DAB's iPhone 3GS Review

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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Louisiana
Well guys as you know I recently received my iPhone 3Gs (on Friday June 19). For the last 2 or more years I have used various phones many that claim to be smartphones, but they were not very smart at all. I eventually settled on of all things a freaking Motorola Razr2 V8 and then used a 32gb iPod Touch as the smart part or the PDA. This worked well. Believe it or not, I have found it so very difficult to leave my house with just one device as I've been so use to carrying 2 and if you throw in the Slacker G2 that is 3 devices. Now I have relegated the G2 to just my vehicle, so I don't carry it around anymore. My iPod Touch 32 has been sold.

Now on with my iPhone 3Gs review. First of all I had the orignal iPhone that was released 2 or so years ago, but AT&T coverage in my area was so pitiful, I ended up returning it. What good is a great phone with no coverage? I even got AT&T to waive the restocking fee because they knew their coverage was bad. So, I have had some experience with the iPhone (original), plus many of the features via my iPod Touch.

First thing I noticed about the 3Gs is that it booted up pretty fast. Applications just pop up with no delay or lag. Graphics are faster from viewing video, to viewing pictures to loading web pages. I was really surprised how much more crisp Safari is.

I am still learning about this phone and my first few days I was sort of lost because I am use to have 2 devices, one for music, mail, etc and the other just for talking. Now they are combined and so I've had to get use to that. I discovered the iPhone handles this very well. You get a call, the phone rings as normal, but the music gets muted. You talk and when you are done, you can end the call and it immediately goes back to music.

I have especially enjoyed the speaker phone, which is pretty sad on most phones these days. I can dock it in my 3G dock, use it as a speaker phone, while doing that, I can continue to surf the web, type email, review documents sent via email. Heck I can SMS or IM while talking and never skip a beat. The ability to multitask on the iPhone is an unexpected surprise. I am finding that my 3Gs is helping me be more organized and I am able to quickly respond and process a lot of information. I love the voice mail system where you can scan through it and just get to certain points to record phone numbers. SWEET. I"ve already used the voice memo, which is really great.

Honestly I could go on and on... this phone is well designed, well though out and it lives up to the hype 100%.

Oh I know there are those that say well my phone has been able to do all those things for year. Yeah maybe, but just how eligantly has it been able to do all those thing. How simply can you do those things. I can tell you on the iPhone it all just works together seamlessly and without having to even think about it. It is intuitive and you can tell those that have worked on this phone use this phone.

I can say right now without a single doubt this IS the best phone I've ever used. I don't give two shits about what other phones can or has already been able to do before now. Heck I have not even used the compass or maps, other than till it to find me, then I mapped a hotel I will be staying at next week. It gave me point by point directions. I did type in the name of a business in the maps program and it found it, gave me the phone number which I was able to call write from within the maps program. How cool is that? I really could just go on and on, but I think you all get the point. This phone is fast, all the new features and adds on that the 3.0 OS brought is super nice.

I have to say that I am also well pleased with AT&T's coverage thus far in my area, this is much improved.

If you are sitting on the fence and AT&T has decent coverage in your area, getting the iPhone is a no brainer!
 

Sirius Rich

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
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Thanks DAB, I will show your review to my son and hope he feels better as he laid down $400 for the iPhone. He has yet to pick it up from Best Buy, I bet we go down to the Apple Store tonight if BB does not have his phone in.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
Thanks DAB, I will show your review to my son and hope he feels better as he laid down $400 for the iPhone. He has yet to pick it up from Best Buy, I bet we go down to the Apple Store tonight if BB does not have his phone in.

I bet you end up down there tonight too! He will love it, I really didn't think I'd like it this much, but I really do!

What app's are you using at this point DAB?

I listed them in another thread, but Slacker, Pandora and Sirius XM on the music front. USA Today, Ebay, Weather Elite, Chase, AT&T Accounts... there are others, but those are the ones I can think of all the top of my head.

What, no PICS? :)

Exactly. Generally DAB reviews are accompanied by nice pictorials.

What yaw don't know what the damn things looks like yet? hehehe :bluecool:
 

blyons200

These pretzels are making me thirsty.
Oct 12, 2008
8,448
1,548
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The BBQ Capital
Exactly. Generally DAB reviews are accompanied by nice pictorials.

The iPhone has a pretty good camera, but it can't take pics of itself!

