Buy Microsoft Office Home & Student
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 375 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
31 out of 39 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"A Review for 99% of us"
Pros: I too was a little apprehensive about jumping in to the iPhone pool (mainly because of the bad reviews on here) but I'm very glad I did. It really is an exceptional phone.
Cons: Having to pay for Push Notifications
Summary: Judging by most of the bad reviews by 12 year old kids, I doubt most of these people even own the new iPhone. so let me give you the real lowdown from someone who ACTUALLY owns an iPhone 3gs.
Here's what I love.
* It's an Apple product
It just works. No crashes and easy to navigate. You don't have to jump through a lot of submenus to get where you need to go.
* Call quality / Phone / Coverage
Yep I've heard all the negatives about AT&T's service but I simply find these negatives to be unfounded. I haven't seen my bars drop of the phone yet. I've found the call quality on my phone to be excellent; ppl can hear my loud and clear. No dropped calls as of yet. Don't let the rumors put you off. The other feature I like is dialing favorites so you have quick access to the ppl you call often.
* Processor
Its fast. It's been tested. 5X faster than the G1, 3X faster than the Palm Pre & iPhone 3G. What more do you need?
* Price
When the iPhone first came out I can remember friends paying $500. Now you can pick up the new 16gb for $199 or if you really want to go cheap, get the 3g for $99. What a bargain. Yes the monthly service charges are pricey but most cell services are. You just have to bite the bullet and decide if it is worth it for you. Apple sold 1 million units on its first 2 days because it's a bargain.
* Tethering
You don't have to wait for it. Cnet has a video that shows you how to tether now. It works; I've used it. Here's the link http://cnettv.cnet.com/iphone-3gs-speed-racer/9742-1_53-50073679.html?tag=mncol (Jump to 2m 30s in the video)
* Copy / paste
So easy to use, unlike other phones I have owned. Just tap on the words and drag away.
* Support
Apple care is like no other. I called last night for help with email issue (my fault), they had me sorted in 5 mins. You will see what I mean if you have to call Apple for help with iPhone features. They are friendly and do whatever it takes to make sure your iPhone is setup the way you want it. Try doing that with Sprint India.
* Web browser
Its the best I've seen. All other companies are trying to duplicate it.
* 3G
It's quick. That's all there is to it. It will get faster as AT&T rolls out their new network at the end of the year.
* The app store.
Say no more. You can get so many fun apps that either entertain or are actually useful. Windows & Palm will try to catch Apple in this dept but it won't happen since they are too innovative.
* It's an Ipod. (Did we forget about this people?)
* Battery Life
What?? Yes I think the battery life is good. Compared to your old cell phone it will seem short. Yes you will have to charge it every night but my iPhone gets MUCH better battery life than my small laptop. Think about it, this is a mini computer you have in your hands the battery is very small so the fact is can hold a charge for about 24 hours is pretty amazing. We're never far away from a charger so just hop on Ebay buy the USB car charger, wall charger kit and charge whenever you need to. It's just part of having new technology. One thing that does concern me is with batteries, the more you charge them, the less charge they hold. Will this constant charging of the battery lead to quick replacemement? Only time will tell but you do have a 1 yr warranty should this happen.
* Email
Super easy to set up and if you use Outlook it will sync right up to your email accounts and sets them up automatically. Exchange server is easy to set up also. Blackberry does have the upper hand with the way it organizes messages into 1 folder and also with Push notifications. Being a business user however, I don't find it unmanageable.
* Texting
Landscape mode texting is fast and yes MMS is coming but if I need to send a photo, I just email it. I don't use MMS much so lack of it doesn't bother me at all.
* Camera / Video
Again it just works plus once you take a photo it pops up as a small thumbnail right on your lower toolbar for super easy access. I hear video editing is cool but I haven't used it and probably won't.
* Bluetooth
Very easy to us. I use it along with my Garmin Nuvi in the car. Very cool for hands free driving without having to by one of those expensive and ugly blue tooth headsets (yes people, you look retarded walking around with those things in your ears!)
* There are many many other great features of the iPhone which I haven't played with yet but the above one's are the feature I would want to know about in a review. For instance if you have Sirius you can listen to Howard Stern through your iPhone.
