iPhone Owners: Let's Hear It!

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Trout Bum

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Howdy, gents. Got my wife an iPhone 4 for Christmas. I started fooling around with it last night. Two hours later it was two in the morning! I can sum it up this way: I get it. But. Here are some questions:

iPhone:

- Do you recommend it? List some pros/cons of owning one.

- I find it very large and heavy compared to my simple little clam-shell phone. (trusty and simple and small and cheap phone!) I suspect if I got one, I would adjust to the size and extra weight. I imagine I would begin to think: how did I ever live without it? (as many of my friends seem to think)

- Can you connect to the web anywhere you can get a phone signal? Or do you need to connect to an already existing/available wifi network? If you can connect anywhere you can get a signal, is that a service that costs extra? Ie is the convenience of connecting virtually anywhere an added upgrade to already existing basic service charges?

- What are your favorite games/apps?



 
uhhhhumm


iPhone??? go to the att store and play with a Captivate or a Focus...



Having said that.. Yes you can connect to the web without a wifi signal.. Edge is slow, 3G is better.. Yes it cost extra $15 for 200 mb or $25 for 2Gb.. I have two gb plan on my captivate and use it very heavily.. haven't ran over yet.

Iphone Pros:
Its simple..

Iphone Cons:
Its simple..

Its a blessing curse.. just like the old model T's.. You can have it anyway you want as long as you like it just as it comes from the factory.. Windows Phone & and Android devices offer more customization Tiles/Widgets.. Homescreens.. etc.. BUT a smartphone NEWB can get lost in the customization ( I disagree, but I'm just mimicking the Steve Jobs phanbois..lol)
Arguably Iphone is more 'polished' ( I would argue against that .. but it's out there..) take it for what you will..
Apps.. Iphone/Android have tons of frikkin apps.. WP7 is catching up fast (and gulp..I hate to admit it, probably has 'better apps' than either of the first two already) Basically if you want to do it you will find an app that can on any of the 3 smart phone platforms I named..

The size will disapear in a day or two..

One last thing: I'm usually not a "wait for the next generation" guy.. but I think I'd wait until Iphone 4gs Iphone 5 or whatever they call the next gen.. (android will be dual core cpu, ddr2 RAM, NFC, etc etc in the next gen too) ... You've waited this long, a few more months wont matter and it WILL pay off in dividends, regardless of which way you go, in terms of long term enjoyment..


Play with mommas phone.. check out phonedog.com.. wait...lol
 
Our contract was up on the old phones so I got two iphones on Christmas Eve.... one for me and one for my wife...

I don't know how to use the thing :oops: At least she's jumping in and learning ;) ....



 
Careful what you allow. Facebook for example. All those little notes and alerts add up to data use. Sun 3D is another. Always sending you alerts on solar activity. Neat to know, but adds to data use. I still have an unlimited data account. But in watching it, I would be over every month, so I started killing some of those alerts to see what I could pare it down to.

I also try to connect to any Wifi in places I am often at. Just so I have fast access to Gmail and weather etc. Most of my email accounts forward to Gmail. Handy as heck. I have bought a pipe on eBay with it while in the smoking tent at Chicago.

Get a good rubber case! I also use a screen protector. When it's sitting around, charge it! It has all my phone numbers and calendar in it. I have also used the level app in it. Seriously.
 
Wife and I are still using original iPhone (1g/2g) on Tmobile for last 3 years. Until the iPhone 4 it stayed current with all the updates to the 3Gs, then it got orphaned. Still very usable and runs all the updates apps, just a bit slower than the most current. Now I am waiting for the iPhone 4 to come to Verizon hopefully in the next few weeks, my current job requires me to travel where both Tmobile and ATT have very bad to no signal so switching to Verizon is in the cards anyway and I hope it will be my avenue to upgrading my iPhone as well.

Anyway, regarding the iPhone, since I am a mac computer user, the combination work together very well, there are a lot of apps that have both mac and iphone versions. As well, managing apps, updating phone software, etc is very easy via iTunes (which you can do on Windows as well).

iPhone is kind of midway between a plain, phone-only phone, and a phone-geek phone which might probably be the android in one of its many versions. With the iPhone getting all your apps through the iTunes store where they are all extensively tested by Apple means there are no issues with security, bad behavior, etc vs the Android which is wide open and you never know what you may be getting. Not saying that if you want to geek-out your iPhone you can jail-break it and run lots of 3rd party apps that you get from sources other than Apple (I have not kept up with this so not sure which versions of the iOS 4 this will work on).

The other think I like about the iPhone that is similar in concept to all mac computers is that old hardware usually will work decently well with most of the newest software. Apple software tends to update in very subtle progressions rather than total redesigns like windows has from XP to Vista to Win7. Same with the iPhone, you have to really know what to look for to tell the difference between my original phone and a current iPhone 4, other than speed of course. When I do upgrade, it will be like buying a new i7 computer vs an old pentium, I keep all the software that I am comfortable with and use every day, it will just scream in speed vs the old hardware.

Regarding programs, not likely much on the iPhone you can't get on Android, I use navigation software a lot, plus other travel software like Priceline, Southwest Air's app, Gate Guru, other air travel specific programs. Obviously email, calendar, contacts, Google, Google reader, CNBC and a couple of other stock trading programs. Social programs include Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype, Twitter. PipeTool is a fun pipe tobacco program from Gandalf that hooks into Tobacco Reviews and helps you manage your cellar.

I have come very close to buying an android phone a couple of times, but each time I decided my current iphone does all I really need and would rather wait. This is the first time I have ever kept the same phone hardware for anywhere close to this long and if I wasn't looking to switch carriers anyway, could probably keep going for a while longer. It is just a great phone.

Hope this helps.
 
Awesome info; thanks Hunter!

Also, PB, I checked out PhoneDog... Whoa, those cats are INTO it! Good info, although like many things, the deeper you look the deeper it goes...
 
Droiddog, iphonedog, blackberrydog, tmodog, phonedog...

You consider anything from a big button clamshell to the latest greatest whizbang you owe yourself a visit... and don't forget to play the one pawed bandit...


The site has deteriorated since Noah Kravitz left but its still worth the time.
 
The Better Half just got the Verizon iPhone 4... I mean *just*, still sitting in its cold UPS box. Don't know if they'll let her activate it until the Official Launch Date or what. But I will report back when it's rolling.

(Meanwhile, I'm rocking my first smartphone, the Droid R2D2... the chumps at VZW thought that geeks would pay a premium for a Star Wars-themed Droid 2... wrong-o. Their loss is my gain--$50 overnight shipped!)
 
I'm a Mac guy. Is the iPhone 4 a "must have"? In a word, no. Looking back, I would have probably been better off with a simple phone ( and no Kindle) as the company has given us perks like the 64GB wifi iPads. That would suffice for 99% of all my entertainment, reading and gaming needs as I also carry a Verizon mifi.

A year from now I'll go back to whatever the ATT free phone is.
 
I dont know how I lived without it...its the ultimate accessory...hands down
 
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