So I finally picked up an iPhone yesterday. I was never going to get one due to the need to have a $60/mo minimum plan, but then I found out that wasn't the case for Canada! Still on my $25/mo phone plan with no data plan, so I won't be browsing the net abroad.
Still, I'm loving this phone. I'm usually somewhere where I have internet access, so the loss of a data plan isn't a really huge deal. My only real complaint is that I found out I can't even use the GPS and map feature away from Wi-Fi without a damn data plan. Total suck.
Nice little story about purchasing my phone actually. I went to the store yesterday to buy it, and on the Rogers network at least, the purchase price of the phone is sent to the Rogers account (so I wasn't billed when I purchased the phone). I asked for an 8GB model, and when I got home, I realized I got a 16GB. I thought this was a nice stroke of luck at first, until I realized the bill clearly showed 16GB, so I was sure Rogers would charge me for 16GB. I realized the best way to not get screwed was to go down to the store where I bought my iPhone. I told the rep that he accidentally gave me a 16GB model, and he notified me they couldn't resell returned phones. So to rectify this, he's calling Rogers to ensure I get charged for an 8GB model. $200 for a 16GB iPhone, WOOT!
Overall I'm absolutely loving this device.
The software interface is fantastic. I can't believe how well typing on the keyboard works. I do quite a few mistypes (since my thumb points to a letter, but the edge of my thumb that touches is more towards the right). With a bit of adjustment, I should have no problem typing. I love having the letter pop up if I hold my thumb down for a little while, which alleviates any frustrations that could pop up while typing.
The hardware interface is great as well. I'm so happy one of my phones finally has a switch to turn the thing to silent mode (without having to browse through menus). The instant hold button is great as well. I'm glad to have a phone that doesn't have it's buttons pressed when it's in my pocket. My previous Sony Ericsson CyberShot was hell because it was open faced...I had to keep it in locked mode to avoid making accidental calls. Even then, having the buttons pressed drained my battery because the backlight always turned on.
Call quality is excellent, and the phone actually is loud enough for me to hear my caller in pretty much environment. Big improvement over my Sony.
The web browser is excellent. It's near the speed of my PC when I'm on my Wi-Fi. It's also much, much faster than both my PS3 and my PSP. The zooming feature is damn perfect. My only complaint, especially when browsing GAF, is that it doesn't cache the whole screen; when I'm scrolling through posts, I sometimes have to wait until it loads the next part of the screen. The YouTube feature is a godsend as well, it's designed perfectly around the iPhone. Easy to search, automatic fullscreen, and the picture looks quite awesome.
As I've said previously, I'm disappointed with the GPS feature. It doesn't seem to really be GPS per-se, because I sometimes can't have my location determined. Also, the fact that the map isn't preloaded into the iPhone really sucks because it means I can't really use the GPS away from Wi-Fi with a data plan. Is there any application out there that allows for a way around this?
The phone was a bit of a surprise. Coming from my Cybershot, I didn't expect much. The pictures do have more noise and are smaller than on my Sony, and there's really a lack of customization for photo taking. Still, what this phone does marvelously well, is adjust the gain of the picture the match the ambient lighting. I've never (personally) seen a phone that does this so well. The lighting comes out looking almost exactly how I see it, which is pretty great. My Sony really had trouble in this regard. Needless to say, I'm happy with the photo capabilities of the device.
The iPod feature works perfectly. I can't judge on the sound quality yet, since I haven't hooked up my good Ultrasone headphones to it. The headphone amp in the iPhone provides a great deal more wattage than the iPod. I'd say it's at least 50% louder, so this thing shouldn't have trouble driving some higher impedance headphones. I'll test my Ultrasone HFI-580 on it tonight to see if it at least holds up to my 5.5gen 30GB.
Any recommendations as to software/games are good purchases?
Still, I'm loving this phone. I'm usually somewhere where I have internet access, so the loss of a data plan isn't a really huge deal. My only real complaint is that I found out I can't even use the GPS and map feature away from Wi-Fi without a damn data plan. Total suck.
Nice little story about purchasing my phone actually. I went to the store yesterday to buy it, and on the Rogers network at least, the purchase price of the phone is sent to the Rogers account (so I wasn't billed when I purchased the phone). I asked for an 8GB model, and when I got home, I realized I got a 16GB. I thought this was a nice stroke of luck at first, until I realized the bill clearly showed 16GB, so I was sure Rogers would charge me for 16GB. I realized the best way to not get screwed was to go down to the store where I bought my iPhone. I told the rep that he accidentally gave me a 16GB model, and he notified me they couldn't resell returned phones. So to rectify this, he's calling Rogers to ensure I get charged for an 8GB model. $200 for a 16GB iPhone, WOOT!
Overall I'm absolutely loving this device.
The software interface is fantastic. I can't believe how well typing on the keyboard works. I do quite a few mistypes (since my thumb points to a letter, but the edge of my thumb that touches is more towards the right). With a bit of adjustment, I should have no problem typing. I love having the letter pop up if I hold my thumb down for a little while, which alleviates any frustrations that could pop up while typing.
The hardware interface is great as well. I'm so happy one of my phones finally has a switch to turn the thing to silent mode (without having to browse through menus). The instant hold button is great as well. I'm glad to have a phone that doesn't have it's buttons pressed when it's in my pocket. My previous Sony Ericsson CyberShot was hell because it was open faced...I had to keep it in locked mode to avoid making accidental calls. Even then, having the buttons pressed drained my battery because the backlight always turned on.
Call quality is excellent, and the phone actually is loud enough for me to hear my caller in pretty much environment. Big improvement over my Sony.
The web browser is excellent. It's near the speed of my PC when I'm on my Wi-Fi. It's also much, much faster than both my PS3 and my PSP. The zooming feature is damn perfect. My only complaint, especially when browsing GAF, is that it doesn't cache the whole screen; when I'm scrolling through posts, I sometimes have to wait until it loads the next part of the screen. The YouTube feature is a godsend as well, it's designed perfectly around the iPhone. Easy to search, automatic fullscreen, and the picture looks quite awesome.
As I've said previously, I'm disappointed with the GPS feature. It doesn't seem to really be GPS per-se, because I sometimes can't have my location determined. Also, the fact that the map isn't preloaded into the iPhone really sucks because it means I can't really use the GPS away from Wi-Fi with a data plan. Is there any application out there that allows for a way around this?
The phone was a bit of a surprise. Coming from my Cybershot, I didn't expect much. The pictures do have more noise and are smaller than on my Sony, and there's really a lack of customization for photo taking. Still, what this phone does marvelously well, is adjust the gain of the picture the match the ambient lighting. I've never (personally) seen a phone that does this so well. The lighting comes out looking almost exactly how I see it, which is pretty great. My Sony really had trouble in this regard. Needless to say, I'm happy with the photo capabilities of the device.
The iPod feature works perfectly. I can't judge on the sound quality yet, since I haven't hooked up my good Ultrasone headphones to it. The headphone amp in the iPhone provides a great deal more wattage than the iPod. I'd say it's at least 50% louder, so this thing shouldn't have trouble driving some higher impedance headphones. I'll test my Ultrasone HFI-580 on it tonight to see if it at least holds up to my 5.5gen 30GB.
Any recommendations as to software/games are good purchases?
