Ipad 3G or next iPhone (4th Gen)

[blake.bang]

The title's quite self explanatory.

I have an iPhone 3G and am perfectly happy with everything other than the lag which has crept into it with each successive firmware update after 2.2. I use it for email and occasional 'term lookup' and check fb once a day or so, don't game, use a very limited number of applications. Its more of a phone than an iPhone to me, most of the time.

4G is around the corner and if the pics leaked are something to believe, I'd absolutely want that.

Thing is, would an iPad be useful for a med student? I have a macbook unibody and it serves my purpose of movies, med apps, internet and music/movies.

Which, in your opinion, should I go for?

It'll be a 16 gig 3G iPad vs. lowest capacity next gen iPhone.

 

[Link2999]

iPhone, pretty much a portable iPad. IMO the iPad was just completely full of fail for apparent reasons.

 

[blake.bang]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

What's the ballpark price of a factory unlocked iPhone3G scratchless 8gig if I decide on selling mine?

IMO the cost of ownership would be almost the same in the two years to come.

 

[jtara]

I wish everyone would stop calling this "4G". There isn't a chance in the world that Apple will call it that, because it implies that it supports 4G cellular data.

The "real" 4G is likely to come out in 2011 or 2012, when the carriers have actually started to support LTE Advanced.

(WiMax Mobile is also considered "4G" technology. But it's a cul-de-sac, as even Sprint has announced it's intention to transition to LTE. Of course, an iPhone supporting this is even less likely than the name 4G for a 2010 iPhone.)

 

[Guiguiga]

I wish everyone would stop calling this "4G". There isn't a chance in the world that Apple will call it that, because it implies that it supports 4G cellular data.

The "real" 4G is likely to come out in 2011 or 2012, when the carriers have actually started to support LTE Advanced.

(WiMax Mobile is also considered "4G" technology. But it's a cul-de-sac, as even Sprint has announced it's intention to transition to LTE. Of course, an iPhone supporting this is even less likely than the name 4G for a 2010 iPhone.)

I wanna believe he meant 4G as in 4th Generation. Otherwise... Yes, a bit to early.

 

[Guiguiga]

No doubt I'd go with the next iPhone. The ipad is just a huge ipod touch. It doesn't really add any feature if you already have an iPhone. Besides that, you already have a mbp 13" for couch surfing. So IMO there's no point for you in getting an iPad, and the same applies to me.

 

[blake.bang]

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I wish everyone would stop calling this "4G". There isn't a chance in the world that Apple will call it that, because it implies that it supports 4G cellular data.

The "real" 4G is likely to come out in 2011 or 2012, when the carriers have actually started to support LTE Advanced.

(WiMax Mobile is also considered "4G" technology. But it's a cul-de-sac, as even Sprint has announced it's intention to transition to LTE. Of course, an iPhone supporting this is even less likely than the name 4G for a 2010 iPhone.)

I mentioned 4th gen in the thread title. Anywho, what'd be your opinion on the question in the title?

 

[blake.bang]

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No doubt I'd go with the next iPhone. The ipad is just a huge ipod touch. It doesn't really add any feature if you already have an iPhone. Besides that, you already have a mbp 13" for couch surfing. So IMO there's no point for you in getting an iPad, and the same applies to me.

It was a novelty thing until I held my friend's wifi iPad in my hand. But yeah, you're right, I'd throw it away online in a year or so. Thanks!

 

[LSXL]

Yo man, I'm in the same boat with you. I own iPhone 3G and the lag is fairly annoying. I was really interested in iPad until I saw it in action with my own eyes and when the next generation iPhone fiasco hit the web. Here's my view:

iPad is a great content consuming, good mail machine and lightweight text editing machine. It has no front facing camera, is already known for wireless connection problems and won't run iPhone OS 4 before Q4 of this year.

iPhone is going to get a bigger revamp this year so it's a good time to buy. Then again, 4G network probably won't be supported in this years revision. When next years 4G supporting, OS 5 rolling and Sony's 8 mega-pixel camera sporting iPhone will come about, we'll be experiencing another "iPhone 3G" effect. On the other side, iPhones lifespan usabilty-wise is just like the contract - 2 years. So you can get this years model and then get the better version of 4G supporting iPhone in 2012.

It's all about the launch-tick-tock cycle. The thing is that current iPad is a pre tick-tock "launch" baby-product. It's the way Apple works. iPhone 2G vs 3G was a bigger improvement than 3G to 3Gs or 2.66 i7 is a better improvent over 2.53 i5 than the latter over 2.4 i5 or leap from Yonah to Penryn was more significant than latter to an updated Penryn.

I want multi-tasking and rather than waiting 'til Q4 I will wait for next generation true "tick phase" iPad. I'm getting Arrandale MacBook Pro, own iPhone 3G and late 2006 iMac, so you can call me a "tick" person cycle-wise. But I definetely avoid the very first "launch" products and although really tempted to get this years iPhone, I fear that it's again in "launch" phase with only next years phone supporting 4G network and 2012 version being faster.