What would I change? Hmm.. I would like to have Push notifications for email without having to pay for Mobile Me. You can only have your email auto check every 15 mins. This is probably to save battery life as each email check uses juice. I would also like to see a removable battery but that probably won't happen for some time.
- 14 replies to this review
-
The Palm Pre uses the same processor and graphics chip combination as the 3GS, its not faster.
-
I agree 100% with this review. I own the 3GS and MMS is now working. My gripe is for the negative reviewers. If you bought the phone and you dislike it for any reason why didn't you return it for a refund???????? Why would you go on and on about the negatives and Apple needs to catch up talk when you don't have to own an IPHONE.
I love mine. I have had all 3 models and this is the fastest by far. And I am getting over 3 days of battery life out of it. My 3G I was getting 24 hours tops. I love the VOICE Control. It is by far the most innovative on any phone. It works super with my Cheap $20 blue tooth car kit.
Maybe you want Apple to put everything your hearts desire in this one sleek device and charge us all $1000 for it.
Remember, it is a Computer in super compact form. with a 600MHZ processor and 256MB of ram. And the fact that you can do as much on the fly as you can with this one device is simply amazing.
My only gripe is AT&T needs to get moving on 3G network -
Can anybody here text as fast on the touchpad as on a button-type qwerty keyboard like in EnV Touch? I try and try on the IPhone and keep hitting the letter to the right of the one I try to hit. Yes, I checked with my optometrist - 20-20
-
man ppl just dont like the fact that something they like may not be considered the best thing out at the moment so they get mad and write hateful comments and attack other products. It all boils down to ur likes and preference i own an iphone i love it. My friends own G1's and mytouchs and other phones. Just learn the "FACTS" compare and decide. A man who trusts another man, based on his opinions is an idiot.
-
I agree the product is a good product "Yea Apple"! It's the service that is not good for some of us. What would be nice is to have coverage to use all those great features that you write of with reliability. I respect your point though -no bashing here! ;)
-
A review for 99% of us? who's us? are you the official representative for everyone in the world? i found the call quality issue to be founded! how you ask? because i used to have an iphone!!!, maybe it works for you but for many other people it does not. and its an apple product "it just works". Alot of other products WORK and they dont have apple logo, Ex: pc's and other phones.
-
Well at least you found it to be useful and good, most people just don't have a good experience with it. And for me, I don't get it BECAUSE it's from Apple. People talk about it too much and too many people have it, it's too popular. And it personally just doesn't suit my needs.
I do appreciate the fact they made a few upgrades, though.
If you like it though, you like it, it works for you. -
thank you for your help. I think you convinced me that the i phone is right for me. I agree that everything can't be perfect and I am concerned about battery life but I love my touch and use it daily. I really want it all together and that is what it does. thanks....
-
You said it dude, it's 99% of YOU!! the fan boys. I do respect the loyalty to the brand!!, but they dropped the ball on this one, they still need to catch up on so many things that are standard on other phones.
-
You're literally quoting Apple commercials. "It just works." This isn't a review, it's just fawning.
-
Finally. A reasoned, level-headed review from somebody with a job, the educational level to punctuate, and that just needs the phone to do its job so that they can do theirs.
Very helpful. -
Thanks for providing a legitimate review. I enjoy CNET's coverage of electronics, but they need to screen out the trolls and infants who incoherently bash items they have never owned or sampled. Great balanced review. You touched on a number of features on the iphone that I love. Here's one more: visual voicemail. I can manage my greetings and voice messages without ever dialing and accessing my AT&T voicemail. Awesome! I agree that the call quality is generally good, but there's still a few cell areas (in Chicago) I've encountered where the reception was pretty spotty. If (when) AT&T ramps up their coverage, I will have very few hangups with this outstanding phone.
-
Thanks for this well thought out review. It's hard to assess the product with all the haters and sycophants out there.
-
Excellent review!!! I agree with everything you stated in your review and I do feel any of the negative reviews are actually coming from people without iPhones...I have had or tried out pretty much every smart phone available on US carriers and the iPhone is by far the most fun and easiest to use..BY FAR...
Where to buy
Apple iPhone 3GS - 32GB - black (AT&T):
$299.00 - $299.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$299.00 | Yes |
|
|
Best Buy
|
$299.99 | See Site |
|
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com./smartphones/apple-iphone-3gs-32gb/4864-6452_7-33674173-2.html){kind=small}