Buy iphone 4 now or wait to next year?

[Jenko]

I am living in Ireland and am about to pull the trigger on an 18 month contract iphone 4. The sim free deal is just to expensive for me and the contract is a great deal for €209 euro for the phone, €40 euro a month for 350 minutes talk time and 2gb data allowance a month, plus I get €50 rebate for moving to the network from vodafone. I will also get 15gb a month broadband for €15 euro a month instead of €20 euro a month if I sign up for both the phone and broadband at the same time. So it seems like a good deal.
So do you think it is worth it or should I wait until next year for the next new iphone.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[skate71290]

It's jsut a question of need, i have the iPhone 3G with a contract that conveniently ends in July next year, but this iPhone is driving me mad because it's beyond ***** at times, and i sometimes think about wondering into a Vodafone and buying a new one, but, with the iPhone 4 issues and it already being nearly mid-cycle i don't see much point in dropping quite a lot of money on a SIM-Free, so if you don't need one and can wait for the iPhone 5 (which will probably just be a speed boost, and antenna fix) then wait, if not, go and get one

 

[r0k]

I picked up an iPhone 4 in September and the only time I had an antenna issue was when I was waiting for an activation SMS message from At&t and noticed I was holding the phone with the "death grip". I changed the way I was holding the phone and the message came right through. Since then I have been using the free case provided by Apple and I have never noticed a problem. If you are walking around with an iPhone 3GS, you have a decent phone now. If you are living with another type of phone, I wouldn't delay getting an iPhone 4 if iPhone features are important to you.

 

[TheyCallMeSaint]

Meh, better phones are always going to come out. You still have 7-ish months until the iPhone 5, so why not buy now? If you're content with the features for the price you've paid, it shouldn't make a difference whether a new one comes out.

 

[Malsi]

I'd recommend a 3Gs if you could find one at a good cost. Sure, it's older but it seems to do everything just fine for me. Unless you need the shiney new screen/camera flash and front camera, I wouldn't recommend the 4. As for the next revision, I also think it's going to be a speed bump. I doubt they will release 4G, at least not until 2012.

 

[Jenko]

Thanks guys amlot of good advice. I do not really want to wait another 7 months. I have not heared any problems with the antenas in Ireland in fact most people I have talked to ar every happy with their phone. I was just a bit nervous about the whole contract issue as I have always been on pay as you go which I felt gave me a bit more control over my spending. The Data allowance seals the deal for me as all the other mobile carriers in Ireland only offer 500mb a month where as this paticular carrier (called '3') are the only ones to offer 2gb a month. The phone will complememt my MBP 15" i7 I purchased back in August as well, I am paticularly excited about having a decent camera in the phone as well as I tend to take a lot of snap shots for research and my SLR camera is bit bulky at times.
Thanks again
Jenko.

 

[Kissaragi]

I plan to keep my iphone 4 until the iphone 6 is released, i love it! Unless your left handed (the anntenna problem is only really an issue if your left handed imo), id go out and buy one and enjoy it.

 

[yoak]

Get it, it´s a great phone IMHO

 

[Jenko]

Thanks for all the advice, one more question is the 16gb enough or would you recommend the 32gb, if so why.
Thanks Jenko

 

[BanjoBanker]

I have a 1st gen iphone, purchased day 1, and I am quite happy with it. Having the latest and greatest is important for some, but not me. If the current iPhone 4 has the features you want at a price you can live with, buy it. Waiting for the next great thing will keep you on the sidelines forever.

 

[r0k]

It depends mainly on music. I only have about 1 gig of music on my iThings so I get away with both a 16 gig iPhone 4 and a 16 gig iPad. Another big user of memory is movies and photos. I scaled back my photos to about a gig and I don't keep any movies on my iThings. As far as apps are concerned, 8 gig is plenty and 16 gig seems infinite unless you start getting apps that are a gig each (ie elements on iPad).

I try not to duplicate what I have on my iPad and iPhone 4. I treat the iPad more like a "computer" and my iPhone more like a "pda" so there is some app and data overlap but not a lot. If an item takes a lot of storage, I put it on one device but not both. I currently have about 6.5 gig free on the iPad (had it since April) and 10 gig free on my iPhone 4 (had it since September). If I replace my iPad, I'll get a much larger memory unit mainly so I can carry around more media. I think the memory I have is adequate for the apps I use.

Another factor is how long do you plan keeping your phone? If you want it to last more than 2 years, you might consider more memory for "future proofing" but today unless you have a lot of music and other media, 16 gig is more than enough.

