Apple I phone

[SGHOM]

Possibly the most pathetic excuse for a phone I have ever had the misfortune to own.
The bad points far outweigh the goodpoints.
But it looks like I'm stuck with it for the next 2 years.

[Spirit]

Loving mine Derek, but there are a few downsides.

1: Bluetooth is crap.....cannot copy my address book to my in car system
2: Email can be difficult to set up but is fine once up and running
3: No push email with the majority of email providers
4: Poor battery life - but then I can understand why

What don't you like ?

[VR4Kaos]

apart from no bluetooth i love mine get it jailbroke mate and you will love it foreva and two years will pass rapid lol

[SGHOM]

Apart from no Bluetooth. .. You need fingers of a 3 month old with anorexia to use it! No pointers work.
As for the apps ..

[ANTHONY]

problem is you've gone and got a young persons phone,,your too old for all this tecno stuff now

[Spirit]

You need fingers of a 3 month old with anorexia to use it! No pointers work.
As for the apps ..

Got to disagree mate........no major issues for my podgy fingers. The apps are great as most are free so you can download and mess around with 'em. On the BB's they cost a fortune in comparison.

Haven't missed my BB Storm since the day I got the iPhone.

[SGHOM]

It would be nice to scroll the apps without going online. But that's not possible.
So it slows the phone down by 99.9%

[ANTHONY]

So it slows the phone down by 99.9% are you using broadband or dial up /woot

[SGHOM]

Open reach. So it's bound to be crap lol

[Spirit]

You can't really blame your internet connection on the phone though can you ?

Are you getting a 3G signal where you are Derek ?

[SGHOM]

You can't really blame your internet connection on the phone though can you ?

Are you getting a 3G signal where you are Derek ?

The signal is pathetic where I live.... on any network. 02 is the best I can get.

And where is the text message in / out box?? are they all lumped together? /Grrr

[Atik]

Yes, they are all lumped together. Better if you ask me. You'll get used to it Derek. Get it Jailbroken and install all the apps you want! You can get some really cool and quirky ones.

[SGHOM]

Yes, they are all lumped together. Better if you ask me. .
thats pathetic /wall

not very good for videos either..... seeing as it dont have video ?? £20 camera's have video!! /Camera2

[Atik]

Download a video app then! LOL

I downloaded iVideoCamera for £0.59p which is pretty nifty. Quite a smooth running app and hasnt given me any issues. There is another called QikVideo whish is also pretty good, but that costs £1.19 I think.

Edit: Just to add that these apps will give the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G video recording capability. The 3GS has its own app for that, but these ones will work also.

[WildCards]

£20 camera's have video!! /Camera2

Go and get one of those then :furious3:

[Spirit]

The 3GS does have a video camera Derek......have you got an old model ?

If you have a 3GS then click on the camera icon and at the bottom right you can switch from still pictures to video.

[SGHOM]

Not got the 3Gs just the 8 gig. Still learning how to drive it!

[mesobitchy]

iv not long had my iphone, and i love it!
garry has the orignal iphone, and i think that is built better then the 3G or 3Gs, simply due to it having the metal back rather then the plastic one being slightly narrower as well.
hes droped it a couple of times and launched it at a wall, and it still works fine as the day he got it.
i thought i would have problems getting used to the iphone when i got it, as i brefiely owned a nokia 5530, and what a pile of crap that was!
ok i dont have a video cam on this, but we didnt just slpash out on a cannon fancy dancy HD cam for nothing!

really i cant see me doing with out the iphone now, i love it, i love the texts being lumped together, everything is just so much smoother and easier to use and find.
and sometimes i do wish i had the styles like the 5530 as it can be handy and sometimes i wish jarva script worked on it, but hey the iphone 3G 8gig, win win!
and yes im am on o2 as well .

[Rambaud]

Don't want/need the 'phone side - so I am considering the iPod Touch and save a few hundred pounds. :)

And then find a buyer for my Ipod Classic.

