gdgt

Things are about to heat up, I just found out from a very trustworthy source that the Eris is going to be priced at $99 (with agreement) when it comes out. Nice to see an aggressive price point, especially compared with the Hero which goes for $180 on Sprint.

Thank god for that. If both Droid and Eris were $200, the choice would be a no-brainer. Now Eris and Droid can fill two different niches.

This also bolsters my confidence in the Passion, that HTC can release another keboard-less Android phone so close to the Eris. A higher ($200-250) price point would mean it wouldn't cannibalize Eris sales.

That said, unless the Passion is announced soon or Eris gets a 2.0 upgrade, I still can't picture getting any phone on VZW other than the Droid.

Nice! Any information if it will be released in Europe?

Dangit. due to funds, I may have to go with this versus the droid. Android 1.5 and no real keyboard? Dangit.

For me, it all boils down to the data package costs. Verizon's data packages range from $10/mo. to nearly $100/mo.

Is this phone the same tired ARM11 specs as the other Hero variations? If so, I'd advise anyone to pony up that extra $100 and get a better Android device (now that they're FINALLY available) as you don't want to be stuck with something that's already outdated for another two years.

It's likely a $2200+ contract, so don't cheap out a measly $100 on the device! You can either afford both or neither.

What I still really want to know is if there is going to be a shift in the Verizon plan pricing paradigm once this device hits on Nov. 6th. Verizon has a history of refreshing their pricing scheme *in some way or another* every time they release a new/hot/big device.

It is also interesting to note the quality of phone hardware and software at the $99 price point. Considering that this thing may go for $99, that is about what I paid for my Pearl 8130 two years ago this November. Ain't that some shiz. I was a very dissatisfied Verizon customer for ~6-7 years and now I wish I'd never left, I hate to miss out on a phone like this or the DROID for such a low price.