Consumer Reports Still Not Recommending iPhone 4

[thetoad30]

I just don't understand you, guys
Apple brings out a product which THEY think is great. Now it is YOUR decision, whether is is good for you or not. If it's not good enough for YOU, then why spend your money on it? Has anybody ever made you buy it?
Why is everyone expecting Apple to be perfect? They are just NORMAL PEOPLE, like me and you. I just don't get how it isn't obvious, it is so simple! We have freedom to buy what we want and to use what we want!
Why are you guys bother spending your time and money on the phone you don't like. Just return it and let others live in peace for Gods sake.

You can flame SJ as much as you want, but there are no perfect products!! And there won't be any in the future! EVER! DEAL WITH IT!

And if you think otherwise, just try to make one and drop me a message when you have it, I'll buy it!


so much for my first port on this board... i feel sad about this whole issue and especially about people who struggle dealing with it

I don't think anyone here said they wanted a perfect phone.

Merely, one that either lives up to what other phones do, or yes, even better than them since some of us really want to like Apple.

No other phone out there loses ALL reception and ceases calls and data transfers like the iP4.

We don't care about losing signal, or attenuation. We DO care about losing calls and data transfers just from holding the damn thing.

 

[JCCL]

Apple is the best tech company ever. You should be ashamed to have anything negative to say about Apple. Steve Jobs and crew have basically invented the personal computer. What have you done in your life, he knows better than you, just buy Apple products, enjoy and shut up.

Hope that was sarcasting, if not really need to grow up and make your own opinion kid.

 

[pufferfish89]

Motorola RAZR with death grip

I still have a Motorola RAZR with T-Mobile that has served me well for several years and seriously thinking about getting the IPhone 4. When I hold the RAZR with the death grip it loses 1-2 bars of signal strength but never completely. So this happens on a very reliable phone.

That said, I'm thinking of holding off the purchase and waiting until around November or Christmas to get the IPhone. Mostly because I'm hoping T-Mobile picks it up. If T-Mobile does not pick it up, I'll bite the bullet and go with AT&T.

 

[JimMacFan]

Since apple is now gving away bumpers with the iPhone, I wonder if the Droidx will include a free purse to carry it

My brother has the Droid incredible and it blows our iphones away. Droid X is even better. Iphone is great but the other phones are coming out much more feature packed.

 

[TheMadCow]

Do I Care?

Does anyone really care? The only people wanking over the whole issue are those with a financial interest in seeing the class action suit go through. It's really a non-issue for 99% of the users. The other 1% should just return their phones and go get a Droid.

 

[firewood]

as stated in my previous post I am very happy with my iphone 4
I did notice one strange thing about todays event.

Did anyone else notice the low number he quoted for iphone 4 returns
was for "the largest reseller AT&T" These are not return number for Apple store which I would imagine is responsible for the majority of phones sold. I wonder how many returns Apple received? I am very surprised none of the media folks have picked up on this?

It was asked in the Q&A. Apple store return rates are even lower.

He was brave enough to use the bigger AT&T number to show how small the problem appears to be in reality (e.g. returns : where the consumer's pocketbook meets the road.)

 

[hissyfit]

blah, blah, blah

We should agree to disagree. Nothing that i have said is moronic. I am intrigued that you feel that you have to go so far as to call me names. Clever, awesome, quick-witted, hilarious and level headed???? Words that i would not use describe you based on this transaction. It is good that your "returned" your iPhone, even though you are posting as if you still have it. You should let iPhone 4 go now and move on.

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

 

[gehrbox]

as stated in my previous post I am very happy with my iphone 4
I did notice one strange thing about todays event.

Did anyone else notice the low number he quoted for iphone 4 returns
was for "the largest reseller AT&T" These are not return number for Apple store which I would imagine is responsible for the majority of phones sold. I wonder how many returns Apple received? I am very surprised none of the media folks have picked up on this?

The number was given to represent a percentage of returns. Dissatisfaction is generally the same whether purchased from Apple or ATT with the same return policy in place the return percentage should be close to the same. In any case it's very low.

 

[krzyglue]

I can make the bars drop by using the "death grip." But I have yet to drop an actual call as a result of it. Same with my wife, and my friends who also own iPhone 4's. In fact, I haven't met ANY iPhone 4 owner who has dropped a call because of the "death grip." (And believe me, I've tested it with friends... I don't have a fancy lab to put it through the paces, sure, but we're talking about every day use here.)

The Consumer Reports analysis comes off like an effort to make some hooplah. No one pays attention if you like the popular gadget. Bad reviews are what get the "clicks."

If what you propose is true, then absolutely... Criticize all you want, CR. But in my experience, the "death grip" just lowers my reception, it doesn't kill it. And really, THAT'S all that matters.

Sure, I absolutely believe you in regards to dropped calls.

However, what about 3G data? (which would be more susceptible to signal imperfections I imagine, although I'm no expert) Run an internet speedtest (speedtest.net) or something, gripping and not-gripping the phone. According to Steve Jobs, there inevitably will be a decrease, but will it be 20%? 40%? 80%?!

 

[fifthworld]

That's "cherry picking" your stats.... Only quote the ones that support your foregone conclusion.

Non sure how returns are processed in US. And since all iPhones in US need an AT&T contract I was just asking. No conclusion offered... data missing... based on the conference can you estimate the global return rate?

 

[rhanley]

Dear consumer reports,
please test other phones in this way.
Thanks.

Dear insidmal,
Read the report and you will see that they did.

