Palm Pre pricing compared to iPhone and Storm

As a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the Palm Pre's availability, I'm going to compare what Palm and Sprint are offering with their competitors.  Note that I am not going to dive into the technical differences between either the networks themselves or the hardware.  This is simply a cost comparison based on the available phone plans.

Here are the comparison angles:

Price of Phone

Cost of unlimited individual plan

Cost of unlimited family plan

Cost for unlimited data/ pooled family minutes

Any special quirky things about the plan

Remember, what Sprint is offering is this:

• $200 phone
• Unlimited individual plan for $99, including text and data
• Unlimited family plan for $199, including text and data
• 1500 minutes, unlimited data for families, $129 (this is what I will get).
• Quirk: unlimited nights started at 7pm, which is something only Sprint does.

We'll start with the iPhone and AT&T's plan first:

• $200 phone (cheaper model)
• Unlimited individual plan $129 for voice/data + $20 for text = $149.  $50 more than Sprint
• Unlimited family plan $259 for voice/data + $30 for text = $289.  $90 more than Sprint
• 1400 pooled minutes for $149 + $30 text = $179.  $50 more than Sprint for 100 less minutes
• Quirk: Rollover minutes

Second let's take a look at Verizon's offering.  The closest competitor is the Blackberry Storm:

• Phone costs $200 (buy one get one free is a current offer though)
• Unlimited individual plan is $129
• Unlimited family plan is $259
• 1400 pooled minutes for $159
• Quirk: Friends and family let's you pick 10 numbers to have unlimited calling to

Conclusion:

Without delving into the quality of the networks (which is not an issue for 90% of the places that an average tech junkie will visit), Sprint by far has much more competitive pricing than the other two.  

Sprint's commercials claim big savings.  If we take the most expensive plans, the unlimited family, over a 2 year period you would save over $2,000 compared to an iPhone plan ($90*24months=$2160).  Compared to Verizon, the savings would still be over $1,000. 

If we look at the individual plans, which will affect the majority of users, the savings over the life of a contract is $1200.  This is a non-significant amount.  

Mac fans, listen up.  Choosing Palm over an iPhone will allow you to save enough money to buy a Macbook. 

The bottom line is that your choice of a cell phone carrier affects your bottom line.  The iPhone may be a trendy choice but there is a clear premium attached to this device, which may or may not be justified.

Another thing to take from this comparison, is that while the initial cost of these 3 phones is the same, $200, you should always compare the plans before buying.