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Ignorant question: iPod touch or iPhone WITHOUT service?

S

shoelessone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 17, 2007
347
0
First, I'm really sorry to beat a dead horse, i tried searching the forums, googled, and looked over the first 2 pages of threads, but I'm looking for an intelligent opinion on an issue I debated with a friend tonight.

So, I am a Verizon customer and I don't want to cancel my contact, nor do I really want to spend more than I am already on a cell phone monthly bill.

HOWEVER, I am interested in owning an iPhone OR an iPod touch for the music capabilities as well as the wifi access. As well as a cool techy gadget that I just really want :)

Anyway, my thought was that I'd wait for the iPod Touch to come out, because I don't want to pay a monthly fee for the iPhone. However, my buddy told me I should consider a iPhone, because they are easy to "jailbreak". Now I am quite tech savy so the process itself won't be a problem, but I hesitate because I'd hate to buy a phone that keeps updating itself, making itself unusable. If, for instance, I couldn't get the latest firmware (with say, a new fancy application that apple released) I'd be a bit disappointed. This is my primary concern. Another small issue I'd have is that the iPhone is setup to be a phone, and the fact that I wouldn't be using any of the phone features would mean that the "home screen" layout would be less than ideal.

I wouldn't mind spending the extra 100 dollars for 3 reasons:
1. Having a camera - this would be nice just to be able to email pictures to people from where ever I am (assuming I have wifi access of course)
2. The fact that the iPhone has a microphone tells me that it will eventually be able to do VOIP calling, or use the mic is some other interesting/possibly useful way.
3. There is an external speaker

Anyway, I'm curious to here your opinions on this issue, especially from anybody who is currently using an "jailbroken" iPhone WITHOUT a contact. I don't mind hacking the thing, but I don't want a media player that is constantly gimped because of firmware changes that make things harder to use, etc.

Thanks!
 
Hey shoeless!

I was in a similar predicament you're in. I used my iPhone since release day with great trouble -- there is no AT&T service at my office. I had to switch back to Verizon. So I had to decide whether to sell or donate my iPhone and buy an iPod touch or just keep the iPhone.

I decided to keep the iPhone as a WiFi tablet, PDA, iPod, and digital camera. Why?

--iPod functionality is the exact same as iPod Touch
--Has more PDA functionality with Notes app
--Has camera, so I can take photos wherever I am and send 'em easily when I get to a WiFi hotspot
--Has Google Maps
--Has Weather
--Has Stocks
--Has External Speaker

For $100 more, it's worth it to me. You've just got to figure out if all of that is worth it to you. If it is, then buy it. If it isn't, get an iPod Touch.
 
Hey thanks for the reply :)

Are you using the iPhone with a "jailbreak", or did it just stay usable after you canceled your service?

My main concern is buying the phone without ANY intention of ever using it as a phone, I'm hoping somebody could tell me about experiences doing it this way.
 
I would spent a $100 just for the fact that back of the iPhone is none steel and though none scratchable :D

//

I have my plan with at&t for almost 4 years ... before they change it to Cingular ! can I use my current plan with iPhone ?
 
I am in the same situation... but I wonder if I might even just activate the phone. What is the cheapest possible monthly fee you can pay with the iPhone? Can you for instance not get the data part of it at all and just use it like the Touch at Wifi spots?

Edit: another thing to note is that weather, stocks etc might show up on the Touch after all. Just not the hardware stuff like the camera and speakers.
 
Iced Angel said:
I would spent a $100 just for the fact that back of the iPhone is none steel and though none scratchable :D

//

I have my plan with at&t for almost 4 years ... before they change it to Cingular ! can I use my current plan with iPhone ?
Click to expand...

u will need to add a data plan
 
Well, I know you can use prepaid cards with the phone, but that seems like it would require paying for the cards and possibly activation?

Again though, I'm really hoping to get some input from somebody who has never once actually activated it.
 
I am stuck in the same spot and I think I'm gonna stick with the Touch for a couple of reasons. Basically, it all comes down to keeping ti working. I know I lose some features with the Touch, but I know it'll always work and be supported. I really like the camera and external speakers, but I have a cell phone that do that anyway and I don't use the features that often.

It's all about the thing working with no hassles and that's why I'm going with the Touch. It is really tough though.
 
LillieDesigns said:
I am stuck in the same spot and I think I'm gonna stick with the Touch for a couple of reasons. Basically, it all comes down to keeping ti working. I know I lose some features with the Touch, but I know it'll always work and be supported. I really like the camera and external speakers, but I have a cell phone that do that anyway and I don't use the features that often.

It's all about the thing working with no hassles and that's why I'm going with the Touch. It is really tough though.
Click to expand...

Honestly, that basically my exact thought/worry.

Also, if I'm honest with myself I'd say that part of my thought process goes something like this, "HEY I CAN BUY AN IPHONE TODAY!!!!"

