone IS good, but T-mobile's
service SUCKS!

[alexmueller @ Oct 28th 2008 2:38PM]

Speak for yourself, I've never had a problem with it.

[kgforce @ Oct 28th 2008 1:39PM]

I'm new to T-mobile... if we call customer service and politely express our disappointment in the price disparity, are they likely to credit the difference?

If not, could one just return the current G1 for a refund and go get one at Walmart? Or is there a re-stocking fee?

[cwj @ Oct 28th 2008 2:00PM]

Of all the carriers, I'm guessing T-Mo is most likely to do something, especially given the precedent set during the whole Apple/ATT situation last year. Nevertheless, never guaranteed. I'd intended to call and see if I could get credited $120 since I was about 3 weeks away from qualifying for the $179 price.

I will say that they've not yet charged my card for the purchase. Mayhaps this is all part of the script?

The association with Wal-Mart doth en-cringen my very being, but it's not like there's a carrier they don't sell...

I call dibs on props for saying the (guh)-phone would be down to $150 by December!

[ds @ Oct 28th 2008 11:24PM]

i did just that.
i just spoke to a csr there and she claimed she had not heard about this until my call (meh!)
after she and her supervisor looked up the links to this story, i was told that there's nothing t-mobile can/will do at this time b/c WM buys from them, and can sell it for whatever they please. i asked if tmobile will offer 30$ credits for the customers that trusted them and i was told, again...not at this time.
the csr did tell me that although i couldn't cancel my order at this time, i could refuse delivery to the product and it would get shipped back to tmobile, voiding the new contract (i'm not sure if i believe this though). she then agreed that i could go to WM and and signup there, getting the phone for the cheaper price. she also told me to write to tmobile via the link on their site (which i did this morning).

i mean, i'm probably not gonna refuse delivery just to get it at WM (no reason to support them in this), but it just sucks that they would do this to their customers.

[ds @ Oct 28th 2008 11:32PM]

forgot to add...
the csr rep told me that even though i'm on the second list of pre-buyers (bought it after 10/3 but b/f 10/23) and i'm not officially supposed to get the phone until 11/10, that many of those in this same tier have been getting their phones already....and that i could be getting this message w/in the next 48 hours.
she was probably blowing smoke...but i thought i would add this in their.

o yeah...and it looks like google finally took down their add for the phone sometime this afternoon/evening. i'm wondering if there's any connection b/t that act and this story.

[cwj @ Oct 29th 2008 1:35PM]

@ds

I called at about 9:30 Eastern and got the same basic response. I also asked if there was any leeway with the 22nd month on a 24 month contract/11th month on a 12 month contract requirement for the rebate that gets the phone down to the advertised $179 - no dice.

However, I intend to call again as the rookie tend to be the one's working at night. I got credited for a tm overage after I called back and talked to a second rep that seemed to get it. I'm gonna hang on for until about the 3rd, but I'm pretty sure this one's going back. I'll either wait for the holiday price or wait to see who picks up the HTC S740. If I haven't seen an on-screen keyboard by December, I'll be done with it all for now anyway. I'll just play with PCLOS in the interim.

[Monte @ Oct 28th 2008 2:17PM]

Are there any downsides to not buying directly from T-Mobile? WIll switching my current number over be more of a pain?

[Jamus @ Oct 28th 2008 3:17PM]

Any guesses as to when or if we will be able to get one of these with a pre-paid/non-contract account?

[dvsbstrd @ Oct 28th 2008 6:16PM]

You already can get it without a contract, but it's $400.

[Patrick @ Oct 28th 2008 6:17PM]

Does anyone know what the Wal-Mart price will be if you don't get a contract? The T-Mobile site is like $400.

[Shahryar @ Oct 28th 2008 7:41PM]

I'm wondering this too. I'm in a contract now w/ T-mobile, but would like to not extend it. Plus, I only like signing one year contracts. In the past when I bought phones w/out contract for Sprint (my other acct), I usually went on ebay.

I'm still debating on this phone in general. I don't like the way the G1 looks, the fact that it has a pull out keyboard (I'd prefer a hard numerical keypad), etc.

But I really want to have Google on the go and want to keep T-mobile.