Time for an I phone
 

I have had this Pantech for many years, wife and daughter laugh at me.
should I pull the trigger? Brain trust?

$50 for a 5c at BBY

Or a "free" (entirely subsidized w/ contract) iPhone 4S at most carrier stores.

if you are fine with a cheap rugged phone why would you want to go to an expensive fragile phone? Because you want to solve problems you don't have? ... like "Angry Birds" skillz?

borrow one from your wife or daughter for a couple of days..... don't like it, don't get one

I bought a 3GS a few years back to see if the iPhone would work for me. It seemed fine and I went ahead and picked up a 4S. After many months of frustration, I traded it in for a Samsung Galaxy S4.

My mother wanted to try an iPhone, so I gave her my 4S. I suggest you pick up an older model on Ebay and "try it out", and see if it will work for you. If you don't like it, resell it. My 3GS is being used as an iPod...

James, what sort of frustrations did you have? I am happy with mine, but perhaps I am easily pleased, or just don't know any better.

Tom

If you want to upgrade to a smartphone, I believe an iPhone is a better choice than an Andriod. I have heard it so many times -- an iPhone isn't as customizable, you can't change settings and tinker with it as much as an Andriod. That may be true, but the bottom line is: you turn on an iPhone, and it just works. Period. No problems or crashes.

Andriods are more programmable, more versatile, if you want to get into programing it. Fine. But all that customization makes more a less stable phone. which can lead to frustration and a less than ideal customer experience.

Sure, the iphone is definately WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) and it only has very limited customization and programming available. But it works.

-Z-man.

I use a Samsung tablet and basically it comes down to being able to do the same things, in a similar way.

It is not the "customizable" features that are the issue. My phone and tablet are pretty much they way they came. It is features like swappable memory cards, easy access to putting files on, LAN file access, editing documents etc. My tablet is close to being a PC and I use it all the time. And I wanted a phone that had similar capabilities.

Buy an unlocked (and ideally jailbroken) 4 or 4S phone off of CL (these take commonly-available "micro SIMs", the new 5 models take "nano SIMs" and these are virtually impossible to find non-major carrier SIMs for (i.e. anything other than AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) I recommend getting one with the most memory you can find (I believe 32GB is the max for both the 4 and 4S). Don't waste your time with one with only 16GB - you'll go through it in no time.

If you absolutely don't trust dealing with private party sellers on CL or Ebay (don't blame you), I believe you can still buy the iPhone 4 and 4S directly from the Apple store factory unlocked, it'll just cost you more. Get the GSM (AT&T) version, NOT CDMA. Once you have it, go get a SIM card from SimpleMobile or Straight Talk mobile and pop it in. You will need to access the APN settings under the "Cellular" menu to adjust the phone to work with the new carrier (it's defaulted to AT&T's settings usually). This is most easily done by jailbreaking the phone and running TetherMe (costs $5) but there are other ways as well.

This will give you a good phone (both the 4 and 4S are plenty good and not really lacking anything significant relative to the 5/5S/5C models) and most importantly - NO CONTRACT. Here's the math:

With a contract ($70/month is probably a minimum for what service through a major carrier will cost when you factor in voice/text/data plus stupid "made up" charges like "smartphone surcharges" and "high-data device" surcharges", on top of taxes, more fees and other crap. More realistically it'll be about $100/month, but let's just use $70 for sake of argument here:

"With contract":
$99 (32 GB iPhone 5C new in the box) + 24 months @ $70/month = $50 + $1,680 = $1,779 over 24 months

"Without contract / P-O-P's way":
$649 (32 GB iPhone 5C, factory unlocked new in the box) + 23 months @ $45/month (Straight Talk) + $60 (first month, includes SIM card) + $5 for TetherMe = $1,749 over 24 months
(I'm just using the published iPhone 5S price from Apple's web site for apples-to-apples (no pun) comparison, as I said above you'll need a 4 or 4S which you should be able to find for about $100-$200 on Craigslist in new or like-new condition - not sure what Apple charges for a new-in-the-box 32GB 4S that's factory unlocked but it'll certainly be less than a 32GB iPhone 5C factory unlocked in any case...)


You're coming out ahead doing it my way even at $70/month (and good luck getting a plan on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint or any of the other "major" carriers that approaches that - like I said above, plan on $100/month minimum realistically unless you don't get a data plan or something like that, in which case you may as well not get an iPhone at all).

For yuks, at $100/month "on contract":

$100/month for 24 months + $99 (32GB iPhone 5C) = $2,499 over 24 months.

