[bjelder]

So after my 3rd Tour trackball biting the dust and still having call issues... I decided to take the plunge and finally go for the iPhone. I've had it about 4 days. Here's what I like and don't like, so far.

iPhone likes:
-app store. this is what makes the iphone the iphone. sorry blackberry app world....
-web browser... amazing
-wifi....need i say more?
-texting.. way faster than a physical keyboard, the auto correct is amazing
-voice dialing.. no muss no fuss, easier than bb
-speed... no annoying lag.. this thing is QUICK. internet, interface, apps, everything. haven't had a second of lag yet (knock on wood)
-touch screen.. by far the most advanced touch screen I have ever, ever used. i've had extensive time on the LG Dare and Storm, neither one of them comes close
-coverage... must be where I live.. but I get 3G at full bars in more places than verizon ever had 1XEV with full strength.

iPhone dislikes:
-MMS... really, AT&T? C'mon. Sept 25th is the day, hopefully
-camera flash. how does such an advanced phone not even have a flash?
-no push email.. had to download "gpush" that pushes notifications that you have mail, but you still have to go and "check" your mail and let it load.
-no push facebook updates.. have to log in and "check" facebook, even with the facebook app
-no blackberry messenger equivalent. where's the iphone only user chat?


Overall I am incredibly satisfied with the iPhone. The apps are amazing, the web browser is incredible.. all in all just a fantastic phone. Its sad that the Tour left such a bad taste in my mouth concerning RIM... but maybe they will notice dwindling customers. The blackberry is an EXCELLENT work phone, with the lightning fast email push and whatnot, but overall the lack of 'fun' stuff and the hardware issues killed it for me.

[Duvi]

MMS - Lots of tutorials on how to get it working now. No
hacking needed.

Camera Flash - I've used camera flash and it's the worse.
I take better pics with my iPhone than any of the current
BlackBerry devices.

Gmail - Try Mail2Web (free) or NuevaSync (my favorite;
$25/yr, but there is a trial)

Facebook - I have my notifications being sent to my email
and I check that way. A newer version, 3.1 will address
the push notification.

BBM - I have and use it, so no real argument there, but
there are alternatives. You can SMS, which is in IM-style
format. You can also use IM apps.

Congratulations on your new device. Once you're comfortable,
you can jailbreak and you'll be all set.

[Chaldo]

Good job dude, hope you like the iPhone.

Edit: you also need to change your Thread Title it should be "Goodbye Tour, and Verizon, Hello iPhone 3GS, and AT&T. jk

[bjelder]

I love love love love the threaded SMS's... it would just feel cool to have an iPhone users chat, thats all lol. The threaded SMS's are nicer than BBM, I think.

As for gmail I just downloaded "gpush" which is a godsend. I might consider jailbreaking, not sure.

[cjharley]

I just got my iPhone 3G after having a Curve for a year and a half and I am completely blown away.

I do miss push email, but that's something I can live without. The touch screen, apps, the HUGE screen, the vibrate colors (I could go on and on) completely make up for it.

I do, however miss UberTwitter.

Off to download more apps.....

[sallenthornton]

I keep switching back and forth .... I tell everyone that I love the iphone, however it doesn't have the little blinking light that the blackberry has.

I'm using the bold now, but i have been using my iphone like an itouch, with the sim removed.

[digital_cataclysm]

Seems I've been hearing a LOT of comments about the Tour and those trackball issues - kind of makes me glad I decided to hold off until the Storm 2 comes out, see what that's like.

Anyhoo, congrats on the new iPhone -
Pretty fun time to be around, with all these advancements in mobile technology.
(Remember those old motorola "starTacs"? Lol. And we used to think those were tiny and amazing).

I have a few friends who are iPhone owners - most of them love the things, as you mentioned, the amount of fun and cool little apps is ridiculous.

[bjelder]

(Remember those old motorola "starTacs"? Lol. And we used to think those were tiny and amazing).

Those things were AWESOME. I remember a friend got one and it was like OMG FLIP PHONE WHOAAAAA!!

Anyway.. yes I do miss the little blinking LED light. But the phone is simply unbelievable... easily 5 years ahead of any other cell phone. (And yet at the same time... 5 years behind cell phones with MMS, flash, and push email.. lol).

I would say I should have switched years ago but I wouldn't have the 32gb 3GS


Although my Mom did have one of these for the car....

[Umbrello]

@ OP

You say you get excellent signal in your location. Where are you from?

[bjelder]

@ OP

You say you get excellent signal in your location. Where are you from?

Central FL

[Moses816]

Quick question can you put an iPhone on sprint ???

[Chaldo]

No, the iPhone does not have a CDMA radio built in, so sprint will not work with the iPhone because it uses CDMA not GSM

[iHoop#CB]

Might have to pick a 3Gs up

[Umbrello]

Central FL

I'm from NE FL. That's awesome news.

