Is it possible to get a free smartphone?

Well, at least you're willing to admit this.

You probably won't find what you're looking for. However, you can get a BlackBerry Pearl from Verizon Wireless for $20 with a two-year agreement right now. It will require a minimum $30 per month data plan. No WiFi but there are many ways to get directions and maps using the Web (and you won't need a Starbucks).

 

Not free, but less than a $100 and no data plan required.

 

That auction is not over! Do you really think you can sneak in and get that for less than $100?

 

Well he certainly couldn't "sneak in and get that for less than $100" if the auction was over, could he?

Besides it is Buy It Now only, absolutely no sneaking in required.

Palm850/v0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11)

 

Absolutely! As Charlyee pointed out, that's what "Buy It Now" means — you click it, the auction is over and it's yours

 

Oops! Didn't see the buy it now thing. How embareåssing. ::O

 

thanks for the tip. i'd like to see some free smart phones in the future. if anyone hears of anythign - post here!
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looking for a Nokia 7190 & 7110!

 

Hopefully I'm not too late with this suggestion, but since you are so set on getting smartphones for FREE, and don't feel any particular loyalty to AT&T (which I assume to mean you might be willing to switch carriers), you may want to look at Sprint.

At least as of a few weeks ago, they were offering the Palm Centro (1st generation) in black, red, or pink for FREE AFTER REBATE both in Sprint Corporate Stores, and on Sprint.com. (The 2nd generation of Palm Centro was coming out, so they were trying to clear out stock of the 1st generation.) You may want to call Sprint telesales and see if they still have any for FREE (after rebate). If you can't get a 1st generation Palm Centro from Sprint for FREE (after rebate), then you may want to look into getting a 2nd generation Palm Centro (in black, green, or rose) for $49.99 after rebate. Not free, but pretty cheap for a smartphone!

Other smartphones that I've heard people getting for cheap (though not free) was the Palm Treo 755p for $19.99 after rebate, or the BlackBerry Curve 8330 for $39.99 after rebate from RADIOSHACK (authorized dealer of Sprint). IMO, both of these phones are definitely worth $19.99 and $39.99 respectively (although the BlackBerry will require BlackBerry Internet Service, which is a separate add-on with some plans).

As for plans, since these phones are all classified as PDA/Smartphones, most likely you'll need a family plan that includes data. (I know you said you don't want data, but hear me out.) Unfortunately, Sprint's family plans are more expensive than the $60/mo that you've been paying... in fact EVERY CARRIER'S IS (if you include data, messaging, or any other add-ons).

However, in the past Sprint has offered SERO (Sprint Employee Referral Offer) plans to the public, and there have been people selling/giving their plans away via a Transfer Of Liability (TOL) if they don't need them anymore. One plan in particular seems to fit your needs very well:

SERO 500
500 Anytime Minutes
Unlimited 7PM Nights
Unlimited Weekends
Unlimited Mobile-To-Mobile
Unlimited Text/Pic/Video Messaging
Unlimited Data (but NO BlackBerry Internet Service... requires $30/mo additional add-on)
$30/mo + tax

If you found someone/some people that were willing to sell/give you their SERO 500 plans via a TOL, then both you and your wife would have smartphone plans that total $60/mo + tax, which is right in your budget.

Unfortunately, it's NOT possible to get a SERO 500 plan transferred from someone else AND a FREE AFTER REBATE Palm Centro (or one of the other cheap smartphones mentioned in this post) since for that price the phone would need to be bought from Sprint or Radioshack, and the plan would need to be bought/transferred from a private 3rd party... UNLESS you have a friend/relative that already has a SERO plan, and is willing to add/activate another SERO 500 line onto their account with a Palm Centro (or another cheap smartphone mentioned in this post) and do a TOL to you later! Then after the first line is transferred, you can call Sprint up and ask them to add an additional SERO 500 line to your account with the exact same plan/features... but that is VERY YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

If you're the gambling type with A LOT of time, patience, tolerance, and determination, then you may want to attempt this to get your dream plan & phone at the exact price you wanted.

But if you don't have the time, patience, tolerance, and determination to find someone on a Sprint SERO plan, convince them (financially or otherwise) to add another SERO 500 line onto their account with the cheap/free smartphone you wanted, wait for at least a month and pay them your monthly share, have them do a TOL (transfer of liability) into your name for that extra SERO 500 line, call Sprint up and deal with a lot of ignorant, unwilling, or unempowered customer service reps to mirror your existing SERO 500 line on your account, and then port your numbers over into your new SERO 500 lines, then DO NOT ATTEMPT WHAT I SUGGESTED! It will be a very painful and frustrating experience, and should NOT be attempted by those too passive, weak, or unwilling to deal with the trouble with getting this discountinued plan.

 

Can you get SERO with Nextel still? Their BB Curve has WiFi and I think is only $99 after rebate. Not free, but cheaper than $200.

Of course, with Nextel you will get horrible data speeds anytime you are not on WiFi.

 

Well, you certainly CAN'T get the old SERO plan(s) from Nextel directly (since they've been discontinued, just like Sprint's). However, you probably can do a TOL to transfer someone else's plan into your name (if they don't want it).

And yes, data is slow. If you're going for Nextel anyway, you may want to look into Boost Mobile's NEW Monthly Unlimited IDEN Plan (which includes unlimited calling, direct connect, messaging, and data for only $50/mo). It's prepaid, which means no contract... AND some people mentioned you would be able to use Nextel phones on Boost (dunno about BlackBerry functionality though).

 

Well, I was referring to the "new" SERO plans, not the older ones.

 

Ahhhhhh... I see. I'm not sure if the new SEP (SERO Replacement) Plans are available for Nextel or not. You can sign up for Sprint's SEP Plans by reading this thread though:

Sprint Employee E-Mail Address + CID for SEP Plans (SERO Replacements)

And right now Sprint has some pretty sweet deals on some smartphones for new activations or qualified upgrades (ie: Palm Centro 2nd generation = $49.99 AR, Palm Treo 755p = $19.99 AR from Radioshack, BlackBerry Curve 8330 = $39.99 AR from Radioshack, etc).

Unfortunately I don't think you can sign up for SEP Plans at 3rd party authorized dealers (ie: Radioshack, Best Buy, etc), so I don't know how you're going to get cheap phone prices AND the SEP Plan separately...