Oh, Verizon, you really aren’t content with ruling the airwaves you really do now want to rule everyone’s wallet, don’t you? Okay, so, it’s nowhere near as bad as I make out but, if you’re someone that was looking to get a tablet on Big Red’s data network then maybe you might want to rethink. Verizon are no longer going to subsidize tablets on contract and instead are going to make you pony up the full amount for them. Which means you’re no longer going to save on that shiny new tablet.
However, it’s not all that bad as in true Verizon fashion, the subsidies that they were offering weren’t that good to begin with. For instance, beforehand a Droid Xyboard in its 8.2 guise would have cost $529.99 and now, with no subsidies it cost $699.99 (for the 16GB version). The prices translate the same for the Xyboard 10.1 and the bigger storage options. Overall, it’s a $170 subsidy that you’re going to miss out so whilst it’s not all that bad it’s still a pretty poor move on their part.
There is a silver lining here, with the disappearance of these subsidies comes the disappearance of the contract for these tablets altogether, making that missing subsidy hardly anything to moan at after all. Perhaps a tablet on Verizon might actually become a better deal now that you’re not going to have to pony up after month for a contract.