vB Easy Archive - On the edge

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On the edge
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Posted by: MisplacedAJ

Hey guys, haven't posted on HoFo for ages but the iphone has brought be back. I'm sure there are alot of people around here that are just teetering on the edge about purchasing an iphone or waiting for something better. I apologize for starting what must be the 1000000000000000th thread on the topic but I really was hoping for some honest opinions. I know the specs, I've scouted the competition and have assessed my needs and am still undecided on what the hell I should do.

Quick background
My search for a new phone started when my w800i started failing. Which directly resulted in me losing both my mp3 player and my phone. I was out on the market for a nano, clix, meizu m6 or something similar (I wanted something to run with so flash memory was a must) before I started getting back into the mixed mp3/cellphone game. Ofcourse, the Iphone leads at the top of that list. The $100 refurb sale has me even more on the edge! So if you folks could really help me out, give me some honest opinions and not (ZOMG THE TOUCHSCREENZ!!) I would really really greatly appreciate it. The advice of the HoFo community to me in the past has been invaluable. So I'm sure you folks won't fail me!

Now my real questions about the iphone come down to the following:
1) Have any of you guys used the Belkin (or similar) armband acces. and run with it? And I mean a real workout, not some silly powerwalking crap

. If so, what have been your experiences with it? Is it easy to control, is the iphone just too big to carry on your arm like that?

2) I've been really turned off by some of the glaring features which are missing on the Iphone. No flash/java support on Safari, no voice dialing, no mms and the lack of a copy/select/paste function. I'm not a business user by any means but I'm also not a 10 year old that doesn't have needs for organization. I currently am married to a PocketPC and this would be my first real attempt at trying to merge EVERYTHING in my life together. What I'm getting at is three things. First, I'm very scared that I'll purchase an iphone and Apple will release (according to some rumors) a 2nd Gen Iphone within 2007 or the first half of 2008 with all the features that I want. How realistic (and I realize this is all speculation) do you guys think that is?Second, I've heard about the much bala-hooeyed software update coming up and I was wondering what exactly (if there have been any rumors or atleast confirmed info) on what that update would fix. Third, how have all of you guys handled the transition from a "smartphone" to the iphone as a primary data device?

3) I've considered waiting for other phones to arrive in the market that beat the iphone's abilities or thought about getting a seperate mp3 player and phone. The w960 from Sony, the US n95 and the new U990 from LG are all ones I've been scouting. Do you folks think having a seperate mp3 player and phone might be the way to go for my needs? And How do you think those phones will fare compared to the Iphone!

4) I was wondering if you folks have been able to size movies on the Iphone for less than 1gb... somewhere in the 500-700mb range with still decent/good quality. I'm interested in throwing about 4-5gigs of music on the phone and hopefully about 4-5 movies if I can get a decent quality video for 500-700mb.

Finally, I was wondering if you guys could give me 1 feature on the iphone you could not live without (and don't say multi-touch!)

Thanks alot in advance HoFo Apple community!

Posted by: seal

Hey guys, haven't posted on HoFo for ages but the iphone has brought be back. I'm sure there are alot of people around here that are just teetering on the edge about purchasing an iphone or waiting for something better. I apologize for starting what must be the 1000000000000000th thread on the topic but I really was hoping for some honest opinions. I know the specs, I've scouted the competition and have assessed my needs and am still undecided on what the hell I should do.

Quick background
My search for a new phone started when my w800i started failing. Which directly resulted in me losing both my mp3 player and my phone. I was out on the market for a nano, clix, meizu m6 or something similar (I wanted something to run with so flash memory was a must) before I started getting back into the mixed mp3/cellphone game. Ofcourse, the Iphone leads at the top of that list. The $100 refurb sale has me even more on the edge! So if you folks could really help me out, give me some honest opinions and not (ZOMG THE TOUCHSCREENZ!!) I would really really greatly appreciate it. The advice of the HoFo community to me in the past has been invaluable. So I'm sure you folks won't fail me!

Now my real questions about the iphone come down to the following:
1) Have any of you guys used the Belkin (or similar) armband acces. and run with it? And I mean a real workout, not some silly powerwalking crap . If so, what have been your experiences with it? Is it easy to control, is the iphone just too big to carry on your arm like that?