But yeah, if I'm going to spend 3, 4 hundred bucks on something I would like it to work, always, without having to really mess with it too much. That said, I wouldn't mind spending a few hours to get everything set up, and a few more hours every few months to keep things running.
 
I like the iPod Touch just because of the double storage for the same price...
 
Actually, a good question might be:

Which functionality of the iPhone (besides calling, obviously) does not work with a fake-activated iPhone? (for instance, will the mail application check for new mail via the wifi connection even if there is no EDGE (aka ATT))

Thanks!
 
I'm in a similar predicament as you...but I've decided. I'm going with the iPhone. Probably ordering it tommorow :eek: :)

I've discovered by using INdependence I can use my AT&T prepaid service(Pay As you go) SIM Card with the iPhone. For FREE. No unlocking software to buy. (not your case but for others just some info)

The Camera, Bluetooth, phone capability, and speaker are what made my decision. I am also kinda nervous of how thin the iPod Touch is. I think that is almost too thin. It would seem easy to bend :(
 
MacMan93 said:
I'm in a similar predicament as you...but I've decided. I'm going with the iPhone. Probably ordering it tommorow :eek: :)

I've discovered by using INdependence I can use my AT&T prepaid service(Pay As you go) SIM Card with the iPhone. For FREE. No unlocking software to buy. (not your case but for others just some info)

The Camera, Bluetooth, phone capability, and speaker are what made my decision. I am also kinda nervous of how thin the iPod Touch is. I think that is almost too thin. It would seem easy to bend :(
Click to expand...


Well, I'm not concerned about hte build quality of the touch really, just the lack of a camera really.

Also, I don't actually really care about the bluetooth that much. I suppose eventually there might be some point to having it, but I don't know.

The microphone/speaker is still a big plus though.

I'm definitely worried primarily about the phone activation not working after so long, because Apple releases an iTunes update that actually checks your activation, that sort of thing. It'd suck to be without my i(non)Phone for a week or longer because of that sort of thing.
 
Following up on this thread - I am in the same situation. In fact my new 4GB iPhone is supposed to arrive tommorrow. But I still have a year and 3 months left on a Sprint contract. Worst case is I'll activate and have two contracts, but if I could just get the iPhone working without the phone part, I'd be very happy. One thing though, I do want to be able to activate later on, so I don't want to do anything that would put that in jeopardy.

Someone mentioned activating with AT&T and then canceling the contract before 14 days. Does this really work doing this?? Will I be able to re-activate later on in say a year? To me this would be the easiest thing to do if it worked.
 
you should check out http://www.hacktheiphone.com/iphone_downloads.html

I wish I could talk to soembody that was more familiar with the actual activation process.

I mean, if I knew that once I activated the phone via the fake activation method there would be no way of detecting the fakeness of the activation, then I'd go out and buy the iPhone today.
 
Since I live in VT, and we are the last US state where ATT doesn't have coverage (even Alaska Does!!) I was really waiting for the iPod Touch. But I was sad to see some of the best features about the iPhone were removed; speaker, camera, dedicated mail app, bluetooth, etc. I plan on moving in a year or so, so there will be a good chance I will get to a location where I can activate the iPhone. I am also thinking about buying an iPhone now and not setting up the service until I get to a location where I can.
 
Hi.
Sorry, I'm just getting back to this thread from yesterday afternoon.

I don't see any mention of incompatibility between iTunes 7.4 and the iPhone Activation Tool (not iActivator). However, I haven't tried any software updating in iTunes 7.4 yet so I can't say for sure, but simple iPhone syncing seems to be OK.

Here's the way it's worked so far: You unlock the phone and when Apple updates iPhone or iTunes software, you decline the updates when you hook up your iPhone to charge or sync. Just wait a day or two until the hack software makers do their updates. Only then do you proceed with the new Apple and hack updates. Do it this way and you won't be without a usable device for more than the 10 minutes it takes to run through the new updates.

I've had no problems with the iPhone as just a WiFi iPod device, but as I said this is only temporary for me until my Sprint contract is over (two more weeks!). I'm totally speculating, but I don't think Apple is too bothered that a fraction of their iPhone buyers are using the phones this way. Besides, the hackers have been able to overcome every update thrown their way so far.

As far as which to buy, the iPod touch or the iPhone, well, I'd still rather have the iPhone today because of the Mail, Weather, Notes and Maps. You also get the tiny camera.
 
If you want to just use your iphone without cell service why not buy an "unlocked" iphone from ebay. Unlocked on ebay means the phone has already been activated but currently has no phone services. All the other iphone features work just not hooked up to cell service.
 
snook911 said:
If you want to just use your iphone without cell service why not buy an "unlocked" iphone from ebay. Unlocked on ebay means the phone has already been activated but currently has no phone services. All the other iphone features work just not hooked up to cell service.
Click to expand...

did you use them before ? can you trust them? do you have any idea how much they would be ?

//

is there any link on AT&T web site to check if we can use the iPhone with existing plan ? I don't wanna go on hold for 20 mins lol ... while I'm working !
 
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