By 
Nothing really seams fun about spending an extra $100 up front for a phone then waiting weeks upon weeks to receive that money back in the form of a mail-in rebate, so Walmart is joining Best Buy and Radio Shack in offering the HTC EVO 4G for $199.99 up front with a two-year contract. No messy rebates to deal with and nothing extra out of your pocket to get your hands on the EVO 4G sounds like a good deal to me, why can’t carriers sell phones under this model again? Need I remind everyone that the EVO’s release is only days away? I’d say something about the sophistication of those that shop at Walmart, but that would include me and not even I am that self-deprecating.
[via MobileCrunch]
these last few days, hours, minutes, seconds are agonizing. i wish i could go to sleep and wake up friday morning
@littleDROIDfan
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If the next 48 hours of your life are that worthless to you then I have some laundry I need you to do for me in the meantime.
Lol its called being dramatic. I shall continue to go to work in the mean while, albeit skipping my own laundry haha. But come friday morning i shall hopefully be a happy man
Anyone know how hard it is to have your number transfered from another carrier when getting a new phone at walmart/radio shack/best buy? I planned to go directly to sprint cause I know they will transfer the number, but I would love to skip the whole rebate process.
I feel u man trust me it’s killing me … I think I am even going to use a sick day on Friday just to make time to go to the shack early in the morning …. Speaking of has any one else heard of paying taxes on the full retail price and not the $199.99…. The shack called me to try to set up an appt and also told me this in a sneaky way …. Hhhmmmm makes me wonder if this is a shack thing or if it’s common practice???
@littleDROIDfan i’m with you man
@Frankie
im 2 steps ahead of you i planned taking a day 2 weeks ago. Haha. I preordered mine through best buy and they called me to make an appointment, i missed the call so i have to call back but though will only be about $12 in PA that can go towards some accessories
@FrankieFlo I don’t think the shack is trying to be sneaky because I got a call from Best Buys on Saturday here in Atlanta and they set me up an appointment to come get my phone 30 mins before the store even opens. At first I thought it was a joke but she said the pre orders have been off the hook and they want to get as many pre-orders taken care of before all the crazy people come in (Hey that’s was her own words)
@parrish
i hope that is the case with my appointment the earlier the better
So if Wally world if offering the Evo and the release date is 6/4. wouldn’t it stand to say you could buy it after midnight and beat the lines??
@Nikkoli
I had my number transferred from Verizon to Sprint at Best Buy when the Hero came out. The process took no effort on my part other than providing information about my Verizon account to the store rep. I want to say the entire process (talking to rep to leaving store) took a half hour or so.
You know, I guess Sprint works extremely well in your part of the country but where I’m at it’s not the best carrier. I wonder just how many folks are jumping on the EVO bandwagon for the phone itself instead of looking at the entire package… (network, 4g, connectivity, support, etc.)?
The phone is impressive… but if I cant make a call… well its a pretty media device I guess.
About the sophistication of WalMart shoppers, now you can say they’re more savvy than people who shop at the carriers and mail in their rebates.
I was in a Walmart in the Poconos this weekend, a Super Walmart, not like the ones we have in NJ, and that was an experience. Nothing against WalMart, but you put a store in a sparse area with everything you need(this one had a full grocery store), it gets crazy.
Does the Sprint Satisfaction Guarantee still apply? I’d like to try the Evo now that Clear/Sprint just lit up my 4G (and yours too Rob) but I’m concerned with the battery life issues I’ve been reading about. That would be a deal breaker. So I need to know that buying from Walmart/BB/RS all still qualify me for a full refund from Sprint under their new guarantee should I dislike the phone.
@Derrick
i hear what your saying, but i wouldnt return it just because the battery. thats the awesomeness of these phones, you can get a bigger battery, or get a second battery.
not the ideal situation but any smartphone you get will have battery issues with heavy usage
Will Walmart be selling the phone in their stores on Friday? Or just online?
@Parrish Radioshack is actually not being shady, I only know this beacuse I am actualy an employee. We are offering a pre-order for $50, and in doing so if you change your mind you still get the $50 on a gift card and if you do buy it you get an extra $20 for cases or other attachments. Its pretty good and IF YOU NEED AN ABSOLUTE FIX CALL A RADIOSHACK BECAUSE MOST OF THEM DO ACTUALLY HAVE A COMPLETELY WORKING DEMO…but it runs on wifi not the 4G network.
