Brad’s iPhone 3G-S Impressions

from JoeUser Forums

Got my hands on an iPhone 3G-S.  Didn’t have to wait in line or anything. Just walked in, picked it up, and bought it.

So far, I can only sing praises for how good the iPhone itself is. Very nice stuff.  However, having come from Verizon, I can say that the AT&T service needs a lot of work.  My first impression of AT&T was that when they went to activate my phone at the Apple Store AT&T put a hold on it to do a credit analysis.  This took 20 minutes. Ridiculous.

The area around me has 3G which is nice but having gone up north to Michigan the coverage is extremely spotty despite AT&T’s map showing that I should have edge. And by spotty I mean “no service” at all. That means I couldn’t, for instance, even make a phone call while on the highway. That’s absurd in 2009.  While up here at Higgins Lake Michigan my Verizon connection is still 3G.  Meanwhile, it’s Edge on the iPhone and just barely.  AT&T is clearly the weakest link.

Some other impressions:

I have an iPhone Touch so I was able to immediately notice some improvements with the 3G-S and 3.0:

  • It’s a lot snappier. The new processor they use in the 3G-S is definitely worth it.
  • The GPS on the iPhone is fairly mediocre compared to a dedicated handheld GPS (like Garman).
  • The call quality is adequate but noticeably inferior to my Blackberry on Verizon.
  • You can now purchase and download videos from iTunes. Very nice.
  • The camera and video features are as cool as they say.
  • I made and uploaded a video to YouTube right from the phone. Very nice feature.
  • I found the voice control surprisingly nice. We were driving up north and needless to say, I don’t want to be messing with play lists while driving. Now, I could hold down the home button and say “Playlist Brad’s driving music” and voila. It would play.

So far so good.

54,677 views 26 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

AT&T is clearly the weakest link.

My new company says they tried going with At&T with iphones but the service made it impossible so they switched back to Verizon. Too bad, iphones are sweet.

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Wish they would make a CDMA version of the iPhone.

Your still in 3G land there Brad? Sprint has stepped up to 4G in many areas.

I agree with you on the AT&T thing. They do need work.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Any chance you could pick one up for me and ship it to Sweden? All that are for sale here are tied to cellphone accounts and have to be hacked to use other accounts and/or 'pay-cards'. This causes problems with updating and god-knows-what.

I'd really like an iPhone 3G-S.

:(

Edit: What'd you pay for it, btw? It's not even available here, yet.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

But Luckmann, arn't your european phones all awesome anyway?   I was under the impression that our 3G phones were "catching up" to what europe already had.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Sounds slightly better than my 30$ a month Net10. :w00t:

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting landisaurus, reply 4
But Luckmann, arn't your european phones all awesome anyway?   I was under the impression that our 3G phones were "catching up" to what europe already had.
No, your entire system is behind. The phones themselves should be virtually identical. And as far as "catching up" on the phone-front is concerned, your iPhones should be identical to our iPhones.

I mean, listening to Brad's post.. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere in Sweden except the most remote parts of the north not having coverage. There's actually been issues of overlapping coverage between nations, even. Besides, a 3G phone should be able to hop over to the old GSM net if the 3G coverage disappears (of course, loosing all it's 3G benefits in the process, but you can still make phonecalls).

America have been behind in cellphones since day one, due to your inability to force a nation-wide standard early on, but technologically, there's just no difference. iPhones seem to be by far the most spiffy cellphone toy available, and I'd almost kill for one. On the other hand, I'm not rich, and they're expensive as hell. But what iffs me the most is that there's only two retailers in Sweden and all the iPhones they sell are locked to their nets and accounts.

So if I buy a phone from Telia (one of the retailers) I can't just buy a card from High3G (known as "3") and plug it in. The phone is locked for 18 months. I'm just not going to buy that. Completely out of principle (because there's not technically anything wrong with Telia, I just don't like them).

Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top

So far so good.

Wait for the bill... you never know how it will be.

My AT&T phones are always a mess with billing. But they do try to get it straight.

Don't get me wrong I like AT&T... which I have two cel-phones with. The third is with AllTel... which is more of a company phone aqnd does pretty good. But they are bad about being inside of such and such places.

As for any blackberry phone... Just do not like them much. Seems the calls are not as good and I miss a lot of my calls with them. I'll stay with my Sony Erricson phones. Got two and like both of them. Alltel is a Nokia... but like I said it is a company phone and well it does ok.

