Apple iPhone 3G S Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

This is the place to talk about the new Apple iPhone 3GS

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Initial thoughts....

Upgrade from 3G went smoothly. Connect to iTunes, quickly activated,
imported all my APPS. Could not figure out how to import all my Calendar
and Email until I saw that it had to be "check boxed" in the iTunes sync
software.

Does the phone seem faster than the 3G? Honestly, I don't notice it.
Everything seems as fast as before. Tried loading the HTF homepage
via WiFi connection and it seemed to take about 20 seconds to load
completely which didn't seem faster than before. Then again, that page
is loaded with graphics.

Cut and Paste works real well. What a nice feature.

Voice Dial works well too. Just remember if you have contacts
sorted by LAST NAME, FIRST you need to say them as such. Also,
you need to say HOME or MOBILE after the name in order for it
to differentiate which one you want. I believe if you don't it defaults
to home. In my quiet environment it worked well each time.

To type in LANDSCAPE mode noticeably increases speed and accuracy.

Did a small video and was very pleased. Quality of video is very
good. Did not try the TRIM function, though I am certain it works well.

Fingerprints? The phone still leave smudges. Perhaps its now easier
to clean them off, but my oily finger smears can be seen across the
screen.

Oh, and I got WHITE this time and I love the color better than BLACK.

Look forward to reading all your reviews today.

 

[Craig S]

While I'm waiting for my new 3GS to finish synching my apps, music & videos, I gotta give kudos to Apple & AT&T, who clearly learned their lessons from the last 2 years. Activation this time was "like buttah" - it was finished less than 5 minutes after unboxing.

 

[DaveF]

Ron, Does voice dial work over a bluetooth earpiece?

 

[Shane D]

thats cause everyone blew up the servers tuesday and wednesday getting the 3.0 update for older phones and touches

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Dave,

Don't know. Would be great if someone could try it out.

 

[mike caronia]

Count me as a new iPhoner.
Reserved for pick-up at the local MAC store.
I went there last week to confirm, had not received an e-mail...actually got a reminder e-mail last night.
They had some lines set up outside the store, one for reserved and one for walk-ups.
A guy that got there same time as me (11:30a) was at the front of the walk-up line same as me...a 30 minute wait on line, not too bad, but I didn't like that unreserved folks were getting in as fast as the reserved line, but whatcha gonna do..
Spent a whole 18 minutes in the store and was on my way...32gb white in my pocket. I was an existing AT&T customer out of contract with a SLVR, $324 out the door.

The frustrating thing is porting over numbers, I know, I should have built a contact list in my address book at home, never did before, now I am! Have about 250 #s to get in there so I don't have to keep asking, who is this?!

A lot to figure out...have to set up mail and stuff, but I'll be working on phone numbers first and take it from there.
I did load a bunch of apps, even bought Uno just to play around with.
All works well thus far and look forward to having one device to cram all my stuff in!

Nice job apple.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Mike,

Congrats on your phone.

I love these first-timers getting into their first iPhone. These are
the reviews I enjoy reading the most, so please, keep us informed.

 

[DavidJ]

Well, I've got my 3GS and am getting ready to restore from my old iPhone backup, sync, etc. It is my understanding that the dock connector, headphone jack, etc. did not change from the 3G to the 3GS. Correct? Did functionality change from the original?

I've done some reading and it appears that my Griffen PowerJolt car charger won't work (or is not supported) with the newer phones, but I am wondering about my Apple AV cable and my original USB-to-dock cable and AC adapter. Anyone know?

Also, any pointers for moving from the old to the new and using the old one like a Touch? I've got a pretty good grasp on it, but thought I'd ask just in case.

 

[Sam Posten]

At dinner so just two fast things: first, what are folks using to send shots to flickr? Second, my verizon phone is still getting my incoming calls and I think I can make outgoing calls with both, I can call from the iPhone for sure!

 

[DavidJ]

If you ported a number, it sometimes takes a while longer for the incoming calls to switch. I'd give it more time.

 

[Sam Posten]

Seems to be clear now. I'm at the awards ceremony for a fluke tourney at trop marina so I probably couldn't hear an incoming call anyway

 

[DavidJ]

I hate to quote myself, but I've done more research and I thought I would share. Accessories designed for 3G should all work with the 3GS. As for my original iPhone accessories, my Apple AV/power cable still works and I understand that the original AC adapter and cable will too. The PowerJolt is not certified by Apple for a 3G phone and is discontinued by Griffen, but I have a friend that is still using his from when he upgraded to the 3G. It is a 5V device like the AC adapters that come with the phones.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

FYI in case anyone missed it like I did...the little metal tool to pop open the SIM card slot is included in the iPhone box. It is on the inside of the black sleeve/folding pocket where the booklets are.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Picked up my my iPhone from the Apple Store Soho -- no problems. The activation took literally 30 seconds. After all the scare stories, I was VERY pleasantly surprised. Haven't played with it much -- just got home and it is now restoring from my old iPhone's backup. Did notice a big improvement in voice call quality from my first gen. iPhone. 3G is snappy.

 

[Carlo_M]

I do wonder how many people who were reporting long activation times for upgrades weren't told to do a hard restart of their phone. Mine was inactive for two hours and then I read somewhere on an Apple forum to do a hard reset. That did the trick immediately. So if someone asked how long my activation took, I'd have to reply 2 hours...but who knows when it could have actually taken place had I done a hard reset as soon as I'd gotten home?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

One of the complaints I had read about this phone and apparently
is the case with my own is that the WiFi reception is FAR worse
than the previous 3G. I can be in the next room of my home from
the router and I only get one bar of reception (as opposed to 5).

 

[DaveF]

My wife went with me to look at the Pre and iPhone today. First stop Sprint and I played with the Pre for the first time. I was immediately impressed; it's a nice system. Sprint also has great pricing; it would only be $30 / mo increase for a two-Pre family plan with unlimited data and texting, with my company discount.

Then to AT&T. Ah, the iPhone. My wife prefers it (which surprised me a bit). AT&T is quite expensive, with fewer minutes, no texting, and a much, much smaller company discount. It would be $60/mo more than we pay now (effectively the cost of two data plans).

Our impressions: Pre is neat, but iPhone wins. We like Sprint. We don't like AT&T. If we could get the iPhone on Sprint's plan, we would have dropped Verizon and switched to Sprint / iPhone today.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Dave,

Sounds like you prefer the iPhone but you
obviously did not purchase yet. Are you
going to purchase a phone and if so which?

 

[DaveF]

Ron,

I've told my wife we should add smartphones to the budget for next year; so early 2010 hopefully. Almost certainly the iPhone.

As much as I'd like an iPhone -- it would have been great on Thursday when I flew to Baltimore with separate iPod, phone, PDA, GPS, and multiple chargers -- it's not been a budget priority, though it's moving from "I wish" to "I need" for both my wife and me. But at $498 + $70/mo + carrier change, I'm not wiling to splurge just yet. Our two kittens are quite enough unbudgeted fun

So I'm going to wait a while longer and see what develops. But I doubt I get much past New Years without a major PDA / phone upgrade.