iPhone purchasing advice?

[jubilationtcornpone]

Suppose I were to buy an iPhone about three months from now. Any advice?

[NewCovTech]

It depends on what you plan on using it for. The iphone basically has some nice features but is not very functional. It is not very easy to type on so would not suggest it if you do a lot of email. The fact that it doesn't have any type of keyboard and it is all on screen, may cause you several problems.

[ConsumingFire]

My wife has a Treo. She has had a hard time using that phone and all the features on it. When she picked up an iPhone at the Apple store earlier this year the features were soo intuitive and obvious. It is the first piece of technology she picked up where she said "I want one of these". That speaks wonders of the functionality built into this phone.

There is a reason that people line up for iPhones.

Typing on the keyboard is not bad at all (I have been using an iPod touch in the interim and find my accuracy to be similar to using my wifes treo with the tiny plastic buttons). Its great for quick email replys, etc. But you will not want to be doing a lot of typing on any smart phone.

Anyway, I have been counting down the days for our Verizon contract to end (October 24), when my wife and I will be getting our iPhones.

You asked for "any advice". Not sure what you're are asking for (undecided whether to buy a smart phone, not sure about the iPhone, which color?, will we be raptured before then?)

In Christ,
Robert

[jubilationtcornpone]

You asked for "any advice". Not sure what you're are asking for (undecided whether to buy a smart phone, not sure about the iPhone, which color?, will we be raptured before then?)
Any advice on things I should look for -- features, for example? Or any recommendations on specific models to select? Or on when the best time would be to buy one?

[cryo]

Any advice on things I should look for -- features, for example? Or any recommendations on specific models to select? Or on when the best time would be to buy one?

I had the original iPhone and now have the 3G, and I love it! The App Store has made it the coolest phone ever. There are so many free and cheap applications for the phone and more coming every day, it's mind-boggling. It truly is a little computer. In terms of being functional, it is so handy to be able to use the internet and load full pages anytime I'm out. The GPS chip also is much more useful than most people claim, even though right now there is no voice turn-by-turn navigation. When we were walking around D.C. this summer, I could put in the names of attractions in the Maps app, and it found them with no problem and would enable us to follow our position in relation to our destination with the GPS. Very cool! It also shows how heavy traffic is where you are on the map in real-time, which we have used many times during rush hour to decide what route to take home.

It is kind of annoying to type e-mails on, but phones usually are with the small keys, whether on the screen or a keyboard. A full-sze computer is always preferred.

The typing isn't that bad, as the auto-correction is incredible on the phone. It can take your worst misspellings (usually due to hitting the wrong keys on accident) and figure out usually what word you intended to use and fixes it on the fly, so you can just type away at high speed and usually have no errors at all.

I have the 8 GB as it's plenty of room for my iPod songs, but the 16GB was very popular. You only have two choices, the 8 and 16 right now. The features are the same except for the memory capacity.

If you are waiting 3 months, I'd say good, as you never know what might happen around the holidays with technology. I don't know of any plans for the iPhone, but who knows?

I love this phone, and you'll love it too. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Pacman]

Hmm, i'm not sure i'd lock myself into an iPhone contract with the new Android phones about to come on the market.

[NewCovTech]

I run a network with over 200 users. We have a Blackberry Enterprise Server on our network and several people have tried switching to an iPhone to access Exchange through ActiveSync. They all went back to the Blackberry. For surfing the internet and for something to play with then hands down it is the best choice but for corporate use and for typing on it (yes MANY people type on them all the time) then something with a keyboard is a better option. That is why I said it just depends on what you will be using it for. If you want something cool to play with then absolutely, if you are trying to run a company then probably not the best choice.

[ConsumingFire]

If you want something cool to play with then absolutely, if you are trying to run a company then probably not the best choice.

I'm guessing that jubilationtcornpone isn't looking to tap into his corporate exchange servers, or would not be asking for advice at rapturerdeady:lol2.

Our company does not support apple products either, but the reasons stem more from having to support multiple platforms and minimizing IT overhead than choosing optimal technology. So saying they are probably not the best choice may be the case depending on established IT infrastructure plus integration & support policy. Very company specific.