I just like Sony Ericson for some reason much better. My PDA does all the rest and a phone is a phone that way. I like having things apart from others. One for this and one for that and so forth. Guess I got too many gadgets though. Seems you never have enough.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

How long before the AT&T and iPhone contract ends? I can only imagine what other wireless phone companies have in store to compete with AT&T once the iPhone is up for grabs.

There's a nice article on pcworld.com that shows a few features not spoken about on the new 3.0 OS. You may find it interesting Brad. Here it is Link

Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

"The third is with AllTel..."

You mean Verizon since Alltel got bought up by that evil company...

Reply #10 from Demigod Forums Top

Nice, I want a 3Gs but I am not able to upgrade untill late 2010 =( I guess I'll settle for my regular 3G for now

Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I just got an iPhone 3G and I like it, but I have always had good service with AT&T here in Tennessee. I don't have the 3G-S, but have updated the OS to 3.0. I can't do video but the camera, unless I missed something, lacks the ability to zoom, which even my cheap Nokia could do. Other than that, I do like my iPhone, it has a lot of functions I like and there are thousands of apps out there for the iPhone.

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

you guys and your fancy technology, I still use a phone from 2005!!!!  #:(

Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top

You mean Verizon since Alltel got bought up by that evil company...

Actually it is still AllTel here where I am at. Least that who is being paid anyway.

Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Yeah they plan to phase Alltel out slowly.

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top

I remain unimpressed with the iPhones (albeit I didn't try the new ones)... the enV Touch (which a friend has) seems to work faster, have higher quality, better coverage, and allow for standard phone features (such as MMS) that the iPhone seems to lack.

I'd get an iPhone, but I'm not willing to switch from my trusty Verizon service...

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

We are blackberry for work so to get back to the touchy-feely (started with the Palm Pilot personal way back) I tried out the Storm. Not even close to the iPhone.

Unfortunately due to security issues, the iPhone is not allowed on our network so maybe in the future.. I like it better than the Windows mobile too.

Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Trusty Verizon service? How about we rephrse that to "Nickel and dime you to death" Verizon service? They claim to have the best coverage but even AT&T beat them not to mention Sprint.

Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Verizon has been the best in my area for a few years now. I can't remember the last time I lost a call. You get nickeled and dimed to death becuase you nickeled and dimed them when choosing your plan. ;)

Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top

The iphone itself is certainly a good phone, although it is currently lacking certain features that were presented at the conference. My only gripe is the way AT&T treats their loyal customers by charging so much and forcing extended contracts to get the new phone. Thats the only thing that might keep me away from getting this 3G-S

Reply #20 from Demigod Forums Top

I don't have 1 but have seen the comparison videos between the old model and the new re: performance (see here for some cool comparison vids http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/19/round-1-iphone-3g-s-vs-iphone-3g-fight/#continued).  My buddy just picked up the $99 dollar version and loves it.  I enjoyed fooling around with it as well, but I noticed something interesting re:AT&T's network:  he couldn't purchase and download ANY game without doing it through wi-fi... I think this is done because AT&T's infrastructure can't handle the big downloads... but I think they allow demo's to be downloaded over the network.  Not sure what the rhyme or reason is, but it seems a little strange for what you are paying.  I would already have an iphone myself (coolest fun gadget - possibly ever), but unfortunately, I have a treo on sprint under the SERO plan... with unlimited data, 400 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekend, and unlimited text for $30 a month... pretty hard to pass that up for $100+ a month if fees from Crap-tnt.  Every time my buddy tries to bust my chops, I remind him of all the cool things he could get for the $1200 he's spending yearly... 4 PS3s.... a PS3 with every game that's out or worth having currently, a PS3 and an xbox 360 and.... anyway, I wish I had an iphone and I'm glad i don't.  :'(

Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Verizon has been the best in my area for a few years now. I can't remember the last time I lost a call. You get nickeled and dimed to death becuase you nickeled and dimed them when choosing your plan.

 

But I'll bet I pay less than you with my Sprint service. Top that off with the fact that Sprint has the first 4G network going.

Reply #22 from Sins Forums Top

the original iphone 3g was a joke...non-pda phones had it years before and 4g was actually coming out about the same time as the iphone3g

Reply #24 from Demigod Forums Top

The iPhone has the best software solution on the market, it does contacts and email right for the first time. However, the Palm Pre is looking pretty promising. I've been in the market for a good smartphone for a while, and since I'm in the Great White North, it looks like I'll be going Palm (to get an iPhone up here, you've gotta sign a 3 year deal, totalling over 3.5 grand).

Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Dammit, I saw the title, and came to have a look,
thinking I was gonna be treated to a cool video of Brad doing Cellphone impressions.

How disappointing... :(