Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iphone 3G. VS T-mobile G1

I think people miss the point of the G1

The iPhone is a great device but its not really designed for the hacker type, its designed (very well) for people who want a slick capable device they can add software to very easily and that just works, and in fairness as a device that looks stunning - its a very image conscious phone - and I love mine.

I've had literally every type of phone, windows mobile non keyboard, with slidey keyboard, with under the screen keyboard and no touch screen, and the earlier candy bar windows phones. Ive also had sony P800 style, nokia series 60 style, and the flip open huge Nokia communicator with colour screen, and a couple of Palm phones - not to mention a large selection of boggo phones like nokia 3210s and sony ericssons mated to iPaqs, palm pilots and Psion organisers.

I say that lot not to point out I spend way too much on mobile devices - I do - but to illustrate that Ive tried everything - and I will probably try an android too soon - but the thing is ive tried them all and im fairly sure the Android system isnt competing with the iphone, and Windows devices arent competing with the iPhone - iPhone is very apple and will go its own merry way and it will always have fans and haters and theres no point trying to change anyone - for me i love it - but - and heres the point at last........

If i want a phone to hack about with, to fiddle and experiment I would have one in a second, or a generic HTC windows device, as theyre more open, they are more flexible - but with that openness and flexibility comes inconsistency and unreliability - i have downloaded more iphone apps than i care to count and they have all worked as I would expect - not all good - but they download, instlal and work every time.

Can anyone say the same for Windows Phones - there are too many incompatabilities and this is where the android platform will fail, its not a whole unit - hardware will be flexible but compatability will falter.

At the moment it all looks a bit to Beta as has been said earlier, and the body looks like a development mule - I really didnt believe I was seing a finished device that was competing with an iphone, then i realised it wasnt, its competing against the HTC Hermes type devices - and sadly theyve all moved on to the HTC Touch Pro which leaves the G1 in the dust for style - now a HTC Touch Pro running android - that would be interesting - i bet there are geeks in bedrooms working on it as I type this.

Sorry I ranted on a bit aimlessly there but if you read carefully for a couple of hours there are some points - honest :D

Stephen
 
The Tmobile 3g is anemic in coverage and that is one major reason I would never consider the G1. When AT&T puts one on the market, most likely a much nicer looking and more fucntional design to boot in a few to 6 months I'll certainly look at buying one as i'm sure Android will progress significnatly in that time frame.

Currently the Iphone is still the kid on the block to beat and it will probably stay that way for the better part of a half year to a year. Apple's inflexible nature will untilmately cause it to fall behind though and competition ultimately is a good thing and will cause everyone to step up to the plate and improve their devices. Unfortunately it usually takes a loss of revenue to get that ball rolling but it will happen.
 
I was at T-Mobile yesterday and the salesman let me try his out.

It felt better in my small hands, as it's a tad smaller than an iPhone, but thicker. I thought it was a tad more comfortable. I use an iSkin Revo on mine though so that helps.

The screen is larger and better with the iPhone.

The OP's review is more or less right on. T-Mobile around Chicago is pretty good. EDGE on my iPhone is fast, and 3G on the G1 was much faster.

I have T-Mobile T-Zones on my iPhone for $6/month. You have to get the data plan on the G1 for $19/month.

To work with Macs, the salesman said you hook it up to USB and just drag the files to the appropriate folder (music, video).

The major setback is that, of course, won't play any iTunes protected media.

Major gripe: I asked where the headphone jack is, the salesman said that it has better - a USB port? :confused:
You have to get an adapter, or use some sort of Stereo Bluetooth adapter.

If there is a phone that finally competes with the iPhone, it's these Android Touchscreen phones.

Great job - Apple needs a little competition as a kick-in-the-behind...
 
1) I don't trust reviews from people who have the grammar skills of a second-grader. It's almost like some smelly dude telling you how great Old Spice is.

2) Since it was done again in this thread, let's get this straight: there is no Android phone. The phone is the G1, the OS is Android.

3) If someone has a readable review, I'd be interested. My boss is on T-Mobile and looking to upgrade from a Razr to a smartphone. He likes my iPhone, but he's got a good amount of time left on his contract.

4) AT&T's network doesn't seem to give me ANY problems. It all depends on your location, and AT&T has the Atlanta area blanketed pretty well. I will hit the occasional dead spot because of geography (valleys causing signal blockage), but mostly don't have any "no service" areas.

The best way to check coverage is to look at maps and browse discussion boards where users in your area tell you what they're like.
 
aridon said:
The G1 is a newly released open source OS. Naturally its going to be bare bones and frankly crappy. I'd wager that in a year there will be a compelling reason to look at a better hardware / more evolved Android phone but now is not the time.

The Iphone fills my needs for now but I know Apple and they'll force feed their consumers whatever they feel we want and need. Eventually that will come to bite them in the ass. They have already made their money and I doubt they even care.
Click to expand...


