Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

32 vs 16, my latest dilemma

J

jsdc2005

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2009
58
0
This is a stupid question, but please bear with me.

I have a 16 GB 3G and am definitely going to go for an upgrade to 3GS. After almost a year, my 3G is only about 50% full, and I haven't ever really gone beyond that. I don't use it to watch movies (too small), don't keep many photos on it, and have a fairly small number of apps (3-4 pages). Audio content is songs, books, and podcasts. I don't store books and podcasts on the phone after I'm done listening. I use it for work and home email and store as much as the phone will permit (1 month, I think).

I guess it's a safe assumption that my use patterns won't change much. The only possible exception to that is the video recording function. Again, I may not use it much. But how much space does the video recording function use up? I assume it's fairly compressed and I won't be shooting feature-length movies, so 7 GB is plenty of room to play with, but this is the only variable I can think of that might warrant getting the 32.

Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts.

-JS
 
3GS has a video camera.

Video cameras eat GB's

You will only regret not getting a 32GB sooner or later.

And if you are saying you will not use the video camera, then ask yourself why bother upgrading?

It is a 'no-brainer' :D
 
depends if you're going to keep all the vids on the phone. if you're going to send them to a imac( or other desktop, they do exist) and back them up then you can just delete them.
i had shedloads of video on my old SE phone, the resolution isn't great but they took up no room (had a 512mb card!). that was a 5mp, the iphone is less - but a quick vid i took today looked good - have yet to transfer it to my imac.

if, like some, round here you feel the need to pack your entire life into a mobile device then get the 32, if not then get the 16.

dunno about resale value though, i guess if you're going to sell early then bigger is better (?).
 
jsdc2005 said:
I guess it's a safe assumption that my use patterns won't change much. The only possible exception to that is the video recording function. Again, I may not use it much. But how much space does the video recording function use up?
Click to expand...
video capture data is around 450kBytes/sec, so perhaps ~1GByte for 40min or so.
 
I suppose the question is then are you ever going to take 8GB's worth of video in between syncing. From looking at my videos a 20 sec video is about 8 MB, so that would be about 1024 20 sec videos or 512 40 sec videos .... and so on.
 
Based on YOUR personal usage over for last year, I think you're okay with the 16GB one. If you were almost full I would say bump it up, but if you're still only around 8GB after all this time then it's likely not worth it.

Others are saying if you can spend the extra $100 to do it, then do so. However just because you CAN spend an extra $100 doesn't mean you HAVE to. That extra money could be spent on some iphone accessories, or even something completely different you may want.
 
fireplace said:
depends if you're going to keep all the vids on the phone. if you're going to send them to a imac( or other desktop, they do exist) and back them up then you can just delete them.
i had shedloads of video on my old SE phone, the resolution isn't great but they took up no room (had a 512mb card!). that was a 5mp, the iphone is less - but a quick vid i took today looked good - have yet to transfer it to my imac.

if, like some, round here you feel the need to pack your entire life into a mobile device then get the 32, if not then get the 16.

dunno about resale value though, i guess if you're going to sell early then bigger is better (?).
Click to expand...

Point taken.

However what if you are on holiday or cannot get to sync your phone.

Or what about new bigger and better app's, tom tom go, the proposed gaming platform potential given the faster chip-sets.

If you are breaking the bank to buy an iPhone surely an extra $100 or £65 on top of what is already a big purchase is a good investment?

You know it makes sense.........
 
BEFORE I got my iphone, I was not thinking I would ever use much in terms of space. Now, I'm chomping at the bit to upgrade to a 32GB 3GS. Whether it's music or movies for myself or my son, I can always use more space. Kind of cool to always be able to bring along my music collection and favorite movies for the fam. Probably takes a while to sync the 32GB, but worth it.
 
Go for the 32, it's better to have more space than not enough. I took a 3 minute video last night and it came in at 77MB. If you plan on taking alot of video you will be glad you got the 32.
 
Just do the math. $100 over the life of your 2 year contract comes out to less than $5 per month. If you are already paying $70+ a month for AT&T, you can afford it. If not, you shouldn't get the iphone. There are cheaper options.
 
i got the 16gb and im happy with it. while bigger is better, ive taken videos and pictures, have my music on it and still have like 12.8 gb left. it sounds like to me you dont need the extra space, but if you are worried get it.
 
I can't help but think about the upcoming GPS software, i.e. TomTom. Stuff like that could eat up many GBs in theory. Might want to spring for the extra $100 if you can spare it. I know I just did :D
 
32gb

I would say, get the 32gb.

IF you are going to do a third party GPS product, THAT will eat up GB
IF you are going to do videos, local or downloaded or ripped, THAT will eat up GB

I think many apps are going to get BIGGER with content added, and additional features and information, THAT will eat up GB

Someone might enable the 3Gs to actually use the HD recording capability of the phone and camera and that will eat TB.
 
Thanks everyone. Still not sure what I'll do. Girlfriend is waiting to get my 3G when I upgrade and asked "have you decided yet?" I said "no." She said "just get the damn 32GB already."

I think I'll get the 16.

:p
 
Razeus said:
All I can say is:

2 years in a contract is a LONG time only have 16GB.
Click to expand...

This is a good point in favor of 32, but I guess I should say that another consideration is that in a year Apple will come out with the next generation iPhone, and perhaps AT&T will offer the same early upgrade. So I'm not thinking it's likely I'll have this phone for 2 years. Am I wrong?
 
jsdc2005 said:
This is a good point in favor of 32, but I guess I should say that another consideration is that in a year Apple will come out with the next generation iPhone, and perhaps AT&T will offer the same early upgrade. So I'm not thinking it's likely I'll have this phone for 2 years. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Well you'll have to hedge your risks. I hedge my risk that Apple doesn't release a higher capacity phone next year, by getting the highest capacity phone this year. You also have to take into account the risk that AT&T might not do the same thing next year for early upgrades. Everything in life involves risk and therefore you must hedge against it.
 
All these people saying to get a 32 GB are crazy. You HAVE 7 GB available. That should be more than enough unless you want to record your life. Sure, if the money is a problem and you WANT the 32, go for it, but if you don't need it, don't waste your money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back