iPhone - worth it? (technophobe needing help!)

[a11y]

There's nothing like trying to decipher the masses of mobile phones and contracts out there to make me feel old... . Without intending any offence, I'm guessing I'm not the only Z4 owner getting old and confused by mobiles so it's gotta be worth asking on here oke:

I'm at the end of my current contract and looking for a phone for e-mail (gmail), use for internet browsing and Facebook, and to listen to music. But I don't want to spend a fortune hence have sort of ignored the iPhone so far. At the moment I'm torn between:

- something like the Samsung Jet on an 18-month contract for £20/month (with enough mins/text/data included for me)
or
- an iPhone 3G (not S) for £32/month on o2 (I'll get £75 discount/credit via o2 Open through my employer, takes the effective monthly cost down from £35 to £32)

Basically, is an iPhone worth the extra £12/month over something like the Samsung Jet? TBH looking at the phone specs, the Samsung does everything I need and more, but the iPhone does all this plus has all the little toys too. I'm also a little put off the iPhone only having 8GB memory (vs 2GB built in plus 16GB upgradable on the Samsung), plus the thought of being forced to use iTunes really puts me off! (but I don't know if that's rational or not - is iTunes really that scary? I've got 30GB of music in my Windows Media Player and like how it's set up).

Any advice/opinions from owners of either phone would be much appreciated.
Ally

 

[flimper]

I'm old and before the iphone I had the oldest phone known to man and wasn't interested in the iphone at all. I definitely wouldn't go back now, I love it. I find itunes excellent and get the 16GB phone if possible.

 

[lacroupade]

I'm biased as you see from shurv's laptop thread, but I would go for the Jet every time unless the iPhone has something you want.

Just go back to basics and list exactly what you want it to do, and if the Jet does, at a cheaper price, then its a no-brainer IMHO. If you're a 15-year old girl, or you get off on apps that make your phone act like a pop gun then go buy the WhyPhone...personally I make calls with mine, I thought thats what it was for?

God I'm on a roll today!!!!!

 

[gannet]

You dont say what phone you have right now...

Ive always found it hard switching brands, when my contract was up middle of last year I went from a SonyEricsson c902 to a Samsung Tocco Ultra and couldnt get on with even though it did everything I needed it to. Was luckily on a trial so switched back to a c905. Again just couldnt get on with it - slider annoyed me, fat and bulky sold that and bought a clearance w890i and loving it! my phone history goes something like:

Nokia 6210
Nokia 7250i
SonyEricsson T68i (Slow UI and frustrating)
SonyEricsson T630 (Better
Nokia n70 (crap!)
SonyEricsson w810i (Excellent)
SonyEricsson w880i (Excellent)
SonyEricsson c902 (Excellent - good camera)
Samsung Tocco Ultra (Briefly - slow touch screen etc)
SonyEricsson c905 (Good, camera grainy, fat bulky and heavy)
SonyEricsson w890i (Excellent - camera not so great but passable)

Suppose what I try to say is Im getting old and dont like change so much anymore!

I remember saying Id never get a mobile!

iPhones are nice though :lol:

Ill go away now

 

[a11y]

I'm biased as you see from shurv's laptop thread, but I would go for the Jet every time unless the iPhone has something you want.

Just go back to basics and list exactly what you want it to do, and if the Jet does, at a cheaper price, then its a no-brainer IMHO. If you're a 15-year old girl, or you get off on apps that make your phone act like a pop gun then go buy the WhyPhone...personally I make calls with mine, I thought thats what it was for?

God I'm on a roll today!!!!!

LOL I saw your reply in the laptop thread and was waiting for this . I've always been anti-Apple too but without any real reason other than not wanting forced into using something that I don't want to, i.e. iTunes. For example, my MP3 player is a 30GB Creative Zen Vision M and IMO is better than an iPod.

You're spot on really: if the Samsung does everything I need, why pay more. That's what I keep coming back to. What's stopping me is lots of reviews (by geeky websites admittedly) saying the iPhone does all this too but does it better...

You dont say what phone you have right now...

