DAB's iPhone 3GS Review

[mrpacs]

SBSettings provides you with any screen/any time access to toggles such as Phone on/off, WiFi on/off, BT on/off, "Fast Notes, (create notes on the fly from any screen), ability to hide springboard icons, more functions as well.


Jailbreak iPhone | iPhone News, Help and Guides

tlert allows you to view and reply to SMS within any app such as Slacker, Sirius, without interruption.
elert does the same for email as well as new email pop up notifications.

http://www.rockyourphone.com/index.php/tlert.html?feat=y#

Intelliscreen displays your upcoming calender appointments, messaging, email, weather and news all from your Lock Screen. You can also check your email from the Lock Screen.

http://www.rockyourphone.com/index.php/intelliscreen.html?feat=y

 

[Jon]

I do not know what they do, but you don't miss what you've never had! I find the iPhone to do everything I need it to at this point!

Ditto.

 

[DAB]

SBSettings provides you with any screen/any time access to toggles such as Phone on/off, WiFi on/off, BT on/off, "Fast Notes, (create notes on the fly from any screen), ability to hide springboard icons, more functions as well.


Jailbreak iPhone | iPhone News, Help and Guides



tlert allows you to view and reply to SMS within any app such as Slacker, Sirius, without interruption.
elert does the same for email as well as new email pop up notifications.

Tlert - Rock Your Phone

Intelliscreen displays your upcoming calender appointments, messaging, email, weather and news all from your Lock Screen.

IntelliScreen - Rock Your Phone

I appreciate the explainations. I have to admit being able to reply via SMS while listening to Slacker/Pandora etc would be nice.

My only issue with the jailbreaking is that don't you guys have to constantly wait for a jailbreak update each time Apple updates even when they do slight updates like moving from version 3.0 to 3.01, though the rumor is they are testing 3.1 now.

 

[mrpacs]

I appreciate the explainations. I have to admit being able to reply via SMS while listening to Slacker/Pandora etc would be nice.

My only issue with the jailbreaking is that don't you guys have to constantly wait for a jailbreak update each time Apple updates even when they do slight updates like moving from version 3.0 to 3.01, though the rumor is they are testing 3.1 now.

Correct but really not that big of a deal. The JB is generally release within day's of the official Apple release. I would always hold off on updating through itunes until the JB would become available. If that is the only thing holding you back you should really give it a try. You can ALWAYS restore via iTunes. Download and run the the file found here: http://www.purplera1n.com/ That's it. It's a single click JB! Easiest one to date. Make sure you have iTunes not running when JB'ing.

 

[Evil_Ernie]

Just say no to jailbreaking!!

 

[DAB]

Correct but really not that big of a deal. The JB is generally release within day's of the official Apple release. I would always hold off on updating through itunes until the JB would become available. If that is the only thing holding you back you should really give it a try. You can ALWAYS restore via iTunes. Download and run the the file found here: http://www.purplera1n.com/ That's it. It's a single click JB! Easiest one to date. Make sure you have iTunes not running when JB'ing.

Again thanks for the information!

 

[DAB]

Today I noticed an issue with my battery on my 3GS. I woke up this morning with a 100% charged battery. I had several things to do, so off I went. I couldn't find a local store I was looking for, so I typed in the address into my iPhone map and it found it with no problem. However, I noticed I was down to 88% battery. I am like man, that was fast. I made a few calls and text my son a few times, then made it back home, now I am down to 73% battery. I am trying to figure this out? I've never seen my battery drain like this. I checked and my wifi was off, location was on, but I didn't even had it checking email that was turned to manual and push was even off. I was like this is crazy. Oh well I had stuff to do so I went on. Now tonight, I decided to add some new contacts and make a few notes for a meeting I have tomorrow. Turn on the phone I am down to 66%. I am just baffled as it went from 73% to 66% in about 5 hours of standby.

I think maybe I need to drain my battery all the way down and give her a good full charge tonight. So, I turn on youtube and start playing around. Suddenly, I look at the battery guage and it has 92%. WHAT? Now I turn the phone off and back on and it still shows 92%. I mess around and then it goes to 63%. So, I decide to just go ahead and run the battery down, so I turn on some music, start playing a video and look at now I am at 88% battery life. From that point on it stayed at steady as it dropped, 87, 86, 85.

My conclusion to all this is I think there is a bug in the battery sensor software, because this is too strange. Heck I would have had to stay up all night to run the battery down, so I got it down as low as I could then recharged it.

I will see how she does today under normal use! I dont' think I have a battery issue at all, I think this is a bug!

