I'm nearing the end of my phone contract with Verizon Wireless. I'm ok with my phone and wasn't planning to change it anytime soon. It does what I need, make calls and the occassional text or picture. I'm not super gadget-y and prefer simple over bells and whistles. Today and I borrowed DH's ipod - he's the gadget guy- for my walk and I thought it might be nice to have an ipod. So I make the next logical leap, should I just get the iphone and have both phone and ipod in one. DH has been asking me if I wanted to upgrade, but to be honest I think it was mostly for him to have a new gadget to play with. I was firmly against it, but now I'm not sure. I don't foresee using all of the fancy applications. So, I would love to hear from real mamas juggling kids, budgets, life in general if you have one is it all it's cracked up to be? How's the service? How about cost?
I'm sorry it took so long to write this. Thank you everyone for your advice. I waited a while, but yes, I became the proud new owner of an iPhone in March. I had to wait until my contract was over with my old carrier. I had mistaken this date with my phone renewal. Anyway to be fair, I went into Verizon and checked out the Droid, the iPhone competitor. It wasn't intuitive at all. One trip to the Apple store and a chance to play on the phone had me sold.
I LOVE my iphone! It does everything I would ever need it too and much more! I have gone through a ton of smart phones over the years and this one is the best by far! The prices have gone down considerably since they first came out. I highly recommend it!
We all have I-phones at our house. I have the oldest model that came out about a year and a half ago...LOVE IT...NO complaints.
Hubby got a much better faster version in May of this year and LOVES it.
Daughter has the newest version (thanks to someone whole stole her 1 1/2 yr old Iphone last week) and LOVES it. Her Iphone is the best one, has video on it as well.
From my experience last week, I could have replaced her same phone for $149, upgraded 1 level Iphone for $199 or get the newest at $299. We went ahead with the newest so she would be up to date with technology. The prices quoted to me were good IF I continued a 2 yr contract with ATT. That was no issue since we've used ATT for YEARS.
Hubby's phone and minute plan runs about $170 a month. He has a lot more minutes. You do pay about $30 extra a month for the data coverage.
Daughter is tagged onto my plan. I pay about $180 a month for unlimited texting (gotta have it with a teen...she does 3000+/month) Keep in mind that $60 of that is for the data packages on both phones, $30 is unlimited texting.
Overall, we like the Iphone, ATT. We did get the warranty on daughters for $70 that extends the 1 yr. IF it is stolen again, we can get an identical one at the price we paid $299 vs the retail rate.
Also, when I travel, I no longer carry my laptop...I rely on my Iphone and I love that feature.
Good luck...I am sure there are cheaper plans with the Iphones out there. We just have what works for us.
Enjoy!
I have had mine for about a year and there are days when I love it and days when I want to throw it out the window.
The email is great, but it will drain your battery in a few hours...I have my company email on mine which is on a constant check and I charge the battery at night and by 3pm it is at less than 10% life left. Another issue is I drop a lot of calls, a few I can understand but some days it is ridiculous. I have realized that I lose more when I am talking to someone on an iPhone more than other phones. My phone will also randomly freeze a few times a month and I will have to completely reboot it for no reason.
I do love the fact that I can listen to my music and talk on the phone through my car; it is so much easier to do hand free and still have the iPod use! Plus all the applications rock, the camera is good for a phone camera; new ones have video which is supposed to be good! All around I really enjoy it and would not switch phones even if I could. My bill averages about $125 a month and that is for 800 minutes, unlimited night & weekend, unlimited data and unlimited text.
i use a prepaid phone service for about $30 a month and have iPod touch. that's an iPhone minus the phone basically. i paid one fee of $300 or so for the iPod touch and that's it. no monthly fee. i still get to surf the web and play with all the toy applications. just way less money to talk on the phone! hubby does the same. no regrets here!
Love, love, love my iPhone! I had a Palm Centro and thought it was a good phone until I got the iPhone. I use it for everything for both work and personal: calendar, task management, contacts, texting, Internet access, and of course entertainment, music and games! I didn't realize how limited my Centro was until I got my iPhone! I did get the 3GS so I also have the ability to take video and edit right on the phone...very cool!! I was in desperate need to get more organized and the iPhone has definitely help me do that.
I have thought too about getting a iphone but, I just didn't want all the costs associated with it. So I have blackberry curve I got it a couple of months ago. Ilove it I use the calendar, texting and just about everhting else. I have unlimited texting on my plan and pay $60 for everything through t-mobile.
Good luck!
I love my IPHONE!! I will probably never own another phone. I love everything about it.
K.,
I have had my iPhone 3G for almost a year this November. We have a love hate relationship. LOL. I love it yet I hate it.
I know the new 3GS has video and has a bigger storage but if you don't plan on having a million songs and taking video then you could do just the 3G and pay half the price.
I love all the apps and there are apps that show and tell you when to get the other apps so you never pay full price.
PROS
1.If you have multiple emails it rocks. Or even just one. With a push of the mail button you have instant access to your email where you don't have to login.
2. You can take pic after pic.
3. Apps for everything. I love my bill pay app!
4. Only phone with complete interent.
5. Visual Voicemail
6. The texting format is awesome. You can keep all texts from someone in one spot like instant messaging vs going back to keep looking. I have messages from 8 months ago.
7. Power Point, Quicktime, Word and Excel Support.
CONS
1. 3GS has video but not 3G
2. No flash on Camera
3. No zoom on Camera
4. Crashes a lot.
5. If you use a lot of apps or internet the battery dies a lot. I have to charge fully 2-3 a day. So I always carry my charger in my purse.
6. Cannot view flash on websites.
The lady that mentioned she has an iPod touch is right on point. If you just want to have an iphone for all of its "Stuf"" but love your other phone and service provider. Just buy an iPod touch. I see them on sale all the time for $250 and then just by the prepaid $30 plan for the internet.
Also this site as well as Googling Iphone pros cons will give you more info:
http://pulse2.com/2008/07/09/pros-cons-of-iphone-3g/
HTH
E.