I've been using a SE C902 for the past 18 months and love it for calling and texting. Before that I had a Samsung of some sort and liked that too, so I don't mind changing and adapting to new brands. However, the C902 is fecking useless for email/internet use. I tried a Nokia 6700 Classic as an upgrade last week: similar to the C902 in being nicely made and a small size, great for calls/texting but also useless for email/internet, plus the Nokia software just wouldn't work. I'm convinced a touchscreen/bigger screen is essential for email/internet. The newer Sony Ericssons appear to be a bit crap compared to previous ones so I'm ignoring them.

I'm swinging back towards the Samsung at the moment. Purely because it does what I NEED. Sort of like the 3.0i vs Z4M argument for me: 3.0i does all I NEED, but I really WANT a Z4M

 

[gannet]

I'm swinging back towards the Samsung at the moment. Purely because it does what I NEED. Sort of like the 3.0i vs Z4M argument for me: 3.0i does all I NEED, but I really WANT a Z4M

nice analogy

 

[lacroupade]

For example, my MP3 player is a 30GB Creative Zen Vision M and IMO is better than an iPod.

Then I know you know exactly where I'm coming from!

I have one of those too and its waaaaaay better than the WhyPod. I also still have and use my 60Gb Creative Zen Jukebox Xtra which, despite being not much more than a HDD case with some firmware and a poxy little LCD screen, simply blew/blows the WhyPod out of the water when it comes to technical performance and sound quality! And of course BOTH of them play pretty much any format.

:driving: :driving: :driving:

 

[PawnSacrifice]

Okay, so we've established that I like Apple!

Oddly though... love the iPod Touch (for me) and 3G iPod (Z4), but iPhone... no, no and no.

I know the iPhone will do what the Touch can - play music, browse the web, stream iPlayer (radio to speakers or TV to a TV!) and has all the crappy apps people show off but rarely use, but I just don't get it.

Worst of all is the touchscreen for typing, even after getting used to it its still horrid... well, it is compared to my BlackBerry!

 

[lacroupade]

BlackBerry!

...and you were doing so well Matt! :headbang: :rofl:

 

[chrispearson]

Ive had an iPhone since they came out and couldnt go back tbh.

If you dont need a phone to check your e-mail use internet and use as ipod then i wouldnt get one,its not worth the extra if your not going to use it

 

[cj_eds]

I've had an HTC for a while that runs Android and I would never go back. It's a great system and I'd recommend any phones running the Google Android system. Compared to friend's iPhones TBH I don't think there's that much difference for day to day use. Generally speaking the useless apps that you'll end up downloading are free on Android, where as you seem to have to pay for them from Apple - even if its only a few pence. Touch screen phones are the way to go

 

[RX-78]

I wrote my view on iPhone a while back - here is C&P of the post:

Reading the reviews on iTunes, it does seem to over estimate the 0-60. Still, its a freebie and more of a fun ap then a serious measuring tool. Anyhow I wont complain if my non ///m 3l zed can do 0-60 in less then 5 sec

I've had iPhone for 2 months now and although I've managed customize the phone a bit more now, its phone function is no where near as good as other phones. No customizable predictive text, blutooth cant be switched on/off with short cut (anyone wanna make an app?), ringtones has to be bought (there are 3rd party programs to convert fron CD if you dont mind taking the risk of downloading unknown files), video clips cant be linked to user id (even my old old sony phone from 3 years ago could do this!), if you send SMS to a group of people and it fails half way through and if you "retry" it sends txt again to people in the group who has already got the txt (my mate had 7 same txt from me yesterday as I had to retry so many times).

Alarm will only work if the alarm app is running (i.e. you have to leave it on the alarm and cant use any other apps) *I'm corrected this is only true for the alarm app I've got which plays selected music instead of crappy tones. The OEM alarm app will work even if you dont have it running*. The photo album is uneditable on iPhone unless its a photo taken by the phone. Music cannot be sent via blutooth either. Did I mention the camera is stil vastly inferior to current phones?

On the good side, I like grouping of txts & answer phones. Apps are largely good fun, and some are very useful - like shopping list, Sky sport TV, unit converter, emails, weather etc etc. The web browser is decent with wifi as well. Having said that, although I think it is hugely entertaining, there is very little on iPhone I couldn't live without as a phone.

