MPx220 Thanksgiving Special at Best Buy

[Mike Temporale]

Smartphone Thoughts reader <i>elehcdn</i> has just emailed us about a special Thanksgiving offer from Best Buy and Cingular. <br /><br /><i>"I just returned from Best Buy, trying to buy an MPx220. The sales person told me that they were expecting a shipment in for a Friday Post-Thanksgiving sale, where activation would have enough rebates to make the phone free. For Cingular upgraders, like me, he said that there would still be extra incentives."</i><br /><br />If this is true, that would be an amazing price. The MPx220 could be purchased for $0 from Best Buy with activation, while the Audiovox SMT 5600 can be had for $-25 from Amazon with activation. Who would have thought these phones, which are both brand new models, only a month old, could be picked up for nothing. 8O Of course, for those of us in Canada, we would be happy just to hear a carrier mutter the words "Windows Mobile" :(

[Jerry Raia]

It's also kind of a slap in the face to those of us who paid top dollar and can't even get a recalled phone exchanged. No Chritmass card for Best Buy from me this year I tell ya. :P

[Bushrod]

They'll probably only have 10 per store and they'll be gone by 6:05 AM.

[KurtB]

There is an adscan of the Best Buy sale on the Black Friday website.
http://www.bf2004.net/adscans.php
On page 14 of the ad it shows the phone for $49 after rebate.

[apeguero]

With as many problems as that phone has had (MPX220), I'd feel sorry for the people that will "rush" to get them. Tell your friends not to pick one up. Tell them to pickup the SMT5600 instead and make $25 :)

[Jerry Raia]

That would be the best advice:

Stay away from Best Buy. Stay away from the MPx220 until Motorola makes it right. Then buy it anywhere EXCEPT Best Buy.

[Bushrod]

Maybe they'll have the 1.30 firmware?

[Jerry Raia]

Maybe they'll have the 1.30 firmware?

I wouldn't get it at Best Buy if it had the 2.60 firmware! :bad-words:

[Kris Kumar]

Folks there is a new challenger in town, the SP3i. (http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,6888) :-)

Frankly without knowing what Moto's plans are regarding firmware updates. I would stay away from the deal.

What if they are just trying to clear out the inventory? I am sure they have good intentions. Probably want to restore the customer confindence..blah..blah..blah. But WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL.

And if you must buy. Get in writing, that Best Buy will exchange the phone if Motorola puts out a new firmware. ;-)

[Jerry Raia]

Frankly without knowing what Moto's plans are regarding firmware updates. I would stay away from the deal.

Exactly, if they can't tell us anything, we don't buy anything.

[PPCMD]

While it looks good I will wait until Cingular Corp stores offer it that way I can some leverage and direct help from the store and not the BS run around.

[pjtrader]

Now, when I tried to buy the ST 5600 from Amazon and get them to port my current AT&T phone number to it, I was given a flat out refusal. According to their customer service, I would be assigned a new number and that was that.

I've shied away from buying a smart phone for this very reason - because no one seems to want to offer these deals to existing customers (I, by the way, am not currently in a service contract).

And with Cingular and AT&T now merged, will Cingular offer AT&T customers who upgrade the same deal?

Cheers,
Pam

[Beowulf]

Upgrading is a totally different deal. You have to call Cingular first and get your account authorized for an upgrade or best buy won't sell it to you without the upcharge. Then you find out half the rebates are invalid. The only decent deals for upgrades are through Cingular directly. I wouldn't bother with upgrading through best buy. Go to a Cingular store, they can give you better rebates.

[Beowulf]

It does really piss me off that people who buy it early get stuck with the

BETA phone that costs 5 times as much they sell it a month later. It plays out like some kind of scam. I wouldn't be surprised if a year passes and some mpx220s start popping up with really good cameras in them, and they are giving it to new customers for free at this point.

[fredtwd]

It's funny...when I was returning the second MPx220 (.342 f/w) I told the guy at Best Buy that "a $300+ phone should have probelms with the speaker phone distorting, now if it was $100, I might put up with it..."

For $49, I'd be willing to put up with a little more MPx220 headaches. Cingular seems to be willing to upgrade the f/w (now at 1.3), and the ad said only a 1 year contract was required. So third times a charm :-)

One has to wonder if BB is just dumping these phones... and if Cingular is going to be selling them?? For 50 bucks I'm willing to toss the dice.

[dollardr]

Hi...I am a Samsung i600 user as I believe Verizon has a better network. Unfortunatley, that doesn't leave much choices for different devices.

As an IT Director I have deployed a wireless e-mail solution that supports various devices from both Cingular and Verizon (mostly Treo's and i600's depending on the user's preference).

My Cingular rep said they got a bunch of MPX 220's in their Memphis warehouse and is going to loan me one next week to evaluate. I've lost track as to what the fixed firmware is - can someone let me know what to look for? Also, I'll see if he knows anything about the Audiovox although I generally know more from sites like this than the sales reps know!!

[Kris Kumar]

I've lost track as to what the fixed firmware is - can someone let me know what to look for?

The latest version that is on the phones being exchanged by Cingular is 1.30.0.0.

The one at Best Buy is 0.342.

You will find the version in the Settings->About. And you need to look for the Manufacturer version.

