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Consumer Reports Still Not Recommending iPhone 4

gorgeousninja said:
So, what is your point? If you don't like the iphone (if you even have one) TAKE IT BACK, and if you haven't bought one then please DON'T because there is a tiny weensy chance that you will actually like it, and then what would you do?
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This is my point.

I DO have the phone, I DO like it, but it has a major flaw. The antenna. Why should I have a take it or leave it decision?

Granted, taking it back is now the only option if I don't want to deal with it.

But I shouldn't HAVE to deal with it. And really, neither should any of the fanboys, they're just too damn enamored with Apple to realize that they are getting the shaft just as much as those that are complaining.
 
brewcitywi said:
If it can be proven that every other phone has a weak spot, and that it can be shown (similar to Apple's demonstration), Consumer Reports might be liable for defamation and loss of sales due to releasing biased consumer advice.

They must put all other phones through the same test before singling out the iPhone 4.

All that being said, I wonder if it was too tough to have put this particular antenna on the top or bottom of the phone...it would have been much less likely to cover it up with the palm of someone's hand. There must not have been quite enough room.
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There is no other phone out there that drops reception by touching it in a specific spot with a single finger.

If I'm wrong, show me and I'll be happy to admit my error.
 
brewcitywi said:
If it can be proven that every other phone has a weak spot, and that it can be shown (similar to Apple's demonstration), Consumer Reports might be liable for defamation and loss of sales due to releasing biased consumer advice.

They must put all other phones through the same test before singling out the iPhone 4.

All that being said, I wonder if it was too tough to have put this particular antenna on the top or bottom of the phone...it would have been much less likely to cover it up with the palm of someone's hand. There must not have been quite enough room.
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Will people read the article before spouting nonsense!! Please!
They tested 3 Iphones 4 a 3GS and a pre from different stores in the area, that they bought. The iPhone 4 was the onl;y one that degraded so much that it would be unusable for some. That's why the don't recomend the phone.
Not because of some signal bars, but actual signal in db..

READ the article before complaining please!
 
Solution

Instead of a White and Black iPhone 4, Apple should just release a Righty and Lefty iPhone 4!
 
Apple has been (for reasons unknown to me) the press's darling. There was that episode of Modern Family devoted to the iPad. CNN and the Huffington Post run huge stories about Apple products that read like ads.

But I noticed today the sites' angles were different. One headline on the HP was "Jobs' Excuses."

With Apple (in front of the press) today taking shots at Gizmodo, Engadget, Bloomberg, and the New York Times, it would be hard for them to come out and attack Consumer Reports. Apple is how Microsoft was being treated. Apple is the picked on kid (press wise) and often is the case when you're the picked on kid any attempt to try to set the record straight or say what's unfair only gets you picked on more.

I don't understand how their press coverage rose to such great heights, and I similarly don't know how they'll get that back again. They've certainly seen much darker days than this, though.
 
weespeed said:
Will people read the article before spouting nonsense!! Please!
They tested 3 Iphones 4 a 3GS and a pre from different stores in the area, that they bought. The iPhone 4 was the onl;y one that degraded so much that it would be unusable for some. That's why the don't recomend the phone.
Not because of some signal bars, but actual signal in db..

READ the article before complaining please!
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Weespeed -- These people can't read the full review because it hurts their argument. It's best for them to remain superficial and state that they have only ever done this test with the iphone 4.

It's really unbelievable.

And the ones saying all other phones have this issue of bars dropping, where is the proof that reception drops too? I'm pretty sure this proof doesn't exist because it doesn't happen. I don't care about bars as long as my call stays connected.

Unfortunately, that's asking too much I guess :(
 
DefiantSoul said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Darn. All the grandparents of America are now wondering what an iPhone is so they can be sure not to buy one. Honestly, even if my iPhone 4 did have the signal problem, which it doesn't, it would still be a non-issue because I'm not dumb enough to not use a case with my $600 glass phone! If you are dumb enough, well, you get what you deserve.
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We have a winner folks, an iFail 4 user who has no reception problems. Not only that, the retard covers up a beautifully designed piece of wrk, the way it was meant to be, with plastic tat cases. A WINNER!!!!!
 
