- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 184 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Nice but FAR from perfect!"
Pros: The Interface
Cons: The Limitations
Summary: After using this phone for over a month I have done nearly everything there is to do with it on a regular basis. I will summarize my thoughts below.
Pros
The interface is prettier than any mobile software I have ever used.
3G data is super fast compared to any smart phone I have ever used. (Even faster than the terrible Verizon DSL I had at home!
)
Webmail access for those of us who purchased it for home use works great as long as you have at least 2 bars of EDGE reception.
Wireless Mobile App functions are cool although most of the free software out there is utter garbage.
Transferring photos off the iPhone is incredibly easy.
GPS works great when you have reception.
Great SMS interface.
Great remote iTunes control if you have your PC connected to your home stereo system.
Cons
E-mail access does not work with IMAP for MSN, Microsoft Live mail or Microsoft Hotmail. This is ALL Microsoft's fault of course but the point remains, it doesn't work.
The system chokes up frequently like EVERY iPod I have ever owned.
Cell phone reception is typically sporadic.
You really do need a bluetooth headset for this phone, you don't want to have to have this garage door opener sized phone against your face, people will think you came back from the dentist and are holding an ice pack against a sore molar.
Synchronizing and updating are PAINFULLY slow. The latest update took me 45 minutes to synch and backup!
Battery Life is a joke. There is no way you could go a day without charging it. Even in standby my battery is dead by the end of the day whether I use it or not.
Photos appear a bit blurry but it might just seem that way because the images are so HUGE on this great screen.
You can't transfer ANYTHING to the iPhone without iTunes. Even though you can see the photos you have you can save any to your phone through Windows. You HAVE to synch through iTunes.
No custom ringtones.
No cut and paste text. <--This is rediculous.
No flash support for the browser, yet YouTube works fine...:S Guess they don't want free flash games available when the exact same ones cost $10 in the app store.
No 3G iTunes store. You can browse like crazy, watch videos and see countless images but not purchase music. :S The technology and capability is there.
No GPS turn by turn directions.
I thought this phone would allow you to see where your friends were at all times but in actuality it requires them to update their status and location manually AND the software that does it communicates via SMS not data! So SMS overages begin....NOW!
No voice dial. There is an app called Voice Dialer...but...(it doesn't work all that well.)
No quick way to speed dial.
No easy way to synch Contacts and no way at all to synch your Calendar unless you have a Mac at home.
Music and podcasts playing don't all have that last page of notes about the track playing anymore.
Memory doesn't seem to contain as much information as before. I could pause podcasts on my 30GB and go back to them days later. If I pause two or three on the iPhone, it doesn't seem to remember where I left off and starts over again.
All in all it is a GREAT phone. Far from perfect but it is capable of being greater if they would just loosen the reigns a little. Once you get one, there is no turning back. Integrated maps, GPS, Internet, iTunes (impulse buying access), MySpace & Facebook - slightly neutered apps, movie reviews trailer previews and ticket purchases etc. etc. etc.
Oh yeah, and its an iPod.
- 3 replies to this review
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GPS turn by turn would prevent us from having to look down at our devices.
You can sync with Outlook but Google Calendar synch works 90% of the time.
Favorites is NOT good enough for speed dial. I used to jump in the car, hold #3 on my RIZR to call the wife and immediately start driving. Now I have to "wake it up," unlock it, (punch in the code if I have one,) hit the home button, press phone (or scroll too it if it isn't already in the bar at the bottom, hit favorites, hit my person, then hit their particular number.
Even if it was the shortest possible route it would still take 6 steps instead of 1!
1. Wake from standby.
2. Unlock.
3. Press home.
4. Press phone.
5. Press favorites.
6. Press person. -
>urr_quasdim: You are right. I should have specified that some of the cons were my personal cons. The 2.1 update has alleviated some of the reception issues. I still get disconnected frequently but now its on the same level as your standard cell phone. Before it was SOO much more often.
Battery Life. I have to charge mine and my wife's nightly or they would die the next day. We use them (phone alone) at least 30 minutes a day. Midday charges are necessary when in heavy use.
Transfer restrictions - Whether I was aware of it or not, it is a con. It shouldn't be this way.
No custom ringtones - You say its minor, I say its major. I love custom ringtones. If features were minor issues then we might as well go with a black and white GRPS phone. The fact that we have iPhones is because we want the coolest features.
Cut and paste, Voice Dial, and other things "COULD" be updated, but aren't even after many software and two hardware revisions.
TO BE CONTINUED... -
Conning some of the cons...
Cell phone reception is typically sporadic. That must be area-dependent: I have no reception problems in Venture County, CA.
Battery Life is a joke. There is no way you could go a day without charging it. Even in standby my battery is dead by the end of the day whether I use it or not. Objection: while battery life isn't great, I can go 2-3 days between recharging, with light to moderate use.
You can't transfer ANYTHING to the iPhone without iTunes. You must have known that ahead of purchase. Not a big deal in my book.
No custom ringtones. Very minor!
No cut and paste text. <--This is rediculous. Yes, this IS ridiculous! Could be corrected in a future upgrade though.
No GPS turn by turn directions. Picky...
No voice dial. Yes, with BT this is a major flaw - could be corrected in future upgrade.
No quick way to speed dial. Favorites is good enough.
No easy way to synch Contacts and no way at all to synch your Calendar unless you have a Mac at home. True...
Where to buy
Apple iPhone 3G - 8GB, black (AT&T):
$99.00 - $99.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$99.00 | Yes |
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Best Buy
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$99.99 | See Site |
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