RIM's BlackBerry Storm shows its cheaper side on Amazon
By Sean Cooper 
posted Feb 8th 2009 11:34AM
posted Feb 8th 2009 11:34AM
Verizon's BlackBerry Storm is getting a little kick in its pricing courtesy of an Amazon rebate-free rebate. The deal here is that the infamous touchscreen BlackBerry is now $99.99 on a two-year stint, no rebate paperwork, no mailing things anywhere, just shell out cash, get phone, call people. Verizon has a buy one get one free thing going on right now, so if you're looking for two Storms for the price of one -- and that one is still $199 -- you can head on over to see them. Everybody happy now?
[Via geardiary]
[Via geardiary]
This is kinda setting a bar for other phones, huh?
$99.
Gack.
Anyone could make their phone cheaper as long as you buy a "monthly service plan"
Virtually all cell phones list their pricing "with a 2 year contract" random and then put the real price that virtually no one will ever pay in tiny print hidden under an errant flash ad or something. Yet very few retailers go as low as Amazon does as often as they do.
Anyway, the Storm will be a penny in a few months. What's the hurry?
If you're ready to sign a new contract, Amazons usually the best deal on the phone. There are a lot of phones you can get for free that would be close to $200 from the carrier with the same contract.
Yeah, a solid lead bar, have you ever picked one of these buggers up? Yikes!
@caremalzappa
wirefly is also a great choice
i prefer them because they usual have the top tier phones for free on contract :)
Woah, fire sale!
Not exactly flying off the shelves, is it?
The fuze has been being sold for the same amount with the same 2year contract. I would get it but cant upgrade family plans with it. =[
You don't want the Fuze... AT&T has crippled it. If you want the Touch Pro, go to Sprint.
Should be free.
Hmm. I wonder what the price is without contract and if it can operate on Sprint...
500... read the damn picture.
its not the upfront price that's preventing me. its the damn monthly service plans that are through the roof.
or the fact that the phone is terriable...had one for 7 days and took it back and am still using my 8830....that thing should not be called blackberry
Maybe a bit of patience would have paid off. With the new leaked firmware, it's twice the phone it once was. But ya, keep your oldy 8830
I agree Verizon's monthly pricing scheme is ridiculous! $30 for an unlimited data plan, $15 for tethering (which maxes out at 5 gig), $10 if you want to use the mapping features, another $15 if you want to use rhapsody service. So you are looking at an additional $75 a month for TWO YEARS, and this is before you even select a call plan. Every time I think about getting one, I realize how ridiculously over priced it is. I rather just stick with a "dumb" phone and then get a Tmobile UNLIMITED broadband card at $49 a month or use T-Mobile's $12 monthly hotspot plan and just call it a day. These wireless prices on "Smart phones" is completely out of control - at least on Verizon.
So...don't play the Verizon game...I don't pay for the mapping service, as GPS are cheap and dirt cheap on Ebay. I already have Rhapsody and was the main reason I bought this phone over the iPhone - and as for paying for Rhap., well it isn't free. But there is no need to pay Verizon extra to use Rhapsody. Or go get streaming internet radio from Slacker.com.
Also, try to BS your way into a 'corporate rate' I save 15% on my total bill...everymonth. Only thing about the phone that annoys me are the extra charges for GPS, which I don't pay, and the lack of Wi-Fi. Great phone, love it.
@Monkey
Nope, I've seen the latest firmware, and the phone is still a POS compared even to my 8830, and I imagine the Bold is a leap ahead of both.
The Storm's software is unintuitive, slow, unstable and laggy. The "click" keyboard is a gimmick at best, and the whole thing is just akward and not "Blackberry-like".
@Todd
no, it def wont work with sprint
No really, it's a trap. Friends don't let friends buy Storms.
$99 plus a two year contract, wow finally Americans get ripped off for something !
its been like this for some time now.
No trolling - for people who were having probs with your Storm, have the updates fixed your issues?
The only time I got to see one that wasn't a dummy, it was stuck on the power off confirmation.
The latest leaked patch (.99) has made it what it should have been at launch, that is, a good blackberry touchscreen device. Any updates from here on will make it great.
Agreed, .99 is a good OS. I have it on mine as I type. The official next VZW release can only be better
"The official next VZW release can only be better"
Never underestimate the capability of Verizon, or AT&T for that matter to royally screw something up.
Agreed. I've been using .99 for a few days now and it really has become a great phone. Too bad people tend to base opinions on so little experience, a fully updated Storm is just as good (if not better in many ways) than the iPhone. And I love the iPhone
I'm sorry monkey, but that phone (the Storm) is absolutely terrible. From the very base characteristics like the giant, VERY cheap feeling whole-screen-button, to software based problems like the menu layout, mostly the the very awkward experience you're left with not being able to smoothly run your finger across the screen and having to physically push the screen down after a selection has already been made. You don't ever feel completely in control or "a part of the device" like the iPhone accomplishes. The Storm is a perfect example of making something different just to be different, not because it gets anything done any better. I'm sure a firmware update might help makes things operate a little quicker but that phone has deeper problems than ANY software fix can assuage.