 

[limegrass69]

I've seen behavior similar to what you describe on my wife's iPhone in the following situations:

Plugged iPhone into a wall charger, but disconnected it before the battery was really fully charged.

Plugged iPhone into a car charger for a few minutes.

In both cases, the battery meter would initially show a full charge, but it would drop off rather quickly. I agree with you, DAB, there is a quirk with the battery sensor.

 

[DAB]

Well folks by 3G3 is dead! Battery is now toast! Took it off with 100% and it lasted 30 minutes and died. Now it won't hold a charge. So, I have to take it back to an apple store or just get a refund!

 

[limegrass69]

I'm sure they'll replace it for you. Bummer.

 

[mrpacs]

Well folks by 3G3 is dead! Battery is now toast! Took it off with 100% and it lasted 30 minutes and died. Now it won't hold a charge. So, I have to take it back to an apple store or just get a refund!

Wow, that sucks! Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[DAB]

Okay, I talked with support; I was at my office where I only had a usb cable with no AC adapter. I plugged it into the computer and held the wake/sleep and home button. It would shut down and instead of the white apple coming up, it would just go right back to the red battery with a lightening strike below it. We kept trying it over a 30 minute period and no luck, so he recommended a take to an Apple store. Man I was so bummed out!

I get home and decided to take one last shot at it, this time I plug it in using my AC adapter.. Well low and behold the moment I plug it in, it immediately powers on. Now I look at the battery indicator 100%.

So, now I don't know what to do? Was it a glitch is it a bad battery or phone? I've been using it now for about 2 hours without any further hick-ups and the battery appears to be holding the charge just fine with no craziness. A coworker of mine seems to think it was just a glitch and says I should just use it and if it does it again swap it out.

What do you guys think I should do? Swap it anyway? Keep it and see what happens?

Also what do you guys think of the Apple extended warranties? Worth it?

 

[limegrass69]

Swap it out. It can only go downhill from here.

 

[mrpacs]

I would wait and see if it reoccurs. I bought the extended warranty from Squaretrade which covers EVERYTHING including accidental spills/damage.

 

[Evil_Ernie]

Like mrpacs said, wait it out. It could just be a software bug. Version 3.1 is in beta testing now and may fix that issue.

 

[DAB]

Thanks guys I appreciate the advice, thus far she has run without further issues and the battery is looking good!

It is so strange that after it shut down that for whatever reason it thought the battery was dead, because nothing we did would revive it. Plug it into AC power and she comes right back up.

I really don't want to swap it out because the color on the display is good and I've had no other issues.

 

[mrpacs]

Thanks guys I appreciate the advice, thus far she has run without further issues and the battery is looking good!

It is so strange that after it shut down that for whatever reason it thought the battery was dead, because nothing we did would revive it. Plug it into AC power and she comes right back up.

I really don't want to swap it out because the color on the display is good and I've had no other issues.

I HIGHLY advise you to get a warranty, however. Look into Squaretrade.

 

[DAB]

I HIGHLY advise you to get a warranty, however. Look into Squaretrade.

So do you have any experience with Squaretrade? It makes me nervous using 3rd parties, even though they claim to have better protection in terms of drops and spills. I would prefer to have some sort of accidental coverage at for about $4.00 a day for 2 years that is less than I was paying my previous cellular company for replacement insurance which was $8.00 per month.

 

[mrpacs]

My only experience is that I bought the warranties for mine and my wife's 3Gs's. I haven't had to use them - luckily - yet! I have read many good reviews on Squaretrade at a few different iphone specific forums.

 

[DAB]

My only experience is that I bought the warranties for mine and my wife's 3Gs's. I haven't had to use them - luckily - yet! I have read many good reviews on Squaretrade at a few different iphone specific forums.

Yeah, guess I need to do some research just for peace of mind, but I will likely get it because I am not liking the fact that without any coverage I would basically have to pay for a new one out of pocket.

I completely discharged my battery yesterday and I mean it took me all day running everything I could think of to get that battery down to where it shut off, but I did it. Last night I let it recharge and have not had any issues again. I am thinking it was just a glitch now. Battery life wise I am pretty darn happy!

I've had to quit reading those darn Apple forums because it is nothing, but folks complaining about every little thing. If you reply with anything positive they do not like it. My screen is yellow, my battery life sucks, I can't keep a signal, mine constantly switched to edge, mine won't play videos, mine has a bad speaker and the list goes on and on. One guy even reported he had bought 10 3GS's and all over them but one had something wrong with them. I had to call BS, but that didn't go over too well! LOL