Unlocked, contract-free HTC HD2 will be available November 11 for a lot of money
By Paul Miller 
posted October 12th 2009 4:47PM
posted October 12th 2009 4:47PM
[Via SlashGear]
posted October 12th 2009 4:47PM
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Totally insane. Does anyone ever do a cost annalists of the parts in these things. Sorry but even with R&D included these prices are insane. I'm seeing parallels with the pharmaceutical industry here. These prices are intentionally inflated so customers don't go rogue with a phone that isn't available on an alternate carrier.
Really? your going to say a device with the specs of a net book, in 1/4th the die size isn't worth its value in gold? I'm sorry but your a fool to think that the HD2 is over priced, in comparisons to other phones this device should easily be in the 1+ club, but due to marketing factors it has to be tamed. Just because you got locked in a 110$ a month contract on a 200$ phone AFTER Carrier discounts doesn't mean you should rip on every other person for being as naive as you.
And to the Android people, Look at HTC's approach to it, both use Sense UI, which makes the interaction basically the same. Only difference is WinMO is much more customizable overall.
This phone will revolutionize the phone market any one who thinks else is a fool, or ignorant to the facts.
Very well said... except for the part where that isn't the only difference. And its not even true. You can customize an android device as much as a winmo device. Android is a much more finger friendly OS then winmo, and i have both a G1 and a touch pro 2 (and an iphone). Android is an open source operating system where users can see and make input to the source code, and the OS is still new, which means it has a much greater chance of growing than windows mobile does.
Good point on andriod but if you looked up how many ROMs are out there for WinMo then you would see just as many options out there. The question are you going to tinker with the source code...probably not, same with the general public so with the Sense UI that htc has on this device and pretty much hacked and slashed this OS people are going to fall in love with WinMo yet be confused why the other manufactures blow at making a good device.
Ya, Paul...I am fighting this insane force to spend almost $1k on a phone next month that can only use EDGE. WHAT A STRUGGLE!
yep, it's real shame that HSPA frequencies aren't the same all round the world.
i have no idea how the FCC and other regulatory bodies have allowed this to occur.
Who in their right mind would pay $750 for a device like this to run on EDGE? Nutz! I thought it would run on AT&T 3G though. Am I missing something?
Right now it's only being released in Europe so they don't really care about catering to the US right now.
'fonly it ran android and had a capacitive screen and was a little smaller...
"cough" it has capacitive screen "cough" that is the fuzz about (reason 2, reason 1 spandragon)
snapdragon*
'fonly it ran android and had a capacitive screen and was a little smaller.. " was green, had a qwerty keyboard, was made by SONY, had 9G and was free......
It is what it is. Then you need to look at another phone. Maybe Le Hero? Moto Droid? LG LifeDroid?
@ Dking: Don't you mean Spamdragon?
"will we be strong enough to wait?"
at $740, yeah. i know that's not shocking compared to other smartphones, given this one's specs, but still, i bought an LG 42" 1080p TV for $700 about two months ago. i don't understand why somebody in the US would get shafted on plan prices and on top of that shaft themselves by spending that much on a phone. i'll wait for the US version and get it through a carrier so i don't get the double stuff.
So if I choose to have unlimited 3g gps b email n text on this phone in ameica I would have to pay $30,?
Insane. !!
Yes, but apparently it's coming to T-Mobile in the States. So you really wouldn't get 3G in most places.
I'd wait for the American release in Q1 2010, but waiting is so hard when this phone is so amazing lol.
Are these unlocked prices you're comparing... or is a name change in order?
"A fool and his money are soon parted"
Can this $750 phone be docked to a renotecobtrol surround sound??
Considering the iPhone was $600 when it came out (on contract!) and this is way more powerful, that's not a terrible price.
What's the word on a US release? I heard rumors that it would be on Sprint or Verizon...
Yes, and just as with this one, it was too much. $750 for a phone? Come on people, where do you draw the line when allowing yourself to be bent.
This is the off-contract price. You'd be surprised how expensive a lot of phones are off-contract. On-contract they're sold cheaper, but the company ultimately makes up the difference by either getting your monthly payments for two years or by collecting an early termination fee if you cut the rope early.
Wait Wait Wait
So what you're saying is that this phone coming out in November 2009 is more powerful than the iPhone that came out in June 2007?
@MR_COW
Correction; this phone that's coming out in Nov. 2009 is going to be better than the iPhone that came out in June 2009. Good things come to those that wait - didn't ya know?
dont have to imagine: anyone older than 3 years old LIVED through it. 4gb, contract and sim locked to att EDGE only iphone. $500 plus tax..$600 plus tax for an 8gb... neither had/has any kind of flash on 2 megapixel cam, no video recording, copy paste, MMS... yep. i remember it fondly..... now can we move on and leave the iphone for iphone articles?
I look forward to picking it up. I picked up the Touch HD but it was a bit too slow both processor wise and network wise. When this comes to the US with the right bands for 3G I'll pick it up. I think Android, Windows Mobile, and the iPhone OS all suffered from the same issue, lack of processor power. First up with a speed boost was the iPhone, now it looks like it's time for Windows Mobile to get a boost with some better hardware.
