So, though I preordered an iPhone 4 32gb an hour after Best Buy opened on pre-order day, I am finally able to receive it today. Apple sort of sold 1.7 million new iphones so they didn’t have many extras to share with the retail consumer electronics store. Wish I knew that ahead of time.

Well, BB called me a few minutes ago and let me know that they have my iPhone waiting for me. All I need to do is show up, show my pre-order slip, and they’ll hand me one. Of course, I’ll need to sign a new 2-year AT&T contract and cough up $499 + tax as well.

Expensive? Very. Worth it? Definitely.

Honestly, I was going to skip this generation of iPhones to save some green and hopefully switch to Verizon when they (probably) get the iphone next year. But a few days prior to pre-orders, I changed my mind.
I saw an tech news article quoting the CEO of Gazelle that they’re receiving 10x as many used iphones from users than this time last year. Gazelle is a reseller of used consumer electronics, so they’ll give people a set price for their goods and turn around and sell the item at a profit to others.

At that time they were offering to buy my iPhone 3GS 32gb for about $280. Then I found a 10% added to the price coupon at RetailMeNot and they offered to give me another 5% if I opted to receive the cash in Amazon gift cards…which is sorta like cash to me anyway. So in the end, I’ll get over $312 to spend at Amazon for my old phone. Final price to upgrade to an iPhone 4? About $188+tax. Not too bad.

Worth it for a device that I use more than any other. For those that want to attempt the same deal, good luck, because just an hour or two after I confirmed the selling price of my phone at Gazelle, they dropped that price down over $80. They’ll now only offer about $195 or so. My advice? eBay it!

Can’t wait to stop at Best Buy tonight. It feels really weird saying that, because I normally avoid that store like the plague. I only went there to reserve my phone because I’ll get $10 in rewardzone $$ by spending $500 there. Something is better than nothing.

Expect a flurry of housing agreements to take place by the end of the month as the tax refund credits end for new home buyers. I have been in the same boat myself as I had hoped to both sell my home and buy a replacement to take advantage of the $6500. However, negotiations fell apart with a buyer and I’m still stuck with my unsold house.

I was offered essentially $15K under the list price (which was already very competitive). The lowest price I could realistically accept was $8 under. As the low-ballers they we, they didn’t budge. This was several weeks ago and I’m sure they found some desperate seller that took their money by now.

But I think back to the lame negotiations…should I have taken it anyway? That would have given me time to buy a new home and receive the $6500 at the end of the year. So, in a way, the math is $15 – 6500 = $8500. Only $500 less than my lowest possible price. Damn. But…if I had accepted their offer, I wouldn’t have had enough money for a down payment for a new place anyway. Stupid housing market.

A classic case of “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Come’n people, somehow buy my @#$%# house! It’s in an awesome & quiet neighborhood next to several large parks and great neighbors. Plus, the house is in great shape and has been upgraded extensively throughout. Eh, what can you do?

A few years ago, seeing people carry smart phones was rare. Now, most people own one or another. And when I say “smart phone”, I use the definition loosely defined at Wikipedia:

“A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities, often with PC-like functionality (PC-mobile handset convergence).”

Think Blackberries, any phone with the Android OS, Windows Mobile, and iPhones. This list is not exhaustive, as more mobile operating systems are developed each year.

Anyway, a customer goes to a store, say the Apple Store, and buys a new iPhone 3GS 32gb. Subsidized phone cost: $299. AT&T activation cost: $36. Cheapest voice plan: $40/month, Required data plan: $30/month. Optional 200/text msgs/month: $5. First month price: $411+taxes. Each month after that: $75+tax.

So that’s a start. But it doesn’t end there. Has there ever been an iPhone owner who didn’t purchase apps at the venerable Apple App Store? Add at least another $5/month for app purchases, though that number will probably be higher.

Finally, the contract every iPhone user has to agree to lasts 2 years. So, we’ve got 24 months x 80 = $1920 + the phone at $300 + activation = $2256 in total. Ouch.

And I thought I was saving money by ditching my landline years ago, but instead I put the money saved, plus a pile more, into smartphone plans. Prior to smartphones, my monthly cost was $35 (plus tax) for a grand total of $840+$100 phone = $940. But really, I had a Motorola Razr. Was I happy? No. Am I happy with a latest generation iPhone? Hell yes.