[bluemooney]

love my iphone the next version of software update will sort the blue tooth issues .

texts are in different colours so it is like having a conversation

as for the camera it is a phone first with a camera not a camera with a phone i have a very cheap and small 8gb camera for pics was 59quid but for posting to face book the iphone camera is good enough.

the apps are brill

all this from someone who is not apples biggest fan

i refused to buy an ipod because i had to rebuy music i had on cd from the istore.

i have tried various BB's and HTC phones but the iphone is the best at the moment swapped my palm pre for the 32 3gs and dont think it was a bad choice to make.




gaz

[Turbo_Steve]

The apps store is absolutely Epic, and in itself the best reason to own an iPhone.
The e-mail is dire, the touch-keyboard is distinctly mediocre, I've never heard anything good about the bluetooth, and the so-called ultra-responsive interface is so stupendously overrated it's flabbergasting!

The touch-scroll is the only bit that is truly "responsive" and indicative of the fact that one bad aspect of a product (i.e. non-responsive scrolling) can totally alienate the user. Kudos to apple for realising what people didn't like about other phones and fixing it. I've had the opportunity to "test drive"a 3GS for a weekend, and after all the hype I was deeply...deeply DEEPLY dissapointed.

If someone could make a Blackberry with a decent camera and the iPods app store and touch scroll, it would be THE device to have.

AS yet, there still isn't a single device on the market woth the exorbitant costs associated with them.

[Rambaud]

>snip>

i refused to buy an ipod because i had to rebuy music i had on cd from the istore.

<snip>



gaz

Why? I imported my music into iTunes. Some of the lossless stuff (FLAC, APE etc) had to be converted to ALAC (Apple Lossless).

[John TheAntique]

" i refused to buy an ipod because i had to rebuy music i had on cd from the istore "Why?? I.ve put most of my CDs and LPs on to mine.

[bluemooney]

when ipods first came out

i know now you can through itunes and other software

gaz

[Beastlee]

iphone is the worlds best mini-pc IMO. I use my all day every day and it does the lot. Far better once jailbroken as far as I'm concerned and I now use it for work, IT Support, now too. OK i has a couple of faults, e-mail being one of them, but as long as you know how to work around them it's fantastic.

Pete I can sync my phonebook with my JVC unit but I think it's because I have a jailbroken phone with a bluetooth enhancement installed. I'll check it out and provide some info if it helps.

[Spirit]

Yeah thanks Lee, and I'm sure you're right that it's because yours is jailbroken.

I have looked into it and looks like Apple are really anal about what they will let the phone do.

[Turbo_Steve]

Indeed, and it's a shame as it has so very much potential!

[Atik]

:( My iPhone has stopped auto-rotating. Any ideas what this could be?

[giblet]

:( My iPhone has stopped auto-rotating. Any ideas what this could be?

because steve jobs ordered it to? :p

[Atik]

LOL

But seriously, its beginning to annoy me now :(

[giblet]

Have you tried the proper reboot when you hold down the home button and the power button? tried turning auto rotate off and then back on?

I must admit I do love the gui and the apps on the iphone, but I need a physical keyboard and things like drag and drop so I went for a N97. It has its own issues but overall it aint bad!

[Beastlee]

Atik, is it jailbrioken? On a jailbroken phone you can lock it. Have you installed any new Apps recently?

[Roadrunner]

If someone could make a Blackberry with a decent camera and the iPods app store and touch scroll, it would be THE device to have.


Latest BlackBerries have a 3.2Mp camera with flash and video capability which is good for a phone imho (I can't make phone calls from my 12Mp camera! ;) ) and the BlackBerry App Store - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/appworld/? - whilst not (and will never be) as comprehensive as Apple's equivalent, provides a useful source of additional apps.

[Atik]

Have you tried the proper reboot when you hold down the home button and the power button? tried turning auto rotate off and then back on?

Yep, tried a proper reboot to no effect. I cant see any option to turning the auto rotate on/off. Where is the option?


Atik, is it jailbrioken? On a jailbroken phone you can lock it. Have you installed any new Apps recently?
Not Jailbroken, and the only apps I installed recently were Blast Billiards and iVideoCamera.