 

[Jayomat]

I'd get the 32GB version. But of course it depends on your usage... Do you take many pictures or film alot? If yes, definitely go with the bigger one, especially if you are going to keep you're phone through more than two iterations to come.. I always use my phones and laptops as long they are useful and get the job done. I had an iPhone 2G (8GB) before my actual 3GS (32GB).. It went through hell and had to be replaced...

The longer you want to keep your gadgets, the "better" they should be specced'

 

[Jenko]

I will be taking quite a lot of photos for on the go research material, surfing the internet, emails and wiill probably start using itunes a lot more as I stopped buiyng albums/CD's a few years back due to their expense, so I am now going to avail of the cheaper downloads from itunes. I will be downloading a lot of this onto my MBP 15" i7 on a regular basis though. I am hopefully going in next week to ste up my 18 month contract and receive my broadband package and iphone 4 32gb, cant wait. Like I said in the beginning I was a bit hesitant about a bill phone on contract but it actually works out cheaper than pay as you go in the long run.
Thanks jenko

 

[ams.]

i was looking at them myself today. i reckon buy online on the 3 network.but best of both worlds plan. iphone 4 is working out 369 ten euro cheaper online free delievery. and the best of both worlds is 25 a month. its capped so you know how much your bill is and your bill will never be higher than this unless you top up like ready to go. you get lots for the 25 a month free 3 calls, free any network texts, free internet, free flexi units 200, contact is only 18 months not the 24 months like the 40 a month. and the way things are in ireland at least you know where you stand if something happened with work!!...........oh i see you posted this ages ago..so did you get one haha

 

[Jenko]

i was looking at them myself today. i reckon buy online on the 3 network.but best of both worlds plan. iphone 4 is working out 369 ten euro cheaper online free delievery. and the best of both worlds is 25 a month. its capped so you know how much your bill is and your bill will never be higher than this unless you top up like ready to go. you get lots for the 25 a month free 3 calls, free any network texts, free internet, free flexi units 200, contact is only 18 months not the 24 months like the 40 a month. and the way things are in ireland at least you know where you stand if something happened with work!!...........oh i see you posted this ages ago..so did you get one haha

Thanks for the info. I suppose one of the reasons for precaution is work. I can afford max €50 a month on the phone (I am currently on pay as you go and I am spending €40 to €50 a month anyway) as I do not have a landline. I am unemployed at the moment but I have my fingers crossed at the moment, my wife is starting a new job next week but the pay is not brilliant. Anyway I am trying to stay posititve. If things get worse I could go to the uk to live with my folks for a while but work is also thin on the ground there. So I suppose I am a bit apprehensive if I had to leave Ireland next year I would be hit by any network for canceling the contract early, this would be the last resort of course.
The Three contract in Ireland is for 18 months €209 for the iphone and €40 euro a month for 350 minutes a month and 2gb data allowance. This is a good deal but it concerns me that there are not many people in Ireland
using THree. Maybe it is just the marketing that you are more acustomed to O2 and Vodafone. A lot of resellers are saying that three have good reception etc... but I ahve heard their customer service is terrible, theire call centres are not in Ireland and they are not good at responding to your problems on time.
I would pay a lot more with O2 and vodafone for the pretyy much the same package.
One other thing there are a few people including resellers who have tried to warn me away from the iphone and consider the new samsung galaxy S Android system, stating that it is more reliable and has better apps. ANy thopughts?
As you can see I am a bit lost at the moment, but this is an important purchase for me, I need a decent phone with a good camera, easy to use, connection to the internet, skype, organiser(by the way Three offer free usage of skype to all their customers) and another reason for the iphone would be to interface with my mac without to many issues.
And finally would you recommend using an iphone as modem tethered to my MBP. For example I could spend a bit more on the contract and go woth vodafone who offer 10gb data allowance a month for tethering iphone at €19.90 a month. Would this be as good as any mobile internet device, email, sending documents, browsing, downloading or streaming to my MBP.
Sorry for the long rant but this is important to me at the moment.
Thanks for your time
Regards
Jenko

 

[Slarti Bartfast]

I'd spend more time checking out '3' than the iPhone.

.

 

[filfortugno]

probably should get it now considering that if apple releases another iphone it'll be what the 3gs was to the 3g, not that big a difference.

 

[Kissaragi]

I just switched to giffgaff, £10 a month gets me 150 mins and unlimited texts and data.

 

[santaliqueur]

I'm waiting for the iPhone 5. I have a 3GS that is still fine, I'd like the 4, but I'm not eligible for any upgrades until March. Only have to wait from March to the summer for the 5.