 MarkyDPremium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK | Strongly considering iPhones... Well, Sprint sucks on just about everything but price. I'm so sick of Sprint, their horrible CS, even worse phones.
So, I'm considering going to the Apple store tomorrow morning to get an iPhone for the wife and myself. The problem is, the same thing I'm paying $89 w/tax on Sprint will cost $160 from AT&T. That's the only thing holding me back. Is it worth it?!
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more |
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rugbyI think I know it all.VIP
join:2000-09-26
Indianapolis, IN | I've owned several dozen cellphones over the years, from dumb freebie phones to $700 Windows mobile phones. I've never enjoyed a phone as much as my iPhone 3G. Sure it's not perfect, but it is simple to use, has a good feature set, and I don't have to spend $$$ to get it to do what I want, unlike other platforms. |
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 wxbossThis is like Deja vu all over again.Premium
join:2005-01-30
Jacksonville, FL
1 edit | reply to MarkyD
I don't know what kind of a phone you're currently using, but the iPhone (especially with the 2.0 update) has become much more versatile.
While I own a touch, I would love to have its features integrated with a phone - it would be indispensable to me.
The monthly price increase for you would definitely be a factor you would need to take into account. Otherwise, I say 'take the leap' that is if the additional cost is something you can cover.
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"A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills
than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: Duh."
--Conan O'Brien |
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 dscl
join:2001-07-15
Suwanee, GA
1 edit | reply to MarkyD
I would ask people in your location who are AT&T customers how the AT&T coverage is in the area. |
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 Lorne8Premium
join:2002-02-10
Fort Worth, TX
2 edits | reply to MarkyD
Can you just pick one up at an Apple store? You're not too far away from me (Fort Worth) and they take 10-21 days to come in to an ATT store (although my white one came in 5 business days later).
With AT&T you have to sign a 2 year contract. But with that the 8GB iPhone is $200 and the 16GB iPhone is $300
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$160?
$30 Phone #1 unlimited Data
$30 Phone #2 unlimited Data
$30 Unlimited text messages on both phones
$10 2nd phone fee (sharing the same voice plan).
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$100
Assuming the taxes and such are around $10, are you really needing a $60 voice plan?? My wife and I are on a $40 plan and we always have max rollover minutes.
The cost would make me think twice if I wasn't getting 50% off the voice and data plans myself  |
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 ZyncotlZed XPremium
join:2002-09-13
Wayne, MI | reply to MarkyD
Why pay for unlimited text when the phone supports Email? It's free. You could also grab an IM client and use that instead of text messaging.
What is the infatuation with paying so much for a limited use feature that is offered for free in better versions? I turn off all incoming text messages on my phone plans.
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I'd take the time to insult your intelligence, but you probably wouldn't get it. |
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 MikePremium,Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA
W.O.W.
FairPoint
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1 edit | reply to MarkyD
I've been playing with an iPhone (and a macbook air) Apple gave me for two weeks.
Here's my impression.
Things I don't like:
GPS - useless. Standing in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh, it gave me a 4 mile radius of where I was. Same thing when I was at home. I'm waiting for Turn-by-Turn. HOWEVER... as I wrote this and got an email... Turn by Turn is coming. It's a firmware problem.
Screen - Smudges way too easy. Not too bright.
Camera - Same garbage 2mp in the previous. It looks really good on the iPhone itself, however, looks like junk on anything else. No flash.
No SMS without $5 more a month.
Battery life - awful. 3g standby is about 11 hours. Meaning if I travel, I'd have to charge it 3 times per day. Come back when it's 3 days.
No Stereo Bluetooth. It's an iPod, sort of.
I can't sync it between two computers without it whining.
Things I like:
UI is neat. I find it useful and effective.
Call quality - not too bad at all. A lot of echo if not in perfect signal range. It's a phone. You talk into it.
For some reason, I really like the mail interface.
It has some fairly neat apps.
