Palm Pre Price: Depends where you buy

We first learned about the official release date and price of the Palm Pre early last week. The price did include a mail-in-rebate, which can be annoying. If you wish to avoid the whole mail-in-rebate thing, then you should shop around for a better price. This means that the price you pay for a Palm Pre depends on where you live.

If you wish to get hold of a Pre for $199, then you will have to go on a two-year Sprint contract. You will have to part with $299, but you will receive a $100 rebate on your new smartphone.

If you do not want to go through the hassle of the mail-in-rebate, then you can head over to a BestBuy or Radio Shack store. PC World reports that both stores will automatically deduct the $100 when you purchase the handset. This is all part of a big push from Palm to make the buying process of the Preas painless as possible.