[BlueTurboShark]

Thats what I'm saying. Rogers makes there money off contracts. For them to have the price at 300$ would be ridiculous. They wouldn't make as much off this phone as if they would if the price was dropped. Most people would choose to pay the 600$ with no contract and save money in the long run.

some people just dont like the idea of being locked in to one carrier, and the thought of a recurring bill for X years can be offsettling. especially to those with rocky careers. say if someone lost their job, and in the middle of a contract, then they're stuck with a bill or early cancellation fee.

to a younger generation, it's not that big of a deal i guess, because we're probably always going to have a cell phone (most young people dont subscribe to a landline, and rely on cell phones as personal phones) but its hard to predict what could happen within 3 years. but it does kind of put a barrier up. say if telus comes out with a rockin awesome plan, instead of just switching over, you're committed to rogers, and will have to argue with retention to get what you want.

if (good) smartphones were priced at around the 199 sweet spot with no agreement, life would be a lot easier with cell phone services. sadly, thats not how it goes. and you can thank the man.

But back on topic, there's absolutely no justification for the phone to be that expensive. if anyone lives near the border, theres no reason to buy this phone in canada if it's priced like this. 499 US =/= 649 canadian. 199 US:2 year =/= 299 CAD: 3 year. and with our strong dollar, and canada's central bank with no intention of lowering the value, this is just exploitation, and RIM, Rogers, et al. should know better. Car companies have been stepping up. actual cell services i can see a justification for a bit of difference in price points, as markets and infrastructure is different, but this is core hardware. the rogers/bellus torches will likely be absolutely identical to the US. if canadians are sold the canadian built units, then theres no importation or tariffs of those units. absolute thievery. I'm 20 mins from waterloo and would not have any problem showing RIM how ****ed up it is to be ripping off your fellow citizens because you can.

Agree with both.........

[Marco8626]

totally agree
i'm in vancouver area...about 45-60 mins away from bellingham, WA....i could just head down there an pick up a torch

[miketko]

ok so do is this the week we finally get a GD date

[todayisvery]

i heard rogers will have it august 19. not comfirmed though

That's true

[samurai31276]

Yo, one of my friend who wants to renew his contract and buy the white bold 9700 in Rogers store. And the Rogers rep told him blackberry torch 9800 is coming to Rogers in the middle of October. Also rep said Telus will release torch earlier than Rogers.

my friend left his contact information there and Rogers will call him right away when they got the torch in store.

Sorry for my bad English writting.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[North-Face]

some people just dont like the idea of being locked in to one carrier, and the thought of a recurring bill for X years can be offsettling. especially to those with rocky careers. say if someone lost their job, and in the middle of a contract, then they're stuck with a bill or early cancellation fee.

to a younger generation, it's not that big of a deal i guess, because we're probably always going to have a cell phone (most young people dont subscribe to a landline, and rely on cell phones as personal phones) but its hard to predict what could happen within 3 years. but it does kind of put a barrier up. say if telus comes out with a rockin awesome plan, instead of just switching over, you're committed to rogers, and will have to argue with retention to get what you want.

if (good) smartphones were priced at around the 199 sweet spot with no agreement, life would be a lot easier with cell phone services. sadly, thats not how it goes. and you can thank the man.

But back on topic, there's absolutely no justification for the phone to be that expensive. if anyone lives near the border, theres no reason to buy this phone in canada if it's priced like this. 499 US =/= 649 canadian. 199 US:2 year =/= 299 CAD: 3 year. and with our strong dollar, and canada's central bank with no intention of lowering the value, this is just exploitation, and RIM, Rogers, et al. should know better. Car companies have been stepping up. actual cell services i can see a justification for a bit of difference in price points, as markets and infrastructure is different, but this is core hardware. the rogers/bellus torches will likely be absolutely identical to the US. if canadians are sold the canadian built units, then theres no importation or tariffs of those units. absolute thievery. I'm 20 mins from waterloo and would not have any problem showing RIM how ****ed up it is to be ripping off your fellow citizens because you can.

Couldn't agree with you more, I'm very close to Waterloo as well.

If pricing is out of hand I will have no problem with heading to Buffalo to give them my business....

[Boisvertc]

It's somewhat strange that everyon is complaining about the pricing for 299$ when there is a CLEAR possibility of this price just being a placeholder in the codes. On the future shop link, it was priced at 999$. Obviously not the real price. Is it so hard to conceive that this MAY be a fake price too? Besides, only Bell usually ends their prices in 95, and the leak is for a Telus contract. Weird

[lorax1284]

I have been considering a Virgin Mobile $25 MyPlan with the $30 / 6GB add on.

$55 per month.

Since Torch isn't yet available, I've been using the iPhone 4 pricing as a guide.

If I save $500 on an iPhone, amortized over the life of the 36 month contract, that's $13.89 per month.

The ETF for the "voice plan" is max $400. The ETF for the "data plan" is max $200... the carriers are VERY SKETCHY on the details of the data plan ETF, but claim it is prorated to the value of the subsidy against the time remaining: so the $500 / 36 = $13.89 per month just for the data plan: max of $200 means that you won't see subsidy reduction for the VOICE PLAN portion until 17 months in (fewer than 20 months remaining on contract), and no reduction below $200 for DATA PLAN subsidy until 23 months in (fewer than 13 months remaining on contract).

So, at any time prior to ~20 months in to my contract, I would be subject to an ETF that is potentially higher than the subsidy (max $600). So, until this point, paying for the device in full is less costly than the ETF.

I know it sounds like I'm just throwing numbers out there, but bear with me.

So, if I go on a subsidy and STAY with my vendor for the full 36 months, it is like I'm paying $55 - $13.89 per month, which works out to $41.11 per month.

