AT&T, Best Buy, And Nokia Mess Up Booklet 3G MathAT&T, Best Buy, And Nokia Mess Up Booklet 3G Math

Anyone who purchases a subsidized netbook is simply out of their minds. Today, however, AT&T, Best Buy and Nokia are hoping you'll commit yourself to the insanity that is the Booklet 3G, which costs $299 with a $60 monthly AT&T contract.Why this business model persists in the market is beyond me.

Subsiziding netbooks or laptops essentially takes the sting out of the initial sticker price (same as with cell phones). In today's example, customers can pay $299 out-of-pocket for the Nokia Booklet 3G rather than the full, unsubsidized price of $599. Now, $599 is dangerously close to the price of a low-end laptop, which, in general, could be more useful than a netbook. (By the way, Nokia refers to the Booklet 3G as a "Mini PC" -- can we please call a horse a horse?).

Once you buy a subsidized netbook (or cell phone, smartphone, laptop, etc.), you are then beholden to the terms of the contract. In this case, that $299 Booklet 3G price is only valid if you subscribe to a $60 monthly data plan with AT&T. As we all know, over the course of 24 months that $60 adds up to a whopping $1440. Add that to the cost of the netbook, and suddenly you realize you're paying $1740 for that netbook (before taxes). If you check Dell.com or HP.com or even Apple.com, you'll find you can buy yourself one hell of a laptop for that kind of money.

That $599 price point suddenly sounds a lot better for the Booklet 3G, doesn't it?

However, you can pay even less and still get away contract free. Here's what you do.

Go to a Best Buy store. Purchase the Nokia Booklet 3G for the contract price of $299 and sign yourself up for the data plan. Wait a day or two, and then call AT&T and cancel your contract. You'll have to pay an Early Termination Fee. ETFs typically run $175. The math is pretty simple from here.

$299 + $175 = $474 (before taxes, etc.) You just got a $599 netbook for $474.

[UPDATE] Some more math for you. You have to add the wonderful $36 activation fee for getting the subsidized netbook. This, however, is partially offset by the $21 in tax savings you'll see by purchasing the netbook at $299 versus $599 (depending on your local sales tax. It's 7% in NJ).

The only snags might be these: AT&T may lock the Booklet 3G to its network, meaning you can't put another SIM card in it to use on another network. AT&T may force you to pay at least one full month of its data plan cost. Even then, you're looking at $535. More likely, AT&T will prorate the cost of the plan down to the number of days you actually use it, which means $2 per day.

In my opinion, even $475 is a bit too much for a netbook.

Thoughts?