Why should I get an iPhone 3G?

[tcalbrecht]

I need to add a new line to our AT&T plan for one of our sons. My thought was to give him my old phone and upgrade my line to an iPhone.

Pros and cons from those with experience?

 

[BobVigneault]

The iPhone is a computer with a phone in it. If you don't need a computer with you then you don't need an iPhone.

It's only $199, that's cheaper than a Razr and most other 'good' phones.

The iPhone has a myriad of wonderful and cool apps, the key is to figure out if you need all those cool apps after the novelty has worn off. You can only show off your iPhone for so long and even when you do, half the people are jealous and irritated that you have one.

It's sexy. That may or may not appeal to you. It's a serious geek gadget that is sexy at the same time. The thing is just so pretty to look at.

It has maps and a type of gps system. That is useful if you travel.

Do you live near a city that has the 3G network?

These are some of the things to think about. My Razr drowned and I needed a new phone. At 199 I said "why not?" I love mine but I am an extreme geek and need to feel wired all the time.

The reason I got an iPhone is because they haven't made Google chips to hard wire to our brains yet.

 

[Herald]

Tom,

The iPhone 3G is a neat device. I own one. If you plan on accessing the internet often while mobile, get it. If you're a techie, get it. If you want access to hundreds of different apps that will work on the iPhone (and plenty more to come in the future), get it. If you want your phone to have an iPod integrated, get it. If you want to pay $30 additional on your phone bill every month, get it. If you don't want or need these things get another phone.

I like my iPhone. The battery life isn't great and it can't take video or MMS, but I still like the device. In my humble opinion it really appeals to the Apple junkie or techie at heart.

 

[tcalbrecht]

Bob and Bill,

Thanks for the recos.

Well, I bit the bullet and got the iPhone yesterday. My co. has an employee discount with AT&T so the monthly data plan only costs me $22.50.

First impression, nice unit. The display is crisp, clear, and colorful. The touch keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, but not too bad. Actually, the hardest part seems to be getting used to a QWERTY layout on a small device.

I dazzled my one son by playing Asleep at the Wheel youtube vids across our home wi-fi network. He was impressed. The idea of getting one may be the thing that finally motivates him to go out and get a real job.

Now to load some apps, a bit of music, get all my contacts squared away, custom ringtones, and I should be good to go.

BTW, has anyone taken the 2.0.2 firmware? iTunes informed me that it was available, but I've heard there are issues so I declined for the time being.

What are some good Internet resources for the iPhone?

 

[N. Eshelman]

You NEED the iphone so that you can add the $999 'I am rich' app.

NO other reason, in my opinion.

 

[BobVigneault]

Congrats Tom,

Now is a very good time to add the 2.0.2 update for the very reason that you don't have a ton of apps on your phone. The update is certainly compatible with the apps that ship with the iPhone.

Top iPhone News site carries the latest iPhone news.

Go to the app store and take your time reading the descriptions of the apps to see what you need and what would be 'cool' to have.

Don't jailbreak your phone. At least not for awhile.

I'm dying to get PocketGuitar for mine. It should be available any day now. It is going to be THE KILLER APP!

YouTube - iPhone 2.0 Pocket Guitar: Wicked Game

 

[LawrenceU]

BobV, you rascal. You had to post that. I've been putting off moving to the iPhone and NOW I'm really struggling.

 

[BobVigneault]

Tom, here is an explanation of what the update does and why you should apply it if you haven't already.

The 2.0.2 update made it so the iPhone did not need as high of signal in order to get and maintain a 3G connection. With so many phones attempting to get a high signal when it’s not needed, the network was overloaded, resulting in dropped calls. Well, that explains the problem, but what about those still experiencing problems?

Now it’s in the hands of iPhone users to actually download the update! With non-updated phones still trying to connect to the network, they’re still hogging the system and causing dropped calls for themselves and others. In short, update your phone, people!

 

[tcalbrecht]

Tom, here is an explanation of what the update does and why you should apply it if you haven't already.

Bob,

I installed it two days ago, and uploaded my first apps from the iTunes store last night. So far so good.

The only glitch to date is downloading email from my Comcast account. I saw a slight hiccup yesterday with one of the emails that had a large attachment. The download to the phone never completed (the spinning sunflower persisted) and then when I tried to grab my email from my home computer, Outlook gave me a message saying that my account was locked by another application. I had to turn off my phone, wait a few minutes, retrieve the emails via Outlook, and then power up the phone.

Thanks for the help.

 

[rpeters]

It is not good to get the Iphone be caus eit uses what we call old technolgy. I am waiting for the google phone.