I just ordered my first Android, a Nexus S for $199 with a 2-year contract cancellable for $200. Best Buy on line was the only place I could get it, the local store couldn't sell it (I'm going to make a blog post about that insanity). Even though it's contract-subsidized it's not carrier locked and seems to expressly permit custom firmware.
Way to go Google! I kind of like having them around. I'd stayed away from smart phones because I found the contracts, carrier locking, and the rooting, jailbreaking, DMCA challenges simply gross. But Google seems to be trying to keep those clowns honest and now I feel comfortable participating in that market.
> I just ordered my first Android, a Nexus S for $199 with a 2-year contract cancellable for $200.
Wait, what? If you buy a Nexus S outright without contract it costs $529. You're telling me that I can buy a Nexus S with a contract for $199, cancel for $200, and thus have a contract-free Nexus S phone for $399?
Posts from Best Buy's community forums - http://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/Mobile-Phones-Mobile-Broadband/... - suggest that buying phones online subject them to an "Equipment Discount Provision" - http://wireless.bestbuy.com/template/simplecontent.aspx?page... - which enables Best Buy to recover the difference between the discounted price and the full purchased price if you cancel your phone contract within 180 days. If this is the case, you would end up paying both T-Mobile's ETF and Best Buy's fee, making your contract-liberated Nexus S $200 more expensive than just buying it without a contract.
Yes. I'm sure there are some taxes and other fees that make it not such a huge win. IIRC there was a $35 activation fee that probably isn't refundable.
Personally, I would feel a little gross about doing that kind of thing, mostly from the "this is why we can't have nice things" angle.
So as much as I've regretted cell phone contracts in the past, I'm going to give T-Mobile a fair try. After all, I do need some provider even if I hardly ever use the voice (my previous phone was a prepaid thing I kept in the trunk of the car with the battery out mostly for emergencies).
I know I don't count as "someone else" but see http://www.bestbuymobile.com/article/google-nexus-s-faqs/Are there two different versions of the Nexus S, locked and unlocked? No, the Nexus S is always unlocked, regardless of whether it is sold with a T-Mobile contract or not.
I'll confirm this as soon as I get my phone of course.
Consider it confirmed. The device I received (admittedly, over two months ago) was plain jane Gingerbread.
My previous device was a G1, so I can't really compare it to anything more recent, but it was most definitely vanilla, to the extent that I chucked when I found myself installing the 'T-Mobile My Account' app.
Way to go Google! I kind of like having them around. I'd stayed away from smart phones because I found the contracts, carrier locking, and the rooting, jailbreaking, DMCA challenges simply gross. But Google seems to be trying to keep those clowns honest and now I feel comfortable participating in that market.