Bottom line - don't sign a contract. You're totally screwing yourself.

Happy iPhoning.

5c32g is $200 plus contract monthly. 5s32g is like $400 plus monthly contract. That being said, I'd only go for new if you have the chance wether 4, 4s, or whatever. I tried used and they're nit a good example of the iPhone experience at all. The devices get old and slow. There is nothing you can do about it either. After about two years, they're consumed. When old, they're frustrating. When newer than two years old they're great.

When you say Iphone do you mean that literately or is that generic for smartphone? I ask because I personally would never have another I-Anything, but that is just me and I don't want to get into that here.
There are a ton of options for phones be it an I-Option or an android or even just a solid regular old non-smart-phone.

You can save $30/mo on the service - but can you get LTE with Straight Talk? - and every two years or so you have to fork over $650 for an unsubsidized phone - they get obsolete and break.

Time for an I phone
 

I'm not sure about LTE - on my 4S I get 4G service pretty much everywhere. I have a month-to-month data plan only through AT&T for my iPad (runs about $15 a month) which gets LTE - I really don't see an appreciable difference in data transfer speeds between 4G and LTE. I'm sure it's there, but from a practical end-user perspective it doesn't really matter.

YMMV.

what do you need your phone to do? simple calls, email, text and occasional browsing?

Depends on the user. I have never come close to hitting the 16GB threshold on any of my phones. Typical for me is 5 GB of pictures and 2 GB of music give or take. Apps take little space and to be honest I am fine with most of the general purpose apps that come pre installed. The nice thing about going android and WP is the ability to add storage if the need arises.

Thanks for the laugh Z :)

Personally it is just a device to me... android or iPhone... both have pros and cons... and both have lovers and haters... (Ala Ford Vs Chevy, BMW Vs Porsche, Japanese Vs German Vs American cars)

Ignore the stamp on the case and pick what you like then find the best price.

FWIW I am extremely happy with the Samsung Galaxy products (we have three) I would recommend checking them out.

Guess what? You pick up an Android, and it just works! Just like an iPhone! You don't have to be into customizing your phone to enjoy an Android. You're just free from having Apple ram their choices down your throat. The idea that iPhones are somehow more stable is BS to me.

I'm stuck with an iPhone because of work. Read the recent IOS hater threads to see how frustrating it is to deal with Apple. No device is perfect and they all work, but Apple just gets under my skin. The fact that they refuse to have a removable SD card is probably #1 on my list.

Crap, looks like I'm going to be the last hold-out.

Wrong! It will be a cold day in hell when i ever own an "I" anything. :)

Sammy, take a drink of the kool-aid. It is good. You will wonder why you waited. I can't imaging going back to the olden days of no smart phone.

I have an iPhone 4 16gb I bought used - 2nd iPhone - a few androids and blackberries before that.

I only own Macs - however initially I purchased anything but iPhones. I only buy my phones outright (no contract), and the other options always ran a little less than the iPhone - and I thought 'what difference can it make - it is just a phone'.

I will probably never return to android. As Z said - iPhones just work. Simple interface, but can do complex tasks if necessary.

Anecdotal - I was at a 'trade-show trade-show' a couple of months ago, almost every woman there had an iPhone - the men had a variety of phones. The women I talked to mostly said the same thing - the iPhone was simple, and just got the job done. Men who had other phones like to tweek. I think it comes down to the jiffy lube analogy:

WOMEN:

1. Pull up to Jiffy Lube or Valvoline Instant Oil Change when the mileage reaches 3,000 miles since the last oil change.

2. Drink a cup of coffee, take out iPhone and answer email, while they change the oil.

3. 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Cost: $29.99 oil change, $2.00 coffee. Total $32.00

MEN:

1. Wait until Saturday, drive to the auto parts store. Buy a case of oil, oil filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner (don't forget a little tree air freshener). Write a check to the auto parts store for approximately $50.

2. Stop by 7/11 on the way home, buy a case of beer. Write a check for $20.00.

3. Drive home with oil and beer.

4. Open beer, enjoy it.

5. Spend 30 minutes looking for the jack stands.

6. Find the jack stands (finally) under the kid's pedal car, jack the car up.

7. Open another beer, drink it.

8. Place drain pan under engine.

9. Look for 9/16" box end wrench for drain plug

10. Give up looking ten minutes later, find crescent wrench.

11. Unscrew drain plug.

12. Drop drain plug into pan of hot oil. Splash hot oil onto your hands and face in the process. Cuss and swear.

13. Crawl out from under car, wipe hot oil from hands and face. Throw some kitty litter on the spilled oil.

14. Open another beer while watching the last drops of oil drain.

15. Spend 30 minutes looking for the oil filter wrench.

16. Give up looking for oil filter wrench, crawl under car and hammer a flat-head screwdriver through the oil filter and twist it off.