@utahnk
I completely disagree. A number of people I know have iphones and I have always hated the typing on it. Trying to type quickly just ends up in a load of rubbish on the screen as you press two letters next to each other and because of the buttons enlarging you press the same one twice. My company had a bunch of storms delivered and as soon as I picked it up I could type at a reasonable speed (although still not as quick as a physical qwerty keyboard). The Storm is by far the best phone I have ever used. In truth I would love to see a Storm, iPhone hybrid as they both have some great features.
If it was a one year contract...that would be passable, but two?
I'm sorry, but this phone is not anywhere near as bad as people keep making it out to be. If you tried one at release, yes the lag was stupid and it was an absolute horrible call on RIM's part to release it without a finalized OS, but using any of the last 3 OS releases the phone is great. It needs a toggle to not require click-typing, but the physical click is great for navigating through webpages, which still load faster then just about any other phone's browsers.
"I'm sorry, but this phone is not anywhere near as bad as people keep making it out to be."
it wasn't that it was bad as a phone - I used to have a windows mobile xv6700 and the storm was clearly better than that. The problem is, many people who tried the storm, myself included, had previously used other blackberries. I personally found typing on the storm too slow. I can crank out an email on a curve or 8703, but the storm was painfully slow - and I kept it for 29 days trying to like it.
For someone coming from a regular phone it might be OK, but if you use a bberry as a tool and not a toy, it's not the best option
I really like my Storm and I've never owned a Blackberry. Truth be told, i wanted a big pretty touchscreen phone more than a BB. Now I'm a big fan of the BB OS. But I still do not see the appeal of the regular-looks-like-a-scientific-calculator-Blackberry phone.
@ Rob
as stated above, QWERTY BB's excel at text entry. If you are a text intensive person, the QWERTY is arguably better for you. Somebody who's responding to e-mails all day while out of the office is the person who'd want that device. There are those who feel that there's no use for the Storm when you can have the Bold.
The Storm is a more casual device; multimedia phone w/BB connectivity. RIM's further attempt to diversify.
I'm sorry but you can't beat the way the iPhone handles the web. It's why the Palm Pre works almost EXACTLY the same way, even down to the bounce back, while browsing. I think it's great that other phones are adopting the same method, it is indeed superior, and only a matter of time before they all do.
BOGO on the storm is good. I'm due for a new phone $100 credit. Two storms for $100 (especially after I just got a new Pearl on insurance for $50) means I'm gonna flip some phones for a nice profit...
Costco has The Storm for by one get one free!
I hate when places like "Amazon" and such run specials like that....Customers come into the store...you talk to them for abooot a half an hour and then they are like...Well Im just gonna get it through Amazon I just wanted to talk about it and see it in person.
And its impossible to price match something like that too...So we literally lose customers.
are you from Canada?
This really shows up the games the carriers play with people to get them locked in to contracts. You've got to ask yourself how such a "hot" new smartphone could be going out the door for two for one, or $99.00 so soon after launch? No secret there I guess but this underscores it. The reason for the "firesale"? I suppose you could point at the initial bad press the Storm got due to the release software, or the economy.
That all aside the Storm deals look pretty good assuming the software issues have been fixed from the initial launch. I'd certainly get one, or two, but I'm now on the ATT/iPhone hook. I did this VZ to ATT when the demo Storm broke my heart launch day with what turned out to be beta software.
Carriers are like Las Vegas gambling houses. Over time the house never loses.
Is anyone doing the buy 1 get one? b/c id REALLY like to get a storm...and as i already have a plan...i'm not eligible for any sort of rebate sale... :(
With my new every two discount + instant saving + mail-in rebate my storm would have been $50 but I didn't like the phone, returned it, canceled my contract, and went over to Sprint and love it!! Bubye Verizon Wireless & BB Storm with your buggy UI, awful typing and pathetic battery life.
Verizon's site are doing Buy One Get One Free. or Buy a Storm and get any other blackberry for free.
I would have no problem buying the storm if it didn't click.
what are you talking about the click was the best thing ever. I got irritated by touch screens b/c it didn't click, the only reason why I have not traded my iphone in for a storm is b/c of the lack of apps.
unlocked, and i'm in...
I love how on the Amazon site, 26% of the reviews give the storm 1 Star, and if you combine the 1 and 2 star reviews they amount to 41% of the reviews.
So if you're considering the Storm, give the Amazon reviews a good look before you pull that trigger. IMO it's a POS phone.
As always, these phones being on Verizon or T-Mobile keep me from getting them. It's hard to justify 60 bucks a month to myself when the Iphone (no, I am not in any way shape or form comparing the Iphone to the storm) is only 25 a month extra with a pre-existing family plan. I'd love to try out the G1, or the Storm, but I'm stuck for now.
Come on AT&T Android phone....come on baby....
And to think how I mocked the Apple early adopters and the subsequent price cut...now it's happened to me. Bah!