[MS Mobiles]

By the way: Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans!

Remember: many people, including myself, wanted to become Americans, but never managed to achieve it (I never one in Green Card lottery), so you should be very happy that you are American citizens!

MPx220 or Audiovox STM5600? Well, don't worry, more interesting models of MS Smartphones are coming, including QVGA display and Wi-Fi on board...

[Mike Temporale]

more interesting models of MS Smartphones are coming, including QVGA display and Wi-Fi on board...

WiFi is all I want. If a phone was made available tomorrow with WiFi, I would buy it, no question. :D

[joefuture]

Read the BestBuy fine print closely before you stand in line...

The cost is $349.00, and then they give you a $300 Best Buy gift card as the "rebate". So it's not like you get cash back. Of course, I suppose you could buy the cheapest thing you can find in the store and get the rest of the gift card back in cash - anyone know if that works?

[Jerry Raia]

I advise you not to buy anything from BEST BUY. Just read the posts on this board if you need any convincing.

[TheNinthPlayer]

I thought that BB was now getting in phones with ORANGE stickers on them indicating that they are the new phones?

[Jerry Raia]

There is also supposedly a "black" sticker version and more rumors of an even later firmware version (1.30). If you must get sucked into this deal do so with eyes wide open :shocked!:

[Kris Kumar]

I thought that BB was now getting in phones with ORANGE stickers on them indicating that they are the new phones?

Orange is no longer cool. Black is the color to look for. :-)

Orange has .342 firmware.
Black has 1.30 firmware. It has camera improvements, and some other fixes.

And from what I had been reading, only Cingular has these phones. BB does not have them yet. :-(

[Jerry Raia]

And from what I had been reading, only Cingular has these phones. BB does not have them yet. :-(

And some at Cingular have no idea what you are talking about when you call them! :really mad:

[Kris Kumar]

Building up on the plot that Best Buy is trying to clear out the remaining Orange sticker boxes from its shelves to make room for the ones with the Black sticker; is it possible that:

Once BB sells a box, thru mail in rebate/gift card. They can write off the gift card cost as a loss on the phone. Get tax benefits. Keep the customers money for couple of months in the bank. Also when the gift card gets used, it improves the sales figures. Two products sold instead of one.

And if the phone comes back, which it will in most cases, they send the phone back to Moto. Moto reimburses them with another piece. Or try and sell it as open box.

Not sure how the accounting works. But will the above scenario work out?

[Jerry Raia]

Also once you send in for the rebate you no longer can bring it back during the 30 days.

[Kris Kumar]

Also once you send in for the rebate you no longer can bring it back during the 30 days.

Oh Ya! Good catch. You have to send in the UPC label. Ah ha! This is a nice way to stop the returns. And force the customer to send his phone to Moto to get it flashed. Smart! :evil:

[Jerry Raia]

...and it's a Best Buy gift card rebate? Is that right???

[fredtwd]

OK, I was one of those crazy people that went to BB @ 4:00am. The rebates that came with the phone were a $300 mail-in and a $25 Gift Card. The $300 is a standard rebate (i.e. check). I wasn't expecting the $25 Gift card, but who's complaining.

It had the oragne sticker. I asked if they could check for a black one -- they did and none of the boxes had one. From what I've been reading on Horward Formums, you can do an eXchange By Mail with Cingular to get the upgraded 1/3 F/W.

For $50, I'm happy. When I paid $300 I wasn't.

For what it's worth....

[james840a]

t's also kind of a slap in the face to those of us who paid top dollar and can't even get a recalled phone exchanged. No Chritmass card for Best Buy from me this year I tell ya.

Jerry i have to agree with you on this. Best buy is a slap in the face what they did to me to. And there Corp office is going to get a letter. Not just about the Phone, but the facted there C/S LIED to me over the phone. Plus i am demanding a refund of the 2yr 39.99 extended plan, since it does not do me anygood. If they fruse, Then ill bring the goverment involved. I know the BBB and comsumer affairs wont take this litely of corp lieing to its customes.

[Jerry Raia]

I got the refund on my extended warranty. As for Best Buy, I wouldn't go there for free merchandise.

[james840a]

NEWS UPDATE

I just got my MPx220 replacement lastnight via UPS from Cingular. And lo and behold it has the ROM update 1.30.0.0 on it. YEPPY

What a big difference, like night and day

Read my post in the other sections under MPX220 about my compairison on the phone.

Jerry how did you go about getting your refund on the extended warranty? and how long since you first got it and got it refunded?

[Jerry Raia]

Jerry how did you go about getting your refund on the extended warranty? and how long since you first got it and got it refunded?

I just walked into the store and went to the return/exchange counter. Over the phone they said the refund would be prorated. I had it maybe 3 weeks and got the full amount back.

[james840a]

Jerry thanks, i'll have to do my thru the letter, since im on the 5-6week and am past the 30day.

[Jerry Raia]

Well I already had the phone 6 weeks. I got the extended warranty after the fact thinking it would help me get an exchange of the phone as that was about the time the stories of other ROM versions coming out had just started.

So the extended warranty was only a couple weeks old. Hope that made sense :)

[james840a]

Jerry, yeah i kind of figured that was what you did :)