Help me get ready for my FIRST iPhone!

[Greene23]

Hey all! I am getting my first iphone 3gs next week (unless someone convinces me I really should wait for the next upgrade- I am reading lots of conflicting material.. which is why i am posting here and not in "Accessories") and wanted some input on all of what I will be needing to purchase and think about. Maybe I can purchase ahead of time and save some money... I would like to go to the store with a little list of what I will need. So far I am looking at the following:

1: I am looking into the speck candy shell or the iSkin solo FX SE
2: Should I look into one of the battery charger cases?
3: I need a film of sorts? I have heard the words crystal and anti-glare?
4: Applecare: do I get it? never have with my computers.

Did I forget anything?

Any recommendations on how to get ready would be great! I am getting excited!!

 

[8767092]

1) I use this with a film to protect my iPhone.

2) Battery life will depend solely on your usage. You can buy these to add extra battery power to your iPhone for $8.37 or less. They're a great deal.

3) Film for your iPhone will cover up the oil resistant screen coating, but these are popular. It is good to help protect your phone, but it isn't the same as the armor films.

I use one of these with my iPhone. (You can find an alternative armor cover here, but it is more expensive and is essentially the same thing. Note: Don't let Best Buy install it. Do it yourself.)

4) AppleCare isn't bad, but I don't buy it for my iPhone.

If you would like accident protection there are a few options such as SquareTrade and you can get insurance through Safeware here.

 

[Greene23]

1) I use this with a film to protect my iPhone.

2) Battery life will depend solely on your usage. You can buy these to add extra battery power to your iPhone for $8.37 or less. They're a great deal.

3) Film for your iPhone will cover up the oil resistant screen coating, but these popular. It is good to help protect your phone, but it isn't the same as the armor films.

I use one of these with my iPhone. (You can find an alternative armor cover here, but it is more expensive and is essentially the same thing. Note: Don't let Best Buy install it. Do it yourself.)

4) AppleCare isn't bad, but I don't buy it for my iPhone.

If you would like accident protection there are a few options such as SquareTrade and you can get insurance through Safeware here.

Very helpful thanks!

 

[jav6454]

Although 8767092 made a very good post, I'd like to add some things. for example:

1. You could go with this case to protect your iPhone. Already my iPhone has fallen with this on and without, the fall without ended up in a $199 repair where as the one with didn't cause a dent or anything on my iPhone.

2. I added a film to protect the screen from scratched mostly. I went on and bought this one. So far, it holds really well and does protect against smudges.

Now, with respects to Apple Care, I would recommend it. After all an extra year of insurance pays off in the long run. No comment on the extra battery.

 

[camgrant84]

Although 8767092 made a very good post, I'd like to add some things. for example:

1. You could go with this case to protect your iPhone. Already my iPhone has fallen with this on and without, the fall without ended up in a $199 repair where as the one with didn't cause a dent or anything on my iPhone.

2. I added a film to protect the screen from scratched mostly. I went on and bought this one. So far, it holds really well and does protect against smudges.

Now, with respects to Apple Care, I would recommend it. After all an extra year of insurance pays off in the long run. No comment on the extra battery.

+1 for the slider. Best case I've had. and i've had many. Stopped looking once I found this one

 

[8767092]

Now, with respects to Apple Care, I would recommend it. After all an extra year of insurance pays off in the long run. No comment on the extra battery.

Just to clarify jav6454's post.

AppleCare does NOT cover accidental damage like SquareTrade. If you destroy your phone, you're out of luck.

Safeware is actual insurance (not just an extended warranty) that covers theft in addition to accidental damage.

 

[jav6454]

Just to clarify jav6454's post.

Apple Care does NOT cover accidental damage like SquareTrade.

Safeware is actual insurance (not just an extended warranty) that covers theft in addition to accidental damage.

Extra warranty doesn't imply accidental coverage. But it peace of mind to know that if your GPS chips happens to fail, you are covered for extra time.

 

[nonocei]

I keep a microfiber cloth in my desk to keep it super clean. I even wipe it down with the anti-glare film I have on it. haha.

Maybe a car charger just in case?

 

[tahoeroscoe]

i don't use a case, makes the phone more bulky and really isn't necessary, plus I (and many i've known) have had pieces of dirt get stuck between the case and the shell causing scratches. no point in having a case if your phone still gets scratched.

i do however use a screen protector, i've used both crystal and anti-glare, both have their benefits. crystal feels more natural like glass and u cant really tell it's there, anti-glare works better in sunlight but reduces screen clarity(just slightly tho) and feels different (not bad just diff).

If you plan on keeping the phone longer than 1 year applecare may be worth the money due to apple's liberal exchange policy, they will give u a refurbished phone for many minor issues.

“Customers can purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan anytime during the iPhone one-year limited warranty,” says Apple. so you can wait until the 4th gen iphone is issued june/july of oh-10 to decide whether you want to upgrade or keep your current iphone and purchase applecare .

 

[greygray]

1: I am looking into the speck candy shell or the iSkin solo FX SE
2: Should I look into one of the battery charger cases?
3: I need a film of sorts? I have heard the words crystal and anti-glare?
4: Applecare: do I get it? never have with my computers.

Did I forget anything?

1) iSkin solo FX SE.
2) If you use your iPhone a lot outside, then buy one.
3) Anti-glare.
4) Would be worth it in case of anything unwanted like cracking.

No, you didn't forget anything else.

 

[redgaz26]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

I have the incipio feather case. It really is the best case I've had. You don't know it's on. Well of course you do know it's on. Lol.

 

[Greene23]

You all are so nice to help me....

as soon as I get through my work emails, I am going to start looking at all these links to suggestions. So I may have some follow up questions a little later. Looks like I will go for the crystal film as I live in Seattle and rarely have glare as an issue!

 

[Darth.Titan]

Please note that every battery-charger case I've ever tried has killed my phone reception. This is also true of the Monoprice battery I bought.

They're handy to recharge when you're away from AC, but don't depend on being able to talk on the phone while an extended battery is plugged in.

That's my experience, YMMV

 

[AreYouIn?]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

I have the incipio feather case. It really is the best case I've had. You don't know it's on. Well of course you do know it's on. Lol.

Ditto! Love mine.