iPhone or Touch?

[onlyCOpunk]

Do I get an 8gb iPhone and jailbreak/unlock is right out fo the box, or get a 16gb Touch and continue carrying around my phone.

I strictly use prepay phone plans, the iPhone would just be nice to consolidate everything.

 

[ViRGE]

Unless you want to spend $60/month on cell service, the Touch.

 

[pm]

Unless you plan on watching a lot of movies, or you like to carry around a lot of music, and really plan on filling up more than 8GB, then get the iPhone, unlock it and then use the T-Mobile prepaid plan. Who wants to carry around two gizmos when you can carry around one? Plus you can get Skype (Fring) or another SIP service and use it to make calls over WiFi hotspots for "free", or at least very cheap. The Touch doesn't have a microphone so this use doesn't work on it.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: pm
Unless you plan on watching a lot of movies, or you like to carry around a lot of music, and really plan on filling up more than 8GB, then get the iPhone, unlock it and then use the T-Mobile prepaid plan. Who wants to carry around two gizmos when you can carry around one? Plus you can get Skype (Fring) or another SIP service and use it to make calls over WiFi hotspots for "free", or at least very cheap. The Touch doesn't have a microphone so this use doesn't work on it.

I carry around two gizmos just fine, never really had a problem with it. I take my Zune just about everywhere, and always have my phone on me too. Flash-based media is still too expensive to hold my music (my Zune has about 17gb of stuff on it), and my new Samsung Glyde is just pure awesome. Now, the fact that I am on Verizon means the choice of having an iPhone was already made for me, but regardless, I don't want one. Too big. It's just too wide and flat for me to want to use it as a phone. My Glyde is the perfect form factor for a touch-based phone imho. Not to mention, until recently, it's really carried too high of a price tag to justify buying one.
Now, the iPod Touch is a nice little device, and slowly they are working on storage/cost.

+

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Originally posted by: pm
Unless you plan on watching a lot of movies, or you like to carry around a lot of music, and really plan on filling up more than 8GB, then get the iPhone, unlock it and then use the T-Mobile prepaid plan. Who wants to carry around two gizmos when you can carry around one? Plus you can get Skype (Fring) or another SIP service and use it to make calls over WiFi hotspots for "free", or at least very cheap. The Touch doesn't have a microphone so this use doesn't work on it.

Good point about the VOIP.

Some might say to wait for the 3G iPhones, but mobile internet isn't really my fortay so 3G doesn't really matter to me.

I'm just kind of apprehensive of having to take the whole kit and caboodle out with me. I also like my current cell phone. Which I use all but once a week.

 

[pm]

If you don't plan to use it much as a phone and you like what you have.. then probably the Touch is the way to go... the only real advantage of the iPhone would be having to only carry one device.

But there's a danger to the iPhone too...

I'm probably a poster child for how an iPhone can change you... Before I upgraded, I used my cell phone about twice a day, and didn't have any cell phone internet service. I was using a 2GB Samsung MP3 player and an old Nokia that was big enough to look like an old landline phone. And then my neighbor got an iPhone and I read up on hacking them and bought one to hack. They are a bit addictive - I added a bunch of podcasts to my phone, downloaded a bunch of games, started synchronizing my contacts and calendar from my laptop and then tried the internet for a bit while I was on a travelling binge for work, and then I was hooked. In August of last year, I barely even knew that Apple had released an iPhone and I wasn't following the gadget scene at all... then I got an iPhone and now all I do is browse up on the latest cell phone and gadget news daily.

I don't want one. Too big. It's just too wide and flat for me to want to use it as a phone. My Glyde is the perfect form factor for a touch-based phone imho.

According to Google, the iPhone is 0.4" taller, 0.5" narrower and a bit thinner than a Glyde. The dimensions really aren't that different and, if anything, the iPhone is a bit closer to the dimensions of a traditional telephone.
http://www.sizeasy.com/page/si...-Pack-Of-Playing-Cards

There's plenty of ways that a Glyde beats out an iPhone (GPS, real headphone jack, slide out keyboard, better bluetooth, SD slot, 3G speeds now, etc.), but I wouldn't have considered the dimensions to be one of them... each to their own though.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I'm aware of the danger, I used to be an avid sidekick user a couple years ago, but then got sick of "always being connected."

Do you go out to bars and clubs with your iPhone? There's the real kicker for me having to make sure it was always next to me when I went out.

 

[pm]

Do you go out to bars and clubs with your iPhone? There's the real kicker for me having to make sure it was always next to me when I went out.

I haven't been out to a bar in ages and the last time that I went to a nightclub was when cell phones were the size of a briefcase and were something that only millionaires carried around. I'm married, two kids in grammar school... my clubbing days are long gone.

But the iPhone fits nicely in my front pocket - and, in fact, my back pocket too, but I worry about sitting on it.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Sad guy.