[ianturbo]

thats pathetic /wall

not very good for videos either..... seeing as it dont have video ?? £20 camera's have video!! /Camera2
i have video on mine ?? and i found it hard work at first but now (except the bluetooth ) its a brill phone ,(is it a phone ??)/Elmo
ian

[Turbo_Steve]

Latest BlackBerries have a 3.2Mp camera with flash and video capability which is good for a phone imho (I can't make phone calls from my 12Mp camera! ) and the BlackBerry App Store - http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/appworld/? - whilst not (and will never be) as comprehensive as Apple's equivalent, provides a useful source of additional apps.

I know exactly where you're coming from, dude - however:
The apps aren't even a patch on the apple ones. They're just not even close, and it's a real shame. Partly this is because the RIM API doesn't allow decent access to the hardware from what I gather.

regarding the camera: all the megapixels in the world won't save the camera from having a cheap and nasty plastic lens and rotten rotten software: the worst case I've seen was on a Storm, which took 8 seconds from pressing the "shutter button" to actually taking a picture.

As yet, I've not used a camera-phone which came even remotely close to a real camera, with the possible exception of some of the Sony Ericssons: Carl Zeiss lens and some decent software. They even work reasonably in low light levels. Which is a shame, as their phones are looking distinctly second rate these days.

By way of example, we have a 12MP compact digital camera, and an 8MP dSLR.
Guess which takes the better pictures? :)

I'd be dead interested if Nikon or Canon decided to release a phone: I bet the camera would be top notch. Not sure how the rest would pan out.

I'm firmly of the belief that there isn't a decent mobile phone out there. When you buy a car, you make certain compromises, but overall the product generally "just works" for you. Unfortunately, mobile phone companies seem to have lost sight of a basic product that is any good: rather than being especially good at any one thing (for example, signal aquisition and call quality would be a really good start!) they all seem to be pretty mediocre at everything.

Having seen some of Nokia's touchsreen failures, they have REALLY lost their way!

[Beastlee]

Pete, on my 3GS (Firmware 3.1.2) when I go to Settings->General->Bluetooth then press the small blue arrow to the right of the head-unit I get the option 'Sync Contacts' immediately below the 'Forget This Device'. There's also two options, 'Phone Favorites' and 'Phone Recents', as well as my groups that I can choose from. Do you get the same options?
The only Bluetooth add-on I seem to have added with from Cydia (Jailbroken app installer) is Bluetooth Profile Selector. This seems to allow you to enable A2DP, Remote, Phonebook and Handsfree per device.....I'm guessing this may have been what made it work. I'm guessing that's a good enough reason to jailbreak an iPhone.

[Atik]

I fixed my screen rotation issue. Took it into the Apple store and they opened it and found that the cable had 'undone' itself! How exactly?!?

Anyway, I'm now rotating... wheeeee... I'm dizzy now!

[Confused]

My iPhone has always synced it's phonebook with my Parrot bluetooth kit in the car.

The on screen keyboard is amazing - if you know the *rough* layout of a QWERTY keyboard, you can just hammer the screen in about the right area at almost any speed you want, and it'll, 98 times out of 100, get the word you're thinking of. No other on-screen keyboard, or even key-based keyboard (other than a full-size laptop/desktop keyboard) can come close for input speed.

There are some great apps, and the AppStore is great.

Unfortunately, there are also a large number of apps that are utter tripe! ;) But, you get user-created content, and that's the mix you'll inevitably get.


I've had my 2g iPhone for nearly 2 years now, and can't think of any other phone I'd want (well, other than maybe a 3G(s) for the faster browsing).

As for camera... not a patch on the K750i/K800i's I had previously, but, the camera isn't one of the main features (as it was on the K750/800). Plus, I've got a Canon 400D and 40D sat at home, anyway! ;) Oh, and a Canon HF-200 full-HD video camera.

[Spirit]

Pete, on my 3GS (Firmware 3.1.2) when I go to Settings->General->Bluetooth then press the small blue arrow to the right of the head-unit I get the option 'Sync Contacts' immediately below the 'Forget This Device'. There's also two options, 'Phone Favorites' and 'Phone Recents', as well as my groups that I can choose from. Do you get the same options?


No mate I only get the "forget this device" option :sad3:

[Beastlee]

Pete, what version firmware are you on? If you've not gone to 3.1.3 yet there's still time and I really would recommend doing it before the opportunity has gone.

