Comments on: How low can you go? iPhone 3G 8GB refurb now available for $79, 16GB for $129

By: MarinerMB

MarinerMB — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:09:05 +0000

God I loved this comment! LOL…you might be on to something!

By: chip

chip — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:52:34 +0000

people will buy the $79 phone. Some people are all about buying refurbs and dont mind if it only saves them $20.

By: Greg Gebhardt

Greg Gebhardt — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:10:41 +0000

I di not care if they give me a hundred dollars to get the iPhone, until is grows a keyboard and gains push email, it is nothing but a toy for me and not fit for my business needs. I will hold my Bold and be waiting for the real next phone, the Onyx!

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:03:08 +0000

@ Frank –

LOL! Dude, you know nothing

I heart apple and att Both because I love their products and service, and because they pay my paycheck

By: Crunch

Crunch — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:46:52 +0000

Just saw this on Premier. $80 for REFURB 8GB 3G’s, and $99 for BRAND NEW 8GB’s. NEW! They have the 3GS in all flavors, but currently no 16GB w/o the S.

It keeps getting better.

By: JakeyBoy

JakeyBoy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:36:22 +0000

cost of ownership varies…Zach never re-ran his numbers from the last cost of ownership posting…

By: at&t4lyfe

at&t4lyfe — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:44:36 +0000

Not buying a phone cause too many people have it. Means your probably someone who is a tool. If that many people have it they cant all be wrong the way I look at it. At&t plans are identical to verizon excluding the new fav 5 feature verizon offers for an additional cost. As far as Im concerned T-mobile and Sprint can afford to offer these great plans because they no longer compete for the same market share that Verizon and AT&T do. If anything that has been evident over the past years.

By: Frank Castle

Frank Castle — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:41:31 +0000

Outside of a compass and video editing any recent smartphone can do everything an iPhone can. Apple may have a better developer / AppStore at the moment but there has been studies showing people rarely use said apps and adoption is less then 2% with only 100 apps actively used.

Apple at any point could push out code to brick your jailbreak and unlock code mod so how messed up is that.

By: SJ

SJ — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 09:44:07 +0000

don’t understand how people on craigslist ebay think they can get 350+ for ‘used’ phone when you can get one now for $80 + 180 etf cancel then use as @joe says above w unlocked tmo. Are these guys really getting $500 for a 16g on craigslist/ebay?

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:26:16 +0000

I think it’s a reaction to the market and how people are beginning to realize that the similar luxuries found on the iPhone can also be had on the MyTouch 3G, Pre and Tour. No, none of those phones do EVERYTHING the iPhone does, but nonetheless, they are great phones in their own rights and can be owned for much cheaper on a monthly basis.

I also think AT&T is realizing that people can easily buy an iPhone on craigslist or eBay for 300-400 dollars and have it unlocked to use on TMobile’s network for MUCH cheaper. I have my iPhone unlocked and I use it on TMo for about 60 dollars a month. That included unlimited texting and data (via the Blackberry plan for those curious). The savings over a 2 year period easily warrant paying 300-400 dollars up front for the phone itself.

By: Kirk

Kirk — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:17:24 +0000

Pretty soon the iClone is going to be free w/contract and At&t will start accepting food stamps as payment toward iClone voice and data plans for the poor white trash who presently find themselves overwhelmed by the cost of carrying the world’s greatest false status symbol.

The next logical step of course is the GPS equipped personal identification/command chip that, with At&t’s full cooperation, will be implanted into the brain of every human being so that the government can have complete control over it’s lemmings at all times. Everyone raise your heads up to jesus.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:50:53 +0000

@David Thande™,

They aren’t going to charge more for iPhone mms. Their unlimited plan is $20 no matter if it’s a smart phone or a dumb phone. And as far as I know, I’ve only seen phones limit the size of an mms, so it will depend on apple’s choice on how large of an mms file we can send.

Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Chandler United States

By: dave

dave — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:12:25 +0000

I picked one up at the $99 price. Added to my share plan to replace my busted 1g touch. Well worth the price and it drives data plans for AT

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:16:06 +0000

I pay $85/mo for unlimited voice, data and 200 texts. AT&T would charge me $50 extra. I could buy 6 new iPhone 3GSes or 12 3Gs for the privilege of signing onto AT&T for 2 years. No thanks!

By: Frank Castle

Frank Castle — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:32:23 +0000

iPhone is going to meet the same wall Blackberry met. There are only so many consumers willing to pay for data.

The bigger question is where are all these 3G’s coming from?

By: Loki

Loki — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:29:40 +0000

@Melanie

Excellent point. I for one do have an iPhone and I enjoy it. One thing is true, if ATT did not get the iPhone, I do wonder where ATT would be. As far as the prices, yes, they are expensive but what can i say. We can bitch and complain about the prices but the fact is that the providers dont give a ****. They just want their money. I dont typically jump from provider to provider because that may seem like a hassle.