Not too sure abuot that, I don't have an armband so... (but I did see someone using it, and it seemed fine to me)

2) I've been really turned off by some of the glaring features which are missing on the Iphone. No flash/java support on Safari, no voice dialing, no mms and the lack of a copy/select/paste function. I'm not a business user by any means but I'm also not a 10 year old that doesn't have needs for organization. I currently am married to a PocketPC and this would be my first real attempt at trying to merge EVERYTHING in my life together. What I'm getting at is three things. First, I'm very scared that I'll purchase an iphone and Apple will release (according to some rumors) a 2nd Gen Iphone within 2007 or the first half of 2008 with all the features that I want. How realistic (and I realize this is all speculation) do you guys think that is?Second, I've heard about the much bala-hooeyed software update coming up and I was wondering what exactly (if there have been any rumors or atleast confirmed info) on what that update would fix. Third, how have all of you guys handled the transition from a "smartphone" to the iphone as a primary data device?

as far as rumors go, don't believe a thing, its 1 company can keep good secrets, its apple. if you want to see how rumors get started, look at some posts here, you'll see most of these sources are 'my friend's dad that has a cousin in law working at apple' not too good of a resource. plus, the iphone just came out, I don't think apple would bring a new one out in 6 months. I would say maybe like may of '08. close to a year, which i'm looking forward to.
as far as the software support goes, yes, it is missing alot. but remember, these are all software related things, they can be updated pretty quick with updates, as they become avaliable, we will be able to use them. for me not having flash is the killer. also copy paste could be real nice, and I could use 1 or 2 games on it. my buddy was making fun of the iphone I got, and after he used it, he said that he'd actually think about spending the half grand (way overpriced imo) for it if the thing had flash support. such a badass browser, and its missing the most important thing. I heard here they don't have flash on it because its a resource hog for OSX based computers. Remember, the iphone is not a business phone, its like that verizon chocolate, or like a sidekick kind of phone. don't compare it with a blackberry or anything. what you are buying is half looks really... it is not a customizable phone. the transition for me was alright, I never used the features my 8125 had anyways. (everything I used is on the iphone except copy paste and flash). I don't use MMS so thats not a biggie for me.

3) I've considered waiting for other phones to arrive in the market that beat the iphone's abilities or thought about getting a seperate mp3 player and phone. The w960 from Sony, the US n95 and the new U990 from LG are all ones I've been scouting. Do you folks think having a seperate mp3 player and phone might be the way to go for my needs? And How do you think those phones will fare compared to the Iphone! I was going to wait myself, but i've been a big apple person since I was a little kid, so I just went with the iphone.

4) I was wondering if you folks have been able to size movies on the Iphone for less than 1gb... somewhere in the 500-700mb range with still decent/good quality. I'm interested in throwing about 4-5gigs of music on the phone and hopefully about 4-5 movies if I can get a decent quality video for 500-700mb.

I haven't tried putting vids on the iphone, but I can say def get the 8gig, i made a mistake of getting a 4... I wish my 80gig iphone would have phone capabilities lol.

Finally, I was wondering if you guys could give me 1 feature on the iphone you could not live without (and don't say multi-touch!)

I'd have to say youtube feature is very very time consuming when you are bored

Thanks alot in advance HoFo Apple community!

Posted by: Anisoul

Let me start buy saying that as a former iPhone skeptic turned lover/dependent, I have to say that I shared the same anxieties that you did so I will try my best, from my own experience, to guide as best I can to a definative choice:

1) I just started working out at the LA Fitness near me and my iPhone is my primary/only media device. I did get a Belkin armband and to be very honest and frank, it is somewhat tedious to use. I found that when my playlists ended, I had to stop and do 3-4 touchs to get to a new playlist which can be annoying espeically if you've gotten well into your workout groove. But in terms of size and comfort, I really didn't even "feel" that my iPhone was there.

2) I came from the Sprint Mogul to the iPhone, to the N95 BACK to the iPhone. Needless to say that you can see what my final choice was. For me the deal breaker was that honestly, most of the features on a Windows Mobile device are not meant or made for the everyday consumer who is simply bored with "regular" cell phones. The iPhone does what the average or slightly above average consumer needs it to do. Email is a flash, weather is awesome, stocks are awesome, Google Maps can stand for an upgrade but still does the job and the implementation of the media interface is the BEST of any cell phone hands down. As for the updates, I was leary about waiting for the 2nd Generation to release as well but decided to take the plunge because a) Apple wouldn't leave us out in the cold; meaning that I strongly believe that Apple will supply updates to rectify a lot of the issues that curernt users are crying about and b) that the 2nd generation will only be different in that it will probably have more internal memory and maybe a slightly lower price.

3) When I say that the iPhone's (iPod) interface is the best, this is not an exaggeration. I got rid of my iPod Video when I got the iPhone and haven't missed it one day. It's like literally having all the devices I need in one.

