Not satisfied with their internal Sprint docs showing the launch can't happen before May 17th, Engadget is now reporting that Sprint is also pegging the Touchstone at -- wait for it -- $69.99. The photo indicates that we are not talking about the solo Touchstone but instead the Touchstone/battery cover combo -- which helps make that price a little more palatable.
I know I'll be dropping the 70 clams -- but it's definitely higher than I'd like and it's somewhere near the place where I'd say it's too expensive.
Comments
As I posted on the Engadget article, we don't know if there will be another SKU without the battery door either. If the first is $70 and the second without the door is $40 or something, that might be more reasonable.
At $70, I'll buy one. But at $40 or $50 each, I'd definitely get a second for the office.
YIKES! that pric is much higher then i thought it would be
just a side note it maybe actually be cheaper if offered on palm's end because Sprint "beleives" people won't buy their stuff if its cheap so they mark up the price.... lol I swear thats what I was told so even there BT stuff is like 30% more.
$70 seems really expensive. But then again, it is the first of it's kind that I have ever heard of or seen. If there were many like it, then I am sure it would be half the price.
It's like when the first CD-R came out, they were like $3 a pop, now u can get like 20 for $3.
The first of its kind for cell phone charging, but have you seen a rechargable electric toothbrush without inductive charging?
Haha... I have never seen an inductive toothbrush charger. Are you sure it is truly inductive or is there a two prong connector that subtly touches a charging body?
My toothbrush has an inductive charger. Probably just a solenoid inside the plastic casing. It's definitely just plastic contacting plastic.
Yes, having no exposed electric contacts is much safer, especially for a device that gets wet.
If the Pre gets priced at $199 (which it should be), Touchstone plus battery cover is more than a third of the cost of the phone. That's kind of odd, so either the Touchstone pricing is wrong, or the Pre is going to cost more than $199.
200 dollar is subsidized... here in the netherlands almost all phones are free if you buy them with a contract. and the pre is likely to be "free" too, just like the iphone and the t-mobile g1 to name a few.
so by your standards the touchstone charger should be free in the netherlands... hmm, I like your thinking :P
If thats the price I'm out for it. 70 dollars to avoid plugging something in is just too much for me. 40 was my price point, and I possible could be stretched to 50, but 70 is just too much.
Totally agree. I would pay no more than $50 on a good day. I do love the phone and the technology for the touchstone, but it really is just a charger. I'll happily use that handy little micro usb slot on the side of my pre. & I can get a cord for that for less than $10. Heck, I probably already have 3 or 4!
Didn't anyone see the report about the Touchstone being more than just a charger.
$70 is nothing. But it is an optional luxury so I guess all of you cheap folks can just not get it.
No. Do share the report with the rest of us.
(There is a difference between "cheap", and "foolish".)
http://tinyurl.com/dytoa8
I agree. I will NOT pay $70 for a glorified charger. It's cool & all, but I am fine plugging my phone in as I have all the years I have owned a phone. I was expecting something like $40.
Too rich for my blood and it doesn't really offer me any benefit. It will be sitting where only I can see it, so the "show off" value is not there. I'll wait until they hit Ebay for less than half that cost.
people complain for everything single thing , first it was apps now it's the touchstone with the battery cover . All the funerals I attened I have never seen no one got buried with a million dollars ,enjoy your hard earn money you are sure about today not 40 years from now. If the touchstone was priced @150.00 I will still buy it and I am not a rich person but I believe every person should spend well on them self when you work hard...
ya but that would be cutting too far into my beer money
There's a difference between feeling I'm getting my value for my dollar and getting ripped off just because Palm wants to pump the price on an unnecessary option. Why don't you save some of that money you're throwing away and put it toward your retirement?
That is why you aren't a rich person.
That is also why you will still be working in 40 years.
Who is this Loius CK wannabe??
IMHO The Pre is going to be $300.00 with 2 year contract and add $70.00 for the touchstone shown here, they may possibly cheapen the touchstone to $60.00, but only after the first or second wave of pre's have hit the door.
