The Official Dappered.com Smartphone? The Samsung Intercept is $189 at Best Buy.

Virgin Mobile Samsung Intercept – $189.99 SHIPPED (reg. $220)  Sale expires 12/4

By: Dappered Tech Correspondent Paul Olson

Back in the in the spring, we mentioned that prepaid phones are a great deal.  Then in the summer, we talked about cheap iPhone alternatives.  This winter, Best Buy is offering the best deal yet on a Google Android-powered smartphone — the Samsung Intercept — and it’s offered on the best-deal-yet provider — Virgin Mobile.  Get it at Best Buy, and it’s $189.  Get it elsewhere, and it’s $249.

The plan is the great thing — unlimited text and data for $25 (Verizon charges $29 for unlimited data and charges extra for texts).  With Virgin, you also get 300 voice minutes included — it’s insane.  You can spend more at Virgin and get more minutes, maxing out at their $60 full unlimited plan.  These are tremendous deals.

The phone has two shortcomings that I can see — a slightly slower 3G modem (supposedly, given the same connecting, other phones will be able to download data faster) and a lower resolution screen (240×400 instead of the 400×800 on higher-end phones).  Do these matter?  Probably not.  It will run Angry Birds for Android.

Other features to note:

• Android 2.1
• 800 MHz, ARM11 Samsung S3C6410 processor
• 256 MB of RAM
• 2 GB MicroSD memory card included
• Physical keyboard
• Nationwide coverage on the Sprint network

What do you think?  Is this a sweet enough deal to make you ditch your current contract?
The sale price and free shipping expire Saturday 12/4