Palm Pre Cheaper To Operate Than iPhone

According to Barron's assessment of the Palm Pre vs. iPhone, the Palm Pre is cheaper to operate on Sprint than the iPhone is on AT&T.

• Handset: Sprint, $199 after rebate; AT&T, $199.
• Unlimited data and voice: Sprint, $100 a month. AT&T, $129.99.
• 450 voice minutes plus unlimited data: Sprint, $69.99 a month. AT&T, $69.99.
• 900 voice minutes: Sprint, $89.99. AT&T,  $89.99.
• Family plan, 2 phones: Sprint, $129.99 for 2 Pre phones, plus $19.99 for additional lines. AT&T, $129.99 to cover 2 iPhones, plus $39.99 for added lines.
• 3000 shares minutes: Sprint, $169.99. AT&T, 209.99.
• Unlimited family plan (2 phones): Sprint, $189.99, plus $89.99 for additional lines. AT&T, $259.99, plus $129.99 for additional lines.

Read more on Barron's Tech Trader Daily

Update on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 5:27PM by Tony Peric

Several Users have informed me that the article written by Barron's left out the unlimited texting plans which are an additional $20.00 per month.

Comments

[Edw]

Those numbers are incorrect. Add $20 to each iPhone plan b/c they do not include any texting whereas all of those cited Sprint plans include unlimited texting.

[Ed]

And add $30 to the family plans for unlimited texting...

[Printergirl]

Beat me to it! That is correct. Those prices are if someone does absolutely NO texting at all!

[dwin]

you left out texting on the At&t which is $20 a month for unlimited

[Tony Peric]

I didn't leave out the texting, the ARTICLE written by Barron's left out the texting. And yes, it is $20 more!

[mjh]

My issue with this is that the analysis assumes that everyone on a shared plan wants the same features. If you are like me, where one phone on the shared plan needs everything, and the other phone on the shared plan needs just voice, and a small number of minutes, then AT&T is actually cheaper:

Sprint shared plan for Pre:
$129.99 for 1500 minutes and unliminted data & txt for all phones

AT&T shared plan for iPhone:
$59.99 for 550 minutes
$30.00 data plan for 1 iPhone
$89.99 total

Yes the sprint plan offers more. True. But there are few options to pay for a smaller plan that actually meets your needs w/the Pre.

Things I don't need that the Pre plans force me to get
unlimited text for both phones
950 extra anytime minutes that I have never needed so far
unlimited data for my wife's phone

One of the few options that I have is to break up the plans into individual plans instead of shared plans. Get an everything data plan for me, and a voice only plan for my wife. That makes the cost differential a bit closer:

Sprint
$69.99 Everything Data for the Pre (me)
$39.99 Talk 450 for my wife
$109.98 total

That brings the cost difference down to only about $20/mo instead of $40.

My point, is that the analysis above makes some assumptions that are not always true.

[Michael Chow]

@ mjh That leaves you with a difference of $240 per year. Still cheaper by your calculations.

[Not Enamored]

There ya'll go again comparing yourself to the Iphone.

Everyone keeps saying it is not about beating the Iphone but also take every chance available to compare the Pre to the Iphone.

Comparing yourself to something that is rather old in technology years just makes Pre fanbois look a little desperate along with the fansites that enable them and even encourage such idiocy.