[expidia]

So I've been wanting to upgrade to the 9650 since VZ offers it now, but after 2-3 calls several weeks ago after it's intro. . . I got a quote for a $199 upgrade price and would have to send in for a $50 rebate. Final price $150.

Or they would only replace my sticky ball 9630 with another refurb 9630.

I still had 8 mos to go on my once every 2 year upgrade . . . But today VZ has a new policy of allowing you to upgrade after only 1 year at the new lower 9650 price of $99.

So I went ahead and ordered it. Best deal is you not only get a new phone overnighted to you, you also get to keep the Tour. Sell it or use it for a spare. I'm sure I could get $100 for it. If you keep it as a spare you really don't need to keep paying the $7.99 replacement warranty plan.

You can also talk them out of the one time $20 connection fee they tried to tack on!

For me the 9650 gives me:
WiFi
Sling Mobile again (lost that with the 5.0 upgrade)
Thinner device
New battery
Track pad

So I don't mind paying $99. I've had the 9630 for over 13 months already anyway.

[Absolution]

Where did you order it from? Over the phone or online?

[pcgizmo#IM]

So I've been wanting to upgrade to the 9650 since VZ offers it now, but after 2-3 calls several weeks ago after it's intro. . . I got a quote for a $199 upgrade price and would have to send in for a $50 rebate. Final price $150.

Or they would only replace my sticky ball 9630 with another refurb 9630.

I still had 8 mos to go on my once every 2 year upgrade . . . But today VZ has a new policy of allowing you to upgrade after only 1 year at the new lower 9650 price of $99.

So I went ahead and ordered it. Best deal is you not only get a new phone overnighted to you, you also get to keep the Tour. Sell it or use it for a spare. I'm sure I could get $100 for it. If you keep it as a spare you really don't need to keep paying the $7.99 replacement warranty plan.

You can also talk them out of the one time $20 connection fee they tried to tack on!

For me the 9650 gives me:
WiFi
Sling Mobile again (lost that with the 5.0 upgrade)
Thinner device
New battery
Track pad

So I don't mind paying $99. I've had the 9630 for over 13 months already anyway.

I believe the $20 is an "early upgrade" fee, but yes, they will sometimes waive it. Not sure what you mean by thinner device; the dimensions didn't change.

[slvrscoobie]

im gonna get an upgrade to a moto droid X. F-this tiny screen crape.

[expidia]

For VZ uses you first sign into your my verizon account. Then Click at the top "says shop". Then slide over to wireless, then click on "upgrade phone".

Click on your phone and then scroll down the 9650 it will now say $199 with two year contract online discount $99.

Mine kept freezing as I was trying buy it so the customer service rep switched me over to a sales rep and he did it over the phone.

Free overnight shipping, you keep your Tour and you don't have to screw around with begging a tech to swap your Tour for a 9650 and if you do get them to swap it might be just another refurbed 9630. If they run out of 9630's, they send you a 9650 refurbed and sometimes even a new one.

For all that hassle I figured I'd just do this $99 upgrade. It's a win/win no brainer to me!

For me VZ has the best coverage and CS support. My Family is on VZ so calls between us are always free. I'm going to pay a monthly cell fee anyway, so I don't care about extending the contract!

3 options:
#1 sell your Tour on Ebay for $100.
or
# 2 cxl your $8 mo insurance. (That's a $96 a year savings) or $192 over two years.

The new 9650 is going to have a 12 month warranty anyway and if you keep the tour as a spare if you lose or break the screen on the 9650 you won't have to pay the $50 replacement fee. You just re-activate your old Tour.

or #3 keep your insurance and do any combination of the above.

No matter how you slice it . . . by them dropping the phone to $99 it allows me to keep my old Tour so VZ has given me a nice set of options now that I traded up.

And all my accessories will work with the 9650 too!

I do like the idea of coming home and having the 9650 automatically Wifi connect onto my home network. my brother who has the 9650 on ATT says it's very fast on Wifi in his house now. I also use Tetherberry to connect to the web through my netbook at times when I'm mobile. Tetherberry is a great program. Never had an issue with it. I can use my 9630 purchased programs on the 9650 too.

The only issue that really ticked me off was the upgrade to 5.0 and I lost my Slingmobile on the Tour. I was using the Bold download anyway. I think that was a VZ thing that they blocked us for Sling with the 5.0 update.

