BISKOOT

I recently ordered the Android Dev Phone 1 (essentially the same thing as HTC Dream) directly from Google. They officially ship to India, so I decided to try this option. Writing this post to describe my experience with the ordering process. Hopefully, this should help other folks in India who are thinking about ordering the phone, but are unsure.

In Short: The experience was GOOD, and I am happy about my decision to order.

I first tried to find someone returning from US, so that I could ask them to order it and bring it along to India. But then I saw that the custom duty had come down to $51.81 (it used to be $125 earlier, see this post). I decided to order it directly, because the saving in custom duty/shipping was not so great to justify the hassle and wait for someone returning from US to get it.

Cost

The total cost was $506.79, broken down as follows:

Phone : $399.00
Shipping : $ 55.98
Customs Duty : $ 51.81

NOTE: Before you can order the phone, you need to register as a developer on the Android Market, for which you pay a $25 fee. I haven’t included this in the cost above, because I see this as different from the cost of the phone itself.

Ordering/Shipping

The checkout process was smooth. I paid by credit card. The package was shipped via UPS. They said to allow 3-5 business days for shipping, and it arrived well in time. I had ordered it on Thursday night (IST) and it arrived on Monday. They sent me a tracking number when the package was shipped, and I could track the progress of the shipment in real time on the web.

The shipment was well-packed and arrived in good condition. The device’s own packaging box was put into a larger-sized standard UPS box along with some “filler” material for cushioning. Overall, I found the shipping experience satisfactory.

What’s in the box?

I found the following items in the package:
Android Dev Phone (of course)
Charger
USB cable
Stereo handsfree headset (wired)
Quick Start Guide
Limited Warranty Card

A 1GB MicroSD card came pre-inserted in the phone.

That’s it. I’m off to have some fun playing and experimenting with my new toy! I plan to write a separate post in detail about the phone itself, with pictures.

- Ketan