If you're sick of 3G, get this years iPhone and maybe iPad the next. If you want a new fun toy, get the iPad and wait for next years iPhone. For medical use there are many apps for iPhone while iPad specific med-apps will roll up in plenty by the time of next version.

 

[jtara]

I'd just go with the new iPhone. I have an iPad 3G on order, but that's because I'm a developer.

As any kind of a student (let alone a med student) you really need a real computer at this point. The Macbook fills the bill.

iPhone is limited for browsing and serious apps, due to the constrained screen real-estate. If the next iPhone is double resolution, that really doesn't help the situation - it will just look crisper. I'm really not sure why everybody is so excited about the increased resolution. Nobody can read type 1/2 the size of the current iPhone!

iPhone is great for quickly looking stuff up. I love it for that. It's always in your pocket, and you can get product information when you are out shopping, for example.

If your primary activity is browsing, iPad makes sense today. For certain professions, I think it will be immediately useful, and the current generation makes sense. For example, I think it will be a fantastic tool for salespeople and real estate agents. As is, today.

For the rest of us, especially if we already have a decent notebook, I think it's best to wait for the next generation, unless you can afford a third device that sits in the middle between iPhone and a notebook.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

As with every other thread trying to predict a future product. We have no clue what the next iPhone will have. Video conferencing is a lot different then just a camera that can take stills on the front. Sure... iPhone OS 4 has hints, but it's not the same as what we know the iPad has.

 

[GSPice]

As with every other thread trying to predict a future product. We have no clue what the next iPhone will have. Video conferencing is a lot different then just a camera that can take stills on the front. Sure... iPhone OS 4 has hints, but it's not the same as what we know the iPad has.

Why would they put a camera on the front if it could only take stills. There's a camera on the back that can do that just fine.



Speak for yourself..most of us do have a clue what the next iPhone will have.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

Speak for yourself..most of us do have a clue what the next iPhone will have.

Please list all spec changes as well as price points. I'll check back in June.

 

[LSXL]

Please list all spec changes as well as price points. I'll check back in June.

Why so ultimate and negative? I think that we do have a clue, not neccessarily ALL specifications nor price points though. We're gambling here based on certain/limited information. And like gambling its fun and entertaining. Whats up with this bulletin board maestro party-pooping. Sheesh, as long as people are not talking about their cars, not posting their pet pictures or doing other kind of off topic crap like "waiting for arrandale 1-7" threads I say its all good.

So, front facing camera will be good for profile pictures I guess. But, from the leaks it seemed that the front facing camera was smaller then the regular one and we can learn something from iPod nano on this one

 

[blake.bang]

So, front facing camera will be good for profile pictures I guess. But, from the leaks it seemed that the front facing camera was smaller then the regular one and we can learn something from iPod nano on this one

I don't think we'd be using full blown video telephony like how we normally voice call within two or three years from now, having a front facing camera isn't much sense to me, but yeah YMMV.

On the flip side, a faster processor and better mobility, battery life, camera (use it once a month or so) and a phone, above all, make me want to go for the upcoming iPhone, comparing it to an iPad, that is. Been smitten by the 3GS but making myself wait for the latest is taking its toll, making me think otherwise.

 

[LSXL]

Well there is already an app that stream video from 3GS's back camera so you can have "video chats" to show where you are. Video messages are also very nice. Or how about a quick VBlog?

 

[GSPice]

Please list all spec changes as well as price points. I'll check back in June.

Why so ultimate and negative? I think that we do have a clue, not neccessarily ALL specifications nor price points though. We're gambling here based on certain/limited information. And like gambling its fun and entertaining. Whats up with this bulletin board maestro party-pooping. Sheesh, as long as people are not talking about their cars, not posting their pet pictures or doing other kind of off topic crap like "waiting for arrandale 1-7" threads I say its all good.

So, front facing camera will be good for profile pictures I guess. But, from the leaks it seemed that the front facing camera was smaller then the regular one and we can learn something from iPod nano on this one

I guess GoldenMac sees in binary.. no specs, no clue.

And he chose not to address the implication of his statement..because a 2nd camera (front facing) very much implies video conferencing - not the ability to take stills with both sides of your phone.

It's one thing to be hesitant to make irresponsible predictions of future hardware, but it's another to pretentiously ignore the obvious - which has been made plain with the rather rare iPhone leak.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

I just want to know all the specs that we are know coming. I agree video conferencing would be the logical use of a camera on the front, I don't know how AT&T's network would handle that.

I don't doubt that what Gizmodo bought is likely indicative of a lot of what Apple will give us in the next update, but it wouldn't be the first time an Apple prototype gets changed.

I'm not sure of what's "obvious" besides Apple's not happy with an engineer or Gizmodo/Gawker. There is still uncertainty as to what processor will be used, the never-ending Verizon saga and if what Gizmodo got will be the next iPhone.

I also don't see how this avoid my central point to the OP's question, which was trying to compare something that is out versus something that is unreleased is not a fair comparison. Gizmodo was only able to tell us the physical dimensions and that the screen was higher res (supporting the iPhone HD name theory), they couldn't tell us anything about processor speed or function.