With all the excitement palm is building, they are banking on getting away like bandits, and this would be the time to do is it not? Giving away this phone for cheap would be a huge mistake!
This is their once in a lifetime opportunity and I doubt they are going to let it go to waste by selling the phone cheap. Expect to pay up, though I certainly think its going to be cheaper than what the iPhone retards who paid apple upwards of $500 with 2 year contracts paid when the iPhone first debuted. Palm fanboys are addicts but they're also practical, you can't rip them the same way you can rip the apple crowd, with fancy marketing and cute colors.
it's all fun and games until they drop the price 30% 6 months later, just ask the iphone crowd, they know.
u obviously don't understand the concept of subsidies. palm doesn't have to worry about home much sprint sells the phone for because they'll charge 550-600 regardless. The big question is how many extra subscribers will sprint get if they pay an extra $100 towards the cost of the phone. If they get an average of 60-100 per month per new phone then a one time subsidy of $100 is obviously no big deal. Sprint would be smart to drop the price as much as they possibly can. As for the touchstone, that price may differ not more than 10-20 bucks between sprint and palm.
I personally will probably not pay $300 for the Pre. I have been anxiously waiting its arrival, but if they pull a stunt like setting the price higher than the iPhone and probably with a whole lot less memory than perhaps a new iPhone coming this June, I will probably balk and not buy.
this is how i feel about the situation, the company has to make money and they need as much of it as they can to stay afloat. i am assuming that the pricing of the phone will be somewhere around 200 dollars (to compete with the iphone) and that is pretty good price for what the phone can do as compared to other sprint phones/prices. i can care less if they over price an accessory, it is exactly that an accessory. it is not need for the phone to function, and if this is where they want to get there extra money from so be it. so long as they dont hike the price of the phone!
you actually think it will be priced at 200, a tad overly optimistic.
id hope they priced it around that amount, they would be setting themselves up for failure if they didnt!
No Thanks on that accessory Sprint!! Not yet anyway lets wait and see if I even like the phone first!!
If it can sit on my car dashboard and not move around it may be worth it. It would be nice if it could plug into cigarette lighter.
Cigarette-lighter adapter is an extra $39.99.
The ducktape to tape it to your dashboard will cost an extra $2.99, and the medical bills when you slam on your brakes and the Palm Pre comes flying off the touchstone and at your head will cost an extra $999.99
So you're going to be reversing at like 60 mph when you break really hard? Repairing your transmission from that'll cost you another $2K
Maybe you should use duct tape, instead?
Well it's a good thing I have my 50% off any accessory at any participating Sprint key-osk card.
Is that a one time deal and how'd you get it?
Yes, but does that card work at their kiosk? :-P
Ridiculous. I see a lot of people spending $2 a day every day on Starbucks coffee. A year, that's about $500. This is only $70. So give up a few cups and make it yourself at home for a few weeks. Geez
i don't, and I also don't generally buy electronics for full price at Best Buy. I'm planning on getting a Pre, but spending $70 on a touchstone won't somehow make my life complete.
Sweet I can't wait to take my Prada wallet to the Sprint Store and get my Pre with a couple Accessories yeah that Amex card going to come in handy. Besides if I didn't get it. I would just be wishing I got it in the first place.{SPRINT}take my money NOW! Don't Cheat yourself Treat yourself.
I am not going to convince others to buy, but $70 is right about the place I think it would be. I have no problem getting one. I can understand that I am also paying a little premium for a new technology (at least the first use of it in a consumer product).
But $70 is going to stop me from buying two. I agree that if there is a $40 dock only one, I may consider getting it for office.
Touchstone charger for $69.99? I'm checkin' out that $499.99 Treo 650 with a camera.
First of all, where on the planet can you get a Starbucks coffee for $2??
$70, not a chance. USB charging will be fine for me. Sprint and Palm need the Pre sell in order to survive, plain and simple. Overpricing anything in this economy will only put themselves out of business.
You can get Starbucks coffee for $2 if you were grandfathered-in by the Sprint SERO plan, only!
Actually, a normal small coffee a little higher than $2 at Starbucks in most of the US.
