Would you buy an I-Phone? are they any good?

Hello All

My question is...Are I-Phones any good?

BACKGROUND TO QUESTION
Call me old but I see mobile phones as, err a phone, not a toy, not a status symbol, but a phone.

I and our staff use them every day to call mostly each other, and take pics and send MSM and that’s about it. We secured back in 2006 a very good deal with Telstra that allows us to call each other free for 10 minutes, so the phones are used like walky-talkies.

WHY I ASK?
In Jan we are up for contract renewal and have avoided all attempts to move from Nokia handsets (had a Sony once, urgh!) but with this renewal the latest Apple I-Phone has been offered.

So my question is...Are I -Phone any good?

PROS AND CONS?
What are the pros and cons? Are the robust? Are they simply toys staff will overuse allowances with (internet, emails) and then have to pay us back - aka Issues?

Or are they great advance in communication that one you have you never go back? Apps are great and as tool very useful?

SHOULD I STAY NOKIA
The alternative we liked is a Nokia E71 - essentially a black berry copy. It is emails ability we are considering. But it does not have free Wi-Fi (I am told) so it could easily use up allowance downloading. It also costs more to get – not free.

What are your thoughts/experience especially with staff use.

Regards

Peter 14.7
 
What's an “I-Phone”?...:confused:
































Only kidding :D

I don’t own one myself, but plenty of friends do. They are classed more a toy than a necessity. The phone function is probably the last thing people buy them for.

They seem to keep people amused for hours, this can be a negative though. While people are meant to be working, these days they are checking out the latest “App’s” on their phone and comparing photos from the weekends festivities. :D

Id say if you are “old”, stick with what you know and you will get by just fine. :D

Cheers

Mick
 
Hi Peter,

Two parts to your question:

1. Would you buy an i-Phone?

No...

2. Are they any good?

Probably...

I've got a work supplied Blackberry Bold and that seems to do the trick. I'm not a gadget freak and definately wouldn't pay to buy a mobile phone. If I have to do so, like I did recently for my wife, then I buy the cheapest and nastiest thing I can find. I think it was a Nokia something and cost about $50 on a pre-paid plan.

My definition of good: Does it send and receive phone calls? Is it mobile? Is it cheap?

Don't understand the whole mobile phone thing. Must be because I'm an X-er.

Cheers,
Michael
 
I personally wouldn't get one because I don't like how arrogant apple are.

Plus I don't think they are a very good phone for the work place as they are really entertainment rather than business devices.
 
I personally wouldn't get one because I don't like how arrogant apple are.

Plus I don't think they are a very good phone for the work place as they are really entertainment rather than business devices.

Wow i guess you've had a bad apple experience. If you get a chance go to the main apple site on George st in Sydney. They are the best display of customer service i've seen, Relaxed not in your face while still being knowledgeable and useful from a customer point of view.

I have an Iphone as does my wife, I couldn't live with out it. Yes it can be a waste if you want to play games etc, Mine is 80% work eg email and the like and 20% personal eg facebook, noughts and crosses, pacman etc

If you have need for instant communication the Iphone is the one, If you don't want to use it for its benefits I'd stick with the nokia's as generally they are a great well built phone.
 
I would get one, they have more uses then you can imagine just never show anyone what you can do on your iphone it is extremely annoying to be shown the latest fart application or bird sound app, etc etc etc.
 
I would get one, they have more uses then you can imagine just never show anyone what you can do on your iphone it is extremely annoying to be shown the latest fart application or bird sound app, etc etc etc.

Hahaha. This is true.

I was shown an "App" that simulates a glass of beer. Hahaha

Why the hell would I want a fake beer?.... :p

Cheers

Mick
 
Hi Peter,

I have an i-phone and rely on it quite heavily now.

I have been told BlackBerry's are superior if you are looking for more of a personal diary.

I have the first generation which did not allow me to email/attach pics. I believe that has changed now on the recent models.

Texting is just a breeze and as I have a bad habit of texting and sending to friends without checking my spelling, or if the phone is using the correct word, it seems to work it out far better than my Nokia ever did.

As far as appointments etc are concerned I have trashed the paper diary and rely on alarms and reminders to tell me I have an appointment in two days etc.

Are they robust- NO! I would have to say not. I have a great cover for mine though as I have dropped it at least 5 times with my ugly black rubber cover and it has survived. Naked - they are very fragile.

