Aside from Signal Issue, Consumer Reports Rates iPhone 4 Highest Amongst All Smartphones

[jamesnajera]

Thanks Einstein. Don't think I ever heard that one mentioned before.

What are your thoughts on the probability of Lindey Lohan getting drunk this weekend?

Lindey Lohan?

I am just saying that Apples idea is good but it may be causing more drops due to the antenna design defect. If you are just going to be an ass why are you wasting your time by commenting on this site?

 

[applesupergeek]

Thanks Einstein. Don't think I ever heard that one mentioned before.

What are your thoughts on the probability of Lindey Lohan getting drunk this weekend?

Lindsey has a drinking problem. You should show respect for mental health issues as you would to physical health ones. Your comment is culture less and in very poor taste. I sincerely hope your family is never affected by alcohol related disorders, although that eventuality might show you how to respect the disaffected and the diseased.

 

[Hardinesque]

What's Really Interesting...

Aside from the back and forth on the signal issue, and the fact that major news outlets have picked up the story, is that for the first time, the iPhone has been brought down from its pedestal.

Gone are the days when the iPhone, with its capacitive touch screen interface and app market was the ONLY game in town.

For the first time, there are alternatives, like the Android phones that provide similar performance, and who are making gains in the same market space as the iPhone has.

And to top it off, you can use an alternative carrier with better coverage than ATT.

The iPhone has enjoyed a privileged spot in the market place for a couple of years now. The difference now is that is has to share the spotlight, and really be competitive. That's why flaws like the reception issue, no matter how relevant or wide spread, are affecting Apple more now, than it did before.

I love Apple computers, and don't plan on going back to Windows anytime soon, but my needs for a smart phone are equally met by the Android and iPhone offerings at the moment. And in this market space, who knows what next year, or even the next 6 months will bring.

 

[gkarris]

what does windows have anything to do with the topic we are discussing?

so YOU don't recommend windows, but are wondering why '98%' of the planet buys it. so by your logic, if its NOT recommended by you, the planet should NOT go ahead and buy windows... go figure.

i'm actually waiting on them to FIX the issue, instead of Apple giving tepid half-a$$ed responses like, 'well whaddaya know, we were reporting the signal wrong for the past 4 years!'

i trust Consumer Report over Apple. sorry.

Such heated discussion...

Well, like the whole iPod Touch screen mess-up, Apple is formulating a fix as we speak. If hardware related, anyone with the problem can just bring their iPhone in for a replacement.

Then after everyone is happy again, life goes on....

(hope the new AppleTV doesn't have any problems - *keeps fingers crossed*...)

 

[miki66]

that's funny. i was reading best buy's cell phone chart and it turns out that the Verizon one is the most expensive (with plan though)

 

[applesupergeek]

Aside from the back and forth on the signal issue, and the fact that major news outlets have picked up the story, is that for the first time, the iPhone has been brought down from its pedestal.

Gone are the days when the iPhone, with its capacitive touch screen interface and app market was the ONLY game in town.

For the first time, there are alternatives, like the Android phones that provide similar performance, and who are making gains in the same market space as the iPhone has.

And to top it off, you can use an alternative carrier with better coverage than ATT.

The iPhone has enjoyed a privileged spot in the market place for a couple of years now. The difference now is that is has to share the spotlight, and really be competitive. That's why flaws like the reception issue, no matter how relevant or wide spread, are affecting Apple more now, than it did before.

I love Apple computers, and don't plan on going back to Windows anytime soon, but my needs for a smart phone are equally met by the Android and iPhone offerings at the moment. And in this market space, who knows what next year, or even the next 6 months will bring.

Sorry what andoid market? You mean that unregulated pigs sty? And comparable performance? You mean shoddy battery draining mukti tasking? No retina displays? No robust ecosystem? And what about service Nd support? how is google supporting their phones? Sweet fa that's how.

 

[LagunaSol]

if you want a painfully biased opinion from an apple fanboy, listen to LagunaSol

Thanks for adding your intelligent insight, as always.

