At the moment, RIM’s BlackBerry Storm reigns as the most intriguing smartphone that hasn’t quite been released yet. That’ll change on November 21st: Verizon Wireless announced today that it’ll begin selling the first touch-screen BlackBerry on that date. Sign up for a two-year contract, and you’ll pay $249.99 for the Storm and get a $50 debit card in the mail, assuming you remember to do the paperwork in time. Which, if I were buying a Storm, I probably wouldn’t.

(Side rant: Verizon lists the price of the phone as $199.99, and only footnotes the fact that it charges you $249.99 and gives you a debit card to bring the final cost down. That’s not the same thing as a $199.99 price–if it were, Verizon wouldn’t bother with the $50 card rigmarole–and I think consumer-protection laws should require the company to list the price you’ll pay as the price you’ll pay, with the $50 debit card being the footnote. End of side rant.)

Is the Storm a good deal? Any price comparison will inevitably involve two other phones, Apple’s iPhone 3G and RIM’s own BlackBerry Bold. The Storm’s eventual-cost-of-$199.99-if-you-send-in-for-your-debit-card-and-use-it pricing is obviously designed to compete with the 8GB iPhone 3G, which goes for $199. The Storm lacks Wi-Fi and has only 1GB of onboard memory; on the other hand, Verizon’s high-speed data network beats AT&T’s. I’d say that the iPhone is a slightly better deal overall based on pure specs. (Which doesn’t mean much: The BlackBerry and iPhone experiences have a lot more to do with software and services than hardware.)

Then there’s the Bold: With a two-year contract, AT&T charges $399.99 for it and gives you a $100 rebate, for a final cost of $299.99. The Bold has Wi-Fi, but that still feels a tad pricey compared to either the iPhone or the Storm. Probably because the Bold is the most buttoned-down, corporate phone of the three, catering to road-warrior types with deep pockets.

But wait: If you sign up for a two-year contract, Wal-Mart will sell you a Bold for $199.99 and provide a $199 rebate, for a final cost of…nothing. That’s one of the best deals going in smartphones.

(Additional side rant: AT&T’s site lists the unsubsidized price for the Bold as $549.99. Wal-Mart’s site lists it at $699. My conclusion: Don’t believe anything anyone tells you about the cost of a cell phone.)

Okay, back to the Storm. I haven’t seen one in person yet. When I first heard rumors of a touch BlackBerry it sounded like a cheesy me-too response to the iPhone which stripped the BlackBerry of its signature feature: a usable, physical keyboard. But the Storm looks like it’ll be more than an iPhone wannabee: The whole screen depresses when you touch an on-screen key, giving you feedback that the iPhone lacks. So I’m reserving judgment until I’ve had some hands-on time with one.

 
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