[Macworld]

Post your comments for How much does it really cost to own a smartphone? here

[hydra]

I think your figure of $ 160/month for the iPhone 3GS is somewhat exaggerated.
If you amortise the $256 ($ 199 Tax) of the contract cost over the 24 months, and add the $ 30.00 AT&T charges for data you end up paying roughly $ 42 on top of your monthly phone line (in my case $ 10). So if you don't use SMS your two-year cost ends up being $ 1240 rather than $3,835.75! Even if you add Applecare at $ 70 tax) the cost is less than half of what you quote.

[nightshrill]

Yeah, also kind of left T-mobile for the most part out of this mix. I just recently bought a BlackBerry Curve 8900 from T-Mobile and with unlimited minutes (loyalty plan @ 50 dollars a month but for new subscribers they have 600 anytimes minutes, free nights and weekends, and the my-fave 5 which still beats competitors), unlimited email/data w/400 sms/mms messages the plan is 75 dollars a month (excluding taxes, etc). Over a course of two years that is $1,980 w/sms messaging and without sms messaging it is $1,680

[nightshrill]

sorry, I forgot to mention that the above-figures do include the 150 dollar purchase price and 30 dollar activation fee as well.

[rumplestiltskin]

The problem is not the smartphone; rather, it's the draconian bundling of web services which many people don't even want.
Alltel let me buy my smartphone elsewhere (I got a Motorola Q on eBay) but didn't require me to pay for the web services I didn't need nor want. I pay about $110/month for three phones sharing minutes.
By the way: Why would I want a smartphone if I don't want web services? Because these are the only devices that permit sync'ing my contacts and calendar and conveniently managing them on the device.

[rab777hp]

An iPhone costs $3000 and isnt a great phone anyways- a G1, costs a few hundred, and is a GREAT phone, hmmm.

[Loren]

I came in at less than 2 grand for two years. This article is off the wall.

[rab777hp]

Less than 2 grand- big mistake.... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU SAY THAT 3K IS UNREASONABLE YET 2K IS????

I'd rather buy a MacBook Pro

[Alex_Hill]

Um, those costs are crazily inflated; they assume unlimited talk and text messaging. Maybe I'm unusual, but I share 550 minutes for two lines with room to spare (with unlimited mobile-to-mobile and night and weekend calling) for $50/month, not the $100 used for a single line in this estimate. Also, paying $20/month for texting is a waste. If you're paying for the data already (as you have to with an iPhone), why not send email instead of expensive texts?
These total costs of ownership have little to do with the cost of the smartphones; they're just the cost of a high-end cell phone contract.

[rab777hp]

That too, but the cost of the iPhone is hidden in the ATT contract+deal.

I'd rather pay $179 for a G1, and 20 bucks for data, 10 bucks for voice- total of 30 bucks a month! That's nothing compared to the outrageous AT&T contract.

[daijones]

rab777hp said:

An iPhone costs $3000 and isnt a great phone anyways- a G1, costs a few hundred, and is a GREAT phone, hmmm.

Where did you get that from? The article quotes the G1 at $133 per month for 24 months, that's $3192.

[asmullin]

Why does everyone assume that unlimited anytime minutes and unlimited text messages (> 200 per month?) are a basic requirement for a smart phone. Reasonable packages are available at a much lower cost that will meet the requirements of any sane user, especially when nights & weekend and on-network calls are factored in! This bogus type analysis is perpetuated by Sprint and T-Mobile to trick unsophisticated users into switching to their networks. I'm surprised and disappointed that PC World fell for it.

[Hurley42]

The cost of ownership is why I am not continuing with my iPhone contract through AT&T after September, when my 2 year contract ends.
I just don't use the phone part very much, so I am going to use it as a handheld computer for email and web browsing (via WiFi) with no more monthly fees.

[jrandersoniii]

$160/mo for an iPhone????
I pay $152 a month all in for a 2G and a 3G iPhone service (450min plans), with the 200 text messages add-on for the 3G.
If I amortize the cost of both phones - that then goes to $176.91/mo - FOR 2 PHONES. So this article again is a total exaggeration of smartphone costs.
I know a lot of people with cellphones (we all do), many of them who pay their own bills (not work or someone else) -- only one of them has an unlimited voice plan. If I use 50-60 mins of my 450mins a month, I've had a busy month on the phone.