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Old 08-08-2009, 02:02 PM
 
Location: New Jersey
858 posts, read 2,985,508 times
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Was toying with a neighbors Iphone last night, and it's really awesome what you can do with it, even Google earth! Needless to say, my wife wants to switch from our regular Verizon cell phone, and get two Iphones.

Just wondering what you guys who have it think of it, and those who had it, and didn't like it.

BTW, Does Verizon have anything similar to the Iphone?

Thank you,....marc
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Old 08-08-2009, 11:16 PM
 
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IMO nothing is as good as an iPhone, although if you want to stay with Verizon, there are some good smart phone alternatives, including the new Blackberrys. Some other phone may have other features you want, like swappable batteries or memory card slots, etc. The iPhone comes with a ton of memory capacity, but the battery is built in and if you just stick with using it as a phone, will need a charge after two days. Using processor intensive apps will run it dead after most of a business day. I have a USB cable at my work computer to charge it at work, a charger on my night stand at home to charge it at night, and a car charger for road trips and driving, so a dead iPhone never happens with me, but its something to think about.

I have about a half dozen friends that have switched from Verizon to AT&T for the iPhone, and I have an iPhone. They all love the phone, love the apps - there's really an app for everything. Depending on where they live in the US, they either don't miss Verizon at all or they notice the service difference, but none have switched back. The hardware is unmatched in quality and Apple customer service is great - AT&T's is okay, but you don't need to deal with customer service generally.

Service wise, AT&T coverage is not a comprehensoive as Verizon -AT&T started rolling out its 3G network about two years after Verizon and it shows - when you get out of the urban areas, sometimes people with Verizon will have service when AT&T folks do not, or get a dropped call.

The iTunes/App Store with Apple is unmatched imo - no other setup works as well, but that's pretty much par for the course when Apple is involved. That said, Verizon and Sprint are getting their App stores off the ground and have potential to be good. As part of a unified system, the Mac-iPhone set up is great, but on Windows it loses some synergy. One of the best things about Apple is how well everything works as a seamless end to end system - everything always works and works in such innovative ways it leaves you amazed. The less of the end to end system you buy into, the less synergy you'll see, but the device can easily stand on its own merits.

If you want the apps and interface, an Apple Touch is basically an iPhone without the phone bits - you still get the apps, its wi-fi, and an ipod.
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Old 08-09-2009, 11:31 AM
 
8,369 posts, read 7,311,639 times
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I've had an iPhone 3G for the past year. Bought one for myself and one for my father.

Costs me about $120 a month in AT&T charges for both phones. Don't ask how much the original phones cost...much more than the current price of $99 each for a 3G.

Dad and I only use about 30 minutes a month each in phone calls. We've got over 5000 roll-over minutes that we've been pushing along.

Neither of us texts. If texting is important to you, know that the virtual keyboard isn't as easy to use as an actual keyboard (but it's still much better than trying to type on a numeric phone keypad). You would be better served with another phone if texting is your thing.

Web browsing is unsurpassed. I don't know of any phone that has as large or as good a video screen as the iPhone. The downside of too much web browsing is that I usually have to charge my phone at least once a day, maybe twice a day. I've got an assortment of charging cables for use at work, at home and in my car.

Email isn't "real-time"...I have to open my e-mail app for it to retrieve any incoming emails. Blackberry phones are superior to the iPhone in this regard.

The apps are fun...for a while. I was more into them when I first got the phone...now, I only use the Google Maps app, the stock app and the weather app regularly.

The iPod feature on the iPhone is excellent. I hook my phone up to a PC for iTunes. I've got no complaints about the set up.

The iPhone 3G and 3Gs both have GPS, but it sucks the life out of your battery...I use it only sparingly...but when I do use it, it's invaluable. However, it's not a substitue for an actual GPS system for your car.

The camera on my 3G is passable at best, the camera on the 3Gs is supposed to be better. I've used the iPhone's camera in a pinch, but I use a real camera when I want better pictures.

I'm also fortunate to live in an area with good AT&T coverage. I never lose signal and only rarely lose 3G connectivity.
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Old 08-09-2009, 12:24 PM
 
Location: Bon Temps
1,741 posts, read 4,562,591 times
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I have one of the original iPhones, I love it... it is really cool to have like an iPod AND a phone in the same device. One less thing to have to carry. Also having access to the internet and info and stuff is very handy.

I hear the newer ones are much cooler... more space and better features. You can't beat the iPhone.
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Old 08-09-2009, 09:53 PM
 
3,743 posts, read 13,639,077 times
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The thing about typing on the iPhone.... this is my personal experience and opinions here. The keyboard is virtual, so its pixels on the screen. The design decisions behind this are that it lets you have a bigger screen when you're not typing and it allows you to change keyboards if you type in different languages, etc. So, okay, I understand the logic.

It took me about a week to get used to the keyboard. At first I was expecting tactile feedback like you get with a 3 dimensional button, but I pretty quickly got used to the tap on glass feel to know I was typing, plus when you press a key it expands so you also have visual feedback when you type.