Now that everybody and their Mom is picking up an iPad on Saturday…or rather, you know someone who knows someone else who plans on putting up big bucks for one, what can you actually do with it?  I’ve compiled a list of some ideas that you could actually use.  Since only the wifi version is out, we’ll stick with wifi-only version for now.

1. Email – an obvious use.  You’ll be able to lounge around the house and do email on a nice little device that’s larger than an iPhone, but much smaller than any laptop.

2. Web surfing – Why boot up the ‘ol computer, when you can quickly check a few sites using your always-on iPad?  Too bad it won’t do flash.

3. Read eBooks & eMags.  Huge potential here.  The books will be in color and will support books from the Apple store, B&N, AND from Amazon.  And most books from Apple will match Amazon’s price of $9.95.

4. Games, Games, Games.  The games on the iPhone are outstanding, and all will work on the iPad.  However, expect bigger & better games on the iPad.  Developers will take advantage of the superior graphics capability & larger screen.

5. Watch Videos.  Where he iPhone is too tiny, the laptop is too big…the iPad is just right.  Carry your movies & tv shows around wherever you go and watch whenever you want.

6. Say hello to your new cookbook.  With the size of the iPad, it would be perfect as a kitchen companion displaying your entire cookbook with pictures.  Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

7. Social Media Powerhouse.  Display your entire Facebook profile, along with games.  See all of your Twitter columns on one screen.  Prepare to get social on your easy chair!

8. Blogging & Homework.  Why sit at your desk to blog when you can do so ANYWHERE ELSE?  And students can also type up their papers while sitting in front of the tv.  Then again, this may be more popular with the optional keyboard that will soon be available.  However, if an application is developed that allows for excellent handwriting recognition, this iPad will double as the best notepad money can buy.

9. Shopping.  Do your online shopping on the iPad.  Watch your HSN and buy whatever they tell you to buy instantly via your handy gadget.  That, and with wifi becoming very popular in bookstores, malls, and coffee shops, you have even more places to spend money indiscriminately.

10. Show the world that you are a true techie by showing off the latest gadget everyone is talking about.  By 2011, everyone will have one, so enjoy your greek cred while you can.

So, if you still cannot justify spendig $499+ on an Apple iPad this Spring, you could always try to win one.  There are several contests currently running where you have a chance to take home a free iPad.  Here are a few: 1) Digg & TapTapTap: 1 given away each day through April 7th, 2) Zinio: 2 a week through April 25th, and 3)MoneyCrashers: 3 given away on April 16th

That’s right, you buy my house at its listed price, and I’ll throw in a jailbroken & unlocked iPhone 3GS, the best phone money can buy.   The small town rambler is situated just a quick 10 minute drive from downtown Minneapolis, but is found in a pocket of tranquility surrounded by beautiful parks and excellent neighbors.

There is about 1600 sq ft of finished area, a full basement with another 400 sq ft of unfinished area.  There is also an extra large kitchen addition, brand new driveway, new 2-car garage door, deck, entire home wired with cat6 & coax, and much, much more.  Check out more information at http://2132upland.com.

Before you go, here’s a quick overview:

Remember, my iPhone is your iPhone if you mention this ad at closing. What a steal!

With the release only weeks ago, many aspiring iPad owners still don’t know what to make of the device.  Is it an e-reader, a email machine, or a web-surfing wonder?  Or is it something else entirely?  Ok, we know what it is, but it’s essentially a new category product so only time will tell how consumers use it in their lives.

At $499 for the cheapest device, I will not be buying one.  However, I do hope to collect enough 4-leaf clovers to win one from MoneyCrashers.com.  Even if I don’t win one (so sad), I’m learning a lot from their several daily financial articles & reviews.  Good site to check out sometime.  Plus, the contests they host aren’t bad either!

Anyway, assuming you think it’s worth it, what would you plan on doing with it?  According to CNET, users plan on using it primarily for web surfing & email.  Only 26% of future owners plan on downloading apps to use on it (I expect that to increase significantly) and 36% are unlikely to take advantage of the app store.