Well I think I have decided on the iPhone regardless. I don't really care about waiting for the 3G version because in reality if I were to get a touch, it's basically the current with no phone bits. And seeing as how I will not be paying for a data plan as I do nothing that requires constant broadband access to the Internet aside from an occasional Google Map the feature would be lost me aside from bragging rights.

Now does anyone know when Apple puts refurbs up on their website, I heard every tuesday and friday, but that source could wrong.

 

[mshan]

Can Apple "break" an unlocked iPhone with the prepaid T-Mobile account with software / firmware updates?

And how is T-Mobile Prepaid coverage compared to Page Plus Cellular (uses Verizon network) in the northeast USA?

 

[onlyCOpunk]

If your phone has been hacked to activate, jailbreak and unlock, then you don't "upgrade" the firmware until the new firmware has been hacked.

Apple can't "break" your phone, only you can break your phone if you don't know what you are doing.

And you can always just try the coverage yourself, a prepaid sim card is only 10 bucks, of course if you don't have a GSM phone you have to invest in one of those too because iPhone doesn't work on CDMA networks.

 

[mshan]

Will iPhone work if you don't have active telephone line on it?

(e.g. get T-Mobile prepaid sim, then let it expire).

Reason I ask is I read that screen on iPhone is better and iPod Touch seems like really stripped down and crippled iPhone.

 

[pm]

Apple can "break" the unlock on an iPhone with a software update. That said, though, if the past they gave you about three tries to opt out of the upgrade, so it's not like they are at all sneaky about it. They even put up a dialog box that says something like "if you have unlocked your iPhone, this firmware update might not be a good idea. Click "Ok" to continue".

I have no idea about coverage versus Verizon... it depends on the specific area. In my area here in Fort Collins, Colorado, and the mountains to the west of us, T-Mobile is better than anything... but that's just around here. I would recommend you ask friends and see what they say. Or just try it out with a cheap SIM card.

iPhones work fine without any GSM service - you can use Bluetooth and Wifi, and they act as Touch's. Hack it with ZiPhone or iLiberty+ and it will work fine without any GSM coverage at all, or even without a SIM card installed.

 

[mshan]

I am real tempted to pick up an iPhone (probably no telephone service) when the 3g phones are released.

Are batteries easily (and cheaply) replaced, and are there any common problems with current iPhones?

And is Apple refurb store going to be best place to buy one?

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Originally posted by: pm
In my area here in Fort Collins, Colorado.

eh, i didn't know you from co, i'm about an hour south of you in denver.

But to answer mshan's question. Sure you can get the iPhone to act just as an iPod Touch. But there's really no point. You can get a larger capacity Touch for the price of a smaller iPhone. Go the touch route if you don't plan to use the phone capabilities.

Plus you wont run into any weird warranty issues if something goes wrong.

As far as the refurb store goes, you can sit and wait for an iPhone to pop up, but there is no guarantee they will. But you can get a 16gb Touch for $329 from the refurb store and jailbreak it to use all kinds of different apps. And that's much safer and easier to do as it is near impossible to "brick" a Touch.

One final thought. If you don't plan on using the phone features then there is no need to wait for the 3G iPhones. They are not upgrading the iPod parts, just the phone parts.

 

[Throckmorton]

How are you going to use an iPhone with prepaid??

 

[pm]

How are you going to use an iPhone with prepaid??

Buy the phone from an AT&T store or Apple.com or an Apple store - the iPhone is unusual in that they don't make you sign a contract when you buy it. Then take it home, unpack it, plug it in and download ziphone (http://download.ziphone.org/), and then click the unlock button, wait a bit and then put in a prepaid SIM.

 

[colgatesmile]

16gigs is good amount of mem. 8gigs i think is not too much for my music. i guess it depends on how much stuff you want in it. i would nt be happy with anything smaller than 16gig imo.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Wait for 3G. Trust me. I have a Nokia N82 which I believe is superior every way to the iPhone except for a touchscreen and a smaller screen. You don't know how frustrating sometimes it is waiting for Google maps to load the maps.

Don't get the touch either. Why carry a touch + phone? If you like the iPhone, wait for the 3G version. Trust me, it'll make life a lot nicer. I played with my friend's SE K850i the other day and while the N82 trounces that phone in every aspect except NA 3G capabilities, the fast web browsing was just amazing.... makes me regret not getting the N95-3.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Well I already bought an 8gig iPhone, and immediately used Winpwn to pwn and create my custom firmware. Very simple process.

I'm not really that concerned with 3G as I don't plan on paying for a data plan and just using free wifi, and if I really really need the internet when there is none around then I will pay the standard fees.

8gigs is a good size too, its allowed me to streamline and cleanup my collection which is something I've been really wanting to do for a while.

 

[pm]

And the verdict is? It must be good if you are advising people travelling overseas to buy one.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I love it! I mean I haven't use the phone part as much as the other bits, but it will come in real handy when I start school again in July. It's nice only having to carry around one thing now. Especially when you are using the supplied headphones and get a call.