Please change the word “seams’ to “seems.” Your grammar is bugging me.
Enjoy your Android 2.1 Evo 4G while I watch webpages with all the tv shows I want running Adobe Flash on my Nexus One running Android 2.2
the Evo 4G might get Android 2.2 maybe in August or later this year though…. maybe…
The spelling and grammar in this article are abhorrent. Please hire an editor. This is why I rarely read this site in favor of AndroidAndMe and TheseAreTheDroids. I don’t even know what the point of this article is. I think the author is trying to tell us that Wal-Mart is now selling the phones for $199 instead of $299 with a $100 mail-in rebate? I can’t really tell.
@James was that even called for? People are obviously compelled by the hardware here over the software, and you’d be a fool to think that dev scene is going to let the EVO sit with stock Android 2.1 for the entirety of its existence.
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We get it: Froyo is going to Nexus One first. In all honesty, however, I doubt anyone other than Nexus One users care.
I’m ordering mine online… Tomorrow at midnight supposedly, with free overnight shipping. Yes I’ll have to wait for a $100 rebate from Sprint, but I’ll also be saving about $110 and getting the phone for a cool $125 total, thru a StudentRate discount. They give you a $50 credit (that shows up on your bill) and a $25 credit on top of that (which they mail in) plus activation is waived online… So $199 + 36 vs $199 -$50 -$25, I can wait a day or two for those savings! Oh and I get some sort of BodyGlove protector thrown in for free, heh.
@Topher..No I wasn’t saying Radio Shack was being Shady at all, that was from another commentor and then I said That radio Shack was not being shady. A co-worker of mine is getting his their and I’m getting mine from Best Buys.
Guys, I can’t find a Wal-MArt in the Chicago ‘burbs that says they cary Sprint or know anything about the EVO 4g.
I called 4 so far and NOTHING at any of them.
When the hell did Walmart start selling sprint phones?
I don’t recall ever seeing a sprint phone for sale in there stores…….Boost for sure but?..Hmmmm
Whatever!
If they don’t have the phone Friday morning I am going to sprint.
Waiting for my money is no biggie.
I just need to sell my BlackBerry now.
Come to think of it….Walmart is 24 hours!!!
So the question is WHAT TIME WILL THE BACK PART OF WALMART OPEN???
I called my local Wally World and they don’t seem to know anything about this. Can someone verify that the Evo is actually going to be sold in the actual Stores? What they told me is Wall-mart doesn’t carry Sprint phones. If they do start carrying them ill be checkin them out at 12:01 Friday morning before spending the night at the sprint door.
The phone will be available at 12:01 am Friday morning at your local 24hr walmart store.
Its been confirmed with the manager that works at my local walmart.
Walmart is selling this phone on there website.
NOT in the store…damn that sucks!
Not only that but Sprint will not let any of the cell phone web sites ship the phone until friday.
double dame!!
Went in wal mart and asked about this. The rep at first said that if they were selling the device they normally would have an open spot in the phone showcase area which they didnt. But then she walked around the counter and pulled a paper out of the fax machine that confirmed that the device would be in wal mart stores on June 4th. The fax also said that the devices could not be activated until 8 a.m. but pricing was not mentioned. So my only question is, is it just the site that is giving the instant rebate or will it actually be in store? Just because the site says it will be $199.99 doesn’t mean thats what the in store price will be. Where’s the proof?
@jp, if you can’t find it @ walmart, try Radio shack or Best Buy, I preordered mine through the shack, offering instant rebate reduction, plus $20 credit towards accessories
@topher, i agree with you, my experience with the Shack has been great, just recieved my reminder call to pick up phone and schedule appointment, plus $20 credit, now i hear they are reducing prices on accessories that day and have some sort of EVO help support, I heatily recommend the Shack to anyone doing a preorder
Ok so here’s my question, these stores are offering this phone for 199.99 without the rebate on new contracts, but what about people who want to upgrade do they get the same deal
i have a friend at htc and he said well get 2.2 mid july so stick your stupid nexus one up your ass..