Not a very good Phone

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vp719

macrumors regular
I have a 16 GB Black 3G and I really really like it. I love all the apps and mail and safari and everything, with one exception....the phone

Over half of my calls get dropped, and sometimes I can't even make calls - it just doesn't start ringing. I've had over half a dozen cell phones, all on ATT, and none have performed this poorly. I live in a 3G area with good coverage. Does anyone else have these issues? Anything I can do about it?
 
vp719 said:
I have a 16 GB Black 3G and I really really like it. I love all the apps and mail and safari and everything, with one exception....the phone

Over half of my calls get dropped, and sometimes I can't even make calls - it just doesn't start ringing. I've had over half a dozen cell phones, all on ATT, and none have performed this poorly. I live in a 3G area with good coverage. Does anyone else have these issues? Anything I can do about it?
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a restore will not help. the phone portion itself is crap (combined with the network). no other way to put it.

i like to refer to the 3G as an "iMedia"...since it is wonderful at media functions. calling it an "iPhone" is really mis-labeling it. it's not a good phone at all....crap is the technical term i like to use.

but, all-in-all, i'm happy with it because i don't talk on the phone too much. i spend most of my time using the media functions, which are the best around. if things were reversed for my lifestyle, i'd have to get a blackberry.
 
WhySoSerious said:
a restore will not help. the phone portion itself is crap (combined with the network). no other way to put it.

i like to refer to the 3G as an "iMedia"...since it is wonderful at media functions. calling it an "iPhone" is really mis-labeling it. it's not a good phone at all....crap is the technical term i like to use.

but, all-in-all, i'm happy with it because i don't talk on the phone too much. i spend most of my time using the media functions, which are the best around. if things were reversed for my lifestyle, i'd have to get a blackberry.
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Just because you have bad experiences with it doesn't mean the phone is crap. It's been great for a lot of people, including me. In two months I only had one dropped call. Never had issues with reception or call quality.
 
anjinhamarota said:
Just because you have bad experiences with it doesn't mean the phone is crap. It's been great for a lot of people, including me. In two months I only had one dropped call. Never had issues with reception or call quality.
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...and just because you never had issues doesn't mean it's good either...
 
WhySoSerious said:
...and just because you never had issues doesn't mean it's good either...
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And just because you have doesn't mean it's bad either...what's your point? All I know is, it's a better phone than either my ATT Tilt 3G and Treo 650. It's so good that I don't even bother owning a land line.
 
bigmouth said:
And just because you have doesn't mean it's bad either...what's your point?
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His point is that he has problems and people like me have problems. (Average of 20% of my calls are dropped, usually while I have 4-5 bars of 3G.) I've heard similar things from my friend in California and one in Ohio too.

So it doesn't matter who it DOES work for, the point is that there are a lot of people it DOESN'T work for. And that's a problem. Look at the current issue with the Macbook trackpads. Is Apple saying "well, it works for some people!" and leaving it at that? No, they're trying to fix it.

This is no different. Saying "it doesn't affect everyone" is a silly thing to say. MOST tech problems don't affect everyone. It doesn't mean Apple won't try to fix it or that it's not an issue.
 
anjinhamarota said:
Just because you have bad experiences with it doesn't mean the phone is crap. It's been great for a lot of people, including me. In two months I only had one dropped call. Never had issues with reception or call quality.
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+1. I got my 3G on opening day of iPhone Season. Since then, I've had maybe 2 or 3 dropped calls -- and those were (in all probability) due to the fact I was way the heck out in the boonies at the time. It's been a better phone than my Sync, my Treo 650, my Treo 680, or even the plain vanilla Nokia 6061 "batphone" I use at work. In fact, I've forwarded that phone to my iPhone, as my AT&T service is usually better than the T-Mo service on the batphone. And the calls sound better, as well.
 
Small White Car said:
His point is that he has problems and people like me have problems. (Average of 20% of my calls are dropped, usually while I have 4-5 bars of 3G.)

So it doesn't matter who it DOES work for, the point is that there are a lot of people it DOESN'T work for. And that's a problem. Look at the current issue with the Macbook trackpads. Is Apple saying "well, it works for some people!" and leaving it at that? No, they're trying to fix it.

This is no different. Saying "it doesn't affect everyone" is a silly thing to say. MOST tech problems don't affect everyone. It doesn't mean Apple won't try to fix it or that it's not an issue.
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I'm just saying that the iPhone isn't crap just because some people have issues. It would be crap if the majority of people had issues. But if you do have issues you should take it to apple or att and maybe give feedback on apple's website.
 
anjinhamarota said:
It would be crap if the majority of people had issues.
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Dunno. Of the six 3G owners I know (myself included) I've heard complaints from 5 of them. Of the 5 first-gen phone owners I know I've heard no complaints.

