HSMITH Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I need a new phone, and I want web capability so I can respond a little faster, things like that. Went to AT&T to check out the new dingleberry's and LG's and so on, spent about 30 minutes on it and then picked up the iphone. Liked it a LOT better than the others. How is yours working? Reliability, battery life, things like that. Should I buy one on egay and pick up a data plan for it or would you recommend getting it from AT&T with the contract? Should I jailbreak it after I get it? Any other insight would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimInFL Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I can only speak to reliablitly and overall use - not the jailbreak stuff. Got mine when they were new and you had to wait a while to get one. It has performed flawlessly for me. Wide area on ATT, home network wireless connections all work great. Leave the network stuff turned off when not in use - saves a LOT of battery time. Speaking of which, when network is off, I've sat in an airport, listened to music for about 1 1/2 hours, played games another hour, then watched 2 movies on the plane. Barely even showed a loss on the battery. Really surprised me. But I'm told if you leave the networking on all the time, and talk a lot, be prepared to charge daily. I usually just turn on the networking, do what I have to do for a while, then turn it back off. I just took the standard plan that comes with the phone. Rather limited info but hope it helps Howard. JimInFl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) Anything involving transmission or reception eats juice - so, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G service, etc... The fewer you have turned on, the longer the battery lasts. I get a few days out of it with light iPod use, Bluetooth turned on, and 3G service enabled. I like mine a lot. The AT&T is sometimes spotty in my area, but not too horrible - and its the best in Austin, still, it seems. I haven't jailbroken mine - don't feel the need to do that, as the phone already does what I want it to do. App downloads fill most of the gaps. If you're a heavy MMC user (ie, IMs w/ multi-media), the iPhone may not be the best solution, though... Its kind of a pain in that one regard. eta - I love the seamless integration w/ my Mac, too Its badass in that regard... Edited February 25, 2009 by XRe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapribek Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 How is yours working? Reliability, battery life, things like that. Should I buy one on egay and pick up a data plan for it or would you recommend getting it from AT&T with the contract? Should I jailbreak it after I get it? Any other insight would be appreciated. I bought my Iphone when they first came out and had my first one replaced under warranty when it died on me. I think it's great, like having a mini-Mac with you all the time. Battery life is good and AT&T service us fine. Can't give any advice about jailbreaking. Would love to get the 3G model, if I can persuade my wife to inherit my phone! Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limitless13 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I've had mine since release and I love the thing. The availability of apps makes it worth it alone. I use the surefire timer when I forget my CED and have good luck with that on the range. As far as reliability goes I can say that I have broke one. I was doing sprints in my street and had my phone in my pocket. Well... you can imagine what happened. Screen was tore to pieces but the rest of the phone still worked. For battery life I usually get about 3 days life on a full charge. But, I use the net a lot. For jailbraking, I haven't done that, have no need with the accessibility of all the apps now. That, and I don't want to screw my warranty. My .02 Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfinney Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 iPhones rule. Mine has been perfect. My wifes developed a hitch and needed to be replaced at the Apple store, no sweat, excellent customer service. Make sure you download the free Surefire Shot timer app, and there are several nice ballistic programs for rifle as well....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firematt100 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Love mine and the Surefire app. You wont be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1b Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I like mine. Note: sent from my iPhone : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Thanks guys! One question I forgot... I don't use a Mac at home or at work and I want to use the phone for monitoring and use of both email accounts. I use Thunderbird at home and Outlook at work. Am I stuck doing email from the web based versions on the phone or can I integrate them and sync the phone to the PC's? There is absolutely nothing I can do about the work system, even getting a call back from our IT guys is extremely difficult. I'd rather not change email clients at home but I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbs007 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Thanks guys!One question I forgot... I don't use a Mac at home or at work and I want to use the phone for monitoring and use of both email accounts. I use Thunderbird at home and Outlook at work. Am I stuck doing email from the web based versions on the phone or can I integrate them and sync the phone to the PC's? There is absolutely nothing I can do about the work system, even getting a call back from our IT guys is extremely difficult. I'd rather not change email clients at home but I can. No problem there, you can have multiple email accounts synching with your iPhone; and good to go synching with a PC. Just don't tell AT&T about using it for work email. When I was picking up mine they told me that I have to pay an extra $15 per month if I will be using it with a company email; total BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 So since nobody has answered the question as to "jailbreaking" their Iphones .......... what exactly does "jailbreaking" do to the phone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genghis Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Internet is cool with the ability to zoom and tilt into landscape mode. Downloading apps is really cool. No MMS messaging. The soft keyboard is TERRIBLE - almost impossible to type a message without typos. No cutting and pasting. And all files are hidden