BUY IPHONE OR THE IPOD TOUCH 16meg IN USA?

[Paliranks]

A friend of mine is visting the US later this week and asked me if there was anything I wanted over there. I'm thinking of asking them to pick me up either the IPhone or the IPod Touch 16 meg, which are both at the same price.

The question is should I get them to buy the IPhone in the US and unlocked it over here? I'm aready on O2 so need to swap network, or should I just purchase the IPod touch?

[will1970]

On a completely personal level and having thought about this i have decided to get an ipod touch when i go to the states in the new year. From what i have read apple are going to add more features to the iphone as time goes on and you are not going to be able to update your phone until someone updates the unlocking software. This along with the risk of invalidating your warranty and the lack of 3G means i will buy an ipod touch rather than an iphone.

Will

[Paliranks]

I was thinking that as well. I love the Iphone but was wondering about the logevity of it compared to the Ipod touch. At least you will be able to update it without fear of corrupting the product.

Anyone else got views on this?

[spl23]

If you are already on O2, I'd suggest you don't bother with shopping in the US and just buy an iPhone from your local O2 shop. It is pretty straightforward to unlock a UK iPhone to work with any O2 SIM, and means that for any future firmware upgrades, you don't have to worry about waiting for the baseband to be cracked.

If you'd rather have a Touch, by all means get it cheaper in the US, but at the moment, buying an iPhone without at least having a compatible SIM is a bit of a gamble.

[oasismark]

I got a mate whos coming over from USA in few weeks, and was wondering the same thing.

I'm currently on orange PAYG, so definatly need to unlock the iPhone to use it.

At the current exchange rate it's £193 for an iPhone.

I don't know much about unlocking it though.

[Moogle]

Originally Posted by oasismark

I got a mate whos coming over from USA in few weeks, and was wondering the same thing.

I'm currently on orange PAYG, so definatly need to unlock the iPhone to use it.

At the current exchange rate it's £193 for an iPhone.

I don't know much about unlocking it though.

Don't forget the sales tax.

[stevos]

Just remember that is it possible that some future update may beat the hackers, at which point your iphone would be stuck with an out of date firmware. In additon apple's US warrenty does not cover the UK, which caused me problems when my now ipod mini battery caved in a few weeks after owning it.

[Paliranks]

I think I'll give up purchasing the IPhone from the states. Does the Ipod Touch have internation warranty?

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by stevos

In additon apple's US warrenty does not cover the UK, which caused me problems when my now ipod mini battery caved in a few weeks after owning it.

Most Apple products have an International warranty...unless they've changed things recently.
My daughter bought an iPod in Florida and it had the faulty battery issue a lot of them had...we went through the procedure of claiming under warranty in the UK and it was picked up by DHL and replaced by a new one within 10 days.
A friend bought a MacBook Pro in Florida and it has an International warranty.

[Moogle]

Originally Posted by JayCee

Most Apple products have an International warranty...unless they've changed things recently.
My daughter bought an iPod in Florida and it had the faulty battery issue a lot of them had...we went through the procedure of claiming under warranty in the UK and it was picked up by DHL and replaced by a new one within 10 days.
A friend bought a MacBook Pro in Florida and it has an International warranty.

I have to agree with that. My Powerbook which I bought in the US certainly had an international warranty and I'm pretty sure all Apple products do as well. Having said that when I asked in the Apple store about the warranty on the iPhone the sales assistant told me that due to the phone not been exactly the same in all countries as different mobile carriers are used the same does not apply. Make of that what you will. The hardware and software is pretty much the same so I don't see why that would be the case. The iPhone does seem to be a grey area and I haven't been able to get a definite answer on it.

[will1970]

I believe that if you hack the iphone the warranty is invalidated. So to use a US bought iphone in the UK you are going to have to hack it and thus invalidate the warranty. If you buy it in the UK you may be able to possibly hack it and if something goes wrong restore it to its original state to get the warranty honoured but by buying it in the states you won't have this option as they will know where you purchased it from

Will

[Moogle]

Originally Posted by will1970

I believe that if you hack the iphone the warranty is invalidated. So to use a US bought iphone in the UK you are going to have to hack it and thus invalidate the warranty. If you buy it in the UK you may be able to possibly hack it and if something goes wrong restore it to its original state to get the warranty honoured but by buying it in the states you won't have this option as they will know where you purchased it from

Will

That's a fair point. However for someone who lives in the US for example and comes here on buisness or vice versa and has a legitimately connected iPhone the warranty should be valid worldwide. For example if you're on business in the US or their for a short trip and you have a problem with the phone you should be able to go to an Apple store and try and get it sorted out under the warranty.

[will1970]

Absolutely, i was making the assumption that you would not live in the UK and have an AT&T contract. However if you did i am sure the warranty would be honoured. Hell, with some of the stories i've read about the bills of people who travelled abroad and forgot to turn off the data retrieval on their phone they should give you a free phone!

Will

[Paliranks]

After reading this forum I've changed my mind and will buy a UK iphone instead. There is too much risk in purchasing the Iphone from the state when you can buy a UK model and unlock it.

[JPRo]

I think you have made a good decision going for the iPhone rather than the touch.

I bought a touch in thw USA about 5 weeks ago, and it blew me away. Trouble is, all it made me do was wish i had bought the iPhone as i wanted the extra functionality and the ability to use web browser when away from home etc.

Luckilly with the weak pound i managed to sell the iPod for a small profit that went towards an iPhone at the start of this week and i have never been happier with a new toy.