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iPhone - so...what's the deal? (1 Viewer)

Carlo_M

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Played with it at the Apple store. I guess California is one of those states that has had a pretty regular supply of iPhones. Anyway, I liked the snappiness and responsiveness of the GUI.

But using that keyboard was killing me (and I'm not a big guy and don't have large fingers). I am a two-finger typer on a PDA device, and the iPhone would alternate between not being able to keep up with my multiple finger typing (perhaps they were too close together and the iPhone thought I was trying to execute a two-finger command), or I would get the wrong letter even when it looked like I was hitting the right button on the screen.

It's a nice device, but I think I'm going to wait for rev.B before buying.
 

Steve Tannehill

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Trust your feelings. Use the force. :)

You just have to train it with your common words and mistakes. Auto-completion is actually making the thumbs method of typing surprisingly accurate.

I am a big guy with large fingers, btw.

- Steve
 

Ronald Epstein

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You know, I originally thought Apple's published response of something
like "trust yourself with the keyboard" was a load of bullshit....

....but it's actually true. Once you trust yourself, using the keyboard
becomes second nature. I can type just as fast on the virtual keyboard
as I did on my Blackberry (if not faster).

I have to say that now that I got my email problems worked out
thanks to the GMAIL workaround (see the "sticky" thread in this
forum area), the iPhone has become NIRVANA for me.

In fact, it's kind of funny how I have become so obsessive with
the finer details of this phone. I take pictures of all the people
in my contact book (I'll be taking some people photos in Vegas) so
that when the phone rings, their picture pops up. This also translates
well on my Mac end, as any email that arrives from someone in my
contact list gets accompanied by their photo.

For me, the iPhone has lived up to the hype. I just feel
that it is still $200 more expensive than it should be and that anyone
who doesn't feel the absolute need to own one now should wait for
the second generation unit that is sure to arrive in the next year.
 

Ken CM

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So I looked online this morning and all of our Seattle area stores are showing "green" for stock. I look up my closest store and it says that iPhone sales start at 10am. I arrive at 9:50 and the store already appears to be open (with a sign stating that phones go on sale at 9). There are two people I would ID as store employees. They seem to be leading a "how to use a MAC" class. I wander around playing with the iPhones and iMacs for about 10 minutes hoping someone will come over an help me. There is a large display panel above, what I assumed was, the checkout counter stating that the next "appointment" is at 4:15pm(????)...Is this Baskin Robbins...do I have to "take a number" to be served?

Another employee came out shortly after 10, but bee lined it to the Baller wit da grill and his J-Ho girlfriend (who just walked in). They are told that they are out of stock.

Geesh...put up a "sold out" sign or something... I usually am annoyed by the workers that stand at front of stores like the GAP with their "Call me Miss Jackson if you're nasty" headset on, but at least I get acknowledged.

Just venting....will probably just order online and wait...
 

Steve Tannehill

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I just ordered the Apple Bluetooth headset. :)

Hopefully it will ship this week or next.

- Steve
 

Oren

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Wrong assumption. That's the genius bar. If you ever have a problem with your Mac, iPhone, iPod or other Apple product, just make an appointment with the genius bar and they'll take a look at it. Appointments can be made online. If your item needs to be sent off for repairs, you can just leave it with them and pick it up later (they take care of the shipping, etc.).

This, by the way, is much better than the phone support everyone is left with for every other manufacturer. (Phone support is available, too, of course.)

Note: the genius bar staff are NOT the same as the regular store staff. That is, they will refer you to a sales person if you approach them about buying something.

Most stores also offer classes on a variety of topics, such as getting the most from iPhoto, etc.

No ice cream, though.
 

Michael_K_Sr

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If it's like the Apple Store in Chicago, you just go to checkout line and they'll retrieve an iPhone from the back room when you get to the cashier.
 

Mike Heenan

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This seems to be the normal with most of Apples stuff except software maybe. It's killing me that the Macbook Pros are a little more than $1000 more expensive than comparable PC laptops.
 

Michael_K_Sr

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As has been rehashed time and time again, this is all contingent on how loosely people want to use the term "comparable." Different strokes for different folks, I guess...
 

Mike Heenan

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Yes I realize that (and no I'm not anti-mac trying to stir things up either)... but I'm just looking at the basic specs (2.33 ghz or now 2.4ghz, 160gb hard drive, 2gb memory, etc) you see quite a price discrepancy between the Mac and PC.
 

