So it seems I've won a 3G iPhone. Should I use it?

[thatcrazycajun]

A few months back, Neenah Paper sent round a packet of promotional paper samples to the prepress department of my employer, with a sweepstakes entry card or two inside. The prize offered was one of the new 3G Network-capable Apple iPhone models. I filled out the card with no expectation whatever of winning, and sent it off.

A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail in my work inbox purporting to be from Neenah, informing me that I was a winner and would soon be receiving a gift certificate redeemable for my new iPhone. I took it to be a spammer's hoax, having forgotten all about the sweepstakes entry, and decided to wait and see if the promised mailing actually showed up.

This past Thursday, it did. And it looks quite authentic, and I've seen older models of the iPhone in action and been at least somewhat impressed. Problem is, I already have a perfectly good cellphone that does what I need it to, minutes for which I buy as I go without having yet another monthly bill mailed to the house, or any contractual obligation to use a service not of my choosing...which is what I would have to sign up for if I get this thing and want to actually use it, since Apple has an exclusivity deal with AT&T. (And I've read far too many stories of people trying to "jailbreak" their iPhones and use them with other cellular-phone providers only to have them "bricked," i.e., turned into useless hunks of metal and plastic once Apple sent firmware updates, to be casual about attempting to use it with TracFone, my current provider.)

Sooo...I bow to the wisdom of my tech-happy crowd. Who among my readers has one of the 3G iPhones? Have you been happy with it overall, or has it been a curse upon your life? Is the AT&T service as costly as I've been hearing, and is it worth it? Should I redeem the card and give away the hardware to someone who needs it more? Or should I just turn the damn certificate over to InterFilk for auctioning off to some other sucker fellow technophile? Opinions, please.

Comments

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

I love my 3G iPhone. It's the best device of its kind that I've ever had, and you can't have mine. :)

On the other hand, only you can say whether it make sense for you to get it.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

AT&T is pretty pricey; it's only saving grace is unlimited mobile-to-mobile comes with most any plan. I would Interfilk it.

Also? The TracFone is *the* PRICIEST of the pay-as-you-go phone plans, it's even more spendy than AT&T's GoPhone. If you don't need GSM, I would go with Virgin Mobile; their top-up cards *start* at 10c/min and get cheaper as you go up, where TracFone's *lowest* rate is 20c/min. You do have to buy in every month to keep your minutes rolled over with VM, but buy-in is $20 and gets you 200min. It's Sprint's signal, but their own customer service, which is pretty good.. I haven't found where you can upload your own ringtones without help or stuff like that, but other than that? I like my little Flare... oh, and there's a *bidirectional* sms-to-email gateway, so I can send somebody a 160-char note and have it land in their email box, or vice-versa.

But definitely Interfilk the iPhone. Personally, I'm holding out for the Android to get unlocked... T-Mobile has them exclusively at the moment, and I fired them once for crap customer service... What I would *really* like to see is somebody start an MVNO using AT&T's (or maybe Verizon's) signal but with a decent voice-data plan at a decent price...)

(I've currently got a CrackBerry from Work using Verizon, and I don't know if it's a 3G or a 4G signal, but it's pretty fast.. that and it's world-capable, so it'll use GSM in Europe, AFAICT... what's gonna be cool is I can tether the CrackBerry to work's laptop... can you say, high speed anywhere? But I *want* *want* *want* a phone I can ssh into :)

[beki.livejournal.com]

I don't have one, but I do work for a telephone company (Not AT&T either) What I would recommend is take a look at your phone usage. I know the Iphone has all sorts of nifty things it does. Do you have other widgets that do the same things? Do you carry those around with you too? If so, then it might make sense to get it. Call or look up online what the monthly fees for various plans are in your area. If it makes sense for you to do so, go ahead and make a switch.

Other things some folk may want to consider is that AT&T is one of the few cel companies that is a union shop. Most aren't, not even Verizon. When you see articles about the union and Verizon, they are talking about the services from GTE that used to be a LEC.

I know from personal experience that once you get a new phone, you may actually use it more. My work switched from their own plan and decided to resell Verizon, I had no choice but to switch my cel over. I do miss having my 15.00 a month plan, but I've been keeping in better contact with folks, even if I personally HATE being on the phone.

As always, YMMV and yadda yadda yadda ;)

[anaisdjuna.livejournal.com]

I have been *dying* for an iPhone! The plan is pretty dang pricey though. That's what's been inhibiting me in terms of it - it was going to be my present to myself with last years tax money, but I've since been thinking that they could rent my spare kidney just cuz the iphone is so rockin'. If it needs a good home I promise to love and cherish it. :-) My phone is broken and has a big black blob on the main screen so it sucks when it comes to texting. I have to remember what I've typed and spaced. 'cept now my company may be going under alas... I've not tried to take the plunge and get a new one. But if you know someone else who needs it or decide to Interfilk it... no sweatage. It's all good. Pretty neat you won something!