Only have my own

rhanley said:
There is no other phone out there that drops reception by touching it in a specific spot with a single finger.

If I'm wrong, show me and I'll be happy to admit my error.
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You could be right, and I only have my own iPhone 4 as a test. I had to really grip my iPhone 4 pretty tightly before I lost a bar. However, I may be in an area that gets fairly good reception.
 
thetoad30 said:
You seriously are a ****ing idiot.

They repaired the pedals since they were losing spring flex, and they DID find software errors in the Prius that caused the brakes to cut out.

Do research before you speak, Apple pawn.
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Wow. Seems like the posting quality on MR is becoming less and less... you know.

:(
 
Apple is pretty close to perfect

We are so lucky to have a great American company like Apple. How can you find fault with the below statement by Steve Jobs? I am fortunate to have my iPhone 4 and can't wait to see what the iPhone 5 will do. Adversity will help Apple even more. As for those 1% who are unhappy with Apple and return their phone, they will be stuck in someone else's two year contract with an Android phone. I have compassion for those poor souls--let's be forgiving that their mind is stuck in such a negative, unhappy place.
From article in Macworld's coverage of today:
If customers aren’t happy with the iPhone 4—“before or after you get a free case,” Jobs added—they can bring back the undamaged phone within 30 days for a full refund. Jobs said Apple won’t charge a restocking fee and that users would be able to get out of their contracts with AT&T.

“We want to make all of our customers happy,” Jobs said. “And if you don’t know that about Apple, you don’t know Apple.”
 
Apple Press Conference

weespeed said:
Will people read the article before spouting nonsense!! Please!
They tested 3 Iphones 4 a 3GS and a pre from different stores in the area, that they bought. The iPhone 4 was the onl;y one that degraded so much that it would be unusable for some. That's why the don't recomend the phone.
Not because of some signal bars, but actual signal in db..

READ the article before complaining please!
Click to expand...

I'm only debating the Apple press conference today. Their evidence is fairly striking. They got other quality phones to drop bars. Again, I have to grip my iPhone 4 pretty tightly before losing bars...maybe I'm in better reception area.

I'm simply saying that legally, who knows what someone could do, if there were multiple credible tests. Whose test is more credible? Stranger things have been litigated.
 
You live and die by the sword...

Apple is all about the media leading up to and including a new product releases, but then when an issue happens, it's the media blowing it out of proportion.

Apple creates the media zoo with their releases and Apple loves it as long as it's all positive. When it's not, they take shots at them and they have their Apple loyals out and about calling for their heads.
 
kenaustus said:
The queer part with the Consumer Reports blog is that their test results (the part that should count) is a "Paid Only" access. With CR happily blogging their opinions on a But Recommendation and pulling in the strong publicity they should, at a minimum, provide their full report, including comparisons with other brands.
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If they did that they would be throwing away the very information that they survive on. Consumer Reports is a non-profit. You want to know what their opinion is that badly, cough up the cash and find out. Otherwise you're free to ignore them and keep using your iPhone.

They don't have to back up what they say for free if they don't want to, just like you don't have to let them get you worked up.

grmatt said:
Mike Arrington (typical iPhone "hater") agrees with you: http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/15/iphone-4-consumer-reports-needs-to-get-it-together/

I'd bet that CR got as many hits in the last week as they had all of last year, they're loving it!
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LOL. "Hits"? Why would Consumer Reports want hits that badly. CR is a product review website that generally requires subscription to view. It's not a blog like, well, Macrumors. Do you see any ads on CR? The reason companies are so hard-on for hits is because of the advertisement impressions they get by you viewing their site. CR doesn't have any advertisers to deliver to customers. The main thing the extra views does is cost them more money in hosting.
 
Are you this annoying and dramatic in the REAL world??? Seriously, stop being so serious. :cool:
rhanley said:
Yeah, so if I don't put a case on my phone, I'm not smart. What's the opposite of smart?

If I said, "If you were smart, you wouldn't drive drunk". Could you conclude that I would think you're stupid to drive drunk? I think so.