People who keep saying " give android a year"


well what about "give apple a year"



I'm not about to switch carriers and plans until I feel the phone is polished enough for real use

I would have never bought a first gen iPhone ( for the same reasons)
 
i thought att had the "nations fastest 3g network"? how did you little t-mobile 3g network beat it?
 
BergerFan said:
Ignore the G1.... But don't ignore Android.
Click to expand...
Good call.
Also, it would be unwise to ignore the concept of a "G2" that could eventually replace the G1.

Chef On The Go said:
sorry English is not native to me... I this learned it I'm from north Spain

For the record I cleary said that you can't compare the two phones they are so different..

I love my iPhone 3G this is the best phone ever made but it need to have more phone features

Pic text

Video camera

Better sound when talking "this is AT&T"

Yes I have a problem with At&t they are rude

The G1 is better then most smart phones... It grows on you I was up all last night playing with google maps.. Very cool feature called street view is very cool..

The 3G looks fast and strong but like you said over time we will see .. I wish apple could leave At&t ... They are killing the iPhone
Click to expand...

So, if I understand you correctly, you DO think that, in the end, the iPhone is a better phone than the g1 ? However, right now you prefer the g1 BECAUSE the 3G network speed is so important to you, that you traded in your iPhone3G for a g1 ?

As far as the grammar goes, I was frustrated at first, but now upon hearing that it is your second language, I agree with others that you did an excellent job. Well done.

Based on my own survey of the g1, so far, the only thing I really miss on the iPhone is the focus/image-stabilization on the camera. Other than that, I'm happy. Oh wait. I have a huge complaint ... lack of RAM. When viewing a long webpage, the phone does not have enough RAM and auto-exits Safari. That is something that DEFINITELY needs to be fixed on the next gen iPhone (which I plan to purchase).

The g1 does look interesting, and I'm not going to knock it until I get a chance to actually have one in my hands to demo. Until then, I'll continue to read others' feedback. Maybe tomorrow, I'll go to a T-mobile store and play around with the demo.

As far as the networks go, AT&T has already shown that with already having 14 million iPhones on it's network, it can handle the traffic. T-mobile, on the other hand, has not yet proven this. If they sell two million phones, you guys could be down to "14.4bps" LOL!!! (remember dial up? oops. did I just swear?) :D
 
gkarris said:
Major gripe: I asked where the headphone jack is, the salesman said that it has better - a USB port? :confused:
Click to expand...

THERE'S NO HEADPHONE JACK ???????? :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • headphones.JPG
    headphones.JPG
    47.3 KB · Views: 679
kobefan234 said:
i thought att had the "nations fastest 3g network"? how did you little t-mobile 3g network beat it?
Click to expand...

The T-Mobile 3G network is newer than the AT&T network. And being "little" isn't a disadvantage... think about it. If you're little in the sense that you have a shiny, new 3G network and no users using it, of course bandwidth for your first users will be really high. And if you're little in the sense that you're 3G in San Francisco but not in San Bernardino, why would that affect your 3G speed when you're in San Francisco? If anything, again, the less users on the network, the less capacitized it is, the higher individual user bandwidth will be.

Rybold said:
THERE'S NO HEADPHONE JACK ???????? :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:
Click to expand...

Great picture. :D

So I'm confused... slightly... are the following correct:

- It does not come with a mini-USB to headphone adapter
- It does come with a pair of USB headphones that have a toggle switch or something, though, right?

Here's an example of the adapter...

73-75--2812.htm


It's not the least bulky thing I've ever seen nor the most. It would put the button right by the phone, which would be useless. Maybe it would mean, though, that one's headphone's wouldn't always break right at the jack, because there'd be less stress on the jack?

It also seems that (rarely) it would be mildly irritating not to be able to use the power adapter and the headphone jack at the same time, although that's very minor and I'm sure I could easily live without it.
 
mkrishnan said:
So I'm confused... slightly... are the following correct:

- It does not come with a mini-USB to headphone adapter
- It does come with a pair of USB headphones that have a toggle switch or something, though, right?

Here's an example of the adapter...

73-75--2812.htm


It's not the least bulky thing I've ever seen nor the most. It would put the button right by the phone, which would be useless. Maybe it would mean, though, that one's headphone's wouldn't always break right at the jack, because there'd be less stress on the jack?

It also seems that (rarely) it would be mildly irritating not to be able to use the power adapter and the headphone jack at the same time, although that's very minor and I'm sure I could easily live without it.
Click to expand...

No adapter, comes with a stereo/mic headset that plugs directly into the unit.

Your pic up there isn't working, so I attaced one. Yes, I guess you gotta spend an extra $6+ to get this one...

http://store.androidcommunity.com/content/accessories
 

Attachments

  • 2373.jpg
    2373.jpg
    28.5 KB · Views: 595
Rybold said:
As far as the networks go, AT&T has already shown that with already having 14 million iPhones on it's network, it can handle the traffic.
Click to expand...

You're confusing the world with the USA. For instance, of the 6.9 million 3Gs, only 2.4 million activated on ATT, right?