Some companies are considering switching all over so they do not have the dual platform issue:
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/HSBC-could-order-200-000-iPhones/0,130061702,339291247,00.htm

Also the iPhone is a serious business tool. Do not not know of too many personal applications for enterprise apps:
• Oracle Business Indicators
• Sybase iAnywhere Mobile Office
• SAP
• Salesforce.com Mobile
• Web-based apps: Netsuite, SugarCRM, Zoho

My sister-in-law and my manager love their blackberries (used primarily for email). But I have a couple RPN scientific and programmers calculators, my music is available for when coding away at the office, couple of games and videos for entertainment when waiting in the doctors office, my password manager (that syncs with my mac). Not to mention some very advanced time management tools that are not available on windows mobile or blackberry platforms.

Just wanting to state that the iPhone is way more than something cool to play with. (That's just a plus).

In Christ,
Robert

[ConsumingFire]

Any advice on things I should look for -- features, for example? Or any recommendations on specific models to select? Or on when the best time would be to buy one?

Your choices are limited to:
8GB Black
16GB Black
16GB White

I have a 16GB iPod touch, and am finding that amount of space reasonable to live within for my usage. My wife could probably live in 8GB, but we will get her the 16GB iPhone just because, as with any phone, you are stuck with it for 2 years due to the contract.

The current iPhone model (2nd generation, 3G data network) was just recently released. So unless you are considering waiting until next summer (2009) there is not really reason to delay purchasing other than your pocket book. The iPhone data plan costs the same now as 3G data plans on other phones, thus the iPhone is now subsidized and up front costs are similar to other comparable phones. Data plans are expensive (approx $30/month on top of your normal phone bill - and that is per phone so there are no family data plans). That's why my kids are not getting iPhones, just too much to cough up every month over getting to just share my minutes.

Another bit of advice. Check if you have a business discount at:
https://www.wireless.att.com/business
You can get personal rate discounts if you company has an AT&T agreement whether you get the iPhone or not.

In Christ,
Robert

[NewCovTech]

I'm guessing that jubilationtcornpone isn't looking to tap into his corporate exchange servers, or would not be asking for advice at rapturerdeady:lol2.

Our company does not support apple products either, but the reasons stem more from having to support multiple platforms and minimizing IT overhead than choosing optimal technology. So saying they are probably not the best choice may be the case depending on established IT infrastructure plus integration & support policy. Very company specific.

Some companies are considering switching all over so they do not have the dual platform issue:
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/HSBC-could-order-200-000-iPhones/0,130061702,339291247,00.htm

Also the iPhone is a serious business tool. Do not not know of too many personal applications for enterprise apps:
• Oracle Business Indicators
• Sybase iAnywhere Mobile Office
• SAP
• Salesforce.com Mobile
• Web-based apps: Netsuite, SugarCRM, Zoho

My sister-in-law and my manager love their blackberries (used primarily for email). But I have a couple RPN scientific and programmers calculators, my music is available for when coding away at the office, couple of games and videos for entertainment when waiting in the doctors office, my password manager (that syncs with my mac). Not to mention some very advanced time management tools that are not available on windows mobile or blackberry platforms.

Just wanting to state that the iPhone is way more than something cool to play with. (That's just a plus).

In Christ,
Robert

The first question I asked him was what the use would be for. Which is better, a Ferrari or a dump truck. A Ferrari is a lot more fun but if you need to haul a load of dirt then that is A LOT of trips. The IT infrastructure doesn't generally matter on mobile devices. It's based on what the individual would rather use. Both Apple and Windows support Sync technology with the Exchange server. We don't require that all our users buy a specific phone, we just of course require they get a sync or blackberry compatible one. I'm not going to get into an Apple and Windows argument. They both have their advantages over the other. I have worked with a lot of users on the local and federal level and haven't ran across anyone that bought an iPhone because it surpassed blackberry and windows on its ability to do e-mail and other business apps better. As you mentioned, there are several apps available to the iPhone but some of those come built into the Windows devices and all those and more are available for purchase. The Ferrari may be faster than a dump truck but the dump truck gets the job done much faster.