I'm glad you have a case on your phone -- Congrats!! Do you want a cookie? Does that mean I should have a case too? I have long curly hair so everyone should have long curly hair!

I did return my phone, but thanks for the recommendation. Does that mean I still can't complain? I like iphones and I want it to work for me so I can have one again.

I have never made a phone, but what the hell does that have to do with anything? Making a phone isn't easy, so I should just deal with major flaws? Get real!

You're ridiculous :rolleyes:
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brewcitywi said:
You could be right, and I only have my own iPhone 4 as a test. I had to really grip my iPhone 4 pretty tightly before I lost a bar. However, I may be in an area that gets fairly good reception.
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And that is where the misconception comes from.. Sure, you can grip your phone tight and may see a bar or two or even three drop.... That's not my issue.

I just touch the spot and immediately my reception drops and my call will drop shortly there after.

I can run a speed test and let it start, then put my finger in place and it drops back down.

The minor issue of bars dropping is probably in areas with good reception, so it's no biggie. My issue is in a poor reception location, but it was a location that was good enough for my 3G no matter how I held it.

Apple only showed examples of bars dropping and I don't think that was by accident. Why didn't they give more proof of poor reception and dropped calls?

Sure they provided dropped call stats (less than 1 additional dropped call per 100), but let's not forget that the phone has better reception in most areas, so those areas where calls would've normally been dropped with the 3G are cancelling out the dropped calls of people in poor reception areas.
 
shambo said:
We have a winner folks, an iFail 4 user who has no reception problems. Not only that, the retard covers up a beautifully designed piece of wrk, the way it was meant to be, with plastic tat cases. A WINNER!!!!!
Click to expand...

Ummm....make that two.
I bought mine on the first day, have used it constantly since then, and have only observed IMPROVED signal strength over my iPhone 3G
Let me state that again in case you missed it the first time.
I have better signal reception than I had with my previous iPhone.

You'll probably just disregard me, and call me "liberal" or some other word you assume must mean an insult.
 
hissyfit said:
Are you this annoying and dramatic in the REAL world??? Seriously, stop being so serious. :cool:
Click to expand...

Only when dealing with morons.

And there are a lot of words you could have used to describe how I'm coming off in these posts, but I don't think annoying and dramatic fit... Here are some you may want to try next time:

Awesome
Clever
Quick-witted
Hilarious
level-headed
 
brewcitywi said:
I'm only debating the Apple press conference today. Their evidence is fairly striking. They got other quality phones to drop bars. Again, I have to grip my iPhone 4 pretty tightly before losing bars...maybe I'm in better reception area.

I'm simply saying that legally, who knows what someone could do, if there were multiple credible tests. Whose test is more credible? Stranger things have been litigated.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying and know where you're coming from.
My only problem with 'Their evidence is fairly striking" is it's being presented by Apple to benefit and deflect issues for the iPhone4.
If they really want to put this to rest, show the same tests they did in their videos side by side with iPhone4, showing the signal scale in db and not bars... That would shut a lot of people up.

But they won't. I'm sure CR will do it if enough people bash them and call them liars etc, like they do here. Then we'll see...
 
CaptainWalker said:
Ummm....make that two.
I bought mine on the first day, have used it constantly since then, and have only observed IMPROVED signal strength over my iPhone 3G
Let me state that again in case you missed it the first time.
I have better signal reception than I had with my previous iPhone.

You'll probably just disregard me, and call me "liberal" or some other word you assume must mean an insult.
Click to expand...

The point is, just because you're not having an issue doesn't mean others aren't. So, when people post they aren't having an issue, people that are having the issue feel like these same people are calling them liars.

Now move to Russia you liberal commie!

Ps. That was a joke ;)
 
I've never liked CR. Their reports and test are useful and I believe honest, but I found that their evaluation of a product is based on criterias that rarely matches mine. I would prefer a simple report of the result of tests, sometimes an education on the characteristic to look for, but no so much emphasis on the recommendation. Their assessment of the iPh4 is just the result of their editorial philosophy.
 
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