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Do I need the iPhone 3GS or will an iPhone 3G do fine?

J

JWSandi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 19, 2008
120
0
Trashville, TN.
I sold my iPhone 3G about a year ago and now I want one again.

So I was looking at the iPhone 3GS and I got to wondering if I should get the 3GS or just buy the one I had the 3G.

All I do is talk, text, email occasionally surf the web and use about a half dozen apps.

I can get the 3G for $99.00 and the 3GS for $199.00

Money i a bit tight now so the extra hundred bucks is alot.

Will the new one get me so much more over the old one that its a must have?
 
#1 - new iPhones will be released in approximately 90 days.
Keep in mind that if you are eligible for the reduced rates ($99 / $199) now - and you buy now - you WILL NOT be eligible for the reduced rates when the next model iPhone comes out in a few months (if they continue to be subsidized by AT&T).

#2 - if you never use the video camera, and never use the "compass" feature - and are comfortable with a processor that is the previous generation - then get an iPhone 3G.
 
If money is tight, I guess you should go with the 3G?

I personally have the original iPhone (same hardware as the 3G). I personally don't have any problems with speed or anything. I definitely can tell a difference in some of the newer 3D games, but for everything else I do, my phone is fine. I'm unlocked on T-Mo, so I don't get the discounted upgrade price as those of you on AT&T. I don't see myself upgrading until maybe the upcoming Winter or Summer 2011.
 
I think the bigger question is whether you want tech that was replaced or tech that is about to be replaced?
 
IMO I would say hold out for the new one to be released in a few months, that is what I'm trying to do myself.
 
3gs is a lot faster if that means anything to you. I'd personally try and hold out till the new one comes out, but if you can't wait, 3gs. I wouldn't get the 3g, just to slow for my liking.
 
nburwell said:
You just answered your own question right there. If money is tight, then go with the 3G.
Click to expand...

No, then the answer is to wait for the new one to come out and THEN buy a 3GS for $99.

If Apple doesn't offer one at that price then (I'm betting they will, but who knows) I'm sure you can buy a used one somewhere for that little.

However you do it, go for the 3GS. I would NOT suggest a 3G at this point. Besides the adding of the 3G chip, the 3G iPhone's internal parts are not much changeed from the original iPhone model which means you're talking about essentially buying a 3 year old model phone right now...how long will you keep it...1 or 2 years? Who wants to be buying apps from the app store using a 5 year old processor design?
 
Get the 3gs.. Whatever you do. Do not get a 3g. If you can, I would also wait for the new iPhone to come out this summer..

If you can't wait. A hundred dollars more is a lil to much. How about a refurbed 3gs. You can get it from bestbuy for 150...
 
I say wait for the next generation iPhone. It's the middle of March, the new one will probably be announced at WWDC like it always has been. But if you truly don't want to have to wait, i say go with the 3GS, it's faster and everything opens up INSTANTLY and the video camera/compass is nice. But i think you should wait :D
 
Even if an amazing A+ upgrade is announced in June (I personally doubt it), it'll still take a while for it to hit the shelves.

You're asking this guy to hold out on an excellent phone for some four months. That's a lot of patient waiting. Not to mention the possible perks arriving in the form of a software upgrade being available anyhoo.
 
I truly can't understand why people would buy a 3G right now. I wouldn't even recommend somebody buying a 3GS right now, let alone a 3G. If you can't afford the extra $100 for the phone then how do you plan on paying ~$100 a month for service?
 
JWSandi said:
I can get the 3G for $99.00 and the 3GS for $199.00

Money i a bit tight now so the extra hundred bucks is alot.
Click to expand...

Seriously, if $100 is that much of an issue right now, why are you buying a phone that requires $30 per month in unlimited data?

I mean... duh?
 
i personally recommend getting one on ebay so that way you can get the new iPhone in June and sell the 3G.
 
Hey guys and gals, thanks for the info.

I think I'll just keep saving my pennies and hopefully have enough to buy the new one when it comes out this summer.
 
JWSandi said:
Hey guys and gals, thanks for the info.

I think I'll just keep saving my pennies and hopefully have enough to buy the new one when it comes out this summer.
Click to expand...

That's great! You have an 8GB iPhone anyway, so why not the little patience? :)
 
bjb.butler said:
jailbreaking will take care of that nicely
Click to expand...

You don't even need to Jailbreak to record video on the 3G.

There are two apps, QikVid and iVideo that record at 15-20fps (better lighting = better FPS) and includes the trim feature found in the 3GS as well us uploading to Facebook, YouTube, etc.

I have them both and they cost me less than £2 each.
 
Applejuiced said:
The 3G is noticeably slower. And with the new 4.0 software comming out it might be a drag using it.
Go with a 3GS or wait for the new one to come out.
Click to expand...

4.0 might be a drag on the 3G, this is true ... but who's to say Apple won't do a Snow Leopard on the iPhone OS and refine/strip it down to make it more streamlined.

It must be pretty bogged down by now and could use a refresh.

Being honest, 3.0 added nothing to 2.0 that should make it slower on the iPhone 3G. It added things like Cut, Copy, and Paste but there was no interface change or anything that pushed the hardware more than 2.0 did.
 
3gs is worth $100 but its not crucial

Sounds like you've made a decision, and I think waiting a bit is the right call. However, here's my 2 cents.
I just bought a 3gs and my wife still has her 3g. Here is what I've noticed.
- 3gs is noticeably zippier. Nearly everything is instantaneous. However, the 3g is hardly slow or laggy - just slower.
- 3gs has video
- I constantly get better coverage than her. There are many times where she's on edge and I'm on 3g. Don't know why this is the case, but it happens over and over.
- There are already a few new features that don't work on 3g (e.g. battery % indicator). OK, these are minor, but I'd be worried next rounds of updates will leave 3g further behind. No way to know of course.

My bottom line is the 3gs is definitely worth extra, but the 3g still works great. My wife loves hers, and is not suffering any update envy. Only you can decide how much the $100 matters.
 
WeegieMac said:
4.0 might be a drag on the 3G, this is true ... but who's to say Apple won't do a Snow Leopard on the iPhone OS and refine/strip it down to make it more streamlined.

It must be pretty bogged down by now and could use a refresh.

Being honest, 3.0 added nothing to 2.0 that should make it slower on the iPhone 3G. It added things like Cut, Copy, and Paste but there was no interface change or anything that pushed the hardware more than 2.0 did.
Click to expand...


I doubt this is possible on a phone to be upgraded to newer firmware with many new features and actually get faster. Let's be real.
And from 2.0 to 3.0 was not just copy and paste. There was alot of new features and improvements. If you want me to list them all I will.
All those running processes take up resources like memory and CPU.
 
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