iPhone

[badger]

I'm debating if I should get an iPhone - those who have one, what are your thoughts? love it/can't live without it? not worth the $? And what GB size? 16 or 32? (difference is $100 or $200)

[Irulan]

I love mine. I find it extremely useful, and it's very easy to use. I think that's why they are so "addictive"... it's the ease of use. I try to think of it as a tool and not a toy. No Angry Birds for me.

DH and I have the 16 which is more than enough for us. You can put days worth of music on it. I guess it depends on how much video and large apps you'd use.

Things I use all the time that I had no idea I would use:
flashlight, timer, calculator, camera, contacts, calendar, maps, note taking, reading books, grocery list app, New York Times app, dictionary, web browser., wikipedia, cheap gas finder.
This is addition to texting, phone and email.

It's been great for travel - maps, finding restaurants on the road, where to find cheap gas, where to find a home depot in an unfamiliar town, hotel reviews, using Wikipedia for more info on historical sites...

I suppose any smart phone does most of this stuff.

[Irulan]

I'm going to get this out of the way right now so no one else needs to post it: what do you need a smart phone for anyway? I do just fine with a land line, and an answering machine and a regular cell phone..

[Crankin]

Yea, I swore I would never get one, but my phone started breaking and I kind of do have to check my email when I am on the road going from client to client.
DH set it up for me, so I can't comment on that. I have been able to figure out what I need to do, which is use the phone, check email, and search the web. Of course, it was all synched from my Mac Book, so that was easy.
The only app I put on there is Facebook. I doubt I will even put any other apps on it... it's not a toy for me and it's a little annoying to try and read stuff on the small screen. I did use the camera, but I can't figure out how to get the pics to my computer... the first time they automatically loaded from "the Cloud," of which I have no idea what that is. But, it was kind of a pain to get the photos out of I Photo into a format I could post on TE.
This forced me to actually use my address book on the computer, so I could get the contacts into the phone. Before, I just let the mail program keep track of that. I still have much of that in my head, anyway.
My kids are happy I am now in the 21st century and I have been texting them and DH, when necessary. I could never figure out how to text on my old phone.
We shall see if i use it for anything other than phone, email, or text. I don't listen to music at all, except on the car radio, and I keep (gasp) a paper calendar.
Siri is really silly. DH had fun asking *her* dumb stuff, but I can absolutely predict I will never use her.

[badger]

I lived in the dark for much too long. This is part of my break up healing process because I've wanted a smart phone for a long time but my ex always told me I don't need one. So, now that I don't have to listen to him, I want to do what I want, and I want a smart phone.

I did get an Android phone, but it's not all that exciting, and my friends all have an iPhone and they're doing this that and other and every single one of them loves theirs. I should also note that right now I don't have a data plan with my phone (I have wifi at home so do my internet stuff on my phone at home), but it's eventually I know i'll want data and I'll only be paying just a little less than an iPhone so I might as well just go for the whole deal.

when you use the ireader, I'm assuming you have to download the books onto the phone itself (like music) rather than accessing it remotely? I'm now just debating if I want the 16GB or the 32GB.

[Irulan]

There are tons of free books, library books and books you can purchase. The space they take up is really minimal. It's music and video that will take up your space. and yes you transfer them but I find it to be pretty easy.
We each have the minimum data plan which here is 200 MB a month. I use mine mostly on wifi and have yet to max out my data. I think where you get into needing the unlimited plans is when you start streaming video or radio like pandora... that will use a ton of data in no time flat. It's very easy to track usage, too.

I have the one that came out before this version that talks to you.

[GLC1968]

I was a smartphone hold-out until last spring when my company provided them for engineers. Now that I'm no longer an engineer, I thought for sure I'd have to pay for it, but my boss agreed to take on the contract because of all the travel I do.

When I was an engineer, I used a VPN app and my email like crazy. I was able to log into our systems and address problems from anywhere and it was incredibly convenient.

Now that I travel so much, I find I rely on it a ton. Directions, check in and boarding passes, lists, reading, etc.

As far as iphone vs andriod? My husband and I got our phones about a week apart. He's got the Droid X from Verizon (mine is the iphone 4 from AT&T). He has had to replace his and call for service on his twice in that time. Mine has had ZERO issues.

Mine is a 16GB and I have hardly filled it (I don't keep video or much music on mine). Two of my coworkers just got the iphone 4S and wow, it's slick. It's probably got more stuff than I need though, so I'm happy with mine.

[BikeDutchess]

I also swore I would never need/get a smartphone, but I'm addicted to my iPhone. I use the camera a lot - photography is a hobby of mine, and while I lug my DSLR around sometimes, I take many more photos with my phone. And I use a lot of the photography apps as well.

I also like it when I travel, to find restaurants, read the forums & my email, surf the web, get the news, listen to music, even watch an occasional movie, everything in one small little package. To me it's too small to comfortably read books. I may look at the Kindles in the future.

I have a 32GB iPhone 4 & am glad I got the larger size. About half is music, and that leaves me a decent amount of room for photos and apps. The iPhone 4S has a better quality camera and photo file sizes will be larger.

I love how easy-to-use the iPhone is. My dad got an Android-type (I think) and it's not nearly as intuitive (at least for me). I also have a blackberry for work, and hate it.

[GLC1968]

Books don't take much space. I use the kindle app (I have a kindle, too but I actually find that I read on my iphone more than I do on my kindle!) and right now I've got 8 full sized books on it (and 12 more archived that I can access if I have wifi or 3G available) and it takes up almost zero room. I've got 11GB of free space, so after you pull out all my apps and music and stuff, the books can't account for much.

