The cost estimate page doesn't state whether the estimate includes a modem or not. I assume it includes a PLS8 (LTE) modem and that the different PLS8 models are similarly priced. Can we have some clarification on this please?

I think a big issue/ question very much worth aiming at ...
which was grazed in passing by Boemien...
what about the possibility of monthly payments?

And for that matter ...
How close are we now to assembly, production and shipping?...
and when would total payment due be required by?..
honestly...
no exact date required...roughly is more than adequate...
weeks...month...months...1/4 of a year...1/2 a year?
(I'm not in any way slamming a lengthy timespan....)
the more time ...could be better...
especially "if" the price (with fees) stays at the estimated...or possibly increases...
it would give breathing room to many... to play catch up.

@hxka - possibly ...it is quite possible you are correct ..it may take alot more ...

@swordfish II -Looks like you've got a win-win position there.

-if it fails (which I personally do not believe is going to happen) due to a lack of enough people willing to commit when it was needed ...(speaking for myself.. ) your (and to all others thinking the same) commitment and support to help make this happen was appreciated.
(I don't think a sarcasm emoticon is necessary here ...I think I made it thick enough in statement for it to be apparent.)

-if it succeeds (which I personally do believe is going to happen) ...I wish you all the best thinking you'll be able to just "order" one when the ship is sailing from port and shipping is commencing...like it is a Dell laptop waiting... pre-assembled just for you... in the warehouse.
and while on this topic... including a response simultaneously to stevenc's comment
I think reading how difficult it is going to be to source parts that are becoming harder and rarer by the day to get (as it is now)..creating just a 100 units is a grand idea...doesn't mean it will be possible to make more later though... due to a (more than likely) lack of needed parts.

I'd be in favor of some form of monthly payment, too. $1200 is a lot to cough up at once, but also, if we could know now the payment will be required in 6 months, I/we could just as easily sock $150/mo away to simulate a monthly payment.

Yes, the estmation is based on PLS8-E. PHS8 is probably a 20 or 30 bucks cheaper, while I'd expect all PLS8 variants to be same price (Note that Gemalto recently came up with the PLS8-X variant which is PLS8-US + one band). For PXS8 we didn't even find a supplier yet and thus no price tag either, though we plan to get the bulk of modems from a supplier closer to "the source" and thus prices and availability should change a bit anyway.

For the monthly payments: I haven't looked into how that would get handled by our shop. For me personally it means more overhead to review and assign the payments (manual process), for you it means additional (bank/PP) fees for multiple payments.

Since it seems it's somewhat unclear: we ask for DOWN PAYMENT now, which is a 350EUR for the NeoN board and a 480EUR for complete device, and we will source critical components with unclear future availability and/or long lead time / shipping time from that. Particularly for the complete Neo900 down payment we will source complete refurbished N900 right now, and it's pretty unclear if we could source more of them later on within a few days for late orders that come in when production starts or even for a second batch.

@endsormeans: 1/2 a year maybe. Sourcing of N900 alone takes maybe 3 months or more.
sidenote update: a 500 PoP chips should arrive by Monday. They sit in fedex center 15km from destination. Total sourcing time for those been almost a year, incl all investigations etc.

/j

follow up:

we started sending out emails (http://neo900.org/shop-letter) to all our customers. Newsletter will follow shortly

cheers
jOERG

concerning everything . Fabulous. Allll-around.
1/2 a year away? great. That buys alotta people time.
Also... even though peeps may spend a little more socking away installments to you ...it's consistent money flow...a lot more people could handle the process of that ...$50 or $75 or $100 or $125 or $150 or whatever... per month is something people can realistically budget for.... than reeling from the punch of a monstrous bill coming due...that forces many to rethink committing to the project.

I guess starting to pay 100EUR/mo. *now* means that within 3-4 months, the down payment is enough to guarantee you a NeoN board; and after another 6 months the full purchase price is paid off, perhaps in time for it starting to ship. Less if you've already donated.

Any distributor could offer to rent or resell some devices like a commercial phone contract. But 45EUR x 24months would only cover the unit cost of a handset, whereas they'd be looking to make a healthy profit and insure against returns under warranty (including fraudulent cases due to owner negligence) and their handling costs. It'd surely cost more than 100EUR/mo. with all that factored in, so no better than my suggestion above.

What I would really like to know is the real number of supporters left which do not care about that (horrendous) new price tag. Especially those who will go for the 'down payment'!
As I read here lots of folks seems to be forced to quit (and I have to admit I am not sure what to do ).
So right now it seems we had 423 early '100€-orders'.
All calculations are based on that number.
If a 100 (or even more, like 200 or even 250) quit that would for sure affect the price of the device. And I am sure and afraid not to the positive.

Could you please give us an estimation?
I know this may sound pessimistic and even force a few people to not go for a Neo. But for me this is a needed information.

I have no clue how you/we could get a realistic number of orders before orders have been placed in the web shop. Any ideas (poll, new donation, ...)?

from peter - "If a 100 (or even more, like 200 or even 250) quit that would for sure affect the price of the device. " - in reference to the new estimated price tag.
I concur considering the revised price...based on just the figure alone ...many may immediately come to the conclusion it is beyond them...

hence my suggestion of relief from that in the shape and form of understanding when board/ device completion rough-estimated time-frame would be... so people know what they are wrestling with and can realistically figure a budget and save toward it or possibly pay installments...
More people are apt to stay.. instead of leave... if there is a rough timeline to budget toward or methods in place to reduce the pressure to something manageable

So, neither do I, sorry. I just can say I am quite optimistic that the inevitable loss of customers can get overcompensated by new customers who just waited for a proper 'normal' way to really order a device (with finalized specs) in a legally binding way they can handle in their (commercial?) accounting.

cheers
jOERG

[edit] for each user in here stating that s/he's out, I seen one that stated to eagerly wait for the shop to open, either in here, or in IRC, or in private email. Of course the more anxious posts like the above will show up here, the more this feeling will spread. And this also works the other way around, each optimistic (or at least missing or neutral) post in here will possibly convice a few more old customers, or even attract new ones. One thing's for sure: I don't hope for *any* device getting sold when the price would rise even more - which in turn means that I'm personally convinced we can keep this price or even get it down (unless EUR exchange rate drops through the ground), or I wouldn't know how to continue this project. Hint: it's an age old wisdom of PR that it's always the disgruntled people who get active and vocal.