Pretty striking difference, wouldn't you say? Obviously 11 people isn't a wide sample, but how many people are you basing your info on? More than that?

cWeems said:
sim card, RARELY is it the phone.
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Is this something AT&T can just swap out for you? Is it easy? Because trying to convince an Apple Genius to replace a phone based on something like this is like pulling teeth out of a lion.
 
Small White Car said:
His point is that he has problems and people like me have problems. (Average of 20% of my calls are dropped, usually while I have 4-5 bars of 3G.) I've heard similar things from my friend in California and one in Ohio too.
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And you're missing my point. Just because you and some people you know have problems doesn't mean they're typical. Your evidence is anecdotal and your conclusion based upon a ridiculously small sample size. That is not a reliable basis for general claims about the quality of the phone.
 
Small White Car said:
Is this something AT&T can just swap out for you? Is it easy? Because trying to convince an Apple Genius to replace a phone based on something like this is like pulling teeth out of a lion.
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Absolutely. Go to an AT&T store. Tell them AT&T sucks and that you have crappy reception. FIRST thing they will do is give you a fancy new SIM card, especially if the one you have currently is on the older side.

They would much rather give you a new $0.50 chip than a $200 iPhone to fix the problem...
 
I've never had a dropped call on my iPhone. Nor have I had any complaints about the call quality. Nor has anyone I know with an iPhone complained about call drops or quality.

If iPhones were dropping calls left right and centre, it would be all over the news and no one would be buying them. Yeah, I'm sure some people get duds. But it's not a major issue until it starts affecting a noticeable portion of ALL iPhone users, not just a few people in a given social circle.
 
Demosthenes X said:
I've never had a dropped call on my iPhone. Nor have I had any complaints about the call quality. Nor has anyone I know with an iPhone complained about call drops or quality.

If iPhones were dropping calls left right and centre, it would be all over the news and no one would be buying them. Yeah, I'm sure some people get duds. But it's not a major issue until it starts affecting a noticeable portion of ALL iPhone users, not just a few people in a given social circle.
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Exactly. I don't know anyone with problems with the iPhone either.
 
bigmouth said:
And you're missing my point. Just because you and some people you know have problems doesn't mean they're typical. Your evidence is anecdotal and based upon a ridiculously small sample size. That is not a reliable basis for claims about the phone.
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Would you two stop your bickering? You both totally hijacked this thread to argue about your experiences with AT&T / iPhones. The only way to prove either of you right is to do a large sample-size survey about the ACTUAL number of dropped calls. And ya, it's AT&T, so it ain't perfect. And of course it could be the iPhone, seeing as Apple's QC hasn't been wonderful as of late. There is no way to know for sure the culprit, so both of you just can it, man.

-Your Mother :D
 
illegallydead said:
Absolutely. Go to an AT&T store. Tell them AT&T sucks and that you have crappy reception. FIRST thing they will do is give you a fancy new SIM card, especially if the one you have currently is on the older side.

They would much rather give you a new $0.50 chip than a $200 iPhone to fix the problem...
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just for my own knowledge, please explain how swapping the sim card will improve call quality. thanks
 
i can attest to the full signal 3G and calls getting dropped. This happened to me over the weekend in this one spot I drive through sometimes. It happens everytime in this one location.

I'm getting issued the Blackberry Bold next week sometime so I'll be curious how they compare...
 
illegallydead said:
Would you two stop your bickering? You both totally hijacked this thread to argue about your experiences with AT&T / iPhones. The only way to prove either of you right is to do a large sample-size survey about the ACTUAL number of dropped calls. And ya, it's AT&T, so it ain't perfect. And of course it could be the iPhone, seeing as Apple's QC hasn't been wonderful as of late. There is no way to know for sure the culprit, so both of you just can it, man.

-Your Mother :D
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First of all, no one was bickering. Second, you're making exactly the same point I did. So please do step off the soap box and spare me your righteousness.

PS: The original poster specifically mentioned having used other phones on the ATT network. My comparison was thus entirely valid. You are completely out of line.
 
WhySoSerious said:
just for my own knowledge, please explain how swapping the sim card will improve call quality. thanks
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The original could have poor contacts, it could have a small crack in the electronics or a contact somewhere, it could be last year's model...I've personally seen a new SIM chip help on more than one carrier. It's always worth a try.
 
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