Personally, depending on your industry, I would not purchase these phones if handled in any sort of labouring industry. The dangers of dropping them, or getting them dirty would concern me. Office yes.....Salesman yes......Onsite no.

Wi-Fi ability has been absolutely priceless as has been the GPS.

The temptation to download applications and visit facebook would concern me. IPhones would be VERY tempting and you would have to stipulate that there is a certain amount of download available. Perhaps you could come to any sort of excess agreement on download and usage?

It would be difficult though.



Regards JO
 
Thank you all.

Excuse my late reply, big storm here in Country Vic and some water entering the new extension of the 150 year old heritage home. And maybe that experience and the comments sum it up? Old stuff works.

WHY CHANGE
I was looking for emails access but I carry my laptop everywhere and can email free of stress or charge after a 5 minute set up. I also worry about having to synch 2 devices – more trouble than worth. I assume there is cost for emails as well so is it really a benefit? I get/send a lot of emails each day.

DURABLE
Last year we go free - rough tough Nokia 6120 Classics. Simple chocolate bar phone. I dropped mine and the face cracked but it still works. I think with an iPhone I would be on to my 2nd.
My old first Nokia N70 is so worn it is white plastic not silver at most points. The keyboard a little stiff but after 3 years it still goes strong. Wife still uses her N70 and refuses to give up – it looks new BTW.
Another website response said i-Phones are very water sensitive and even rain can stuff them and deep inside the warranty – Apple excludes use in the rain.

STAFF USE
But most of all is the temptation for staff to play at work. Most of mine guys don’t but we recently has on leave who was “phone addict” and he always overspent his allowance and used it for personal stuff that only got in the way of work.

CONCLUSION APPEARS TO BE:
Get the best free, robust Nokia each year and hand down to junior staff the older phones.

Comments still welcome.

Peter 14.7
 
We run an outdoor events (sporting) company.
Hubby got one of these a couple of months ago and I'll be getting one in the next day or so.

Pros:
Emails
Diary
web access (check bank accounts etc, also that our website is up and running every morning or if complaints come in)
using for timing - friend writing an app for us so we can use them for timing (tap in competitor number, it time stamps, synch on laptop all devices to get various times at places in excel)

Cons
Battery - gotta be charged every day (although hubby is a heavy user)
fragility - gotta have the rubber cover on them
it's apple - am very much a PC person

but most of those are mainly personal.
 
Our son bought an I-phone for his wife. She is an adventure racer and travels the world for competitions.

Main advantage for them is that they use a wireless hotspot, a skype account, and can talk to each other when she is in Europe for around 3c a minute.

Don't ask me for details, I am a dinosaur when it comes to technology.
Marg
 
Noted. thats the goal. I assume when I delete emials on the BB then I sych and it aligns?

Peter
Yep, that's how it works. I actually do like the email synch on my Blackberry for work. Saves me firing the computer up on the weekends or after hours. Just scan the top of my emails to see if anything important has come in. 2 minutes work instead of 20.

Cheers,
Michael
 
i have an iphone so i can do silly stuff like google "boobs" when im bored watching some mushy chick flick with the fiancee, or look up google maps to find out where the hell i am (handy when in QLD without a street directory), or to just play my little "tanks" game....

... its a phone, that has some extra bonus features.
It also came free on the voldafone package i was already on, so it was a no brainer really. Spend same amount of money, get free phone.
 
I have an iphone and love it. you can make it as much as a toy or business tool as you want.
Mine is set up to link via encrypted link, VPN, to my server in the US to collect all of my mail. As well as alot of network/security tools on it

It basically comes down to what do you need in the way of a phone.
if that's all you use then get a phone, if you need a pda, laptop and phone then get an iphone or similar. Don't buy something because everyone else has one.
 
Peter,

Think of an iPhone as a pocket computer with phone functionality. It can provide mavellous computing experience given its small size and screen, in an elegant way.

Most remarkable of all is its Internet browsing capability, where you can do / read / browse the Internet anywhere, from email checking, wiki-ing to Google maps, stock market checking, realestate.com, eBay bidding.

Its major drawback is the shorter battery time.

Nokia is predominantly a phone with other bits and pieces added on. Phone wise, it is excellent.

Everything else is pretty mediocre by Apple standard, eg. Clumsy, unusable internet browsing; Inconsistent, wasteful user interface design; Dated menu command structures; etc.
 
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