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Subject: I-phone thoughts?
Posted by: biliruben
- [33258140] Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 14:30
Now that it sounds like the price is coming down for the I-phone and they are changing their exclusivity agreements, I may start to consider the I-phone.
I vacillate between just wanting a simple, small phone with long battery life, to being seduced by some of the features of a smart phone. I really have no idea if I'd use them, but I'm starting to think I might.
Who are the main competitors?
LG Vu
Blackberry
Moto Q
Nokia N95
Palm Treo
Any others? Any experiences good or bad with any of these?
Here's the NYTimes article on the new features and pricing:
Mr. Jobs said the new iPhone 3G, to be available in the United States through AT&T beginning on July 11, will sell for $199 for the 8-gigabyte model and $299 for a 16-gigabyte model.
Any opinions on whether the extra 8G is worth the price? Will it effect functionality or simply data storage?
It sounds like AT&T will subsidies the phone if you sign up for a 2-year contract. Here's an interesting editorial critical of the pricing scheme:
In recent months, wireless carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless have made much of the notion that they are willing to embrace a more open attitude toward consumers, promising to allow them to buy full-priced mobile phones and use them on the network of their choosing. But AT&T’s decision to subsidize the iPhone but require customers to sign a two-year contract “undermines progress towards an open network future,” wrote Mr. Moffett.
I'd love to hear anyone's views. I'm sure some of you are starting to ponder whether it's worth it. What do you think? It would be great also to hear from any current users out there, but I just thought it would be good to start a thread to gather info. |
| 1 | biliruben
ID: 33258140
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 14:52
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AT&T said it would subsidize the phones to attract consumers. Under the plan, unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at $40. Does that really mean what it sounds like it means? Full functionality for just 70 smackers a month?
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| 2 | Mattinglyinthehall
Dude
ID: 01629107
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 15:20
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The web browser on my blackberry is pretty slow - comparable with dial-up, I'd say. Though its at least 1 generation older than the current models and it's lot faster than the last model I had, which was at least 1 generation older than this one. So maybe the latest ones have improved a bit. It's work issued and I really don't know much about them.
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| 3 | biliruben
ID: 33258140
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 15:25
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3G?
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| 4 | Tree
ID: 3533298
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 15:28
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from what i'm hearing though, the plans are much more expensive now. so instead of paying on the front end, you're paying more in the long run.
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| 5 | biliruben
ID: 33258140
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 15:35
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Really? So the article stating $30 for data and $40 for voice is incorrect? Or was it cheaper before?
The second article I linked to deriding 2-year contracts at all has merit, but I think I'd be willing to commit to 2-years if it was only $70/mo for full functionality.
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| 6 | biliruben
ID: 33258140
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 15:36
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The At&T website (who's service I'm currently using with a crappy ol' razor) currently has I-phones as "unavailable" unfortunately. They're website kinda sucks, but I would like to get more hard info on what the pricing really is going to be.
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| 7 | blue hen
ID: 30311814
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 16:17
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Most data plans should be about $15. I wouldn't imagine you'd ever need to pay more than $25 for data.
Also, you don't need a "smart phone" to do lots of cool things. My primary phone is an LG VX8300 for Verizon and I use VZ Navigator for maps (this one costs a couple bucks; comparable services are free on some other carriers) and I get a sports experience that's better than what you could get on a blackberry (although I am a little biased).
Blackberry browsers are about to see a big improvement in speed across the board. And they'll be much better equipped to handle video.
This price for the iPhone makes it viable, but 2-year contracts kind of suck. If you're going to take advantage of the iPod functionality, that might be the way to go.
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| 8 | Razor
ID: 4532926
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 16:19
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They are unavailable because there is nothing to buy yet. They are done making and selling the "old" iPhones.
Keeping in mind that an iPhone can hold mp3s, podcasts, photos and video, I would think you'd want as much space as you could get. I keep my 30 gig iPod pretty close to full, but I don't keep many photos on there. You'll definitely want a hefty music library on your iPhone at the very least.
I am going to switch from Verizon to AT&T as soon as it's feasible for me just to get an iPhone. Nothing else really compares.
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| 9 | Building 7
ID: 471052128
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 17:46
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I think 3G is the system used by air cards in laptops. Those work pretty good.
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| 10 | biliruben
ID: 33258140
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 17:51
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...crappy ol' razor...
No offense intended. ;)
Do you have a smartphone now, razor? Why do you say there is no comparison? Have you looked at a lot of these? I watched a review of the Vu and it looked pretty cool.
BH - yeah, I have a limited dataplan for $5/mo now, but the software is so horrible and the transfer speeds so slow, it's pretty much unusable.
I don't know if I would jam it with more than 8G, but maybe I would. I don't have an Ipod now, so I am having trouble getting a feel for how much that is. I pretty much listen to Chumbawamba over and over again anyway. ;)
I wonder if that price includes texts.
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| 11 | biliruben
ID: 33258140
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 20:02
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Samsung Insinct - I-phone rival.
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| 12 | astade
ID: 1533770
Wed, Jun 11, 2008, 22:54
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Bili,
I have had the iPhone for nearly a year now. I have been a Windows guy from the beginning so buying this phone felt weird at first (like I was the guy on those Mac commercials ;)). Having used it rigorously, I do have some issues. The battery is good for maybe 4-5hrs of browsing (the talk time is far better). The accelerometer that dictates when to switch into landscape mode doesn't work on occasion. Alot of email attachments cannot be viewed and the same goes for flash video embedded into websites. Again, maybe I'm being too picky because I use it so much, but as a consumer who paid quite a bit I still expect the best and those are some pretty obvious flaws.
On the other hand, the interface is amazing. It's very intuitive (my manual was literally a pamphlet) and it is very durable. Despite putting it in my pockets all the time, I have only gotten one scratch on the screen. In retrospect if I had gotten a case or put on the crystal screen it would have still been imaculate. A big cause of initial concern was importing things like all my contacts, bookmarks, etc and it was very straightforward with very little manual work on my part. The ability to get updates to firmware and patches via iTunes is great. It has already improved alot imo. As far as capacity goes I only have like 1gig of music so I don't find space to be an issue, but if you plan on using it alot for music then going for the bigger size makes sense. Btw, the camera is actually better than I expected.
The coolest thing to me though is being bored at work and going to ESPN and streaming PodCasts directly to my phone. Not only is it very enjoyable but it's a sign of how much the technology has improved.
Feel free to email me if you have any other questions, one of my friends works for Apple, so if i can't answer it then I can forward it to him.
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| 13 | biliruben
ID: 4911361723
Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 11:34
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Great info, Astade. Thanks!
Right now I don't think I would fill the 8 gigs, but in two years, who knows! I wish you could add memory and have battery access.
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