Sprint Price on new Palm Pre: Major Disappointment

Sprint, the third place cell phone company, along with Palm, the company bleeding money like a fire hose, announced the release of the new phone I've been waiting months for. The date, June 6th (the date of my daughters graduation party) is the date but the price - please - is $299.

I know, they make the sales pitch that it's $199 "after a $100 rebate", but we all know that means it's $299 and then sometime in the future, 3-4 months later, you'll get some card worth $100.

This is a major screw up by Sprint given that there are iPhones and the Blackberry Storm available for $199 (and the Storm's available for $159 on Bestbuy.com).

This is a major disappointment for those of us who have been watching with "baited breath" for months while Sprint played with us with rumors and videos about the new phone. For two companies who are so desperate for a success, charging $300 for this unproven new phone (and new unproven OS), just days before the release of a new iPhone 3.0 software release, along with a plethora of new phones coming out in the next 30-60 days, this is just poor marketing, planning and thought. It's a complete disappointment.

My son has Sprint and loves them. Being a long time AT&T customer, but one who has to change because their coverage where my daughter will be going to college is awful, I have been looking at both Spring and Verizon. This announcement has me re-thinking my initial conclusion to wait for the Palm Pre and have to start re-looking at the Storm. $299, Sprint, is just too high a price for this customer.