Theres a 30 second method to jailbreaking it and it's perfectly safe. You'll find the issues you have with it can be almost completely resolved for free.


Derek, the same goes for you, there's a video add-on for the normal 3G phones if you jailbreak.

If either of you want more info PM me.

[Spirit]

Already on 3.1.3 mate, and tbh I know that jailbreaking it voids the warranty so I may have to suffer as it is.

[Turbo_Steve]

No other on-screen keyboard, or even key-based keyboard (other than a full-size laptop/desktop keyboard) can come close for input speed.

Okay. I'm anal, but I can't let that one slide....back to back a device like a blackberry will consistently deliver faster and more reliable data entry than any touchscreen: the iPhone on screen keyboard is best of breed, yes, but it's not even in the same ball park as a decent physical keyboard - ask any blackberry owner who has an iPhone, and they will always say that if they had to write as many e-mails on the iPhone as on the BB they would want it to have a the blackberry keyboard.

That's not to say that the touchscreem isn't ideal for the iPhone: it is the best compromise for the iPhones typical use, which is good design. It isn't, however as effective for prolonged typing...it IS slower, and it's also more tiring to use a touchscreen. Of course, if you're not a corporate b!tch, or an avid social networker, you're likely to be fine.


And you have some lovely toys there, dude :)

[Confused]

I will admit I've not used a proper Blackberry in anger, but I have had experience with using them.

My work phone is a Nokia E63, which has a full-QWERTY keyboard, and that is just terrible - too many keys in too small a space. Maybe a semi-QWERTY would be better for that?


However - maybe because I've yet to use a Blackberry in anger, being unaware to it's quirks and it's foibles, much like one would be using an iPhone's on-screen keyboard for only a short period of time, I am not fully qualified to quantitatively say one is better than the other (I guess I missed the "in my experience" bit from my post that you quoted)


But, my opinion is still that the iPhone's on-screen keyboard is the best of the bunch, and that it's better in my experience than any physical keyboards I've used on a regular basis in the past - that's typical triple-key 2-9, T9, and full-qwerty on my work's Nokia E63 (so much so, that I don't actually use it for corporate emails, instead I use my iPhone, which is sync'd to my Exchange mailbox using OWA over HTTPS.

[Beastlee]

Already on 3.1.3 mate, and tbh I know that jailbreaking it voids the warranty so I may have to suffer as it is.

The only way Apple will know if you had a jailbroken iPhone is if the hardware fails and it needs a repair. I can see what you're saying but trust me excepting the hardware failure if you JB Apple ain't going to know otherwise as you can reverse it in 5 minutes.


Okay. I'm anal, but I can't let that one slide....back to back a device like a blackberry will consistently deliver faster and more reliable data entry than any touchscreen: the iPhone on screen keyboard is best of breed, yes, but it's not even in the same ball park as a decent physical keyboard - ask any blackberry owner who has an iPhone, and they will always say that if they had to write as many e-mails on the iPhone as on the BB they would want it to have a the blackberry keyboard.

Not to sound like a stuck record but once you JB you can add the improved QWERT keyboard that improves the stock KB ten fold. It really does become faster and easier than most physical keyboards. I tried a Blackberry and the physical keys were far more difficult to hit correctly with my fingers than the iPhone. I also like the fact that if I hol dmy finger on a letter I get al lthe alternatives within a split second, I only have to swipe to it and release to get the alt character, none of this multiple pushes etc. Can't remember how the BB handled it tho.

[Turbo_Steve]

I've not used a jailbroken iPhone....sounds like maybe I should, as the keyboard was a source of some annoyance to me!



I looked after a few hundred mobile devices at my last place, so got to have lots of comparitive feedback - also lots of discussion with the vodafone rep and o2 rep.........everyone....EVERYONE preferred the useability and toys and general niceness of the iphone, but when we linked it to exchange it caused muchos e-mail frustration. Most people (over 50) stated that they'd put up with the increased fiddlyness of e-mail for the other aspects of the iphone. However, a lot of others felt it was just so much easier with a bold.
Now...that being said this was a userbase already established with blackberries.....though MUCH older models, so very little resemblance.
You should have heard the derisive scorn the poured on the Storm :(

[Confused]

Now...that being said this was a userbase already established with blackberries.....though MUCH older models, so very little resemblance.