One of the best things I like about typing is now you have a horizontal keyboard so you can thumb type with both hands just like on a Blackberry. Also, when you type, the autocorrect catches 95% of mispelling and fat finger typing. Every once in a while you need to go back and correct something, like when you mean to spell "time" but fat finger "tome" - it won't correct that. Also, some acronymns will autocorrect if you don't at least capitalize the first letter, so there's some nuance. The iPhone encourages spelling things out fully since autocorrect will correct shorthand. The net result is you can type fast and loose and most likely the message will be grammatically and contextually correct, but a proof read will ensure that. If you do see something that needs correcting, you can point with your finger and the cursor will move to that spot.

As for GPS, one of the major GPS companies is soon releasing a dash mount and App that is basically what you'd get in a real GPS systrem. It will offer turn-based vocal commands and the same interface as you'd get with a regularTomTom or Garmin. Now, You can use Google Maps for turn based directions, but its step based, not live, however your location on the map is live. The new App coming is fully automated.

Also, I have 450 min/month ($40), the data plan ($20), and 200 txt messages ($5), so my monthly with taxes and fees is around $80/mo.

I've tried a 3GS camera and it is much better than my 3G - it has autofocus and facial recognition.
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Old 08-10-2009, 08:37 AM
 
Location: Houston
407 posts, read 1,729,966 times
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My husband and I both have the new 3GS and I agree with everything that's been said here. I love the phone. I call it my "micro-mac" because it's more like a computer than a phone.

However, I wanted to mention 2 shortcomings that surprised me. First, the required data package does not include text messaging so you'll have to pay extra for that. We have unlimited family text which includes picture messaging (MMS). At this time, the iphone 3GS can not send or receive picture messages. It's my understanding that this is a problem on AT&T's side but it's expected to be available "late Summer 2009". Secondly, the phone has bluetooth capability but it will only link with headsets. Not a huge deal really, it just surprised me. My daughter took a picture with her phone and wanted to send it to me. I couldn't receive it so she said no problem, I'll "bluetooth" it to you but I couldn't receive it. She could send it as an email attachement but we don't have a data package on her phone. However, repeating, I still love my iphone.
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Old 08-10-2009, 08:58 AM
 
13,811 posts, read 27,315,546 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marc515 View Post
Was toying with a neighbors Iphone last night, and it's really awesome what you can do with it, even Google earth! Needless to say, my wife wants to switch from our regular Verizon cell phone, and get two Iphones.
I left Verizon to try the iPhone. It was a cool phone but AT&T as a network is definitely second tier. I returned the phones and we went back to Verizon after 11 days with AT&T.

Verizon -> AT&T w/ iPhone, considering going back to Verizon
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Old 08-10-2009, 09:27 AM
 
615 posts, read 1,688,442 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sayantsi View Post
Service wise, AT&T coverage is not a comprehensoive as Verizon -AT&T started rolling out its 3G network about two years after Verizon and it shows - when you get out of the urban areas, sometimes people with Verizon will have service when AT&T folks do not, or get a dropped call.
I've come to the conclusion that this is totally regional because I have been in plenty of areas where I have coverage with myAT&T iphone and my fellow verizon friends have nothing. Over the last 10 years I have switched from Verizon (used to be bell south) to at&t when I moved up north. we traveled quite a bit (husband was a commericial pilot) and we always had better coverage with at&t, even out in the middle of wyoming/colorado. THen we move back down to the carolinas and switched to verizon because they seemed to have better coverage. well last year I wanted an iphone so bad that I went back to at&t, still live in the carolinas and have not had aproblem at all. THere is one area that I can think of where I drop a call but it must be interpherance because that area was bad with verizon as well.

I LOVE my iphone. it was a bday present from my dad and when we walked in to get it, my dad walked out with one as well. For about $140 including taxes we share 1000 minutes. he doesn't use the phone as much as me so i have a ton of rollover minutes. My brother who is our family ocmputer expert is now looking at getting one and he was trashing them this time last year!

I have the second generation one and no complaints yet. The only disappointment is not having picture text messaging. that does appear to be at&t because the iphones in ENgland have it.
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Old 08-10-2009, 09:37 AM
 
733 posts, read 1,922,498 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marc515 View Post
Was toying with a neighbors Iphone last night, and it's really awesome what you can do with it, even Google earth! Needless to say, my wife wants to switch from our regular Verizon cell phone, and get two Iphones.

Just wondering what you guys who have it think of it, and those who had it, and didn't like it.

BTW, Does Verizon have anything similar to the Iphone?

Thank you,....marc
I have an iPhone too, and I have to say it is the best phone I have ever owned. Funny enough, it isn't the most expensive, but it is the best.

As for coverage, it depends on where you live. I have never had a dropped call, and haven't had any issue with making or losing calls. I do love my iPhone, and my hubby is *dying* to get his this December ( he had to wait for is update).
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Old 08-10-2009, 11:24 AM
 
1,095 posts, read 3,986,262 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sayantsi View Post
As part of a unified system, the Mac-iPhone set up is great, but on Windows it loses some synergy. One of the best things about Apple is how well everything works as a seamless end to end system - everything always works and works in such innovative ways it leaves you amazed.
Sayantsi, I'm curious about how the iPhone experience is different with a Mac. I sync mine with my Windows laptop. What am I missing?
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