
Where to Find a $99 iPhone - robg
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/where-to-find-a-99-iphone/?hp
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gcheong
For me it's not the upfront cost of the phone that prevents me from getting
it, its the minimum $70/mo in ongoing charges you are forced to buy along with
it - ouch!

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pmjordan
Well. You can get an 8GB iPhone for €99 up-front here (Austria), but you end
up paying almost €1200 over the course of 2 years. (€45/mo; alternatively €149
+ €35/mo for 24 mo - just under €1000 total)

Given that you can get hold of unlocked, contract-free iPhones for around €580
(€580! for a _phone_! and the 16GB model is ~€100 more - though the unlocked
ones don't seem to be sanctioned by Apple, so no idea where they dig them up)
that works out to being tied to a contract that's somewhere between mediocre
and rip-off for €20-25/mo for 2 years and then being stuck with the same
network after that. (SIM lock) Oh, have I mentioned that the iPhone is offered
by Orange and T-Mobile, the two networks with by far the worst 3G coverage in
this country?

The developer version of the HTC G1 at $400 (~€285) looks like a bargain in
comparison. I wish I could have a look at one - you can't buy the consumer
version in shops here yet, and there's only so much you can tell from a bunch
of photos. (size, weight, handling)

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timr
I bought one of the refurbished 16G phones for $199 the other night. From what
I read in the terms, the warranty on refurbished iPhones is 1 year - X, where
X is some value less than or equal to 30 days.

The AT&T website says that the warranty is _at least_ 90 days (i.e. 90 days
for most phones), but that the iPhone warranty is dependent on the serial
number of the phone that you actually receive.