17. Crawl out from under car, splashing hot oil everywhere from newly made holes in oil filter.

18. Cleverly hide used oil filter in trash to avoid those pesky environmental penalties. Open another beer.

19. Install new oil filter, making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to the gasket.

20. Pour the first quart of new oil into engine.

21. Oops! Now remember the drain plug (removed in step 11). It's still swimming in the now-warm oil in the drain pan.

22. Throw more kitty litter on the quart-sized oil puddle on the floor.

23. Open another beer and drink it.

24. Find drain plug with a minimum of spillage, hand-tighten in drain plug socket. Drink beer.

25. Crawl under car (getting oily kitty litter embedded in neck and arms). Tighten drain plug with crescent wrench, but this time, it's slippery. Bang your knuckles on the frame while tightening drain plug.

26. Throw crescent wrench across the garage in anger. Throw a fit because crescent wrench hits bowling trophy (which wife wouldn't let stay in the house).

27. Open another beer and drink it.

28. Clean hands, bandaging where needed to stop blood flow.

29. Pour in five quarts of fresh oil.

30. Lower car from jack stands. Smile at your handiwork. Open another beer and drink it.

31. Move car back to discover oil puddles you missed; apply more kitty litter to missed areas.

32. Test drive car to make sure oil doesn't leak.

33. Get pulled over a block from the house by local police, get arrested for DUI.

34. Call loving wife and bail bondsman.

35. Next day, get car out of impound yard.

Cost: $50 parts, $20 beer, Impound fee $75, Bail $1500, DUI $2500 minimum. Total $4145 (but you know the job was done right!)

Are you going to take technology advice from somebody who still writes checks at Jiffy Lube? :D

Is this an iPhone vs Android thread? In!

We have a few of each. Androids suck big. Absolute junk. Maybe OK for a 20 year old male nerd.

I bought Sim cards in Ukraine and Russia for a month of unlimited everything. Cost: $7 each. US carriers are not going to be getting away with this stuff much longer. Things are a changin'.

Just so y'all know: having an i-device will NOT magically turn you into a "latte liberal" and compel you to wear trendy square glasses and sandals whilst hanging around coffee shops. I wasn't sold on the whole "smart phone" craze until 2010 when I bought an iPhone 4 to replace my aging Motorola SLVR that had been giving me fits. I loved it and never looked back. These devices are simply amazing in what they can do. The iPhone can do about 80% of what I can do on my laptop, and a few things the laptop can't. They're very good devices but (yes) the competition is fierce and a lot of it has caught up.

Personally I really like the integration ability of the i-devices. There is seamless portability between my Macbook, iPhone and iPad (and my Apple TV box to play videos and movies and such...). They just work and they work brilliantly. The interfaces are fantastic and you don't get the feeling like you're being boxed into "programmer think" like one does (or used to) with Windows-based applications. The weakest aspect of the iPhones (IMHO) is the carrier networks, which pretty much all suck and all are shameless about absolutely flat-out ripping off their customers (hence my earlier advice about going to a prepaid carrier like ST or SimpleMobile or whomever else).

Once you start using them, you'll wonder how you ever survived without them. I don't know how I'd manage contacts, appointments, e-mails, etc. without my iPhone. Fabulous little piece of hardware (and I can browse Pelican, do my budget spreadsheets and a whole lotta other stuff too).

It depends what you want your phone for. I have been using an LG phone and I text and use the phone function only. No email or internet on it. Costs me $21 a month.
I know that if you need internet it jumps in price per month.

My daughter just switched to an i phone. She has internet etc - pretty much everything on it. She is in the work/study world now and needs it. It is a touch screen phone and easy to use. About $50/ month fee. I am retired and I don't need as much tech stuff. What are you going to use it for?

Me? Luddite! Cheap to run.

I certainly hope so. I am bent over a barrel with 4 family smartphones. Sucks.

You are a confessed Apple user and investor. What in your experience qualifies the non Apple devices as absolute junk?

David, the big issue I have with Android is the fragmented versions between phones, and the fact that stuff is hidden away. You have to go online and Google how to do certain things. They're not intuitive. It took us 2 days to figure out how to answer a call with our Google Nexus 4! Beyond that, the interface is quirky and non-intuitive. I was ready to throw the thing in the trash after using it a few days.

