Has anyone noticed that something has been basically missing almost completely from the coverage of the new Treo 700p announcement? Before I get going, I should first make it clear that we've had some great coverage as always. The mobile device web community is great, and a resource that sometimes causes us to take the awesome information for granted. It takes a lot of hard work, but there are a lot of people that work hard to provide great sites and information for us.
But, still, the feature list of the 700p is repeated endlessly. That's good to see and even exciting for those of us that are considering a purchase. And there are lots of comments about what was left out (like wifi and the bluetooth profile that lets you listen to music with a bluetooth headset). And there has been a lot of discussion of the exclusion, for now, of customers in Europe who are looking for a GSM device.
But the cost of about $400 after specials and service plan commitments has even been discussed as well as the fact that we will probably pay more if we want to use it for DUN (i.e. connecting a laptop to the internet using the phone's internet connection).
I have only seen one brief mention so far (TreoCentral
here and
here) about data plan costs! That will probably cost you more than the phone by the time you are finished, and anything less than an unlimited plan is likely to be expensive and painfully limited in quota. We have all learned how to get the voice approximate details of voice subscription costs from various carriers, but the data plan remains a mystery to most of us.
So here's a challenge to the various Treo-focused sites, Palm Addicts, 1Src, Brighthand, PalmInfocenter, PDA24/7, CNet News, major newspapers, tech journals and all the other media outlets. All great sites! But for a really great scoop, how about doing some of the tough research for us to help early 700p buyers understand our choices so we can pick a provider in a more informed way? Costs, types of plans and services, signal coverage, DUN charges, etc. That's the kind of information that we really need! And it's also the kind of info that would have prevented me from making the mistake I made when I chose the wrong provider for my Treo 650.
Anyone up to the challenge? It may not be easy, but it sure will be valuable!
Update: Here's one more article hinting at price (via Palm Addicts).