Thanks.

 

[LondonCentral]

Why cold hearted? His money helped him leap frog many people on a list to get the transplant. If you dont believe that you are naive. Ask the people who died waiting for a transplant while steve got one in weeks. Nice to have money. I wonder if the surgeon got a free Iphone. If he did at least it didn't have the death grip issue.

Don't be hard on him Jim, lots of people are blind to what's staring them in the face. From organ harvesting in Israel to Chinese prisons being used as organ banks. There's a dark market for organs out there. What's more, you never ever hear of specific organ transplants where the wealthy and powerful are concerned. Everything is always done so very quietly, guilt or morality doesn't come into it.

 

[gehrbox]

My brother has the Droid incredible and it blows our iphones away. Droid X is even better. Iphone is great but the other phones are coming out much more feature packed.

Glad you liked it. I don't share your positive notion about it though. Clunky comes to mind as an apt description of the incredible.

 

[ChrisTX]

Why cold hearted? His money helped him leap frog many people on a list to get the transplant. If you dont believe that you are naive. Ask the people who died waiting for a transplant while steve got one in weeks. Nice to have money. I wonder if the surgeon got a free Iphone. If he did at least it didn't have the death grip issue.

The point is, only someone such as yourself would bring this up. Seriously, give it up, theres no convincing anyone.

 

[Coconutsport]

Funny that the only people complaining are the people who don't yet own iPhone4s. Apparently they have no business forming opinions since they are baseless and swayed by media opinion.

 

[octokiddie]

I don't think anyone here said they wanted a perfect phone.

Merely, one that either lives up to what other phones do, or yes, even better than them since some of us really want to like Apple.

No other phone out there loses ALL reception and ceases calls and data transfers like the iP4.

We don't care about losing signal, or attenuation. We DO care about losing calls and data transfers just from holding the damn thing.

Well, the fact is: you have a product in your hands which doesn't work.
Solution: just don't use it, because you can't do it anyway

If you want to love Apple, then just DEAL with the fact, that THIS Apple product just doesn't fit your needs and return it! It's totally simple!

 

[rcandre2]

I just called CR and will be canceling my subscription. I've had all the iPhone versions except for 3G and used the iPhone 4 for 3 weeks. It's an incredible phone and should be recommended by a huge margin. There are so many incredible features in the iPhone that also work simultaneously in concert with our Apple computers:
Dear Consumer Reports,

Please forward this to the appropriate department. Thank you in advance for this.

I am strongly considering canceling my CR web access for a refund. I am appalled of CR's treatment of Apple and the new iPhone 4. I've had my iPhone 4 for three weeks and it is an incredible phone. Today, CR again refused to recommend the iPhone 4 after Apple stated they are addressing every concern and even offering free cases.

CR is greatly benefitting in the press with their contention with Apple. Further, CR has a poll on it's home page asking if their advice is going to steer people away from buying the iPhone. This is deeply troubling me that CR is trying to bring down this incredibly innovative American company. CR is using this to sell their product.

I can no longer recommend CR or trust any of it's rankings and reviews. *

With Sadness,

Dear Consumer Reports,

After you finally stood up to Apple's faulty iPhone 4 I have finally decided to subscribe to your magazine. I understand why you don't recommend it and I have the same problems that you've clearly demonstrated in your tests. Please forward this to the appropriate department. Thank you so much once again for making light of a complete faulty design flaw in the iPhone 4.

 

[gehrbox]

Non sure how returns are processed in US. And since all iPhones in US need an AT&T contract I was just asking. No conclusion offered... data missing... based on the conference can you estimate the global return rate?

You guys are like ants. Plug one small hole and you just keep looking for an even smaller one for entry.

 

[justbuyamac]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

"Consumer What"...yeah...experts. Right.

 

[fifthworld]

Totally agree with you.

My only problem is people bashing an article and CR that haven't even read it. It annoys the hell out of me.

In a way is what CR do. They are judgmental and so they are judged.

 

[JimMacFan]

Glad you liked it. I don't share your positive notion about it though. Clunky comes to mind as an apt description of the incredible.

I agree it is chunky. Still fits in my pocket but not as small as the iphone. Maybe its the american in me.....BIGGER IS BETTER!

 

[Coconutsport]

My brother has the Droid incredible and it blows our iphones away. Droid X is even better. Iphone is great but the other phones are coming out much more feature packed.

On paper its specs may be better, but it's still based on buggy OS. And specs don't mean squat when the thing is clunky and assbackward. Android has nowhere near the refinement of iOS4. Maybe someday they'll catch up, but I'm sure Apple will be on their next generation of iOS.

 

[fifthworld]

You guys are like ants. Plug one small hole and you just keep looking for an even smaller one for entry.

LOL. Good one.

BTW do you have an answer?

 

[hissyfit]

HAHAHAHA!!!!

Crap what am I going to do now, CR does not recommend it and I bought it. It's perfect, i have no issues at all, but CR says they can't recommend it, omg omg omg what to do what to do. I guess i have to bring it back, I mean if CR says it's not going to recommend it, it has to go back!! They know everything, oh wait a sec, the toaster oven i bought that they recommended sucked and broke. The washing machine sucked, the air conditioner sucked. O right, CR sucks, i forgot, phew i guess i can keep my iPhone now.

 

[gehrbox]

I agree it is chunky. Still fits in my pocket but not as small as the iphone. Maybe its the american in me.....BIGGER IS BETTER!

And what ever happened to the Hummer?