Actually, the main hindrance of Winmo is ram, but I'm sure the new processes doesn't hurt. This thing also has x2 the Ram of the TP2/Pure/Imagino So either way this thing will be flawless for Winmo 6.5 and 7 When its announced. Also I believe this is the only phone thats going to support win 7 that is being released any time before Q2 next year. But Winmo 7 doesn't com out till Q3/4 any ways so don't sweat it that much if you want to wait.
This is a great price for a phone like this. I don't know what wrong with Engadget, but not everyone is eligible for the $200 phone specials from large service companies such as AT&T and Verizon, plus you have to pay outrageous monthly fees to get the phone for $200 so it ends up costing much more. Also, this phone is way better than the phones you purchase for $200, the internals alone are worth more. I am tired of hearing that $700 is expensive for a smart phone. Your forget this is a Mobile Internet Device with a 1 ghz processor which is incredible for a small phone. Also it has fast internet and a really nice 4.3" touchscreen + it has a professional quality 5MP camera + Dual LED Flash + a GPS + the new Windows Mobile and much more. All of that seperately makes this phone easily worth $700. I thought the phone would be $900 or $1000 to tell you the truth. High end smartphones such as this should not be sold for a petty $199. If you do get it for that price you still usually end up paying more due to the 2 year contract you agreed to. Then if you want to upgrade to another phone you usually have to wait another year. Thats why people buy unlocked phones because you can get a new phone when you want, you aren't locked into a contract and it end up being cheaper since you don't have to pay for the expensive plan.
'
Thats the unlocked price. For comparison, an unlocked 16gig iPhone 3GS will cost you around £750, thats about $1185. Doesn't sound like such a bad deal now does it?
Dude, unlocked iPhone 3G cost ~600$ and that's without warranty
Wait a minute, Isn't the iPhone 3GS still $899 unlocked?
we posted at the same time, the same thing :D
And it's still cheaper than the unlocked iPhone 3Gs
And it's still hobbled with Windows Mobile.
And it brings removable battery together with a gazillion things that the iPhone can't do =).
Like sucking ass
Price is $750. Data plan 30$ voivce 59$ text $20=$110.
110 times 2 years =$2640.
plus price if phone $750=$3390
price of ownership $3400!!!
Will anyone bite??
Thought so
u r all talk.
Truth, you are the dumbest person ever. ever. Also, I live in holland and I pay 40 euro's a month for unlimited everything
dude just change your name and STFU, stop bending over and get screw by your month bill. if you dig your head out from ATT's rear-end maybe you'll see all the non-iPhone users pay less than you. on the other hand seeing how much you are paying truly makes me feel strongly about a better economy in the near future :) thanks!
Don't concern yourselves. Almost no one will be buying this smartphone and HTC will be losing money for another financial quarter. This company is just like Sony-Ericsson. Very good hardware and sub-par software. Not much of a way to stay in business in this day and age. I don't think the hardware is over-priced but the functionality is going to be hampered by the OS.
@Truth
you should change your name to Ignorant: do some price research you can easily find an unlocked 3GS for just as much, but inferior in everything else on the hardware department (w/ the exception of # of Apps, but.. we all know there's a 'map' for that now :) sure you get to pay $199/299 for a 3GS but you pay in blood over the long run. HD2 may not be the one to compete - since U.S. isn't its home turf but it sure does out class 3GS as a phone in most scenarios. Just b/c you paid $299/199 (or even $49 for refurb) and think that it's the holy grail from heaven due to the down-to-earth price, think again, you'll be paying in blood over the long run w/ that data plan from hell.
“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”
in europe it's around 700 euro's for the 16gb iPhone, so around the same price
If people are lucky,
Phone 750$ + Sero Sprint plan 30$ a month
Only Winmo Phones go on Sero, so I bet there's a lot of happy people waiting to gobble this bad boy up when it goes to sprint.
Also Idk where your getting 110$ for a plan I pay 40$ a month on Verizon, maybe 15-20$ more a month if you add the min's I split with my family.
While a Iphone is still 80$ min just to have it function, 100+ if you want more then 300 mins
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure this is a UMTS/GSM phone, not a CDMA phone.
I guess I'm the only one that the economy has hit hard. I'm amazed that anyone would even consider spending this kind of money when you consider the economic conditions. No wonder we're in such sad shape when people are so willing to wasting money when they'd be better served waiting until times get better.
The kind of people who buy unlocked, off-contract phones usually consider gadgets / technology a hobby of theirs. Just as some might consider guns a hobby and buy lots of guns brand-new (which can actually run quite expensive).
It's not a matter of what people are spending on, it's a matter of what kind of people are spending. If someone's buying this on credit without knowing if they'll be able to actually pay it off on time, chances are they'd be doing that mistake with any other item they buy.
It looks like this is coming to Verizon...
In that engadget hands on video, you can actually see a "Verizon Wireless Accessories" contact item
and to think, not more than a few months ago, nokia wanted as much for the failure N97
I live in the US and bought an Austrailian model HTC Touch HD last year. It is a sweet phone. Even though it does not run 3G in the US, it operates just fine on AT&T and most places have WiFi anyway. I'm planning to buy the HTC HD2 out of London ASAP. It looks like the ultimate gadget and about the same price as an unlocked iPhone. I can hardly wait....