If you’ve been thinking about making the switch to a smartphone or considering an iPhone, now’s about as good a time as any. AT&T enabled MMS on the iPhone today, which brings it up to speed with candybar phones of nearly a decade ago. The wireless provider also just found some old iPhone 3G models lying around that it will sell for a paltry $50.

Now, if I were you, I would splurge for the 3GS. It’s faster, has a better camera, and records video, which makes it much more than a cell phone. If you don’t want to drop $199 on a phone right now, though, the $50 3G will do just fine. It’s not that much slower, and you could probably live without the extra camera features.

There’s still one big reason to stay away: AT&T. Their service sucks and 3G coverage away from major cities is spotty at best. Also, you might be able to get Apple’s baby on a different network before your contract is up.

The good news is you’ll be just fine in either case. If you buy, you’re getting a great phone fairly cheap. If you don’t, you’re avoiding all the headaches that come with being tethered to AT&T. That is all.

AT&T has refurbished versions of both the black and white 3G iPhones for just $149.00 when you sign up for a 2-year contract. This is definitely the best deal on the web for the Apple phone, and will probably entice plenty of folks to get one.

Of course, I’m always skeptical when it comes to pricing things for liquidation. Could this point to the third-generation iPhone? Coupled with the news that AT&T is also selling phones out of contract, I’d give it a definite yes.