Now, if I don't accept the subsidy, It's like I'm paying the full $55 per month.

For a non-subsidized phone to be worth it to me, I'd need to exercise the right to switch carriers prior to about 20 months in to the contract. That would mean switching to a plan that has better features for no more than $41.11 per month.

It's a gamble: with the current ecosystem, I am willing to gamble that there will not be a better value plan (for my needs) that costs less than $41.11 per month within the next 20 months or so... there may be a plan that's $50 or $45, but it would have to be seriously less than $35 per month to make switching (and paying the ETF or going with an unsubsidized device) worthwhile.

Do I anticipate that in the next year the carriers will be making a plan available that provides me with all the voice / data I need for $35 per month? No.

If anything the 6GB data plan is more than I need, and the 150 minutes is enough for my mobile needs (I use just over 120 minutes per month usually) plus the fact that the data plan will let me use Skype for calls also with the "$3 per month long North American long distance" that I already have, means that I am well covered by a $55 plan - $13.89 "subsidy".

So, if you are certain that the freedom will pay off for you, go with an unsubsidized device... for me, the subsidy is (lamentably) starting to look worthwhile.

[jvictor77]

Wow - that's some analysis there Lorax!

[zaandam24]

Yo, one of my friend who wants to renew his contract and buy the white bold 9700 in Rogers store. And the Rogers rep told him blackberry torch 9800 is coming to Rogers in the middle of October. Also rep said Telus will release torch earlier than Rogers.

my friend left his contact information there and Rogers will call him right away when they got the torch in store.

Sorry for my bad English writting.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Tell your buddie not to believe the rep, sometimes they lie just to get a sale done and want you to a buy a phone right there infront of you rather then waiting for the launch day so the rep wont loose his sales if your buddie waits and goes to another rep for the torch

[miketko]

im kinda starting to loose interest in the torch

hey, ill prolly still grab it but with all this waiting im starting to not care.

[theonecid]

im kinda starting to loose interest in the torch

hey, ill prolly still grab it but with all this waiting im starting to not care.

It's coming on September 15th to Rogers.

[lauren122688]

It's coming on September 15th to Rogers.

it's still not official yet though

[miketko]

It's coming on September 15th to Rogers.

do you have a link ?

im on the rogers site and i dont see any annocement

[lauren122688]

yeah the rogers site says nothing, the reps tell you to go to the rogers redboard, and the only thing that says is its coming in the next few weeks, and that was when the phone was first announced

[miketko]

this is all very annoying, ive heard from sep 16, to 2 years lol.

if it comes out after sep 16 im gonna grab from from the states and switch to telus just to spite rogers haha

[Boisvertc]

this is all very annoying, ive heard from sep 16, to 2 years lol.

if it comes out after sep 16 im gonna grab from from the states and switch to telus just to spite rogers haha

im kinda starting to loose interest in the torch

hey, ill prolly still grab it but with all this waiting im starting to not care.

I know what you mean. I used to be all hyped up about this phone to the point where i was annoying my friends when talking about it. But after such a long wait without even a teaser, or a release date and vague mentions of a possible eventual something or other, i feel that the carriers and not very interested and so i guess im not either... Hopefully i'll become all fuzzy inside again when its released tomorrow. (ok, that's a little glimmer of hope.)

[miketko]

I know what you mean. I used to be all hyped up about this phone to the point where i was annoying my friends when talking about it. But after such a long wait without even a teaser, or a release date and vague mentions of a possible eventual something or other, i feel that the carriers and not very interested and so i guess im not either... Hopefully i'll become all fuzzy inside again when its released tomorrow. (ok, that's a little glimmer of hope.)

ya, i was in Boston 2 weeks ago and I visited 6 different best buy locations and I was unable to score a torch, i was soo hyped up for it I would of prolly paid $700 for it.. now, with no annoucement and no answers from rogers people I feel like a jack@$$ running out and paying $499 or $599 when they finally release it.

[_StephenBB81]

........... blah numbers blah ........

I was actually looking at the same Numbers, though I can't find anyplace that has Bell as being a 200 max on Data.

I want to Break my contract on one of my phones and move everything over to Rogers, once the Torch comes out, but there is just shy of 2 years left on it.

Stupid me taking advantage of an upgrade credit when I didn't even need an upgrade on the back up line.

[_StephenBB81]

ya, i was in Boston 2 weeks ago and I visited 6 different best buy locations and I was unable to score a torch, i was soo hyped up for it I would of prolly paid $700 for it.. now, with no annoucement and no answers from rogers people I feel like a jack@$$ running out and paying $499 or $599 when they finally release it.

I was in Wisconsin last week had 2 of them in my hands and didn't buy cause I'd be there for a few days, was gonna go back the day I was flying home and couldn't make it, I'm kicking myself right now...

[miketko]

I was in Wisconsin last week had 2 of them in my hands and didn't buy cause I'd be there for a few days, was gonna go back the day I was flying home and couldn't make it, I'm kicking myself right now...

oh that stinks!!!

[Marco8626]

i know this is the 9800 forum...but i think i just might wait for the 9780...

[miketko]

i know this is the 9800 forum...but i think i just might wait for the 9780...

that wouldnt surprise me if more people felt that way. with that being said i currently have a 9700 i feel moving to a 9780 isnt much of a "change" for me.

[Marco8626]

that wouldnt surprise me if more people felt that way. with that being said i currently have a 9700 i feel moving to a 9780 isnt much of a "change" for me.

i called retentions last week and got my plan adjusted...also got a 9700 included for $49.99...should i just get right now or wait for 9780/9800?

[jaxterz]

do you guys think the Bold 9780 will come out at the same time as the Torch in Canada? I hope so just so if it turns out I don't like the Torch, I can switch to the Bold!