I’d take the stats with a grain of salt since the device hasn’t even been released yet, nor is there any announced 3rd-party apps at the present time (w/ 1 exception).  There WILL be killer apps, especially since Apple is opening up the device to allow all book sellers participate and host their own stores of sort.  The Amazon Kindle app will be freely available at the start.

It’ll be exciting to watch!  I hope to join the throngs of happy new users, but if I’m not one of them, I may be a buyer when version 2.0 shows up.

Apple just announced that the wifi version of the iPad will arrive in Apple stores and the mailboxes of Apple fanatics everywhere.  Do you plan on picking one up when available?  Are you waiting a extra month for the 3g version to become available?

Here’s my advice…wait.  But not for the 3g version.  Give the device a few months in the market and let Apple resolve any bugs that arise & let the first-hand reviews flow.  You’ll have a much better idea on if it will be right for you.  Also, many other companies have plans to introduce competing devices all throughout 2010.

Can’t wait?  Then buy it.  Don’t have any money?  Win it.  That’s right, you can win 1 of 3 iPad’s (value: $499) by participating in a contest hosted by MoneyCrashers.com.  Easy earn a ton of entries and get a chance to win the latest technology without spending a dime.

You can’t win if you don’t try!  Plus, they’ve got some excellent financial articles to peruse and many of the commenters there are a lively bunch.

MoneyCrashers is at it again! There will be 3 winners of a new Apple iPad. All you need to do is go to MoneyCrashers and start earning entries. Again, many of the ways to earn entries is to simply comment on their excellent financial articles or promote the contest in your own blog, twitter, facebook, etc. Easy to do, but it does take some effort.

Personally, I would love a new iPad. I absolutely love my iPhone 3GS, so I would really enjoy owning what is essentially a larger and more enhanced phone. I could definitely see myself reading more books and actually writing more blog posts if I had the device. And at $499 for the cheapest version, it isn’t a terrible deal…but still too rich for my blood.

If you’re interested in the iPad contest, and even if you’re not (donate to me), check out the moneycrashers website sometime. Sometimes they have some lively discussions via the comments under their blog posts. Great way to learn about money!

Steve Jobs @ Apple just announced their new table, the Apple iPad, yesterday. It sure looks nice w/ a 10″ lcd screen, iBooks app, web browsing, custom iTunes & iWork, but is it necessary?

Why it’s not:
1. No Multitasking. It’s barely ok to not have multitasking on the small iPhone, but I would want to have two apps side-by-side on the larger iPad. Fail.
2. No camera. Eh, don’t need it, but it would enable some good wifi video conferencing.
3. Huge bezel. It looks more like a digital picture frame that a computing device.
4. AT&T. You only have 1 choice of 3G vendors and it’s the wrong choice.
5. Locked down. I have a jailbroken phone, and it’s 10x better than one that is still imprisoned…give the hackers some time.
6. No Adobe Flash! You don’t get a full web experience w/o it.
7. Higher price for an iPad with 3G. Then you’ll have to pay a $15-30 monthly fee beyond that. They should be the same price and then the option of a monthly fee.
8. First generation. It’s generally a good idea to avoid buying 1st gen products. There will always be issues. Give them time to fix the problems and lower the price.
9. It’s too big. 10 inches won’t fit in your pocket like an iphone does.
10. You probably already have a laptop & a smartphone…is there really room for a product to squeeze between you other two computers?

If you find yourself with some extra time on your hands, and in the need in some good financial advice, I’d recommend that you get your butt over to http://moneycrashers.com and check out their 2010 New Year Giveaway Bash. There will be 100 winners, drawn randomly from all the entries who will share $9100+ in cash & prizes.

Don’t think you have a chance when several thousand people have entered? Think again. You can get a LOT of entries if you put some work into it. Creating a blog post nets you 30 entries, writing a financial haiku and posting it on twitter gets you another 10 to 35 entries, and even just tweeting some good financial advice with the hashtag of #moneycrashers adds 2 entries each (max 3/day). There are countless other ways to gain entries. Most people won’t make the effort, so those that do have a very good chance.

You can’t win if you don’t try.