I’ve had my Motorola V60i PCS for a little over a year now. It’s not a bad little phone. When I got it, it was the best phone that Ntelos had. (Which wasn’t saying much — it’s a basic black and white just-the-facts phone.) But, starting about six months ago, I wanted more. A little camera. A color screen. Instant messaging. Bluetooth. Alas, I’m on a college student budget, and so I cannot entertain such whims.
But.
Last night, I read on Jason Kottke’s blog about how Amazon.com and T-Mobile are charging -$40 for a phone and service. Not just any phone — the Sony Ericsson T610. This is a sexy aluminum phone with a 65k color screen, iSync compatible, Bluetooth, Java support, a camera…the whole nine yards. (Sony even has a simulation available.)
Now, I’m no stranger to this phone. I’ve wanted it for months. But that is a want that exceeds my needs, so I’ve kept my distance from it.
But then I got my Ntelos bill. For the second month in a row, they’re destroying me — last month, it was over $100, this month, it’s $90. Now, I love Ntelos. They’re local, and they’re good. But they’re wrecking my budget. T-Mobile, on the other hand, is a big, faceless, multinational corporation. Not so good.
As I said, I saw Kottke’s blog entry, and had to look into it. Amazon.com is selling this phone for $154, which is already cheap. T-Mobile charges $35 to activate service, and $49/month for service, which is the cost of my current rate plan with Ntelos. Then they’re offering two rebates: one for $100, and one for $130. Do the math: (154+35)-(100+130)= -41. Since my contact with Ntelos has expired, that means that I can make $41 just by switching to this Amazon.com/Sony Ericsson/T-Mobile deal. On top of that, their $49 rate plan is way better than my deal with Ntelos, so I’ll save money each month.
I called T-Mobile and Ntelos, and all is set for the phone number switch. I placed my order with the evil empire (thus interrupting my five-year-old boycott against Amazon.com for their patents), they’re shipping the phone (for free), and I’m making a few bucks on the deal. Not bad, I figure.