Apple iPhone (8GB, AT&T)

3.0 stars

"Far too many issues" on June 30, 2007 by TestedBy

Pros: Great apprearance, status symbol, maybe

Cons: Call quality, no bluetooth modem, no gps

Summary: This might not be to pleasant for serious proponents of Apple and the iPhone.

While the iPhone has a wonderful design, serious flaws keep this from being what a smartphone is supposed to be. We are talking about a smartphone here, not a regular cellphone to which everyone seems to use as comparisons.

Why is it that anytime the iPhone has a fault, it is said that other cell phones don't have the feature either? That is like comparing a pda to a laptop. Compare the iPhone to other PDA phones and then make the comparisons okay?

For example, almost every pda/phone from Verizon or Sprint has WiFi. Why is this never pointed out? Compared to a Samsung 730 from Verizon, the iPhone is seriously lacking. Not only does the Samsung browse much faster due to it's 3g network, it goes on to do everything the iPhone does and then some.

With a small software hack, you can use the Samsung as a bluetooth model for connecting your laptop to the data network. All the other smart phone pda phones will also do this and when a cable is used, they get the full speed of 3g which now rivals and for Verizon surpasses even most enhanced DSL.

While the interface is nice, no hardware scroll button makes you completely defendant upon the touchscreen. That simply doesn't work. Sometimes you need to write something down with one had while scrolling for information with the other. Impossible to do with the iPhone, sorry. That brings us back to typing messages or email. Again, one handed is impossible so you can't stand in a bus, subway car or anything else and replay to a message or email. It takes two hands.

Apple could have easily designed in a slider keyboard and then, instead of making the primary keys tiny like everyone else, make them larger although many smartphone pda phones are already using larger keys.

The most serious flaw is the lack of application support. When I bought a Palm, or Windows Mobile phone, within minutes I could download and install or load from CD, any number of programs to suit my individual needs. When did a smartphone become the exclusive domain of the manufacturer or phone company? What happened to making something personal. As it is, one iPhone will be exactly like every other iPhone, except for different cases and covers. Those by the way, make stuffing the iPhone into your pocket a hassle. From slim to thick in no time at all.

Now we get to the battery. While I agree that for a regular phone, you usually don't need to swap batteries, anyone using a camera phone knows that taking video or pictures can quickly drain the battery. So does using WiFi and Bluetooth at the same time and turning them on or off all the time isn't the answer. Besides, Apple and AT&T expect you to use WiFi for browsing although that is tough in you are really mobile and sitting in a coffee shop all the time.

Being able to replace a battery on a smartphone is almost a requirement. It will only take you one time with a dead battery to realize just how important that is. If your iPhone goes dead, you can't access the phone book or other information period, even if you have access to another phone.

If the battery goes dead in other smartphones, you can even go to a store and in an emergency swap a battery for a few minutes to access your address book. No dice with the iPhone. Where are you going to go since it must be an AT&T store or apple store and even then, they can't just pop out the battery and let you use one of their tech batteries for a few seconds.

Now I will say that the iPhone is a marvel in appearance. It looks absolutely fabulous. But like many things, beauty is only skin deep. It takes a lot more than a pretty skin to make a great phone. Phones are very personal things and being forced to do as Apple and AT&T says is too much.

If I can't load a simple mapping program and use GPS, what good is a smartphone? being forced to use Google maps isn't my idea of owning the phone, I'm merely renting it.

The market for the iPhone is iPod users who once in a while might make a phone call. It isn't for anyone that is on the go and needs reliable communications and the ability to work the way they want to work. Now you'll have to do as Apple and AT&T dictate.

Sorry but there are too many failing in the first design. I'm sure the next version will address these issues but by that time, the new generation of pda phones will have hit the market and the choices will be many.

If you want a music player first and a casual use cell phone, this is fine and will meet your needs. If you use a mobile phone for work and play and do more than play music, there are far better choices to buy without all the compromises.

I'm hoping for a Google phone.