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Would I buy one with the 20% monthly discount? No. Though if you have to choose between some crappy Windows Mobile phone, I'd get an iPhone instead and hope with firmware changes that most of it can be fixed. |
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MikePremium,Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA | reply to Zyncotl
Some people still have older cell phones and lack smartphones. Therefore, we're still somewhat tethered to text messaging. |
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 BellBoySteven Paul Jobs 1955-2011Premium
join:2001-02-20
Los Angeles, CA
1 edit | reply to Lorne8
said by Lorne8:Can you just pick one up at an Apple store? You're not too far away from me (Fort Worth) and they take 10-21 days to come in to an ATT store (although my white one came in 5 business days later). With AT&T you have to sign a 2 year contract. But with that the 8GB iPhone is $200 and the 16GB iPhone is $300 ------ $160? $30 Phone #1 unlimited Data $30 Phone #2 unlimited Data $30 Unlimited text messages on both phones $10 2nd phone fee (sharing the same voice plan). ---- $100 Assuming the taxes and such are around $10, are you really needing a $60 voice plan?? My wife and I are on a $40 plan and we always have max rollover minutes. The cost would make me think twice if I wasn't getting 50% off the voice and data plans myself I don't know where you're getting your figures from, but Marky would be a NEW AT&T user. He would be able to get the lowest plan available for the iPhone (single user) at $69 for 450 minutes. Sorry but that sucks. Add SMS to that for another $5 (also sucks). AFAIK, there is no way to get just a data plan with an iPhone--especially for a new user.
Since you want to get one for the missus too you can get a family plan--not sure if those are a better deal or not.
If you're in it for the hardware, I love the iPhone--it's the best phone I've ever used. Period, end of story. If you're in it for the minutes/call quality...like it's been said here before, ask your neighbors how their AT&T mobile service is. That should make your mind up for you--I can't get a signal in my own house, but I use it when I'm on the road so YMMV.
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"When the day comes that anyone can bend our country's laws and lawmakers to serve selfish, competitive ends, that day democratic government dies." -- Preston Tucker, June 1948 |
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wxbossThis is like Deja vu all over again.Premium
join:2005-01-30
Jacksonville, FL
1 edit | reply to Mike
said by Mike:Some people still have older cell phones and lack smartphones. Therefore, we're still somewhat tethered to text messaging. Texting is generally faster and more widely used. Yet, I think email will slowly gain ground and eventually take over as technology progresses and the acceptance or dependence upon email grows.
For instant communication, IM clients are an acceptable option, but information in larger mobile chunks (video, music & pictures) are more easily transmitted via email. Why do we need so many options when one integrated option could handle them all?
I recognize the current limitations, but I think that there is a vision towards the horizon that is being missed here. The iPhone/touch is closer to realizing this than anything else is at this point.
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"A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills
than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: Duh."
--Conan O'Brien |
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Lorne8Premium
join:2002-02-10
Fort Worth, TX
2 edits | reply to Mike
I'll argue with you Mike:
said by Mike: GPS - useless. It took mine (on 2.0) about 15 seconds to put a dot on my next door neighbors house. I wouldn't call it useless. Even if it gets close to where your are it makes finding your location on a map much eaiser
said by Mike: Screen - Smudges way too easy. Not too bright. By defualt the phones are set at about 60% brightness and auto-adjust is on. I think the brightness is superior to other phones. Try turning auto brightness off and turning it up all the way. Smudges - I can't argue with you on that at all, but humans do produce oil and you'll be hard pressed to find a cell touch screen that does better.
said by Mike: Camera - Same garbage 2mp in the previous. It looks really good on the iPhone itself, however, looks like junk on anything else. No flash.
It's good enough to get things on the fly - for example something you're about to buy so your wife at home can see what's going on. And, how many cell phones have flashes?C'mon Mike!  But you did forget about the lack of a video camera.
said by Mike:Battery life - awful.
Best battery life of a smartphone. How can you complain when nothing is better? It's lasts longer than an AT&T Tilt and that phone has a massive heavy battery. Also, when used as a normal phone it will last a week. It's only 3G web browsing that really sucks down the phone. WiFi at home only uses a 1/3 of the power
said by Mike:No Stereo Bluetooth. It's an iPod, sort of.
I don't think many people care about that... but valid point.
Otherwise... email getting rid of texts as a better option? Are you guys on crack? I love the iPhones text message setup and it's much easier to do than sending an email. Also, the way the text history works on an iPhone is awesome.
Edit: The battery life AnadTech link - »www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdo···x?i=3353
and the battry life test comparison (what differences!) -
»gizmodo.com/5025309/round-up-nin···-results
This graph has a couple of Blackberry's beating the iPhone on 3G tests - »www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=148348&p···oomIdx=1 |
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 DrewCapuGiant Diehard
join:2001-12-19
California | reply to wxboss
said by wxboss:For instant communication, IM clients are an acceptable option, but information in larger mobile chunks (video, music & pictures) are more easily transmitted via email. Why do we need so many options when one integrated option could handle them all? Sounds exactly like what Jabber/XMPP is supposed to be.