What kind of coffee do you get? I'm talking regular straight drip coffee not any of the fancy crap. A tall drip is less than $2. Where the hell do you live?
I'm pretty sure my local barnes and nobles with a starbucks sells a tall coffee for exactly 2.00 dollars.
I agree with those who think this is just an initial price. I would expect it to come down quite a bit within 2-3 months.
I was going to say the heck with this charger and just get an additional extended battery, however, I don't show that precentral is selling them any longer. What happened? I don't see any batteries on the site....
Is that really outrageously expensive for a fancypants optional charging cradle? For comparison, consider that Apple charges $50 combined for replacement USB power adapters ($30) and cables ($20). Now if you also want a cradle/dock that will hold the device as it's charged, that's another $30. Grand total of $80, and it doesn't have the novelty of wireless induction.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB352LL/B?fnode=MTY1NDA0MQ&mco=MjQzNTIxNw
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA591G/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOQ&mco=MjE1NTI2NQ
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB484G/A?mco=MTYwMjYwMQ
Everyone wants an Touchstone but no one to pay for it. You can get a free charger & phone too. U know nobody making you buy a Pre. It's a high end device thats gonna to have high end adapters.
Because Apple charges ridiculous prices that means everyone else should? Don't get my wrong, the Pre is well worth as much as the iPhone, but to expect people to pay as much for pretty basic accessories is stupid. If people wanted to pay crazy sums of money for Apple products, they would've already had an iphone with the whole array of accessories.
I think the fair comparison here would be iPhone cradle/dock ($30) vs. Touchstone cradle + back ($70).
If you have an iPhone and want a drop-in cradle, you just buy the $30 cradle, plug it into the USB charger comes w/ your iPhone. You don't need a new power adapter or cable, unless this is your SECOND cradle.
If you have a Pre and want a single Touchstone, you buy the $70 Touchstone cradle and plug it into the charger that comes w/ your Pre. For a second Touchstone, you'll need to get an extra power wart.
Bottom line: Palm/Sprint is asking for a $40 premium for the coolness factor of inductive charging. I may well spring for it (haven't decided), but no question in my mind that I'd be paying a significant premium.
Palm is gain confused into thinking they are apple and can charge outlandish amounts for semi handy addons.
Something like that should cost no more then twenty bucks or so and one should really come withe the phone. By not giving away the kitchen sink palm risks failure by not making a convincing argument to early adopters. The loose they die, not the time to start screwing with customers they don't have yet.
I could afford it, but I wouldn't pay $70 for it. Just because it's an inductive charger doesn't make it much more special than a regular old dock. Besides, I'll probably be charging it via usb or on the road half the time.
And to Martha, not sure if they make aftermarket apple docks, but cables and chargers are a dime a dozen. You don't have to pay apple 20-30$ for something you can get for 1/4 the price if not less. I've never paid that premium for my ipods since the 3rd gen monochrome 15gb. All still alive and none exploded :)
I was talking about additional batteries not aftermarket apple docks....Just wondering where the batteries went off precentral.
The touchstone should have came with the phone. If the phone is over $300 im not buying it...
Could the rep scroll down or up so we could see the price of the Palm Pre?!? How much is that sucker? IMO, the $70 is borderline, and hard to determine how much that type of technology really cost them. I'm sure it's no more then $30/$40 tops for both. I figure the back is about $15/$20 & the dock is $55/$60. I do wish it had Bluetooth built in so we could transfer files back & forth.
I thought that the price would be $50. At this price I had planned on purchasing 2 of these. However at $70 I might purchase 1.
In this economy? I know it's new, but I was still thinking $39.99 or so. I'll buy the Pre, but might wait to see if the accessory price drops a bit.
What's so hard about plugging the thing in?! Did we all get a little bit dumber or a whole lot lazier to the point that we would spend an additional $70 to avoid doing something that causes no pain at all?! Come on poeple...
Uh no. Not even for $50. I think $70 is quite a lot to save me from actually plugging a wire into the device. Now, I may spend an extra $10 for a spare cable.
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