Perhaps next time you might want to, oh, I dunno, include some reasoned counterpoints to my comment instead of your standard trite nothingness and anti-Apple whine?

And in this market space, who knows what next year, or even the next 6 months will bring.

I have a pretty good idea: Droid 2, Droid X 2, Droid Super Incredible, Droid Super X Incredible 2, Droid Totally Astounding, Droid Sorta Snazzy, Droid XXX Platinum, Droid 2: The Wrath of Droid...

 

[juicedropsdeuce]

Lindsey has a drinking problem. You should show respect for mental health issues as you would to physical health ones. Your comment is culture less and in very poor taste. I sincerely hope your family is never affected by alcohol related disorders, although that eventuality might show you how to respect the disaffected and the diseased.

Funniest post ever! LOLZZ

 

[macduke]

See, I think this is the thing that sucks the most about this situation. The iPhone 4 is so great, and yet it has a simple design flaw that ruins some of the core functionality of the phone for many users. I was skeptical at first since I pretty much live within a stone's throw of a tower. Once I actually did some traveling about, I realized how bad the problem can be. Sometimes the problem even presents itself using a bumper, although using a bumper usually keeps it from completely losing signal, it just makes it so that it takes a few minutes to send a plain text email on one bar. Yeah.

My main issue is putting the phone in my pocket. When I take it out of my pocket (and I'm not at home in the excellent coverage zone), it sometimes says 0 bars no service or 1 bar of Edge. Then 3g pops back on after a few seconds. How many calls do I miss when my phone is in my pocket? Crap!

The other issue is holding it to write messages. Covering up that corner kills of the reception, but its also how I write texts and emails. Super annoying!

Steve Jobs needs to be a man and admit the problem. Grow a pair dude! Do right by your customers. I mean honestly? You can't just toy with us forever. How dumb do you think we are?

 

[juicedropsdeuce]

Lindey Lohan?

I am just saying that Apples idea is good but it may be causing more drops due to the antenna design defect. If you are just going to be an ass why are you wasting your time by commenting on this site?
__________________
MacBook Core Duo 2.0Ghz 13.3"
http://www.mybiologica.com
biologica, mesotherapy, botox

Spam alert! This guy is talking about my ass while pushing his liposuction and botox website.

Take your medicine elsewhere, 'doctor'. You are the reason children commit suicide, trying to live up to your SICK standards of beauty.

Wow!

 

[applesupergeek]

Funniest post ever! LOLZZ

I pity your shallow understanding. An addicted person is no funny matter, but such is your shallow comprehension of issues, you must be really young, in which case you are forgiven, or immensely misinformed, in which case you are also forgiven, but painfully so.

 

[Darkroom]

Thanks for adding your intelligent insight, as always.

Perhaps next time you might want to, oh, I dunno, include some reasoned counterpoints to my comment instead of your standard trite nothingness and anti-Apple whine?

try to reason with a fanboy? that's funny.

 

[applesupergeek]

Spam alert! This guy is talking about my ass while pushing his liposuction and botox website.

Take your medicine elsewhere, 'doctor'. You are the reason children commit suicide, trying to live up to your SICK standards of beauty.

Wow!

That is a good point.

 

[juicedropsdeuce]

I pity your shallow understanding. An addicted person is no funny matter, but such is your shallow comprehension of issues, you must be really young, in which case you are forgiven, or immensely misinformed, in which case you are also forgiven, but painfully so.

Sorry. I was just joking around. I was only pointing to the seriousness of your response regarding a joke I made, not the content (the disease of alcoholism). Didn't mean to offend.

 

[applesupergeek]

Sorry. I was just joking around. I was only pointing to the seriousness of your response regarding a joke I made, not the content (the disease of alcoholism). Didn't mean to offend.

Point well taken, humourlessness is a disease too, and I guess I am occasionally a sufferer.