 

[mcbeee]

I looked at the iPhone and declined because as an older techno geek who loves gadgets I don't see the point as I already have three iPods, 12 cameras and a couple of phones. (I must be in the minority nowadays thinking that it might be nice to go for a drive and NOT have email or phone calls bothering me) :lol:
That said, as a MAC person I love my iPod touch, it does great things, everything except make phone calls and for that I have a phone that was free with a 3 year contract. Free works well for me 'coz it means I can spend the $600 or $800 that would be spent on a high end Crackberry or iPhone on other more important stuff like guns, ammo, tires for my Zed, dinan software etc.

If a person "needs" all the bells and whistles then get an iPhone but remember one thing, all these gadgets that are super multi functional are like SUV's, they do everything but aren't great at anything specific.

 

[speedski]

Buy a PAYG (not iPhone as its totally overprice and underfeatured) handset, get a sim only deal and save a bundle.

 

[Dreamer]

The iphone has loads of aspects that you dont NEED.....BUT after owning one for a while you ENJOY using it.

Like people have said it has a lot of features that although not essential on a day to day, theres the times your waiting for a train or your girlfriend to emerge from a changing room etc etc. At these times it will amuse and impress and then some. Also the browsing is brilliant. Its a FUN unit really, functions are good enough but as people have said its not a business workhorse like a blackberry or similar.

It costs a lot but all those people you see that cant look up or stop stroking there phone screens will tell you they are pretty impressive.
Its the little things like dialling in to control your own PC, setting your sky+ to record something, traffic alerts, holding your phone up in the pub and it telling what song is playing..... it goes on and on.

 

[peds8045]

Well i have had a Nokia N95 8gb for the last two years and i'm overdue an upgrade. Trouble is can't find a phone that does anything better than the N95 functionality wise. I like the Iphone (i do like the term Whyphone though) however they cost the earth and if you drop them there is a very good chance that the screen will break....apparantly that's quite common (they are nice though). Oh and you will have to charge it up everyday

I think that the main reason many people opt for the iphone is the very smooth touch screen functions, the Apps and the Apple styling otherwise it doesn't really do anything more than my current Nokia or other phones on the market.

I had a look at the HTC touch screen phone....very good touch screen ( not quite as good as Iphone) and all the bells and whistles for a fraction of the price, i think the HTC is a good alternative.

 

[RX-78]

Having just helped a mate who hadn't been able to put a new app/music or even set up an iTune separately from his wife, its definitly not for everyone.

I charge my iPhone via logitec speaker (designed for iPod but works perfectly well) so charging isn't a massive problem - until I go away for more then a day ofcourse. But being able to listen to music in the bedroom whist also charging the phone (and not having power cords dangling) is quite nice.

I think the biggest question is this - can you live with iTune? I can just about but its one of the crappiest & most unflexible programme and has improved very little from 5 years ago, it almost makes me want to cry everytime I have to use it :x

 

[sp3ctre]

ally, which provider are you with at the moment? If you are already with O2 then you can get a free 3GS (maybe 32Gb) and fairly low monthly rate. You need to speak to retentions though

 

[a11y]

ally, which provider are you with at the moment? If you are already with O2 then you can get a free 3GS (maybe 32Gb) and fairly low monthly rate. You need to speak to retentions though

Yep, it was o2 but their retentions department made a reasonable offer but not great - was still too much for what I want to pay.

I've gone with the "non-///M" option and ordered a Samsung Jet - fingers crossed I'll get on with it OK

 

[lacroupade]

ally, which provider are you with at the moment? If you are already with O2 then you can get a free 3GS (maybe 32Gb) and fairly low monthly rate. You need to speak to retentions though

Yep, it was o2 but their retentions department made a reasonable offer but not great - was still too much for what I want to pay.

I've gone with the "non-///M" option and ordered a Samsung Jet - fingers crossed I'll get on with it OK

An admirably sensible compromise Ally - nice one. Let us know how you get on as my wife (another self-confessed luddite) wants a phone with a big screen so she can do Facebook, and I've had my eye on the Jet....seems to do a lot of what the WhyPhone does at half the price and Samsung products are generally pretty good considering their pricing.