To iphone or not to iphone?

[sim667]

Here is my dilemna, My 3g ipod has finally breathed its last (4-5 years old which is pretty good, although i am off to the apple shop to get this verified), and to be honest im getting pretty bored of my phone now (Sony ericsson K800i).

So I am planning on buying a new ipod, the 40gig model at £159. One of my pet hates is having pockets jam packed full of gadgets, this made me think that I would probably like an iphone.

Im currently on 02 who will let me cancel my contract free of charge and take out a new iphone contract (the one i would take out is £35 for 200 mins talk, 200 txts, unlimited wifi usage (which they wouldnt really be able to limit anyway, and unlimited edge usage). My current contract is £35 month with 500 mins and 100 texts (and i have to pay for everything else).

The iphone is expensive, but it does boast wifi, phone capabilities, video capabilities, ipod goodness and beautiful design but after reading the comparisons between the iphone and the nokia n95 im just worried that its not everything it should be.

My other option is to stick to my phone and contract i have currently and wait to see if they bring out a newer better iphone, and buy either a 16GB ipod touch (at £220), or a ipod classic (at £159), also if i were to buy the ipod and keep my phone its just more for my pocket.

I am a mac user at home which means that the iphone and ipod would both work streamlessly with my powerbook, but my sony ericsson does struggle with the mac osx integration at times.

My friend has an iphone he got from china, which i was dissapointed with, but im 90% sure its a fake, it looks different on the outside and the software is nothing like the iphone demos, aswell as having a stylus to navigate round?!?!?

On the negative side the camera on the iphone isnt great (2 megapixel) and it doesnt support movie filming, but to be honest i could just film stuff on freinds phones and bluetooth it to myself, also as the iphone doesnt support 3g and only edge when browsing away from wifi.

On the positive side its got great design, ipod and video (considering i commute into london 3 days a week) and it will sync with my contacts, calendar and itunes really well.

My only other option is to go without a ipod until the end of my contract (next july) and get something like the n95 which is like gold dust at the moment (Should also add i have an iphone reserved )

So thoughts please!

Should also add if i get an iphone i can sell my k800i brown toward the cost of it (i also have a sony minidisk player which i dont want and have been meaning to sell for a while, although i dont think anyone wants minidisks anymore )

[JackFord]

No idea about the iPhone I'm afraid but I must advise you not to buy an N95, the thing is so slow.

[Pat_C]

My O2 contract is also for £35 per month, but for 600 mins and a number of texts that I'm not sure about (I think it's 100, but hardly use any). I object to having to drop down to 200 mins for the same monthly charge just for having an iPhone. So, much as I like the iPhone as a toy (and for the Mac integration) I doubt I will be getting one. I have doubts about how long they would stay looking nice and shiny anyway.

It is useful to know that O2 will let you cancel the current contract to upgrade though, just in case I am tempted.

[sim667]

Originally Posted by Pat_C

I object to having to drop down to 200 mins for the same monthly charge just for having an iPhone.

The balance comes in the fact that you have unlimited download via edge and wifi (which i imagine must mean 02 hotspots) so theoretically if there is a VOIP widget developed for the iphone you would have to actually pay for those calls *theoretically*

Im a higly unorganised person so i can see how the iphones integration would possibly have some benefits.

My main issue is i have to buy an ipod, so im tempted to get the ipod touch, which is £220 anyway so maybe i should just go the whole hog and de-clutter my pockets, my only worry is that i wont have enough minutes on the lowest tariff on 02, so may consider going up or down a traiff later on.

You can cancel your current contract with 02 as long as it was taken after 18 sept this year, this is to stop people getting and upgrade to an N95, and then cancelling to get an iphone. When you buy one from the shop (specifically carphone warehouse im talking about (my freind works at carphone warehouse and has given me the lowdown)) you dont actually take out the contract in shop, you buy the phone and do the credit check through the iphone store. You then have to get a pac code from 02 to transfer your number, but you do get a temp number in the meantime.

Ill remember that about the N95, i know lots of people blarbing on about how they're the greatest thing since sliced bread..... but there is nothing that angers me more than slow gadgets.
My freind had a play with the iphone and said the screen and acceloromators worked perfectly, he also said he tried really hard to make it crash but couldnt.

[Maniac618]

sim667, read the following website post about the iphone. (Some strong language etc)

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

[Kieron]

Originally Posted by Maniac618

sim667, read the following website post about the iphone. (Some strong language etc)

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

...or the mobile section here at AVF. There's lots of posts about the iPhone in there.

I love mine - used it more for other things than any other mobile I have ever owned.

[daveleeuk]

Originally Posted by Maniac618

sim667, read the following website post about the iphone. (Some strong language etc)

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

[Kieron]

Originally Posted by sim667

My friend has an iphone he got from china, which i was dissapointed with, but im 90% sure its a fake, it looks different on the outside and the software is nothing like the iphone demos, aswell as having a stylus to navigate round?!?!?

Yep, that's a fake one!

[sim667]

so here I am in the aple store browsing on an iPod touch. Have been told thisis very similar to the Iphone. Will write about when I get back to the office

[Reepicheep]

The iPhone and Nokia N95 were compared on the Gadget Show on monday evening.
Camera on iPhone got a real pasting and the handling when typing text messages and trying to type into websites also came off pretty badly.

[daveleeuk]

Originally Posted by sim667

so here I am in the aple store browsing on an iPod touch. Have been told thisis very similar to the Iphone. Will write about when I get back to the office

so your out (from work as a guess), looking in the apple store, then when you get back to work your getting straight on avforums.

you need some time off

[geomuss]

kieron's your man for i-phone related questions, there loads on the mobile forum.

The new 8gb nokia N95 is on the way, it look like it could be a bit of an i-phone beater.

[sim667]

Not time off, I just need more to do when I'm at work, to be honest I frequent a lot of forums, this one, the official mac one and the fishkeeping one . Im only at work tues to thurs tho, so you generally will find i disappear on fri, sat, sun, mon as i spend those days drinking myself into a slumber

Anyway as for the ipod touch i was very impressed, its a nice bit of kit, easy to use, very nice to look and a really nice feel to it, good quality build and nice design.

I spoke to a chap there who said it was very similar to the iphone and to be honest if i was going to buy an ipod i would get the top of the range touch one, which is exactly the same price as the iphone in the apple store, (although i would forfeit and 8 gigs of the HD).

As far as my ipod is concerned they said they could fix it for £110, a dodgy shop down the road would do it for about £80 or i could do it myself for about £40 (which entails fitting a new drive myself).

I think i am probably going to buy the iphone, and then try and fix my ipod myself so i can take all of my music on holiday with me rather than just the 8 gigs worth i could fit on the iphone.

[johnscarlet]

there is a like for like comparison on the popsci site here .

moving to the moby section

[sim667]

Originally Posted by Reepicheep

The iPhone and Nokia N95 were compared on the Gadget Show on monday evening.
Camera on iPhone got a real pasting and the handling when typing text messages and trying to type into websites also came off pretty badly.

If i remember rightly the N95 didnt work so well at times either, she had problems with the navigation side of things + there was something else..... and to be honest i saw one the other day i thought it looked a bit plasticy....
Also jackford mentioned earlier that the N95 is slow?!? which i found surprising (every nokia ive ever owned has broken within 3 days of it warranty expiring, i fear i have a personal vendetta against them)