[sniffs]

Gmail offers push email on the iPhone. You have to setup your Gmail account to support IMAP. In the account settings on your Gmail account, just enable IMAP, once you've done that, go back to your iPhone and set it up using that server instead.

Then once you've done that, instead of using pop.gmail.com, put imap.gmail.com

I have it setup like this and it works great.

[avt123]

Gmail offers push email on the iPhone. You have to setup your Gmail account to support IMAP. In the account settings on your Gmail account, just enable IMAP, once you've done that, go back to your iPhone and set it up using that server instead.

Then once you've done that, instead of using pop.gmail.com, put imap.gmail.com

I have it setup like this and it works great.

I have my gmail account setup like this and I don't get push, just normal IMAP. How are you getting it to push? I don't even have the push option, only fetch and manual.

[sniffs]

Same, I only have Fetch and manual.. but it's being pushed to my iPhone.

I can send an email to my gmail account and within 30 seconds it's delivered. every time.

All I know is I followed a guide for setting it up, using the correct ports, etc.. let me see if I saved it.

[avt123]

Same, I only have Fetch and manual.. but it's being pushed to my iPhone.

I can send an email to my gmail account and within 30 seconds it's delivered. every time.

All I know is I followed a guide for setting it up, using the correct ports, etc.. let me see if I saved it.

Oh wow. Yea if you can find that guide that would be great! Do you have it set to manual or fetch, and if fetch, which interval? Thanks sniffs!

[Hifever004]

To the OP... I agree %100 with your review. I left my BB 8900 for the iPhone almost a month ago, and I can't be any happier with it. I'm in Miami, Fl. and unlike my 8900, I always have full bars, and not 1 drop call.

[jmlampert23]

you will love it. great phone

[YourMobileGuru]

I've had a 3GS as an additional device for about a month and a half now. I was gonna buy a Touch back when it was almost unanimously believed that the new one was going to have a camera, but I was pissed at VZW for not letting me use one of my upgrades early to get a Tour right away so I used an available upgrade on AT&T to get this instead (and got the tour about 3 weeks ago)

You can get push email for the iPhone it just costs you the extra $99/year MobileMe subscription, or as has been mentioned the GPush app but that's really just a work around. If you want to read the message you still have to open the imap client and wait for it to download.

The phone is fast because it does not have true multitasking except for music and a couple other things. It uses push notifications to fool you into thinking it is multitasking.

iPhone likes:
-app store. this is what makes the iphone the iphone, it's much more polished than AppWorld and has a lot more apps (obviously, being a year older). It's the main reason I wanted the Touch
-web browser... the best out there so far, though I dont dislike the newer BB Browses as much as a lot of people
-wifi.... nice to have only because i get squat AT&T signal in my room on the iPhone (BB Works fine though) and I can connect to my VZW MiFI . . . otherwise I never use WiFi
-typing.. faster than the Storm, but I can still type faster on my Curve or Tour
-touch screen.. I still like SurePress but this is better than the ones I've tried on the Voyager, enV Touch, Dare, etc.
- The Facebook app is ages ahead of the one on BlackBerry, and the MySpace one is also a bit better but not as much so.

iPhone dislikes:
-MMS... *shakes head* I'd do the hack if I actually used this as my primary device but really, I shouldn't have to.
-camera flash. This is a pretty basic feature. cmon Apple get with the program! I disagree with Divi, the best pics I take are with my Curve 8900 and Tour.
-no push email.. (see above)
-no push facebook updates.. yeah I know it's coming soon
-coverage/reception... no 3G here yet and they keep making excused/delaying when we are supposed to get it. The radio in it seems vastly inferior to the Bold and 8900
- iTunes . . . can we say "bloatware"? people?
- No removable/replaceable battery . . . a full charger lasts about a day of moderate use but what about heavy use or if you are going to be away from someplace you can charge it for more than a day?
- Proprietary USB Cable / chargers . . . everyone else is switching to MucroUSB . . . get with the program Apple
- Say it with me Apple "Folders"
- SpringBoard limited to 160 apps/10 screens (what's the point in having so much memory if you are basically limited to using 160 apps without using workarounds) (see above)

That's about it I think

[stuaw11]

iPhone dislikes:
-MMS... *shakes head* I'd do the hack if I actually used this as my primary device but really, I shouldn't have to.
-camera flash. This is a pretty basic feature. cmon Apple get with the program! I disagree with Divi, the best pics I take are with my Curve 8900 and Tour.
-no push email.. (see above)
-no push facebook updates.. yeah I know it's coming soon
-coverage/reception... no 3G here yet and they keep making excused/delaying when we are supposed to get it. The radio in it seems vastly inferior to the Bold and 8900
- iTunes . . . can we say "bloatware"? people?
- No removable/replaceable battery . . . a full charger lasts about a day of moderate use but what about heavy use or if you are going to be away from someplace you can charge it for more than a day?
- Proprietary USB Cable / chargers . . . everyone else is switching to MucroUSB . . . get with the program Apple
- Say it with me Apple "Folders"
- SpringBoard limited to 160 apps/10 screens (what's the point in having so much memory if you are basically limited to using 160 apps without using workarounds) (see above)