Carlo_M

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Too true. I bought my then-top-of-the-line-15" MBP [2.33 C2D, 2GB PC5400 RAM, 120GB HD, 1440x900 256MB ATI x1600] late last year. At the time, I spec'd both a Lenovo (IBM) and Dell to "comparable" (i.e. same CPU/RAM/HD/Video Card and 1440x900 screen resolution - which was an added charge as most 15" were 1200x800, and I came up with the following:

15" MBP Retail: $2499
Dell comparable: $2149
Lenovo comparable: $2200
15" MBP Academic Price (which is what I got from my student store which did a power buy on the top of the line MBP): $1999.

So I actually paid less than comparably equipped Dell and Lenovo. Keep in mind I spec'd the monitor resolution too, which required an added charge. Also to be really "comparable" I chose the slimmest models that were in the 5.5 lbs range. Because even if you spec out similar hardware, but it's in a 1.5" thick 7.5 lbs package (nearly 50% more than the MBP in thickness and weight) then it's not comparable in my mind, because you pay for the form factor. Having lugged around an old 8 lbs. laptop, there is no way you can consider something "comparable" if it's not close in size and weight.

I was a PC guy for many many years (including building my own) but once I really undertook the analysis of "comparable" - especially when you factored in my academic pricing, the MBP is a no brainer.

And to be honest, now that I've truly discovered the beauty of OSX (vs. both XP and Vista, which I use in the office), even if I hadn't gotten the academic price I'd consider the $300 more than worth it at full retail price because of OSX and iLife (Garageband is worth the price of admission alone if you're a musician).

Just my opinion.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Now that we have changed the topic to MBP....

I owned a Lenovo for a year. Cost me close to $3K after I ramped
it up to 2GB and swapped out the 5200 hard drive for a 7200. It was
a great PC!

It wasn't until I bought the Mac Book Pro at $2200 that I realized
how much more I was enjoying it over the Lenovo. The MBP Pro is
a thing of beauty, and as Carlo stated, once you discover how much
better OSX is over Windows you'll wonder how you ever put up with
a PC all these years.
 

Mike_G

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I bought one of those "comparable" Dell laptops.

The MBP is $1000 well spent. It feels like you spent $1000 more on something solid, not the cheesy plastic that the Dell is made out of. I'll never, EVER buy a Dell laptop ever again.
 

ErichH

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OK, now that you guys have settled in with your iPhones - I have a question.

Could you shut it off and pick up your Razor or Nokia and not feel a loss?

Can you skip that Razor across the lake like a flat rock and enjoy the moment? (the razor is an example, I'm sure others would bounce off the water quite well if you give them a nice spin - berry's would probably flop over - too heavy)

Thanks
 

Ken CM

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Aug 13, 2002
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Follow up to my mild rant earlier....

Went to another Apple store yesterday afternoon and was out in about 10 minutes with two shiny new phones.

Activiation was easy. Now I have to call my previous carrier and cancel. I so enjoy talking to the "retention specialists".....

"we can put you on a lower rate plan and you can keep the phone for emergencies"

"Is there anyone in your family needing a phone?"


impressions so far....

Likes:
1) Being able to browse "real" web pages (I have a "Q" for work and it is a nightmare...)
2) Google Maps
3) Being able to use Wi-Fi when available
4) bright, sharp screen
5) tap typing seems pretty easy

Needs Improvement...(I'm sure many of these items are stated earlier...)

1) Let me download/store attachments from email (pics etc...)
2) When I pull up my contacts list...why not show me the pic/icon for each person so I can just poke-em-in-the-face?
3) Can't customize main page (maybe I should read a faq/manual..)
4) The autofill/typing assist doesn't seem to learn very quickly...I was searching YouTube and kept putting in SNL to look up old skits and it would change it to "AML". I would think after the 5th time it would realize what I wanted.
5) I tried moving some videos from my computer via iTunes. Many were quicktime files from my digital camera. When attempting to transfer it would say that they weren't acceptable file types. I went back to my iTunes library and clicked on the files and had an option to convert to an iPhone format. Did this no problem, but when I went back to the iPhone interface it wouldn't show the file extensions so I would know which one to pick to tranfer (both had same filename.) Guess I need to change the filename too. Just wish it wouldn't show files as transferable if they are not in the right format (mp4).
6) Not super excited about the included ringtones...c'mon I should be able to load my own ringtones!!!

Overall very pleased...now must resist urge to buy 24" iMac!!!!
 

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