without aftermarket apps. Overall I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcattack Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I have had mine for about 2 months and if I ever figure out how to use all the features I will be lucky but I love it. Especially the Ipod I use with a hands free phone and fm transmiter in the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisMcCracken Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 (edited) I'll say that I love my iPhone and very little has been wrong with it that wasn't or can't be fixed with software updates. Jailbreaking is the process of removing Apple's controls over what you can and cannot install on it. This could also apply to making it work with other carriers than ATT. Having used both my iPhone and a Treo, I much prefer the iPhone's keyboard. You simply have to give yourself over to the work correction. You will hit typos but the software gets the word right most of the time. I still make typos on the button keyboards but they all assume that I actually meant to hit what I hit and don't correct me. The iphone's keyboard can be surprisingly fast with practice. My only complaint is the price for my monthly bill with both me and my wife having iPhones, the data packages, and text plans. -Chris Edited February 26, 2009 by Erucolindon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 This could also apply to making it work with other carriers than ATT That's what I was wondering mostly. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 The volume on the fphone sucks and the speakerphone is useless. Other than that I like it, but the ATT coverage isn't the best V has much better. The 3G is spotty and often drops out when the signal is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZ Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 While I don't have one yet...I'm ready and waiting to pull the the trigger on getting two Iphones...one for my wife and one for myself. I've been following the Iphone rumor mill for about the last 4 months....the current thinking is that Apple will be releasing a new Iphone in the June/July time frame. Look for a new display, better camera, more memory and possibly lower costs. If you'rr not in a hurry .... I'd suggest waiting. Jailbreaking a phone means you get around Apple's stranglehold as to what applications you can run. Unlocking the phone means you can switch carriers from ATT to something else (like T-Mobile). A lot of technogeeks jailbreak their Iphones so they can run apps that Apple doesn't seem fit to support. Up until recently, Apple didn't have much to say about jailbreaking the Iphone...until last week that is. Apple said its now illegal to jailbreak a phone (which is nuts...you bought it...you should be able to do what you want on it. It's the same thing as buying a TV and having the manufacture say "you can only watch channels 4, 5 and 7" or Microsoft saying "you can only run Internet Explorer". You also have to be careful if you jailbreak your phone and then attempt to update it when Apple comes out with a firmware upgrade. You need to either wait for the jailbreaked update....or un-jailbreak your phone...upgrade and then jailbreak it again. If you're not careful, you may brick your phone (however from what I've heard, thats recoverable). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Moore Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 9 days and counting for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbs007 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 So since nobody has answered the question as to "jailbreaking" their Iphones .......... what exactly does "jailbreaking" do to the phone ? It pretty much opens the phone to more customization and more applications you can't get from the App Store. While jailbreaking does not really unlock the phone, you'll be able to install a software called yellowsn0w to soft unlock and enable your phone to use another carrier's SIM. I jailbroken mine but have not tested another SIM yet. You'll also be able to access files through OpenSSH. You'll be amazed how much stuff you can do with the damn thing and all for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 This could also apply to making it work with other carriers than ATT That's what I was wondering mostly. Thanks. Chris, Jailbreaking is used also to allow applications not approved/not available in the Apple IPHONE store to be used on your IPHONE. I have the IPHONE 3G and it is the best phone I have owned. With WIFI off, I get several days of use out of the battery. The only reason for WIFI is if you can not get the AT&T signal and your in a free WIFI area. Internet access via 3G is acceptable for a phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 Posted from my iPhone and so far I love it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 The soft keyboard is TERRIBLE - almost impossible to type a message without typos. I disagree here - but there are admittedly a couple of secrets - first off, any time you can type in landscape mode, do it - the keys are bigger. But, in portrait mode, practice seems to make perfect. I found that having a game or two that require you to touch the screen in precise spots helps a bunch in getting a feel for the touch screen. YMMV(APD). I like this one for learning touch screen: http://www.midnightmartian.com/moonlightma...ightmahjong.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 The only reason for WIFI is if you can not get the AT&T signal and your in a free WIFI area. Not the "only" reason. Even if you have full 3G signal, you might desire faster Internet speed - especially if you're trying to download something larger than 10MB (new app, audio or video file in iTunes, etc). You can't download 10MB or larger files w/o being connected to WiFi (AT&T network restriction, enforced by the phone). If I'm doing anything Internet related on the phone at home, I flip on WiFi to speed the process up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 So since nobody has answered the question as to "jailbreaking" their Iphones .......... what exactly does "jailbreaking" do to the phone ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jailbreak_(iPhone) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Moore Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 i moved the date up, since my contract ended yesterday with my current carrier i will have an iphone in hand tonight after work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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