Comments on: Nokia Booklet 3G To Cost $299 From Best Buy

By: ollysk2

ollysk2 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:40:10 +0000

Just to be clear, I said a third LESS, not a third of the price

You are right about the 720p, I'll give you that – but only for now given that Dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc all have 720p displays announced, and all of them for cheaper (ranging from 75 bucks to 200 bucks cheaper). HDMI-out is available on quite a few netbooks at the moment – again all cheaper. As for battery life, most of the newer netbook batteries are announcing 7hr and up battery life, and I'd say that once you get to the 7 or 8 hr mark, you're playing in the same ball field.

So yes, the Nokia adds GPS to the mix, and if GPS on your netbook is worth the premium, then sure, it's a good deal.

But you'll still never convince me that having a built in sim is a good idea over an external modem, given the flexibility argument.

By: Ricky Cadden

Ricky Cadden — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:34:55 +0000

There are no other netbooks that I'm aware of that have a 16-cell battery (with an advertised 12-hour battery life), 720p display, HDMI-out, and built-in GPS receiver. If none of those features matter to you, then clearly you're not the target market for the Booklet 3G (since it *does* have those features), and this conversation is moot. If they do, then you can't say there are 'similar' netbooks for a third of the price. No more than you could say the Samsung Highlight is 'similar' to the Nokia N97 and 1/3rd the price.

By: ollysk2

ollysk2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:40:10 +0000

Just to be clear, I said a third LESS, not a third of the price

So yes, the Nokia adds GPS to the mix, and if GPS on your netbook is worth the premium, then sure, it's a good deal.

But you'll still never convince me that having a built in sim is a good idea over an external modem, given the flexibility argument.

By: Ricky Cadden

Ricky Cadden — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:34:55 +0000

By: ollysk2

ollysk2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:25:51 +0000

Ya but the fact that without the subsidy it's 600 also is a turn off..
There are similar spec'd netbooks for a third less, and there really
isn't anything super compelling about the booklet to warrant the
premium.. Once again you are paying the Nokia tax for no reason.

As for the sim card being user accessible, fair point but you can get
a subsidized netbook with internal 3g and similar specs for anywhere
from free to 200 bucks, so you STILL pay an unwarranted premium for
the booklet.

Not to mention the fact that an external modem allows use across
multiple devices a) without swapping the sim, and b) even on devices
that don't have an internal sim slot. The netbook by it's definition
is supposed to be a companion device, not a primary device, so in
theory you'd have another laptop that most likely DOESNT have a sim
slot. So ya, you can yank the sim out but if you want to use it on any
other device, you'd need to buy an external modem anyway, which
unsubsidized would be another couple hundred bucks.

The point is that by buying an internal 3g device you cripple the
flexibility of that 60 bucks a month you are paying for, and by buying
the nokia unsubsidized you are paying more without any real
justification for paying it. Hell even the Apple tax gets you OSX
which at least is somewhat of a differentiator.

In my opinion ISP's would be smart to offer a discount on internal 3g
per month, say 40 vs 60, to compensate for the lack of flexibility.
And as for Nokia, they need to seriously examine thier pricing
structure -- but that's nothing new.

Matt

--
Sent from my mobile.

By: Ricky Cadden

Ricky Cadden — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:36:54 +0000

Lol, dude your argument doesn't make sense. The SIM card slot on the Booklet 3G is user-accessible (it's on the side of the laptop). Thus, if you're, as you say, already going to get the data plan, why on earth would you go ahead and not take the subsidy? In a year when something else comes out, swap the SIM and use the Booklet 3G over WiFi, or tethered, lol.

I don't get it when folks quote the $1740 price – that's for the optional data plan. You can buy the laptop for $600 without it, but if you're already going to get a data plan anyways, I don't see how that's a factor.

By: ollysk2

ollysk2 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:49:40 +0000

I still don't see a point in this. Sure, $299.00 is priced the same as most other netbooks — except for the fact that it is AFTER subsidy. So we're talking a 1700.00 commitment over 2 years? No thanks. You'd be WAAAAAY better off getting a netbook for the same price that wasn't on a subsidy, and then getting a data plan. Sure, you are committed to the data plan, but at least then in a year when the next big thing comes out, you can simply move your usb modem over to a new gadget.