T-mobile, on the other hand, has not yet proven this. If they sell two million phones, you guys could be down to "14.4bps" LOL!!! (remember dial up? oops. did I just swear?) :D
Click to expand...

You mean, like the effect on iPhone 3G speed in big cities during the day? :)
 
kdarling said:
You're confusing the world with the USA. For instance, of the 6.9 million 3Gs, only 2.4 million activated on ATT, right?
Click to expand...

You're totally right. My mistake. :)

I have used my phone in Chicago and in Los Angeles. I did not notice any unusual decline in speed; however in going between tall buildings, I did experience dead zones. I did not use it during "lunch hour," which I suspect is a whole different story.
 
Michael CM1 said:
1) I don't trust reviews from people who have the grammar skills of a second-grader. It's almost like some smelly dude telling you how great Old Spice is.
Click to expand...

I have to say something about this.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/6476823/

Let's see you write a review in a second language. Then we'll ridicule you. If anything, give this guy some credit and respect for even taking the chance to post something that you can read and understand, even if it is stilted English. There are people here who even are posting, and English is their 3rd or 4th language.

2) Since it was done again in this thread, let's get this straight: there is no Android phone. The phone is the G1, the OS is Android.
Click to expand...

Tell us something we don't already know. :rolleyes:

chewietobacca said:
Definitely don't write off Android - it's open source and recently I went on a visit to my old engineering school, and there are TONS of projects right now being worked on for this by various groups. In a year, Android may be the thing to have.
Click to expand...

+1

Version 0.99.15 of the Linux kernel is still available if anyone wants to see how Linux ran in 1993, just to see how far it's come now. And Gates and execs at Novell said that it would never last.

BL.
 
the HSDPA (3g) speed that T-Mobile and ATT both have depends mainly on
1) where you use the phone (or coverage), and
2) how many users are sharing the bandwidth,
3) IP network from your phone's IP to the website/server you are trying to connect to. maybe there is some slowdown in a particular router due to congestion, maybe your tcp window backed-off. maybe T-Mobile's IP route is shorter to the website.

So it's far more important to look at the overall user experience where you would use your phone the most. any single point performance at a particular time instant does not say much.
 
I think by the time my 2 year contract is up with AT&T, this will be the PERFECT time to compare the iPhone vs. Android Phone. By then, both platforms will be far more mature, and Android will be on a host of phones and should be on every network.

A few things that I am impressed by the Android OS (that I hope something similar comes to the iPhone):

1. Notification system.
What I've seen on the G1 (and in many reviews) is that the notification system is top notch on Android. Some have even said that it is "best in class." I'd have to say that the notification system on the iPhone (at least for me) to be very lacking.

2. Ability to create shortcuts to the "desktop" on nearly anything.
I'd love to easily be able to do this on the iPhone.

3. Firefox is coming to Android.
I don't see this ever coming to the iPhone, but being a HUGE Firefox fan as well as impressed with their mobile version. I'm excited on the future potential for Mobile Firefox.

w00master
 
I WENT TO THE T-MOBILE STORE TODAY
AND GOT TO DEMO THE G1 - HERE'S MY FIRST IMPRESSION...

I searched Google Maps on my iPhone today for a T-mobile store, went there and played around with the G1 for about ten minutes. First impression, it felt like a quality product in my hand. I clicked open the screen and went to the browser (the icons aren't on the homescreen for quick access - you have to click a box to make the icons appear). The browser screen was very clear and easy to read. But I totally missed not having the two-finger pinch. There's a zoom-in/zoom-out that you can click on, and it works, but it's an extra step just to zoom in or out. Nice screen though. I played around with the other stuff for a while. It's a decent phone, but the iPhone, in my opinion, just works so much better and more efficiently. In other words, it's more "natural." The G1's operating system and organization seems less intuitive and less natural. And the OS is less refined. I noticed that, unlike previous reports, the speed of downloading web pages and maps was noticeably slower than my iPhone. Of course, that could just be depending on the location I was in. Overall, the G1 is Not a "piece of crap." It's a decent phone. I just think it's no where near as refined or well-made as the iPhone3G. In the words of someone who posted about it yesterday "It's like they were throwing together a last minute school paper, and just slapped it together." :)

And there's no headphone jack. You have to use a USB adapter and plug your headphones into the USB port. Oh, that's gonna be fun!!!! :D
 

Attachments

  • G1_phone.JPG
    G1_phone.JPG
    28.4 KB · Views: 88
You can have pic messaging, video camera, and all

to the OP:

You can have a Video camera on your IPhone 3G! As a matter of fact, you can have 2!!! You can also send Pic Messaging!!!

Just jailbreak your iPhone!!! How hard is that?
I'm not trying to be rude.

I'm just saying that there are phones that CAN and CANNOT have certain features. It just depends on software. The iPhone is a "CAN" have it phone. All it takes is a wise developer to create the software and load it to the phone then make it availible through a Repository.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back