Maybe that's nail meet head! If they're "used" to an older Blackberry, then the iPhone's different mail client/keyboard could be considered very "bad", especially if maybe after very little (comparative) use.

Anyhoo, there's a reason why there's plenty of different phones out there, and all we can do is give our opinions on what it is we all like, and by the very nature, some may prefer something else! :D

[666damned]

what's an iPhone?......................think i'll stick with my 3310.......................:P :P

[Confused]

what's an iPhone?......................think i'll stick with my 3310.......................:P :P

If it had Bluetooth, could store more contacts, more text messages, and get emails, I'd still quite like my old Nokia 6100.

It was simple, light and small.

[Turbo_Steve]

It was a 6 month trial, so they had plenty of time to "suck it up" as it were....and the differences between the older "jog dial" blackberries and the newer "ball " ones is reasonably big, however, I mention it as it may have skewed the results slightly. Make no bones about it, the iPhone is the superior device, though.

I have my eye on the latest HTC offerings, however.........

[Beastlee]

.....EVERYONE preferred the useability and toys and general niceness of the iphone, but when we linked it to exchange it caused muchos e-mail frustration...

Guess what?.......

[Turbo_Steve]

You've got a winning lottery ticket?

Heh - I know Jailbreaking is the key, dude, but we couldn't send out several hundred jailbroken phones and expect O2 to honour the warranty, now, could we?

:)

[Beastlee]

Ah, didn't really click on to the fact it was a corporate issue. Apple do supply a nice corporate tool with them though for configuring the iPhone restrictions and connections, did they use this at the time do you know?

[Duo]

Just to sling my 2p into the mix, I'm running a Nokia N900 and it's a beast of a phone. There's too much to list but the big down side is the ovi store is still in early days but plenty of free 3rd party apps. For egsample I'm using a ported version of Pidgin messenger, runs great and the keyboard is nice to use, 32gig internal and a micro sd slot to add big 16gig plus cards.

I am in fact using it to type this without issue on a 2g connection which runs pretty fast, there's no multi media messaging but I never send them anyway and emil woild be better given the reasonable camera on here. Also as the OS is linux based it's easy to develop more and email on my pop and http accounts was easy to set up. Wi-fi is easy and runs faultlessley, it turns itself on to standby but when I get in it's connected straight away,

There is also a nice physical slide switch to lock the device which I've never hit accidentaly and turned the device on and there is a proximity sensor to stop screen key presses when it's next to your face or in a pocket.

Well worth a look in my opinion, comes with some nifty stuff and open office and k office are next up for porting and well on the way as the linux comunity has access to os code and the open code of the programs. Love this monster of a phone, does what I want and with 32gigs and a tv out it's part portable player too. Have a look :-)

[CANDEE]

I have my eye on the latest HTC offerings, however.........
Steve,

I have an HTC Touch Pro 2 and am quite liking it. :)

Have been using both the on-screen QWERTY keyboard and the 5 row std keyboard.

My off-sider has an iPhone and prefers the keyboard on that, but he has used that as a business phone for the last 2 years... lol

J

[Turbo_Steve]

I've had hoards of HTC phones, and they're an odd bunch of devices.

The older keyboards were, IMO better...they've tried to make the keys bigger and friendlier as the models have got newer from the old WIZARD and they're actually less tactile and harder to use because of it.

My biggest two bugbears with the HTCs have always been call volume (absoloutely pathetic!) and signal recovery (so so). Battery life has always been acceptable enough.

My biggest relief is that they're finally doing away with the fragile resistive touchscreens (which I would always break) and moved over to capacitive...much stronger.

The other problem was always that Windows needed a restart once every 24hrs or so, and the appauling device lag that seems to plague every phone on the market....and yes, that includes the iPhone. The iPhone, however, generally does NOT suffer from app lag on the "Core apps", (i.e. phone, address book, texting and main menu) which is perfect. There is nothing worse than trying to make a quick call and the phone going "hmm...address book...okay, right now, let's see".


Have a soft spot for HTC hardware, though, definitely.