That's about it I think

MMS is in the newest iphone 3.1 OS, just holding off till its jailbroken in a few days

Cell phone flashes are 99.9% useless for photos. A good flashlight in the dark at best

You can find hosted exchange sites that offer cheap Exchange push email. But Gmail does a pretty darn good job of coming in near instant for a lot of people. also can use gpush or theres one other new app i cant remember the name right now for push gmail. yahoo also does push for free with the iphone. there are other solutions than mobileme (BTW you can find it for $79 if you google it. $6/month is hardly expensive)

Facebook notifications- coming, and soon

itunes may be bloatware, but not anymore than BB desktop with Roxio

Ill agree with the removable battery part, it should have one. But there are small battery packs you plug into the iphone port on ebay for a few bucks.

the Iphone cable is FAR from proprietary considering there are tens of millions of iphones and ipods out there. It might not be a "universal standard" but its one heck of a popular cable. You can find them in nearly any store that sells anything electronic; even Walmart/Target/Kmart and such department stores. Heck a lot of cars come with iphone/ipod adapters build in...

The last 2 points can easily be fixed by jailbreaking. Cydia app called categories gives you folders, and thus more than 160 icons.

[kilofox#CB]

You can get a Push Notification for Gmail with an app called GPush. Notice I said notification. A notification window will pop up for every email you get.. the notification arrives about as quick as a blackberry email does. You then have to decide if you want to retrieve the email via the iPhone's email client.

Its not true push obviously, but it will do until true Gmail push comes to the iPhone if it ever does.

Which brings up another point... since "geeky" people tend to use Gmail more than most people, will Apple keep Gmail from pushing in order to keep people on MobileMe? I am thinking yes .....

[YourMobileGuru]

You can get a Push Notification for Gmail with an app called GPush. Notice I said notification. A notification window will pop up for every email you get.. the notification arrives about as quick as a blackberry email does. You then have to decide if you want to retrieve the email via the iPhone's email client.

Its not true push obviously, but it will do until true Gmail push comes to the iPhone if it ever does.

Which brings up another point... since "geeky" people tend to use Gmail more than most people, will Apple keep Gmail from pushing in order to keep people on MobileMe? I am thinking yes .....

I have the two deices BB and iPhone side by side and the notification is NOT as fast as the BB and the point is that the message itself is just as slow as a regular email client.

[YourMobileGuru]

MMS is in the newest iphone 3.1 OS, just holding off till its jailbroken in a few days

Actually it's still being held hostage by AT&T until the 25th

Cell phone flashes are 99.9% useless for photos. A good flashlight in the dark at best

Completely disagree. My Curve 8330, 8900, Bold 9000, and Tour 9630 all have very nice cameras. Not as good as a stand alone digital camera but more than good enough for web and make decent 4x6 prints

You can find hosted exchange sites that offer cheap Exchange push email. But Gmail does a pretty darn good job of coming in near instant for a lot of people. also can use gpush or theres one other new app i cant remember the name right now for push gmail. yahoo also does push for free with the iphone. there are other solutions than mobileme (BTW you can find it for $79 if you google it. $6/month is hardly expensive)

I'm already paying $30 for the data plan, the same as the BB data plan. I should not have to pay MORE for a feature that comes standard on BB.

Facebook notifications- coming, and soon

itunes may be bloatware, but not anymore than BB desktop with Roxio

Except that with the BB I am not REQUIRED to use Roxio, I can use media player or any other app that managers music players pretty much. Also I do think that iTunes is worse, entire computer slows to a crawl when it is running.

Ill agree with the removable battery part, it should have one. But there are small battery packs you plug into the iphone port on ebay for a few bucks.

And completely ruing the look of the phone. :-(

the Iphone cable is FAR from proprietary considering there are tens of millions of iphones and ipods out there. It might not be a "universal standard" but its one heck of a popular cable. You can find them in nearly any store that sells anything electronic; even Walmart/Target/Kmart and such department stores. Heck a lot of cars come with iphone/ipod adapters build in...

Umn, proprietary means that only one company (Apple) uses it and this is the case here. Other accessory manufacturers use it on their accessories and docks but ONLY to be compatible with iPod/iPhone. No other phone or MP3 player uses it, therefor it IS proprietary.

MicroUSB OTOH is on it's way to being the universal standard for cel phones (per the EU which is pushing for a single standard) RIM, Samsung, LG, and otheres are all onboard Apple need to join the party.

The last 2 points can easily be fixed by jailbreaking. Cydia app called categories gives you folders, and thus more than 160 icons.

Um yeah I know. So basically you hack the phone destroying what little security the device already has, and then install an app that then has to be removed (or will automatically be removed) with the next OS update. I know Apple is about as slow at OS updates as Verizon with official BB updates, but still that's a pain.