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I give you the fragmented versions - Apple's model of owning the hardware and software is better suited for updates. That said the trend to 'upgrade' phones every year or so sorta makes that irrelevant.

My decidedly non nerd wife and daughter have zero problems interfacing with the Galaxy S2 phones. :) Email, text, pictures, music, browse, I'm just don't see much difference in the UI across the popular platforms.

How do you answer a call on a Nexus 4?
What stuff is 'hidden away' on the Android phone?

I can imagine it.

I recently gave an employee one of my old flip-phones. I couldn't help but look at that little thing longingly. Straight-forward design with tactile buttons. ZERO risk of butt-dial. No need to look at it to call any of the 10 speed dials. Small. Light weight. Low theft-bait quotient.

It used to be that the traffic-app on a smart phone was the killer app. Now, that everyone has it, not so much. Email? Yeah, that's nice to have immediate access to sometimes. Usually, it's just an annoyance. (better to handle that in bulk from a desk cmptr)

Seems to me that smartphones are more a security blanket for most. I mean really, how many people get SO damn lost in their stopping-grounds that they NEED GPS?
How about those who need constant reassurance that their Facebooks photos are getting sufficient 'Likes'?

The integration of electronics into fabrics is just around the corner.
I'm putting dibs on the name iLinus ;)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1381424113.jpg

Riiiiiight.... Like you don't have to sign onto iTunes and the iCloud to do anything with a iPhone.

We have iPads here at work... absolutly nothing intuitive about them.

They are just operating systems... if you take the emotions out of the equation and take a few minute to learn how to operate any device it can be easy or hard depending on the attitude you bring to the table.

My brother is a fanboy and has his whole family on "i" devices and they are far from infallible.

I was one of those that resisted a smart phone. They were expensive and all I wanted was a phone dang it. I did not need all that new fangled stuff. My flip phone was just fine.

Then my dad let me have his old Iphone original. I just played with it with no cell service. The apps seemed interesting. I drank deeply of the kool-aid. I activated that phone and after a few months upgraded it to the 4. My wife got a iPhone 4 at the same time. I bought her an iPad then as well.

She would fight a Ninja to keep her iPad. I feel the same way about my iPhone. I am sure other brands of phones can do similar tasks.

Right now I have every CD I have ever bought (over 120) on the phone. I have several old favorite movies and hundreds of photos. All my contacts are synced with my computer. I can't imagine going back to a dumb phone.

More brilliance from Steve Jobs. Once you are assimilated into the ecosystem it is very difficult to make a change. iCloud is in no way superior to competing cloud offerings other than marketing. What I find interesting is that recent Apple updates (latest iOS) are not backward compatible. You want a new iPhone...well to make this "seamless" all your other Apple devices need to update as well.

Seriously?? :rolleyes:
If anyone qualifies as a nerd, its the "I" fanboys that camp out on the sidewalks in front of Apple stores every five months to get the "newest version". You don't see droid users doing that.

Until Apple comes out with the fellatio app, Ill stick with my flawlessly working droid..

I don't use the cloud at all.

Yeah, I get that. I have a stack of smart phones in an office drawer. I've just started to re-task them - like song library on one, leave it in the 911. Another set to stream music off the office WiFi. ...

Essentially what is happening is an off-load of what a smart-phone brings. It's a departure from having ONE device do it all, and everywhere. Which makes me rethink the necessity of a smart-phone as a 'phone.'

If I could find a Flip-phone with an integrated hotspot to support my various tablets, I would jump on it.

A few more 'updates' and you won't have a choice :)

Several of my friends have andriod devices. One in particular hasn't jailbraked it, or done any extra programming on it. It is a Samsung Salaxy 3S with I believe the Jelly Bean OS. Every once in a while his phone magically resets itself and plays that annoying noise/song at full blast. Wonder how many times that happens during the night while he's slepping.

A couple of other friends of mine have done 'customization' on the phones -- one in particular has done significant tinkering with the phone. His phone needs to be reset daily to keep it alive. That said, I do know of a couple andriod users that don't have any issues with their phones.

I upgraded my iPhone 4 to iOS 7 when it came out -- and yes, I don't like the new look and feel, but after getting used to the new features of the OS, I find it close to the previous version, but with some extra stuff in there that admittedly, should have been there in the first place. After figuring how things work on the new OS, I really haven't had an issue with my phone at all...

Hmm - while using my iPhone as I sit in a trendy square and wear square glasses and socks with my sandals, does that still make me a 'latte liberal' ?? (Or does that make me a German?!? :eek: )

-Z