Shadow only $50!

[Guest mmmaiki]

I have been thinking of upgrading from my old slow clunky big heavy MDA for some time. A while back I was thinking of getting a Shadow. Lately, however, with the advent of 3G, I decided to wait until there is a good T-Mo WM Smartphone with 3G.

Getting rather frustrated with the wait though. All the hype about G1 (doesn't interest me), and I have seen no notice of when T-Mo USA will come out with a new smartphone with 3G. The Shadow is old already, and the Wing and Dash still much older.

There are rumors about a Shadow II coming out soon. However, without 3G! WTF?? Now that T-Mo has 3G, why come out with a new smartphone without 3G? I don't really see what benefits Shadow II might have over Shadow I. Probably just a new styling and name. BS.

Anyhow, I digress. I stopped by a T-Mo store, and was surprised to see that the Shadow is now available for $50. (with two year contract, and I think after a $50 rebate). With one year contract, $100. Much lower now than the Dash, which is $100 with 2 year contract.

I wonder if they are trying to get rid of their stock of Shadows soon, to replace it with Shadow II.

Since I am getting fed up with waiting for that 3G WM smartphone from T-Mo, I'm almost tempted to buy a Shadow at that price. I'd pay the $50 more though, to get a one year contract, as this would not be a good time to be tied down for two years, before eligibility for an upgrade again.

Might not be good to get tied down for one year either. If I buy now, and next month a cool 3G WM smartphone comes out, I won't be happy about not being able to upgrade for almost a year. (Or--can you upgrade earlier, before the contracted period is over, and just not get as good an upgrade price? In other words, pay more than the best upgrade price, but still a lot less than the full uncontracted price for the phone? If so, how does that work? How do they figure out the partial upgrade price?)

Anyone here have any info, on what T-Mo Wm phones may be coming out soon?

Do people still like their Shadows?

P.S. Since my contract ran out a couple years ago, and I have been a T-Mo customer for about six years now, I wonder if I could get still a better price on a Shadow, through retentions/SAVE, by calling and threatening to cancel. Anyone here know what the current SAVE price is for the Shadow? Free?