On the thinner, when I held my Brothers 9650 and my 9630 in both hands the 9650 felt slightly thinner or slightly smaller to me. I guess it might have been maybe it felt lighter giving it an overall thinner feel to me.

Here is a review I had read on 9630 vs 9650 that discussed the slight difference in weight:
Blackberry Bold 9650 Review (Also include Bold 9650 vs Tour 9630) | Best Blackberry

And last but not least . . . is there really anything better than that smell of the latest greatest PDA device (on the VZ network) after Fedex drops it off at 10AM Monday morning after I open the box!!!

[danielscrowe]

I didn't think AT&T had the 9650. Maybe your brother has the Bold 9700, which AT&T does offer. This would also explain the size discrepancy.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Terradactyl]

Didnt work for me. Showed up at $509.99 I dont really care though, I still like my tour. Just wanted to see if it worked.

[expidia]

I didn't think AT&T had the 9650. Maybe your brother has the Bold 9700, which AT&T does offer. This would also explain the size discrepancy.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

You're right I misquoted, I meant he has the 9700 on ATT. The equiv Bold device available on VZ is the 9650. Which is essentially the same phone which is available on some of the other providers.

Only diff I see is a slightly less weight and a 2x dig zoom camera:

Blackberry Smartphone Battle: Blackberry Bold 9700 vs. Blackberry 9650 - 611Connect Blog | Cell Phone Reviews, New Cell Phones, Cell Phone How To

[expidia]

Didnt work for me. Showed up at $509.99 I dont really care though, I still like my tour. Just wanted to see if it worked.

You still need to be into your current contract over 12 months for it to show up as $99 in your My Verizon:

This what my page looks like and I still have 8 months to go on a 2 year contract:

NEW!

�Mobile Broadband Capable
�V CAST Media Manager
�Visual Voice Mail
�VZ Navigator
�Push to Talk
�Skype Mobile
�Requires data pkg $29.99 or higher
�Early Termination Fee $350 (1 yr/2 yr contracts)
Compatible with your current plan Full Retail Price $509.99
Price with 2yr contract $199.99
Online Discount -100.00
Your Price 99.99
Add to Cart + Add to Wish List Buy the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and Get One FREE!
with 2yr activation per phone

[youngbro401]

I just checked online and I have the potential to make the upgrade for $99 as well. I was wondering if anyone had any idea if doing the upgrade changes your "regular" upgrade date. Any ideas on this? Ive had my tour for 1 year/3 days.

[expidia]

I just checked online and I have the potential to make the upgrade for $99 as well. I was wondering if anyone had any idea if doing the upgrade changes your "regular" upgrade date. Any ideas on this? Ive had my tour for 1 year/3 days.

Mine still says my contract ends on 7/15/2011. Probably on Monday though when I activate my new 9650 it will change.

I wondered about that myself. Will it say extended 2 years on Monday or will it say 3 years, because I still had a year to go?

Like I said, I don't care because I pay a monthly cell bill anyway and don't plan to leave VZ.

I'll let you know on Monday. But you can just call VZ customer service and ask too!

Note for us newbies . . . Also keep in mind the 9700 and the 9650 are designed for using on different carriers networks. There is no Bold 9700 for a VZ network. It's the Bold 9650 which is the CDMA version that was recently introduced on VZ.

BlackBerry Bold 9650:
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
Single-band: 2100 MHz UMTS�/HSPA networks
Dual-band: 800/1900 MHz CDMA/EVDO REVA networks

BlackBerry Bold 9700:
Tri-band 3G HSDPA networks: 2100MHz/1900MHz/850MHz
Tri-band UMTS networks: 2100/1900/850/800 MHz and 2100/1700/900 MHz
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks: 850/900/1800/1900MHz

[mudbuny]

I have one month and a few weeks until i can get my new every two upgrade. I'm just wondering if i wait will i get the 9650 for less than the $99 or will this sale be over by that time and I will have to pay $99 anyways? If thats the case I might as well do it now. I emailed customer service to see if I could get my upgrade a month early, but have not heard back yet.

[bik2101]

darn.. no luck for me either.. and my upgrade date is 4/11/11

[joneslaw22]

Wow!!! When are they going to do this for sprint???

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[dag99]

If you're eligible for new every 2 then the cost will be $49 instead of $99.

[joneslaw22]

I just called sprint and they did a price match!!! I should have my bold by Wed.