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

It depends on what your present phone can do. I don't recall what you have or with whom you have it.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

My present celly is a very-few-frills Motorola flip with TracFone service. It makes and receives voice calls and SMS text messages, can play two or three games and can function as a calculator, alarm clock, flashlight and phone book. No camera, no Internet and no other major bells or whistles...and up to now, I've been enough of a premature cranky old fart to like it that way - especially as it means lower costs for services and the phone itself.

[hms42]

I would interfilk it, if it does not do what you want to do. If you are not using your cell phone that much, pass it along since it will cost you more than its worth.

Also, does the certificate have an experation date?

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

No expiry date that I can see. But you do have to actually go to an Apple Store to redeem it; it apparently cannot be redeemed at AT&T stores or any other outlet that sells iPhones.

[hms42]

If you decide to donate it to interfilk, you might want to check with an apple store to make sure there is no surprise fee attached to it. (Just being parnoid)

[mshollie.livejournal.com]

I'll gladly take it off your hands if no one else has claimed it. I have AT&T (on my dad's plan), and would care for it well.

There's an Apple Store in Lakeside Mall, so I can go there for it.

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

Can you get the phone without the service and be able to use it's camera and mp3 player functions? Just tell the Apple store you need to wait for your other plan to end.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

I have an original (non-3G) iPhone and I love it. I don't do the jailbreak thing. The cheapest plan (2 year commitment) comes to just under $60/mo, so with taxes totals a bit under $68/mo for voice+data (450 anytime; 5000 night/wkend; unlimited data; 200 text). The 3G version of this (same voice+data allowances, I believe) comes to just under $70 before taxes. Are those national rates? Don't know.

When I bought my iPhone, I didn't activate it right away because I wanted to be sure, figuring I could return or resell it. With the full price (though I got the rebate) for the 8 GB of $600 plus tax, plus activation, plus the $70/mo, I was looking at total expenditure of $1,500. I made peace with the cost then and had no regrets, even when the prices dropped and the improvements came along.

I wish I could bring the phone into my current Verizon family share plan (that my sister & mom are also on) since I get a price break via my employer. For now, though, I'm carrying both services.

For my work commute I use public transportation nearly 100% of the time. Except for underground systems (like when BART goes under the bay), I'm able to use EDGE when I can't connect to Wi-Fi (my transbay bus has it, and so do the San Francisco BART stations I mainly use).

When my PDA was a Palm I'd listen to music I moved from iTunes to it, but with the iPhone being an iPod, it's much easier and prettier.

Mainly use it for personal email and web browsing. YouTube viewing in Wi-Fi areas. Taking pictures - this was a bit of a surprise, but now I almost never use my digital camera. The cross-application integration can be very slick, like taking a photo, emailing it or posting it somewhere, or using it with the Contacts/address book. I occasional use the Map function, and it's probably significantly better with 3G.

I mostly don't use the iPhone for making calls. I don't text with my Verizon phone and mostly don't with the iPhone.

The Apps fascinate me. I don't play games, but there are so many other, often similar, applications and even the free ones can be fun or functional. At this moment, the main ones I use are optimizations of browser-based stuff I do today, like Facebook (which I use 500% more now that it's on the iPhone) and eBay. Haven't tried livejournal.app yet.

Is the certificate easily redeemed? Otherwise, it might be better for you to redeem it and give (or sell) it to someone/Interfilk.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about the old way - nowadays the iPhone has to be activated at purchase, doesn't it? So you can' t walk out of a store with it still in the shrink-wrapped box?

[tollermom]

I adore my iPhone, but I use it a _lot_ and it doesn't sound like your usage pattern is nearly as high. For me, the iPhone has let me spend weekends away from home without taking my laptop, because I can do email, Facebook, Twitter, web browsing, and support my work servers (via VPN and VNC) all from the phone.

The plan _is_ expensive. If you make use of it, it's well worth it. If all you really want is a phone, it'll be overkill.

[cellio]

Any chance you could get an iTouch instead of an iPhone? Hey, it doesn't hurt to ask them, if that would be interesting to you. You might have more use for that. (I, too, have a phone I'm perfectly happy with, but occasionally think about getting an iTouch for all the non-phone stuff it can do. No service fees for that.)

[egoldberg.livejournal.com]

I don't know of anyone in recent years who has permanently bricked their iPhone. It really is an almost idiot-proof process.

Jailbreaking, though, doesn't let you use it without a contract (you're probably thinking of "unlocking"); you have no realistic away around the data plan for a 3G unit if you are getting the phone new in the U.S.

[janeg.livejournal.com]

My iPhone provides so much better phone sound quality and browser servic than my old Palm Treo that I would never go back. The iPod sound is better than the iPod gave me, and it is really handy to only have to carry one device.

I've been trying to keep mine as a business productivity tool but I know I will start software like the bird recognition one.

I watched for a special at my carrier (Rogers has an exclusive in Canada) and am therefore paying half as much per month for data as it otherwise would have cost me. See if you can find a special.