iPhone 4, buy it or wait?

[Frosted]

They charge you lot loads for a phone over there. We can get an iphone 4 with 2000 minutes 5000 texts for £40 a month.
Apparently you'd be hard pressed to use a gig of internet on a phone from what I read.

There's no doubt that it's a great phone but there are android phones like htc that are fantastic.

[teeotee]

Even if i wanted to get an Iphone ( which i don't) I live out in the boonies here so it wouldn't work anyway. Plus i'm over 30 so really have no need for one . If i ever did go for a smartphone it probably would be a droid, although the new BB torch looks pretty cool.

[snusgetter]

Even if i wanted to get an Iphone ( which i don't) I live out in the boonies here so it wouldn't work anyway. Plus i'm over 30 so really have no need for one . If i ever did go for a smartphone it probably would be a droid, although the new BB torch looks pretty cool.

You might reconsider after reading this:

Man Uses iPhone to Watch Live Video of His Home Being Burglarized

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas

An iPhone application helped a Dallas man, while visiting relatives hundreds of miles away in suburban Hartford, Conn., watch as two burglars broke into his home.

Vincent Hunter told WFAA-TV that he called 911 at the same time his home security system also contacted authorities.

Hunter says "we could see it unfolding."

Hunter says an iCam app, which he bought for less than $5, sent him a text message Friday afternoon alerting him that motion detectors sensed movement in his supposedly empty residence.

Hunter, who has webcams in his home, watched as two men are seen trying to break into the place. They eventually throw a brick through a glass door. The webcams, minutes later, show two police officers entering the house.

Both suspects remain at large.

[devilock76]

I have an I phone 3gs, I am waiting before I get a 4g. However this weekend I will probably go ahead and do the IOS 4 upgrade. My main concern is witht he upgrade how "multi-tasking" will affect battery life and if it is something I can keep turned off. For that matter how good is their "task management" when it comes to multiple open apps.

Ken

[Frosted]

I have an I phone 3gs, I am waiting before I get a 4g. However this weekend I will probably go ahead and do the IOS 4 upgrade. My main concern is witht he upgrade how "multi-tasking" will affect battery life and if it is something I can keep turned off. For that matter how good is their "task management" when it comes to multiple open apps.

Ken

That's a good point and one I'd like to know as I'm due to upgrade my phone next month - I do know with HTC you can easily turn off apps but I don't know about the iphone.
The only downside I can see to the HTC desire is battery life - even with the apps turned off.

What's the battery life like on the 3gs Ken? The 3gs is the only other phone I'll consider at the moment as iphone 4 is too expensive.

[wadetheblade]

I have a samsung galaxy S vibrant. It is awesome. You can't beat the screen, anywhere. I am an apple fan boy and have only used apple computers for the last ten years exclusively, but there is no way I would go to AT&T to get the iphone. If another carrier had it I would have bought it. The service is too shoddy and too expensive. I pay $85 dollars a month for unlimited talk, text & and web, and the web is not tiered, but true unlimited with tethering allowed. The good thing about Tmobile is you can haggle with customer service on prices, the bad thing is they don't always have the best phones. I like my vibrant the best, but if I was on at&t already I would get the iphone 4.

[CoderGuy]

I had the first 3 versions of the iPhone and loved them. Even got my family to upgrade. Once I got the iPad though it seemed redundant to have both (and I got irritated at Apple's control over what could be installed and AT&T's control over what could be used on which network plus their bait-n-switch on their data plan) so I switched over to the HTC EVO 4G. I am loving it. Sure there are 200k+ more apps on the iStore but I only use about 30 of them, and most of them (or ones just like it) are available on the Android Marketplace. I still love the iPad and use it daily and love the EVO and use it daily.

The iPhone 4 is a great device. I have a couple friends that have it and love it. Unfortunately they cannot video with me as iPhone 4's Facetime requires another iPhone 4. The EVO has a front facing camera as well and can be used with QiK to talk to anyone (and soon Skype) whether they use a phone or webcam.

So it really depends on what you want to use it for. If you want to use it for games, I think iPhone has the edge on Android in variety and performance of games. If you want to use it to video with others then EVO has the edge as you could video chat with someone else using their computer and not force them to buy an iPhone 4 just to see your ugly mug.

