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Home»BlackBerry News»News & Rumors

Pearl 8220 Hitting Rogers at $49.99! Some Strings Attached.

by Kevin Michaluk on 11 Aug 2008 02:34 PM
22
 

Rogers BlackBerry Pearl 8220

We put forth the notion of $49.99 BlackBerry KickStart (now Pearl 8220) pricing for T-Mobile, and it looks like things are still on target... for the most part. The info just posted by BBNews is for Rogers in Canada, with the flip phone Pearl initially being targeted toward students via a Back To School promo. Here are the details:

Retail Price: $599.99
3-Year Voice and Data Contract Price: $99.99
Special Promotional Price: $49.99 CDN
The special promotional price that Rogers is hoping to sell a lot of 8220s with requires the student sign up for the $45 Student Plan, $15 an up Email Plan, and $15 or $20 Value Pack.

The $45 Student Plan includes:

  • 450 Weekday Minutes
  • Unlimited Evenings and Weekends starting at 6pm
  • MY5 Canada-Wide (Unlimited talk, SMS, and MMS to any five numbers in Canada)
  • Unlimited Local Incoming Minutes
  • $5 off Value Pack for duration of contract

Sum up the monthly commitment and i'd argue it's on the hefty side for most students, but I guess time will tell just how attractive this pricing is. It'll be interesting to see how T-Mobile gets the Kickstart flip Pearl down to $50. Hopefully it'll be a bit better deal than this.

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22 Comments

Posted by Bla1ze Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

*sigh* Rogers still hasn't caught on to the fact their prices suck!!

 
 
Posted by mo8675309 Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

Is that Canadian $ or US $...?

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

Should be Canadian I would think...

 
 
Posted by MNoorani Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

Doesn't matter. The US and Canadian dollars are pretty much equal now. I think the current conversion rate is 1 USD=1.07 CAD.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

CDN, it's a Roger's pricing plan.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

I really hope T-Mobile prices aren't that high for that phone. I can't see it being worth $599.99.

 
 
Posted by bmcclure937 Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

uhhhh... that is retail, definitely not what anyone would pay with a contract.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

I really hope T-Mobile prices aren't that high for that phone. I can't see it being worth $599.99.

 
 
Posted by baykine Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

it's nice to see what canada is doing with the promotion. but no matter which way you look at it, that plan is a rip off. just buy the phone for the 3 year contract price at 99 bucks and go for the standard rates. wow though...3 year contracts? whats that all about? hopefully that doesn't come to the u.s. anytime soon.

 
 
Posted by prince_1308 Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

Wait the 45$ plan is good but it should include texting and is it a must to sign up for 2 add ons?If so screw rogers

 
 
Posted by ConstantineXVI Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

Someone care to explain what the Value Pack is?

 
 
Posted by pchukwura Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

I hope T-Mobile offers a better package. The phone is a good price, but the plans are kind of steep for a student looking to save money.

We'll see what happens.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

The retail price of this phone is over 500 (USD or CAD) bucks?

What is RIM smoking?

 
 
Posted by BlackBerry.est08 Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

The price is high but the average cost of phones without a contract, regardless of what kind it is, usually goes for around that price range. You also must not forget it's still a smartphone. There are other flip phones that go for the same amount.

Many people have hookups that don't pay the full retail price, but for those who don't have those hookups, this is what they see and pay for on average.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1280 days ago

I know it's still a smartphone. The Pearl 8120 from T-Mobile is USD$349 full price. The 8320 Curve at full price is USD$449. Why would this flip phone - also targeted at consumers - have a higher full retail price?

 
 
Posted by phoneboy101 Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1281 days ago

I hope the non-contract price from T-Mobile is much lower. I buy phones more often than I can use the upgrade subsidy, so I was planning to buy this one at full price, but not over $500. Hopefully not even over $300. It's just 2.5G for hell sakes!

 
 
Posted by tnewton3 Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1280 days ago

This package is no good, and the initial price drop of only 50 dollars is not enough to make a student no less want to sign that kind of contract.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1280 days ago

I seriously hope that 600 price tag is not gonna be the real price... I was planning on buying the phone since it's cheaper to go down that route than to pay for a data plan over 3 years time (especially since I DON'T want the data plan.)

Oh how I seriously hope that 600 price tag isn't real...

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Toronto Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1280 days ago

Agreed with the opinion. To take all that extras just to get the $50 price, you have to be an idiot, unless you wanted all that to begin with. You'd end up paying so much money monthly over 3 years that it's flabbergasting to expect that from a student. I don't even have that many minutes and my cell phone is my main phone (with unlimited incoming & early evening @ 5pm). Rogers is smoking some good stuff thinking they'd sell a lot of those phones with those strings because it's beyond their target market.

 
 
Posted by sheena.lee Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1280 days ago

Ouch, that's ridiculously expensive for students. The new student plan on Telus is $35 with unlimited browsing (no email or data though.)

I don't know any students (high school, college or university) who can afford $70-$75 a month plus access fees plus taxes. I also don't know many parents who will be willing to pay that for their kid...

Ugh, Rogers really thinks it's the sh!t, to be able to offer these prices and think they're giving good deals......

 
 
Posted by SurrealCivic Monday, Aug 11, 2008 1280 days ago

From a Canadian Wireless Sector perspective, this is not a bad deal. This is a brand new device, with a new OS, flip phone casing, new bigger screen, new keypad, and more.

However, the condition on that plan isn't very competitive. But since when is the Canadian Wireless Sector competitive?

 
 
Posted by avmsam Thursday, Aug 14, 2008 1277 days ago

i think rogers forgot students tend to want things cheaper than everyone else. rogers kinda did the opposite.