Some day... Some day... |
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| reply to MarkyD
When my wife got one, I told her NOT to buy me one, ever.......
Now I have one I absolutely love it, and the ability, to download, review and forward a Word doc whilst now where near a computer saved our arses the very first night we switched my wifes on!!!!!! |
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 bbarreraPremium,MVM
join:2000-10-23
Sacramento, CA
kudos:1
 ·SureWest Internet
| reply to Mike
said by Mike:GPS - useless. Standing in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh, it gave me a 4 mile radius of where I was. Same thing when I was at home. I'm waiting for Turn-by-Turn. HOWEVER... as I wrote this and got an email... Turn by Turn is coming. It's a firmware problem. Screen - Smudges way too easy. Not too bright. Go to Apple store and checkout "Power Support Anti-Glare Film Set for iPhone" which totally solves smudging problem and also protects the screen from scratches.
I've got the original iPhone and can honestly say that I use "GPS" frequently it has worked extremely well except on one occasion. That said I wouldn't expect GPS to work well in any downtown due to tall buildings. We have issues with XM Radio reception in our Acura MDX while driving in around the San Francisco downtown in addition to issues driving in small/large canyons around California.
I constantly use the web browser for business and nothing compares. Mail works very well except when switching between inboxes of multiple accounts -- requires drilling up two levels and then drilling down two levels. The games and other apps are great. |
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| reply to MarkyD
I had the original iphone when I was with AT&T (back when Cingular was around before AT&T too). I liked it but it lacked some basic functions that I felt I couldn't continue to go without. I also had minor issues with AT&T and left for Verizon Wireless. I think I've found a phone that gives me pretty much everything i need in a mobile phone: the Blackberry Curve. I'll admit, the interface is not cool like the iPhone, but when it comes to email and texting and the ability to add a lot of apps to the phone really makes it hard not to like the Curve. Plus it has a full tactile qwerty keyboard. I'd take a test drive of the Curve too, if I were you.
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Lets go Giants!! |
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wxbossThis is like Deja vu all over again.Premium
join:2005-01-30
Jacksonville, FL | reply to DrewCapu
said by DrewCapu:said by wxboss:For instant communication, IM clients are an acceptable option, but information in larger mobile chunks (video, music & pictures) are more easily transmitted via email. Why do we need so many options when one integrated option could handle them all? Sounds exactly like what Jabber/XMPP is supposed to be. Some day... Some day... 'Supposed to be...' Let's not narrow ourselves down to a particular client - email isn't dependent upon a certain application. This is the basis of the current argument.
Devise a mobile email standard capable of handling these issues and the problem is solved. Again, the iPone/touch is closer to the mark.
--
"A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills
than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: Duh."
--Conan O'Brien |
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ZyncotlZed XPremium
join:2002-09-13
Wayne, MI | reply to Mike
said by Mike:Some people still have older cell phones and lack smartphones. Therefore, we're still somewhat tethered to text messaging. Sorry, that was really meant for iPhone users or other smart phones only. If you have a phone only then text is a viable option (though I still blocked it there. I HATE text messages.) |
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 DogfatherPremium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | reply to rugby
said by rugby:I've owned several dozen cellphones over the years, from dumb freebie phones to $700 Windows mobile phones. I've never enjoyed a phone as much as my iPhone 3G. Sure it's not perfect, but it is simple to use, has a good feature set, and I don't have to spend $$$ to get it to do what I want, unlike other platforms. My experience exactly. |
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 HiVoltPremium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
kudos:11
·TekSavvy DSL
 ·TekSavvy Cable
| said by Dogfather:said by rugby:I've owned several dozen cellphones over the years, from dumb freebie phones to $700 Windows mobile phones. I've never enjoyed a phone as much as my iPhone 3G. Sure it's not perfect, but it is simple to use, has a good feature set, and I don't have to spend $$$ to get it to do what I want, unlike other platforms. My experience exactly. I've got to agree... If Apple could really include more of the common sense features that other phones have had for years, they could really destroy the competition.
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DogfatherPremium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | reply to kerriskandie
said by kerriskandie:When my wife got one, I told her NOT to buy me one, ever....... Now I have one I absolutely love it, and the ability, to download, review and forward a Word doc whilst now where near a computer saved our arses the very first night we switched my wifes on!!!!!! Now if only we could edit docs. That's the only thing I miss that I have on my Treo700W...Pocket Word.
Bring on Pocket Pages bizaches! |
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