I felt buyers remorse at first when I laid down 400 bucks for my iPhone, but it has already saved me money. I took a trip around Lake Michigan this weekend, all the way around. When you walk into a hotel, they generally charge you 20-40 dollars more than if you book it online in advance. When I take trips like these I generally fly by the seat of my pants, so I don't know where I'm gonna stop, how far I'm gonna drive, etc.

So when I decided it was time to stop for the night. I would pull over in a parking lot or something and do a search for hotels in the area. Book it online and then go over and check in. Saved probably 50-60 bucks doing this on my trip, so over the long run I will save a lot doing this.

I love the map function on the iphone. I didn't know where the hell I was going on my trip, but I found points of interest i would of never thought of otherwise. You can pull up a map, drop a pin on where you want to go, and get directions from your current location, without typing a thing. Even if you don't know where you're at. It even shows you where you are at on the map, and shows your progress as you drive somewhere. I've used it to find point of interest, hotels, etc. It also helped decide if I was gonna take a detour based on the distance. I saw some beatiful things I never would of saw if the iPhone hadn't of showed me how close it was. I will detail my trip in another thread and post a full review of my iPhone in other threads.
 

mrpacs

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
2,993
78
48
Connecticut
My 3Gs's arrived and are up and running. VERY VERY fast. MUCH faster than the 3G. Voice Control works perfectly. Love the "Search" feature as well. I just need my Jailbreak.
 

Evil_Ernie

Smell my finger
Oct 11, 2008
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I just need my Jailbreak.

lw2145c.jpg

Jailbreak? We don't need no stinkin' Jailbreak!
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
Update: 7/3/09

My iPhone 3GS is still working very well. I've noticed that there are tons of complaints about the battery life. I found initially mine wasn't so good, but overall I am satisfied with the battery life. I usually turn wifi off during the day unless I am at a location that actually has wifi. Since I don't have push email that is turned off, though I am pushing my calendar and contacts via Google Exchange Sync. I am not using Bluetooth, so that isn't an issue.

In reviewing many of the threads on the battery life issue, it seems that many folk likely have applications that are not very well behaved and aren't shutting down properly or perhaps they aren't designed to run with 3.0 OS. I've seen some examples of removing certainly applications improving battery life. I personally don't use game apps, mainly for me it is music and productivity type applications. None of which seem to be real intensive.

There is also another issue out there "The Warmer Display" it seems that many are comparing their older original iPhone or their 3G and are finding that there is a slight yellow tint. Though so have said their display is so yellow they can't stand it. I don't have either of the previous models to compare, but I do have a couple of iPod Touchs and I can clearly see the warmer display. Again, I have no issues with the warmer display because unless you are actually comparing side by side, you really don't even notice it, well I don't anyway.

So, those of you that have your new 3GS what is your take on all these so called "ISSUES". Thus far I've not been bit by any of them at least not to the point where I find it necessary to return/exchange mine. There are some of the Apple forum that have returned their 3GS 4 or 5 times because they want that perfectly color display to match their original or 3G iPhone. I think it is crazy!
 

Evil_Ernie

Smell my finger
Oct 11, 2008
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I haven't really noticed any of the issues most people complain about. Some people like to nitpick over the most asinine stuff.

As far as the battery, I have Location Services and Push enabled, but haven't seen any significant battery decrease. I play a few games on there as well as open some apps and I can usually go about 4 days before I charge the phone. My original iPhone I could get close to 5 days before charging, so that's not too bad.

I checked the screens on my original iPhone and the 3GS, and I think the warmer display on the 3GS looks better.
 

mrpacs

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
2,993
78
48
Connecticut
My battery life seems to have improved over time, (as others have noted). On another note, the Jailbreak is FINALLY available for the 3Gs! YAY!
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
I haven't really noticed any of the issues most people complain about. Some people like to nitpick over the most asinine stuff.

I checked the screens on my original iPhone and the 3GS, and I think the warmer display on the 3GS looks better.

I think many people have brought these phones back for some of the dumbest reasons. Like you said folks just nitpick and there is little doubt about that.

I too like the warmer display and I find that photos and stuff like that look more natural. I am happy with it.

My battery life seems to have improved over time, (as others have noted). On another note, the Jailbreak is FINALLY available for the 3Gs! YAY!

Yeah I think once the battery is seasoned up a bit it certainly gets better.

I did see that the Jailbreak is available, thus far I've not really found a need or reason to use do so.