Motorola Atrix Laptop Dock as expensive as a laptop – What.?

Laptop Dock unleashes the computing power of the MOTOROLA ATRIX 4G.The webtop app launches automatically when your phone is docked to get all the ease of a sleek laptop computer and the capabilties of your phone in one smart package.Super thin so it travels easily.

AT&T has announced the pricing of the Motorola Atrix (the standard $199), but also of the Atrix Laptop Dock, which is priced at $499.99 as a stand-alone device. The Motorola Atrix is a powerful dual-core phone that has a unique ability to run a full-blown Linux operating system when connected to the Laptop Dock, or the Multimedia Dock from Motorola. The Laptop dock is a “shell” with a display and battery which is ready to receive the Atrix as the “brain”.

While the idea is very good, the pricing is not. The combination of a $199 smartphone with a $499 creates a $700 device that has the bulk of a small laptop, but most definitely not the performance and the software compatibility of a $499 Windows laptop. Palm tried this before with the Foleo, and even if the Atrix Laptop Dock is cooler, its pricing will prove to be its demise. We liked the previous $150 rumor much better, although it was proven to be unrealistic. What do you think? Is $499 too high for the Atrix Laptop Dock.

AT&T has announced that the pre-sales for the upcoming Motorola Atrix on Feb 13. The powerful Android 2.2 handset will be priced at the usual $199.99, with a new two-year contract.  If you want to get it from a retail store, you will have to wait until March 6. AT&T will market the Atrix as a 4G device, but doesn’t mention LTE anywhere in its press release. Instead, AT&T will be using HSPA+, a technology that we consider to be 3.5G at best (AT&T disagrees) when the Motorola Atrix launches.  AT&T plans to launch LTE, a “real” 4G network, later this year – possibly with the next-generation iPhone as the spearhead.

For customers who want to take advantage of the unique extensions of the Motorola Atrix, like the Laptop Dock, can get a bundle with the phone (2-yr contract) and the laptop dock for $499.99 – after a $100 mail-in rebate. The Laptop Dock costs $499 (!) as a stand-alone purchase. The Multimedia Dock that turns your Atrix into a computer with a keyboard and mouse costs $189.99. Check our Motorola Atrix preview at CES 2011 and if you’re on a budget, you still have hope with the lower price at Costco (rumor).