2G or 3G depending on coverage

[mac-I-bear]

I have some fundamnetal questions about the iPhone and i will appeciate if one of you macrumors community members help me out (and perhaps others like me) to really understand the reality of the 3G

i have checked AT&T coverage in my area, and were i live (rural) and work there is NO 3G/mobile broadband coverage (blue) and may never be BUT there is the national GSM (orange = moderate)

will the 3G iPhone will work ANYWHERE there is AT&T coverage, regardless of vanilla GSM or 3G/mobile broadband and it justs means that if there is no 3G where you happend to be at a moment, you will be sort of "roaming" on GSM at lower speeds but as soon as you go into a 3G covered area you will be swithed to 3G ?

or i have to get the 1st gen iphone and update software to get the enterprise features that i currently have in my plam treo 700w w/activesync ?

will the 1st Gen iPhones still be sold after july 11 ?

 

[thevibesman]

if there is no 3G where you happend to be at a moment, you will be sort of "roaming" on GSM at lower speeds but as soon as you go into a 3G covered area you will be swithed to 3G ?

As far as I understand it works like that. You also have the option of turning of 3G to save battery and using GSM in a 3G area and only switching to 3G when you need to.

will the 1st Gen iPhones still be sold after july 11 ?

I'm pretty sure if Apple has any remaining stock they will be sold as refurbs after the 11th, but seeing that they aren't selling new or refurbs online, the chances of that may be slim. ^^
You may have luck with AT&T stores, but with the price change I doubt they would want to be selling both. If you'd rather have a 1st gen phone/plan I'd try to pick it up before the 11th if I were in your shoes (I'm not saying you shouldn't get the 3G if you think you may use it or want GPS).

 

[philgilder]

the iphone will work on any available (AT&T) network type, be it GSM, EDGE, or 3G

and apple/at&t said they will sell remaining iphone 2G stock until it runs out, which i think it has

 

[thegoldenmackid]

and apple/at&t said they will sell remaining iphone 2G stock until it runs out, which i think it has

Yes, most stores are sold out, they only not used condition iPhones for purchase will be refurbs and the only other ones will be service phones. Most Apple stores are stocked with only these service phones for replacement. But there are plenty of people selling iPhones in the marketplace. One is still shrink-wrapped (iThink)