Dec 9, 2009

Should I get an iPhone?

For the last year I have been using a BlackBerry. It's a great device. The most important feature is constant access to my email and how seamlessly this works. Yes I use other apps ( Twitter, the camera, skype ) but not as much as email.

As I am moving back to Australia soon I'm almost convinced the iPhone is my to be my next phone. Apple now let you type with the phone longways that's a great addition and for the others int he company that are using iPhones Outlook and ActiveSync work very seamlessly. I also like the ability to tether the iPhone to my laptop and use it as a modem.  At the same time I'm concerned about bandwidth usage.  Bandwidth is very expensive in Australia so I'm wondering how much data people are using in a month in basic use ( email and some net surfing ).

I have 2 email accounts that I use regularly my work account ( ms exchange) and my personal account ( gmail ). I'm pretty sure I can run both without them interfering on the iPhone at the same time ( correct me if I am wrong ).

The games and apps are also fun from the use I have had so far but I'm still deciding between a BlackBerry and iPhone ( or shoudl I look at the new Nokia n900 ).

What are your thoughts? And what are your annoyances with the iPhone or your current handset.


Posted by Paul Kukiel at 1:41 PM

16 comments:

  1. Get an iPhone. I've had a Blackberry for years and years, and I love the Blackberry, but the iPhone takes everything to the next level. I'm a total Mac fanboy, and have used Apple products for ages. My wife has had an iPhone for a year, and I've had an iPod touch for a two years. Even though I knew everything about the iPhone, when I got my first one a month ago, I realized I had no idea how much better it was than my Blackberry.
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  2. The iPhone only allows for one ActiveSync mail account. So, I use ActiveSync on my business e-mail and the web interface for my personal G-mail (which I don't really want ActiveSync for anyway.)
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  3. I'm on my third iPhone, and while for the most part I love it, here in the States AT&T makes it really suck sometimes. Tethering, should you use it in an unsupported mode ;-) works as well as AT&Ts network. Which means it works great when 3G is on, and not so much when you can't seem to get a signal, of course. That being said, if you are going to use tethering, make sure you turn off automatic updates on any applications, or operating system software you may have, as that will still try to run in the background and besides sucking up your available bandwidth with potentially large downloads, it uses up your allowance. I have used mine to remote desktop into work while I commute on the train, as well as typical web browsing email, checking code into source control server, etc. so it's probably more usage than most, and I find with that I use about 200MB a day (across 4 hours or so). YMMV
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  4. Have you considered a Nokia 5800?
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  5. @Chris sounds promising then!
    @Dan G That's a pitty I much prefer a "program" to access gmail then web interface.
    @Nick LOL 200mb a day I think the pans in Australia are 1g a month Hmm I'm going to be in trouble.
    @Anonymous No I'll take a look though.
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  6. YES!! I Have had other smart phones in the past. This phone will change the way you live life. Once device for GPS directions, shopping, games (WAY better than any other Smart phone), music, social media, pictures, product scanner, level, odometer, and the list goes on and on. Oh yeah and you can make phone calls too. Sure the other phones have some of these features, but none have an OS that is as sleek and user friendly as the iPhone.
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  7. I have my iPhone setup with our exchange server and my GMail setup as IMAP. I think what Dan is refering to is that you can't have more then one exchange account setup on your phone at the same time, but you can have as many POP and IMAP accounts as you want as far as I know.
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  8. I highly doubt I'll ever give Apple a penny. They allow business, rather than technology/innovation, to drive the vast majority of their decisions. It leads to a pretty large lack of choice and lots of steering towards Apple/partners business. I understand they've got a business to run, and no doubt they have some great products, particularly in the UX area, but again, I doubt I'll ever buy anything Apple.

    I'm very happy with my BlackBerry. My next phone will, without question, be an Android based phone. Open source/standards, FTW ;-)
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  9. Android all the way. The wife loves her HTC Hero and it does pretty much everything the iPhone does, plus it's much more open and hackable. I know you'll want to get Railo running on it *grin*

    The Droid is shaping up to be a great phone if you want a hardware keyboard.

    T
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  10. I've had two iPhones now: a gen 1 and the new gen 3. The gen 1 phone was good but the new(ish) 3GS is an excellent device for me. It has worked great across the States (insert standard AT&T sucks disclaimer here) and I've yet to see a better device for mobile email and web. I only just got to play with a Droid this past weekend and it was cool but still not as intuitive or easy to use as the iPhone ... IMHO.

    I recall reading that tethering is already allowed in Oz, which should help you tremendously down under!
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  11. Ive had smart phones for a long time now, had an O2 XDA II, Then a BlackBerry, now an iPhone.

    Im not an apple fan boy, the oposite infact, but this is the best phone and device out there. Ive seen the newest Nokias and Blackberries and they are miles behind
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  13. I think the Android based phones are also really cool and open I think at this time I'm going to go for the iPhone. Even if it is expensive and locked down.
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  14. The only good thing I find on my iPhone is web browsing. It also depends a lot on how the AT&T network is in your area.

    Apart from that, lack of multi-tasking kills its labeling as a smartphone to me.
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  15. I didn't know tethering was available for the iPhone...
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  16. It is in Australia I have seen it get speeds about 1.5mb's
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