[Johnly]

Here is what a 1st gen iphone looked like: no song ring tones. no games. no flash. no instant messaging. no picture messaging. no video recording. no voice recognition. no voice dialing. no wireless blue tooth (ad2p) no 3.5 mm headphone jack. no 3g (ev-do/hsdpa) no gps. no real keyboard. no removable battery. no expandable storage. no direct itunes music store access (over wi-fi or edge) How many people on at&t paid full retail for that?

[Coruptyed]

I did, my current Curve cost me £260, I also paid full price for my Bold, Nokia N97 and iPhone 3G. My curve was the cheapest out of all of them, the Nokia was the most expesive at £370. The money I used to buy my curve is actually the money I made from selling my Storm and buying a Bold and then losing that Bold and getting insurance money lol

wow thats pretty cheap for a curve compared to over here, a curve runs for 549. probably about 450 pounds or more.

[DaPhoneking]

Well since I have a T-Mobile dealer plan, and get a HUGE discount on my plan, I have to pay retail for phones. So let's just say I spend about $2,000/yr at least on phones.

[DaPhoneking]

ROFL a Motorola isn't even in the same boat as a BB.

In a way, if Motorola never made the cellphone back in the late 70's, we wouldn't have a Blackberry.

[coolguy78240]

i love having connections with sprint, part of the reason why i stay so loyal to them, my wifes assistants bf is a manager of a sprint store, my wife and i both got curves at the same time last december, after the mail in rebate i ended up paying $75 each for the phones.
i did pay full retail on one phone, i was young and dumb, the sanyo mm8300 came out and i just had to have it, it was the **** to me at the time, so i paid almost $400 for it.

[ChadsterDroid]

I've never paid full retail on a phone...I've always either waited for an upgrade or got one greatly reduced as I hopped from carrier to carrier to find the right fit for me in terms of coverage, price, and features. I'm just not that in need of the hot, new thing to put down that much hard-earned money -- and not just because of the economy or because I'm back in school.

I guess just like to let tools that are going to be so important to my daily life be out for awhile so they can be tested and proven before I wade into them.

But, I do respect people who have that kind of disposable income, because it means they've worked hard for it (kudos for that), annnnnd y'all test my future phones for me right outta the starting gate!

[clitrenta]

I would never pay full retail for a phone, unless I am mega rich when I'm older. It's kinda ridiculous for the average American to pay that much for a.... phone.

I wouldn't be to quick to say that. I think there is always that ONE thing in a person's life that they are willing to pay a ridiculous price for. Whether it's a phone, a pair of shoes, jeans or whatever. Most everyone has their "button". Mine happens to be technology (computers or smart phones). The way I see it, if you have something that you use ALL the time and have the money to put into it, "why not?"

[szgorzelski]

Are you kidding me? Go check out prices at letstalk.com. I got my Bold and my wife's LG Xenon for ten dollars back after rebates and coupon code. That's right, they paid ME ten dollars to get a Bold and Xenon.

[giantstepp]

Nope, never! Ive always utilized the upgrade deals and Ive even bought used phones to save a few hundred bucks!

[Five50What]

I paid $1,600 for my STORM and f*d up my credit! Ha hA! oh wELL...

[Gamer03]

I have paid full retail a few times for phones. Usually I have sold a previous phone to try and make up part of the difference.

[Ilikephoning]

I paid $50 for my curve, I don't know if that is full price though?

[impalass96]

I have never paid full retail for my BlackBerry's.

[clitrenta]

I paid $1,600 for my STORM and f*d up my credit! Ha hA! oh wELL...

Oh. Well, ok maybe I wouldn't have paid THAT much. Geez

[avt123]

I paid the full retail ($550) for my Bold. Don't regret it at all.

[stormwatcher]

I have never paid full retail for a phone. I always have gotten them with a new contract. Luckily I have been with Verizon long enough now that I get the new Every 2 promotional price every year!!!

[AisforAustin]

Maybe it is because I am a college student and don't have a ton of money, but I couldn't imagine paying full retail price for a phone. I was curious to find out how many people didn't want to wait to upgrade and pay the 1 year/2 year contract price.

I'm a college student too. Working two jobs and I paid my Storm retail and I'm not able to upgrade to the Storm 2 so I guess I'm paying retail for that too after I sell my Storm 9530. I got my gf to go half on it as a bday present =)

[eeyore1979x]

yep just got my Bold the other day and paid full price...i thought about it for a week beforehand and i still wanted it BAD so i just took the plunge.

[szgorzelski]

I paid the full retail ($550) for my Bold. Don't regret it at all.

Maybe you do regret it just a little or you wouldn't have added that second sentence. If you didn't regret it even in the slightest then the thought of regretting paying more than the rest of us never would have popped into your head. You don't see anyone who paid less than $100 saying "Don't regret it at all."

[Meh]

I generally buy mine outright. I am not a big contract person(another story, another time but I think they should have faith in their service and YES I realize they have to make up cost of phone...anyway)

I can only think of like 3 phones I haven't bought out right. Did a upgrade once(quickly learned it was worth the extra 50 and little bit of time to just let contract expire)..

[rambo47]

I won my Bold in a give away over at BlackBerryForums.com. That was sweet!
I then jumped to Sprint to get the Palm Pre. Yeah, I know. But I drank the cool aid. Took me about 2 weeks to feel the sting of BlackBerry withdrawl and come running home to mama. I paid full retail ($400) for a Curve 8330m and loved it. But then the Tour came out with that Bold-style keypad. Had to have it. Mind you, my Curve was behaving perfectly. But I had more typos with the Curve's style keypad and talked myself into paying FULL RETAIL YET AGAIN (only 3 weeks later) for the Tour.

[Five50What]

Originally Posted by Five50What
I paid $1,600 for my STORM and f*d up my credit! Ha hA! oh wELL...

Oh. Well, ok maybe I wouldn't have paid THAT much. Geez

Theres a whole story behind all o that mess....but on top of all that, I made $2,700 out tha deal...so I'm good

[phonemaster123]

Yup i paid full retail for my Bold i needed the Phone bad because i switched Jobs where i actually have to use my phone and i had the iphone and its battery couldnt hold up to the type of work and dependability i needed in my phone, and it was the best 600 dollars ever spent i mean like the new clipse song says dont think im hurting cause im good im good im good

on baller status over on my end!!!!