You also have to take into account the plans. If you already have AT&T it's a no-brainer but if you are going to be switching carriers check the coverage (check with others that have AT&T you know not the website) and also the pricing. AT&T has charges above their base cost. For instance you need a voice plan (I think their lowest is 50 bucks) plus the data plan plus the text plan. Data plans are 200 MB for 15 or 2 GB for 25 with 10 bucks additional for each Gig after where as Sprint (the EVO) is 79 for unlimited (no cap) data, text, voice calls to any mobile carrier and 400 mins for landline calls. One isn't necessarily better than the other, just depends on your needs. In 4 years of using a smart phone I have never gone over 2 GB in a month but I definitely go over 200 MB.

Android has overtaken iPhone in growth and they definitely have more variety in devices. Every month new Android phones come out, each better than the last. iPhone generally updates once a year in July. If you wait 4 months the iPhone will be the same with rumors of iPhone 5 next July where as there may be 20 new Android phones with even more power available. If you do you development Android is definitely better there as you can write in Java and share with your friends, all for free. iPhone requires 99 bucks per year to enable you to put your software on your phone and if you want to share with friends you need an Ad-Hoc certificate (which means you need to get the serial number of each of your friends phones before you can authorize the software for them to use).

Like I said, it's all about how you plan on using it.

[Frosted]

That's very useful CoderGuy. Thanks.
I think it will indeed be Android for me.

[sgreger1]

Im just looking at the iphone 4 because I alreadyhave a bunch of iphone/itouch apps on my computer, and I don't feel like buying them all over again. Everyone I know that has the new adnroid one (I forget which model) say it got slow super fast and is junk now so i'm kind of warry. Plus, we have to account for the fact that my wife is an apple fanboi too so my only option for a new phone is really the iphone lol.


I played with it and the multitasking was pretty slick and easy to use. I'm not gonna lie, I don't really care. I would like to use miltitasking if I have pandora up, but for the most part I like the Ipad's interface. I hit the home button to exit the app, do whatever, then when I turn the game back on it just starts up where I left off. Don't need 5 things running at once.


Can someone explain to me what/how the retina display works? I know the screen had crazy high resolution when I was playing with it, but it sounds like this retina display is something new or something, but i'm not clear what it means.


@LX:

I agree,I hate the closed-source business model. However, they still have the superior product, and I buy from whoever can get me the best product at the time I want to purchase. Apple always works, doesn't get slow, has long battery life, and has more games and shit. Even if it's closed source, I don't really need aynthing to be open-source. I'm content with the content they have available through the itunes store, and .99 cents or 3 bucks here or there isn't a dealbreaker for me. The good thing about their closed marketplace is that most of the apps work and don't crash or lag my device because they've been vetted. When someone makes something that runs as smooth for as long as an apple product does, i'll buy it. But for right now they're ahead of the competition when it comes to the things I use the iphone for, such as browsing the web, playing games and reading books or listening to music.

[Frosted]

Sgreger - I hope you've seen my sig.

[devilock76]

That's a good point and one I'd like to know as I'm due to upgrade my phone next month - I do know with HTC you can easily turn off apps but I don't know about the iphone.
The only downside I can see to the HTC desire is battery life - even with the apps turned off.

What's the battery life like on the 3gs Ken? The 3gs is the only other phone I'll consider at the moment as iphone 4 is too expensive.

Really varies. For example, mine could probably last two typical work days. Why, because most of the day I turn off 3g (using just edge) wifi and gps. I only turn on those antennas when I need them and will use them. Heck sometimes at night I still have over 70% battery life.

However on say a weekend where I am running wifi more from home. I will be closer to a day + without needing a charge, not 2 or so.

Ken

[Bigblue1]

@frosty- LOL

[sgreger1]

Sgreger - I hope you've seen my sig.

How can you joke at such a tragedy. First you destroy millions of years worth of evolution by making every living thing in the gulf extinct, then you release terrorists onto our streets, and now your cracking jokes? You sick.. sick little man.


/lol Awesome sig

[Curtisp]

Originally Posted by Curtisp
I really love my new bb torch.

Is that the touchscreen one? My mom is looking to upgrade from her blackberry curve and has verizon. Would you recommend it?

Very much, I am qwerty keyboard dependent, the touch screen on the torch, slides up to reveal keyboard. Touch screen works for everything but typing, i love it.

However, i think only AT@T has the torch right now.

[devilock76]

Originally Posted by Curtisp
I really love my new bb torch.

Is that the touchscreen one? My mom is looking to upgrade from her blackberry curve and has verizon. Would you recommend it?

Very much, I am qwerty keyboard dependent, the touch screen on the torch, slides up to reveal keyboard. Touch screen works for everything but typing, i love it.

However, i think only AT@T has the torch right now.

I used to say the same thing till I got going typing on the iphone. The iphone's on screen keyboard can be very fast once you get used to it.

Ken