On a different note, it looks like other providers may be trying to find a Jesus phone too. Correct me if I am wrong, but Sprint and the Palm Pre / Verizon and Storm. Its all about how they market the phones. So far ATT and Apple have found a sweet spot. I do agree, sooner than later they will fall from that pedestal.
Not bashing on anyone in particular, i am just saying thats all.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:00:51 +0000

Why would anyone buy the refurb when the new is only $20 more? Once the difference is $50 or more then it is worth considering.

By: gadgetchic

gadgetchic — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:31:13 +0000

i dont like how the iphone has become so accessible

By: Jordan Brown

Jordan Brown — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:15:08 +0000

@StevenGlansburg
8320 Curve is still quite a bit on contract from at&t, although the Pearl, in desperate need of a revision, is cheaper.

By: Mighty Weezel

Mighty Weezel — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:09:49 +0000

ATT probably bought a million extra units and is trying to get rid of them…..

As far as whether it’s a great buy or not, some people just want an iPhone…they don’t even know how to use it, so for them it’s a great buy. Not everybody is a technology freak (myself included) that needs that latest and best as soon or before it comes out!!!

By: StevenGlansburg

StevenGlansburg — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:07:25 +0000

@Danny,

You are high. Everyone has a pearl or curve now. They give that crap away

Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Fairborn United States

By: Jose

Jose — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:02:16 +0000

These cheap iphone refurbs are a gateway drug into the cult that is Apple. It’ll eventually lead them into the purchase of a macbook, imac or Mac Pro desktop, as well as countless t-shirts, caps and mugs with the apple logo.

By: David Thande™

David Thande™ — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:53:14 +0000

Umm several of my friends have an i phone 3G and live in the Los Angeles Metro Area, as far as T-Mobile’s 3G footprint however small its at least consistent. At&t’s 3G is hardly there and it does it seems to appear and disappear with a cool breeze. I think the reason At&t’s 3G is the “fastest” its because its the “fastest” to lose its 3G signal. I was seriously considering going to At&t for the i phone. But its essentially rape on their plans, and the supposed charge for MMS later this summer on a i phone. With a cap on how many and size requirements?

By: damiaking

damiaking — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:48:11 +0000

Anon Said:

@Melanie: Very good points, but I’d like to add a couple.

To me, ATT is the only viable alternative for those of us who like sim cards. T-Mobile is nice, but their 3G footprint is tiny and almost no manufacturer supports their bands. I would rather pay a premium price for the service, but have the ability to switch my phone on a daily basis if I choose. I realize of course most people don’t even know what a SIM card is or the difference between CDMA and GSM carriers.

I still think its silly for people to sign a 2 year contract over the older model, the $100 is a single month of service…

Sigh..yeah gsm is great and way better that CDMA and sim card are great and really easy to change from phone to phone but at&t is too expensive i have sprint an there service is really good where i live

By: Danny

Danny — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:45:46 +0000

I wonder if ATT is subsidizing this phone with Apple’s blessing? (I’m not saying they need it but you know….) Sure they want to move a lot of older units, but it’s definitely not Mac-Style.

Apple prides itself in keeping hardware prices higher as it considers itself a premium brand.

Very interesting indeed.

By: Unknow

Unknow — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:43:50 +0000

$49- 8GB
$99- 16GB
At rogers.ca

you get $50 from a rogers encore phone

Rogers Encore phones are phones that were returned by customers within the 30 day warranty period.
They are either unused or lightly used and they must pass rigorous final Quality Assurance testing before their sale.
Phones do not come with ear phones or other accessories

By: drbyers

drbyers — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:28:51 +0000

Americans dumb? unPossible!!1

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:28:39 +0000

@Melanie: Very good points, but I’d like to add a couple.

I still think its silly for people to sign a 2 year contract over the older model, the $100 is a single month of service…

Sigh

By: ky23

ky23 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:17:42 +0000

I realize it is just a typo but I would love to hear someone sing a contract with AT&T

By: Melanie

Melanie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:13:34 +0000

My personal opinion: ATT has put all its bets on the iPhone. Unlike Verizon which doesn’t need an iconic device to draw subs in ATT quite frankly does.

With the Pre, the new myTouch 3G and the new Tour, ATT is pulling out all stops to keep current subs from defecting and winning those still on the fence about signing up with them in the first place.

Some Americans are dumb. Sometimes we only look at the initial hardware cost as the biggest factor when choosing a wireless provider. ATT is smart and playing on this weakness. Get ‘em in on the cheap and then rape them with the MRC (monthly recurring charge).