 

[LOLaMac]

Sounds like Consumer reports got paid off to say something bad about the iPhone 4 after thier score of 76/100 and that it was the best smart phone. They still say it's the best, but because of the antenna issue "we can't recomend it", I wounder who paid them to say that? I'll bet they all have one! I still can't get over how big of a deal some people are making out of the antenna issue, I mean come on, they had to go out of there way to make it happen in there labs and under normal testing they couldn't get it to happen!!! Under "normal" testing they said it was the best smart phone!!!
The so called antenna issue does not bother me at all, and I can only get it to drop a bar or 2 in a bad signal area but still never drop a call or data!!!

The iPhone 4 is the best smart phone period!!!

.....unless you want to make a phone call on it.

 

[firewood]

So what about the people who say they have 2 bars and can't drop them by covering the black strip?

Don't know about those people, but my i4 sitting on my desk sometimes shows 5 bars, then a bit later 2 bars, then a bit later 5 bars again. I've seen this happen several times, not just once. Not sure what AT&T is doing with their towers, or what truck the signal is wildly bouncing off of. Or maybe one of the office buildings nearby overloaded one cell tower, and my i4 got sent to another more distant tower and back.

So I could see 2 bars, be lucky and touch the antenna isolation gap just before the signal improves to 5 bars or better, and report that the i4 didn't drop the connection.

"A BIG mystery. How could that happen?"

In reality it's just the fact that microwave signals can vary wildly inside a busy cityscape and complex switching environment.

 

[LordTyroxx]

I just went through and read all the yelling that was going on in this topic and found it entertaining. People get so upset over things. Chill. It's not like the phone is incapable of making calls.

For me, I have a 3gs and I'm under contract at the moment. Just waiting until the dust settles on this "issue". If no solution is made, I'll still be getting an iphone4 with a bumper case i was going to buy to begin with. Ready for that bigger battery and the awesome screen

 

[jay601b]

Sounds like 100% of iPhones are "affected", but whether it is actually a problem in your day-to-day use depends on your regional signal strength.

arn

'
Not 100% cuz mine wasnt "affected"

 

[Tesseract]

All this iPhone funny biz aside... Consumer Reports has really been going downhill the past half decade. Its getting more and more opinionated and biased every year.

 

[gnagy]

"Consumer Reports may be the best magazine there is but I can't recommend it because it won't open from the lefthand corner."
-- source: http://twitter.com/ceoSteveJobs/status/18412210760

 

[doctor-don]

And yet the bigger problem for the iPhone is not picayune flaws that can be alleviated simply. It is the fact that it is limited to ONE carrier, AT&T. By allowing it to be used on multiple networks, the 'overloading' problem would not exist.

 

[WvG]

Aside from the food, this is the best restaurant ...

I'm sorry, but this sounds a lot like "aside from driving, this is the best car in the test" or "aside from the food, this is the best restaurant".

In consumer testing it is standard practice to not rate an item higher than the score it gets on some essential points. Phone reception for a phone is such an essential point.

 

[firewood]

No, many of us don't. Many of us care about Apple computers, not Itoys.

The i4 runs pretty much the same core OS as Snow Leopard (no one can tell whether the apps I develop for myself use private APIs or not, so I've actually ported a couple of my favorite MacOS programs to my "iToy"). The i4 benchmarks faster than 2 of my PowerMacs, and all of my 68k based Apple computers, as well as having more memory, more storage, and much faster graphics.

In other words, if it weren't for that fact that it's a crappy phone, it would be a great phone.

It's a much better phone than my 3G or 3GS. It has a nice black mark where not to block the antenna, so I experience almost no dropped calls with my i4 compared with my my 3GS (where I had no idea where not to grab it). It was more my 3GS which had the problem where I would randomly grab the phone to answer a call and have the connection dropped.

So YMMV.

 

[doctor-don]

All this iPhone funny biz aside... Consumer Reports has really been going downhill the past half decade. Its getting more and more opinionated and biased every year.

That's your opinion, isn't it? And it's what CR is known for so that we can make decisions which are informed and won't waste our money. My only complaint is that they cannot test everything on the planet so that I can see how a particular item is rated before I buy it.

"Consumer Reports may be the best magazine there is but I can't recommend it because it won't open from the lefthand corner."
-- source: http://twitter.com/ceoSteveJobs/status/18412210760

Sure, you can, Steve. Turn it face down first!