The greatest invention since the transistor!
This review is from: Apple iPhone 4 Black Smartphone 16GB (AT&T) (Wireless Phone Accessory)
I had the 8GB 3G model and thought that was great, until I got a demo of the iPhone 4. Man is this version is light years ahead of the original model.With a 1Ghz CPU, and 16GB of flash memory, this thing is a portable office/entertainment center par excellence. I've had this phone for 3 months without a single problem, the display is nice and sharp, the apps load very fast, and I now have over 130 apps to perform just about every duty you could possibly think of with absolutely no impact on performance. And on the ATT 3G network, I average download speeds of around 1.8Mbps, and over 1M upload speeds....and how do I know that, cause I got an app that tells me that's how. BTW, the display is the equivalent of a 960x640 on your desktop so what you see is essentially a high res yield and page loads are superfast. And resident memory, after a full days use I just checked and still had 120Mb of Ram available. On the 3G model that number was usually down around 4Mb by the end of the work day and had to be refreshed.
I was in the computer/design/manufacturing business for 20 years, and this is by far the most amazing piece of technology I have ever seen or imagined. Even the battery life is 3x better than the previous model, and thats a good thing cause its integrated but a full charge should yield and entire days work of calls, emails, surfing the web, SMS messaging, and play. I no longer need my laptop cause there's nothing I cant do with the iPhone, and that includes sending faxes, editing Excel or Word documents, and even printing. A flash for the 5MP camera, two(2) HD video cameras, and even real time video conferencing over a wireless network, and Bluetooth that unlike the 3G model is actually compatible with everything you throw at it, including Garmin GPS....just amazing. This thing even has 2 mics with noise suppression so calls are clearer on the other end. Man, Apple hit this one out of the park.
BTW, with all the apps, music, and videos I've got loaded on this thing I've still got 10GB of flash memory remaining. I cant imagine why anybody would need more storage, and the 32GB model isn't any faster and doesn't have any more features. You'll need iTunes on your desktop to get the most out of this phone and iTunes can be a little intimidating at first but its worth the trouble, and all the instruction you need can be found on the web or Youtube for transferring photos, videos, music, apps, etc.
Update 12/09/10: I've been reading up on the "antenna problem" with the iPhone 4 and have this to say..... It is easily cured by slapping on a hard case or shell on the phone, which eliminates the issue I see some people complaining about. I have personally never experienced this issue because I left the AT&T store with a protective shell on my phone which virtually everybody I've ever seen with an iPhone has anyway. Very simply you CANNOT replicate the reported "death grip" problem with a shell around the outer frame. Cant be done. And BTW, I don't know if its due to network improvements or what but lately I'm getting 4Mbps download speeds so if anything I'm happier with my purchase now than I was 4 months ago but I live in Florida and cell sites are plenty down here, if you live in California or New York you may not be so fortunate. Zero complaints, and that's something most smartphone users of other OEM products can't say.
Also, amongst the disinformation you'll read about the iPhone here on Amazon one guy states "the screen is easily scratched and the back is easily shatterable." Utter nonsense. First of all, ALL cell phones are "shatterable", and the iPhone screen is made from Gorilla Glass, a proprietary Corning product that quite simply does not scratch. You can read up on this on the web but after a while you will feel comfortable dropping your phone in your pocket or purse with your keys, power tools, pistols, whatever. I've dropped my phone a couple of times and it has not shattered and the screen is still perfect after 4-5 hours of use per day.
I caution you to beware negative reviews on here that are filled with bad English and are authored by individuals who have written only one review (on the iPhone) and posted it in several locations on Amazon's site. Its easy to pick these out, and many have no doubt been written by the same person.
And finally, the Wall Street Journal did an article on the iPhone 4 recently that concluded the following 1) AT&T network is 46% faster than Verizon for iPhone users, 2) many reported problems with poor service and dropped calls are an AT&T network problem, and not associated with the iPhone, and 3) call quality is better on Verizon's network vs. AT&T. There are pros and cons to both carriers but bottom line is.....IT AIN'T THE PHONE! I've posted a link to the article under "Comments."