4) I keep about 10 video filed per day my iPhone in additional to maybe 200-300 songs and still have about 1 -2GBs left. I usually copy my Netflix straight from DVD to iPhone format using ImTOO DVD to iPhone converter. I try to keep most 400-500mb per full lenght film and 175-200mb for a TV show. You can adjust you settings to meet you needs but I have not complaints about the quality.

I can't live without the visual voicemail, weather and media player

Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!

Posted by: MisplacedAJ

Hey guys, thanks for the quick responses! I really appreciate the thoughtfulness and honesty put into them. I was wondering what you guys thought about 3rd party support coming to the Iphone? I know people have hacked it to a point to getting native 3rd party apps on there, do you guys think the void of missing features will be filled up by them if Apple software updates don't?

And Anisoul, about the armband, I know you said you don't really feel it while running but is that just anecdotal or really the truth? And aside from playlists, is there any easy way to skip around songs without using the touch screen?

Any more opinions on my orignal questions would also be great!

Thanks alot HoFo!

Posted by: dborja

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisplacedAJ

...

And aside from playlists, is there any easy way to skip around songs without using the touch screen?

Any more opinions on my orignal questions would also be great!

Thanks alot HoFo!

It still has the option to play all songs and songs by artist. The shuffle feature is there too...

Posted by: bjabrad

I just put 1 hour 47 minutes of video on the iPhone via iTunes free TV (some free shows that they are throwing out there) and it takes up 1.09 GB.

I like the Scenario Texas Holdem Poker app and use it quite a bit while multi-tasking (music/podcasts) but it really has the best browser (blows away pocket IE w/tabbed multi pages and zoom lets you get where you want quicker), WiFi auto shift is great, email setup is magic and using it is automatic (I have it set up to check every 15 min or so) and nice (shows HTML pics in the email), typing on the email could be better if you could use the keyboard in landscape mode (maybe I'm missing something because it really should do this to make the keypad bigger than the vertical keypad. web browser keypad does go horizontal through and makes it easier.

Seeqpod is an amazing music search and streaming service,

GoogleMaps IS NOT intuitive to use for me and I've used it before on WM5 and notebook.

phone works well (no call quality complaints) better signal in my home than Sprint (no drops yet), touchscreen dialer keypad is large enough to accurately use while driving, phonebook could be more intuitive (last call list dials the last call instead of bringing back up the contact to choose either M# or H#).

Threaded text is cool so that you can see a history of a conversation that looks like a forum thread.

YouTube and TinyTube.net are easy to navigate and load quickly with good quality video on a really really nice display.

Podcasts and music on the iPod portion of the iPhone are really nice and I like seeing the album covers in the CoverFlow mode (it's beautiful).

I'm enjoying the iPhone and if I were you, I'd take them up on the $499 8GB refurb offer and test drive it for two weeks to see if it works for you. There are not enough words that can replace a test drive, you have to see it and use it for yourself to either really appreciate it or figure out if you can live without it.

Posted by: Anisoul

I meant the statement about the armband to be literal. The iPhone is lighter than it appears to be and the armband is actually quite comfy

Posted by: BIGMERF

get it , get it now

Posted by: dborja

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIGMERF

get it , get it now

Come over to the dark side...

Posted by: seal

Quote:

Originally Posted by dborja

Come over to the dark side...

just don't be a baby and go return it saying how it doesn't have all these features that were never advertised anyways

Posted by: MisplacedAJ

I just put in an order for 8gb refurbished with overnight shipping :-D. Thanks alot for your help guys. Hopefully I'm not going to regret this purchase!

Posted by: GX1

Please be patient with the device. Especially the keyboard. you should find the keyboard to be better than a hard-button keyboard over time. typing on the keyboard will get better. Just be patient.

Posted by: Cizan

The refurb looks like an awesome deal, but how much do you guys pay a month for service after taxes??

Posted by: MisplacedAJ

Quote:

Originally Posted by GX1

Please be patient with the device. Especially the keyboard. you should find the keyboard to be better than a hard-button keyboard over time. typing on the keyboard will get better. Just be patient.

I've spent many a lunch breaks at the AT&T store right next to my workplace playing with the keyboard. I'm getting pretty good, and I predictive text is darn accurate too. Thanks for the advice!

Posted by: kinderco

i was able to use my thumbs right out of the box. Typing is a breeze for me. Personally while I am already getting a little bored with it (the honeymoon is over), I couldn't ever go back to windblows. The stability alone not to mention the fluidity of it all working together. Just amazes me. I was a phone whore changing different phones about every three weeks and flipping them on ebay. I can't imagine going back to something that isn't appleized.