[mab4285]

So I've been wanting to upgrade to the 9650 since VZ offers it now, but after 2-3 calls several weeks ago after it's intro. . . I got a quote for a $199 upgrade price and would have to send in for a $50 rebate. Final price $150.

Or they would only replace my sticky ball 9630 with another refurb 9630.

I still had 8 mos to go on my once every 2 year upgrade . . . But today VZ has a new policy of allowing you to upgrade after only 1 year at the new lower 9650 price of $99.

So I went ahead and ordered it. Best deal is you not only get a new phone overnighted to you, you also get to keep the Tour. Sell it or use it for a spare. I'm sure I could get $100 for it. If you keep it as a spare you really don't need to keep paying the $7.99 replacement warranty plan.

You can also talk them out of the one time $20 connection fee they tried to tack on!

For me the 9650 gives me:
WiFi
Sling Mobile again (lost that with the 5.0 upgrade)
Thinner device
New battery
Track pad

So I don't mind paying $99. I've had the 9630 for over 13 months already anyway.

You do know the 9630 hasn't been out for 13 months yet, right? It was released July 12, 2009....just saying...

[himynameiscody]

so if im not in contract i can get the bold for $50???

[expidia]

You do know the 9630 hasn't been out for 13 months yet, right? It was released July 12, 2009....just saying...

Ya, my 2 contract still says 7 months left! But that could have been because when I upgraded one time I only had a 12 month contract at the time when I bought my first BB. But my remaining contract will probably be updated by them shortly.

Yes, I bought the 9630 within the first week it was introduced. I think that was my first BB.

I too was a Treo user because first and foremost I used the Palm to help run my business. I had many Palm devices over the past 10 years or so (I'm loyal and thought I'd never leave them). The Treo was the best PDA out there for years.
People used to ask me why I didn't use a BB. Rimm devices started out as business pagers with text thru their corporate server. The amazing part about Rimm is how fast they blew Palm away as soon as they developed their own line of PDA's.

Palm stopped improving their software and Rimm devices just kept getting smaller, faster and thinner every year.

Gotta hand it to Apple though. They do make nice stuff and they really know how to market their stuff. I used to sit at a lunch counter reading the newspapers on my Treo and people would say to me "Wow" that's a big phone (actually. was not much bigger than the BB).

Now when I'm at the counter "almost every" diner that's by themselves is holding a PDA device and reading or typing away! More people text now than use their voice minutes. This is a good thing because nothing I hate more is to hear a **** yakking away in a restaurant!

So now most of these casual users are dying for an iphone. It will be interesting to see what happens to ATT when the iphone is finally sold on VZ. ATT and other carriers will have to lower the price of their plans to save itself or VZ could have a monopoly! This will be good for all of us because all the carriers will have to keep the price of their plans down.

That "Paris Hilton" limited edition iphone is sure to be a big hit or maybe a Lindsay Lohan iphone in bright orange to match her outfit now

[expidia]

so if im not in contract i can get the bold for $50???

I like your Avatar. My Wifes name is AVA

[berryfit]

It's even better...lol.

Just looked. I get the $99 price, and it says buy one get one free with a two year activation. Is doesn't say NEW contract, it says with 2 year activation.

I don't think I can pass this up. I can see my tour and a second bold if it works out right and make money!

Go VZ...lol.

[Kimo91]

this policy isn't new it's for the primary line only

[expidia]

I just called sprint and they did a price match!!! I should have my bold by Wed.

Well, that was sweet! I'm glad I pointed out the new VZ deal to you! I can't wait to get rid of the Tours track ball knowing there is a track pad available.

Once I tried out my Brother's 9700 with track pad, I began to hate the Tour more and more each day Too bad because it's always been flawless for me other than that.

Especially when I read threads here that when they introduced the 9650 on VZ many posters were able to complain about the track ball and they were being sent new 9650's as replacements.

But I couldn't get in on that. Even though I was paying $7.99 for their rip off insurance that started off at $3.99 and a refurb replacement yet. Plus a $50 fee to get a working phone.

Now that I have the Tour as a spare, I'm going to cxl the insurance. The new 9650 has a 12 mo. warranty anyway. After 12 months I'm sure they will have the next latest greatest BB device out there (like 4 G).

Maybe a new BB where you could flip it over and fry an egg on it for a quick snack

[JFK64]

one year upgrade available 10/24/10.. guess i could get it for 119.00 then?

[JFK64]

looking on ebay and they are around 275-300.. think I will wait