Beware of "The Twonky" (1953)
This review is from: Apple iPhone 4 Black Smartphone 16GB (AT&T) (Wireless Phone Accessory)
I just thought that "The Twonky" was a spooky sci-fi movie based on a book by Henry Kuttner. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would own one. But the iPhone 4 has become today's Twonky. There are apps that tell us what to read, what to buy, and even a Weightwatcher app that tells us what to eat. What's next an app that says "breathe-in, breathe-out".I have just now started to dabble with all the goodies on the iPhone. Would you believe that I bought it to make phone calls? Well I did. I never had any idea that it would control my life. I spend quite a few of my spare moments watching reruns and old films from Netflix; they come in crisp clear and in stereo.
I thought I bought a phone however it looks like about a handheld computer that does more than my laptop. Yet I always need to be aware of my limited data contract and use Wi-Fi when possible.
The upside is that its Bluetooth syncs with my vehicle allowing me to make hands-free calls when I need to. I try not to babble in the vehicle however once in a while an important call will come through. There is also a USB in the vehicle so I can use the iPod feature of the iPhone 4.
My most used app is "booksapp" it allows me to take my library list of 5000+ to the store and keeps me from buying duplicates. This saved me a mint. Also allows for comparison shopping. Once I showed a used book store the Amazon price for a book and they brought the price down to match.
I know this review is not technical but many things that are fun don't have to be technical. Using apps as appliances you are removed from the underlying operating system and its functionality.
Great all-around, even better than 3G and 3GS
This review is from: Apple iPhone 4 Black Smartphone 16GB (AT&T) (Wireless Phone Accessory)
I loved my iPhone 3G, so it was with some anxiety that I made the plunge to the iPhone 4, a device plagued by some of the worst PR to ever describe a phone. I'm relieved to report that the iPhone 4 is SO much better than my 3G, with better graphics, camera(s), sound, and features. Of course, many of the improvements are due to Apple's constant tweaking of the operating system which also benefits owners of the 3GS.Pros: better camera; video and still cameras front and back; crisp display; good sound quality through the phone; comfort in the hand; doubles as an iPod Touch; apps galore, including top-notch free ones; aesthetics; small size (no chunky smart phones for Apple); few dropped calls, an improvement over when I first bought the phone. Autocorrect is really helpful when typing email or a text, but it can be a con as well if you don't pay attention to the words it inserts.
Cons: speaker phone is still subpar, although the volume is slightly better than my old 3G; ATT still requires an extra fee for texting; you must remember to lock the screen after calling since the touch screen can make pocket calls embarrassingly frequent.
For those who have never used an iPhone:
You are going to be blown away. I saw little need for an iPhone when I bought my first (my husband wanted one so I did the upgrade as well), and within a week, I couldn't imagine living without one. The iPhone 4 is that much better. What can you do? Here's just the beginning: check email; find a restaurant, see its phone number, and touch the phone number (which the iPhone recognizes as such), and call for a reservation; check out the real-time traffic up ahead on the Maps feature; tweet and update Facebook status; hike to the top of a mountain, take a picture of the peak, and send it to your friends; answer a question by accessing Wikipanion in moments; check your calendar to see whether you're available to go out with a friend; read the NY Times as you're waiting for a doctor's appointment . . . the possibilities are staggering.
Because the phone is glass back and front, you have to be worried about breakage. Much depends on how the phone falls. I've dropped mine twice: once on the hard tile floor of a bathroom, and once on a rough concrete hill where the phone bounced four times before coming to a rest. The first time, nothing happened. The second, unbelievably, I got only a small chip in the front. (I keep my phone in a battery case, so it does have some protection.) But just the other day, a friend dropped hers, and it happened to land face down. The whole front was shattered, although the phone continued to work.
Since you now have to pick a data plan, I recommend getting the lower price one if you don't expect to access email and the web very often. You can always increase it. But if you are constantly on the go and want to check Facebook, Twitter, email, etc., you may as well start with the higher data usage plan. Although I am grandfathered in with unlimited data, I use the equivalent of the $25 plan, while my husband is way over that. My graduate student daughter has the $15 plan, and she has come close to using her limit only once.
I highly recommend the iPhone 4; I would be lost without mine. I've had no issues with ATT, either with its coverage or with frequently dropped calls. I recommend that you discover whether you have 3G or the new 4G service in your area before signing up since accessing the internet can be excruciatingly slow with Edge service. The speed of wireless depends on the speed of the broadband.
Everyone I know who has an iPhone, whether 3G, 3GS, or 4 loves theirs after the initial getting-used-to-it phase.
