No subsidy offered for Samsung Mondi purchased with two-year contract

Although Samsung neglected to mention pricing in the press release announcing the retail availability of its Windows Mobile 6.1-running Mondi WiMAX MID, it quickly became known that the unsubsidized price was $449.99 (as evidenced by the LetsTalk.com order page and my receipt) and that committing to a two-year Clear WiMAX contract would lower the hardware cost to $349.

A $100 subsidy is already rather pathetic, but how about no subsidy at all?

After being tipped off by a reader in Las Vegas who told me that Best Buy is selling the Mondi for $500 without a contract and Clear is selling it for $450 with one, I headed over to Clear's website and pretended to live in an area with WiMAX coverage so I could get through the order process.

And as you can see from the screen capture, the Samsung Mondi I bought (and am really enjoying!) contract-free for $449.99 (reasons for the purchase here) is indeed being sold with a two-year commitment for the very same $449.99.

Thanks, Don!