I was also shocked at how quickly books download from the archives. Even using 3G, they only take a few seconds!

My only complaint about the phone is not really a complaint about the phone at all. I hate that I cannot see it without my reading glasses (any of it...not just the books). That part is a pain. I need bifocals.

[maillotpois]

I love mine. I had the regular 4, then about 3 weeks ago it ended up in the toilet , so I had to replace it. I was a little over a year into my contract so I was eligible for "upgrade" and ended up replacing it with the new 4s. I LOVE that. The dictation function for messages, email, etc., is extremely handy. And it is noticeably quicker both in processing and in web access (AT&T). Siri and I are just getting acquainted, so other than the dictation stuff, I have not talked to her much. I have a 16 an it is fine. If it starts to get full, I move photos and video (video is what eats it up) to my PC.

The camera is also great.

I have had a smart phone/email phone for 13 - 14 years, since the beginning. I originally had a series of Treos. For a time, I had a cell phone separate/in addition to the phone that did email. I think that was when smart phones weren't so smart and you couldn't email and talk at same time, etc.

It took me a long time to finally convert to iPhone, and in so doing, I betrayed my DH who has an ongoing Mac/PC battle with his dad (I am still otherwise PC - well, aside from the iPad.) But it was worth it.

[OakLeaf]

As far as iphone vs andriod? My husband and I got our phones about a week apart. He's got the Droid X from Verizon (mine is the iphone 4 from AT&T). He has had to replace his and call for service on his twice in that time. Mine has had ZERO issues.

Don't confuse hardware and software though. I've got an HTC Incredible running Android, and I was really surprised how counterintuitive my neighbor's Motorola Droid X is. She asked me for help setting it up, since I'd had my Android phone for close to a year when she got hers, but I couldn't make heads or tails of hers without RTFM (and I made her do that ). I can't speak to reliability though - she hasn't had any trouble with hers, nor have I, and the last Motorola phone I owned myself was a flip phone probably ten years ago (no problems there either, but not a whole lot to go wrong!).

Honestly, if I were getting a new phone right now, if you live and/or work somewhere that there's 4G service or will be soon, I'd get a 4G phone. We've seen over and over again, first with wired electronics and now with wireless, that data expands to fill the pipe, and I wouldn't tie myself to 3G. If you really have to have an iPhone, wait until the iPhone 5 comes out (whenever that happens to be ... and if it really turns out to be 4G as rumored, and as it obviously needs to be).

Plus, some of the claimed battery life on the 4G phones is pretty spectacular. I don't know whether to believe it or not ... but the Motorola Bionic and the Samsung Charge both claim usage times approaching 11 hours.


DH has an iPhone 3GS. He's plenty happy with it.

[TsPoet]

I'm going to get this out of the way right now so no one else needs to post it: what do you need a smart phone for anyway? I do just fine with a land line, and an answering machine and a regular cell phone..

I assume you are joking?
I don't have a land line and will never have one again. it is illegal for people to call a cell phone for sales calls. Even with the do not call list, they still can call land line. A land line is stuck in your house, I'm never home. On a land line, you don't get messages until you get home, if you bother to look. A land line can disturb you any time you are home... never never never again.
My cell phone ringer is rarely on. I either feel it vibrate or I don't. It tells me the number of who called, and if they are a friend, their name.
I prefer email as a way to communicate - I get them right away and can answer whenever I want, using my smart phone. Most of my friends seem to like texting, while I don't, that also is convenient.
when I'm stuck on a city bus, I can browse the web, or play a game of backgammon or listen to music or... when someone mentions a play or an event that I might be interested, I can look it up, no need to wait and possibly forget the name....
I have an iphone and love it. I'm not a fan of ATT. I planned on going to Verizon and getting an iPhone 5. Now I'm still waiting on the 5!

[GLC1968]

Don't confuse hardware and software though. I've got an HTC Incredible running Android, and I was really surprised how counterintuitive my neighbor's Motorola Droid X is. She asked me for help setting it up, since I'd had my Android phone for close to a year when she got hers, but I couldn't make heads or tails of hers without RTFM (and I made her do that ). I can't speak to reliability though - she hasn't had any trouble with hers, nor have I, and the last Motorola phone I owned myself was a flip phone probably ten years ago (no problems there either, but not a whole lot to go wrong!).

Yes - DH's problem was with the phone hardware, not the Andriod software. I should have mentioned that specifically. I also can't speak to the ease of use on the Droid X platform because my H is also a computer whiz, so not much makes him pause. I, on the other hand, love the technology, but HATE, HATE, HATE when things don't work as they should and I have very little patience for bugs. Luckily, the iphone 4 suits me.

(I would bet that the iphone 5 won't be available until about a year from now and yes, it should be 4G....don't ask how I know this. If I told you, I'd have to kill you )

[jessmarimba]

I still have the 3GS and I love it (though I do want to upgrade).

I'm not sure if they still have a 1-year automatic warranty, but the modem (? whatever senses the data network) went out in my first one. I walked in to the apple store, they ran some tests on it, and went to the back and got me a brand new phone. As soon as I got home I synched it and voila! everything was normal again.

The only complaint I have is that I dropped the phone and broke the "silent" switch on the side, so there is no way to turn the sound off entirely anymore. I wish there was a backup way to do that without the switch, but oh well.

[tangentgirl]

iPhone means I never have to be bored again.

Not sure if that is good or bad.