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Should I buy an iPhone or iTouch or both or none?

G

gbrant

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 22, 2008
11
0
My contract with T-Mobile runs out at the end of Dec 08. Currently, I have a Razr.
I'd like to have a device for phone, email, calendar, jotting down ideas, reminders/alarms, music (I don't have an iPod), maybe watching short videos like youtube. I don't text message (am I really missing something?) and rarely take photos with my cell but it would be fun to store and receive some photos on a device.
It would be great to have one device that does it all but I don't want to spend a whole bunch of $$ on web access.
Should I:
A) renew, keep my Razr and buy an iTouch?
B) Sign up with At&T and buy an iPhone?
C) Find the cheapest phone contract, buy an iPhone 2g, and stick my Razr SIM into it? (As I understand, one can't jailbreak the 3g?)
D) Something else?
I'm not a techie so please speak in plain English and no abbreviations.
Thanks!
 
I dont get it. You say you want an all in one device, yet you are considering the ipod touch. Im confused.
 
gbrant said:
My contract with T-Mobile runs out at the end of Dec 08. Currently, I have a Razr.
I'd like to have a device for phone, email, calendar, jotting down ideas, reminders/alarms, music (I don't have an iPod), maybe watching short videos like youtube. I don't text message (am I really missing something?) and rarely take photos with my cell but it would be fun to store and receive some photos on a device.
It would be great to have one device that does it all but I don't want to spend a whole bunch of $$ on web access.
Should I:
A) renew, keep my Razr and buy an iTouch?
B) Sign up with At&T and buy an iPhone?
C) Find the cheapest phone contract, buy an iPhone 2g, and stick my Razr SIM into it? (As I understand, one can't jailbreak the 3g?)
D) Something else?
I'm not a techie so please speak in plain English and no abbreviations.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
a used iphone 2g will cost you more than a brand new iphone 3g (with contract).
 
i would go with b. wait til december til your contract is up.
buy the iphone and go with atnt but make sure the service works well in your area BEFORE you transfer your phone number to atnt.

i bought the ipod touch and kind of regret it. i really should have just went with the iphone.
i'd sell it but i got it engraved. :(
 
1) For crying out loud, it's the iPod touch.
2) You're not going to get e-mail without paying about $70/month in the U.S. As bad as that is, nobody seems willing to offer data plans that aren't unlimited, and they're all about an extra $30 on top of $40 for voice plans.
3) If you get both, you'll shell out more up front than you would for just an 8GB iPhone 3G. It's only $30, but it is more.
4) If you find a first-generation iPhone, it'll cost you $350-400 on eBay or craigslist. They sell like that because you can unlock them (unlocking is making them able to use on other similar networks; jailbreaking is allowing unauthorized software). If Apple releases an iPhone 3G with 32GB of flash, I may end up doing such a thing myself so I can make a $100-150 profit off my first-gen phone.

In conclusion, get an iPhone. I had a Razr and iPod for a long time, and having just one device is SO much better. The cost is a little undesirable, but I must say it would be really worth it if the 3G speed is as fast as it's supposed to be.
 
I would personally purchase the iPhone, although I'm biased since I have an iPhone 3G (white 16GB if you want to know).

I think it depends on your needs. Remember, AT&T requires that you sign up for the $30/month data plan. However, you can simply cancel the $30/month data plan and put a simple hack on the phone so that it will not use any data.

I say that you should buy the phone because it won't cost you more if you decide to drop the data plan.


Edit: Woo, 100 posts!
 
Thanks for clearing up the jailbreak/unlock terminology.

What is a "simple hack"? Are your saying that one can sign up for data, then cancel it and still have the use of data for free?
 
Another related question...

We have 3 Razrs that expire at the end of Dec. (Family Plan.) All 3 of us would love iPhones with email, etc. but that sounds like a lot of $$. If one of us is on an iPhone/AT&T and makes a call to a family members T-Mobile phone, we'd get charged. Currently we pay about US$100.00/month for 700 shared minutes (one of us barely uses the cell at all, but needs it for emergencies).

I hate trying to figure this stuff out! I'm a left brain person and this stuff makes my eyes roll back into my head! And then I fall down. And my socks itch.
 
If you want an all-in-one device but don't want to pay for a monthly data plan, I would suggest buying a used 1st gen iPhone, unlocking it and using it on your current cell plan (but make sure T-Mobile blocks data on your account). Your only internet access would be through wifi then. The up-front cost will be higher ($400 for a used iPhone vs. $200 for a new 3G), but you will save $30/month on the data plan, which you say you don't want anyway.
 
Clete2 said:
I would personally purchase the iPhone, although I'm biased since I have an iPhone 3G (white 16GB if you want to know).

I think it depends on your needs. Remember, AT&T requires that you sign up for the $30/month data plan. However, you can simply cancel the $30/month data plan and put a simple hack on the phone so that it will not use any data.

I say that you should buy the phone because it won't cost you more if you decide to drop the data plan.


Edit: Woo, 100 posts!
Click to expand...

I dont think you can cancel the data plan on an iphone plan.
 
I'd make sure you like the iPod touch/iPhone first.

I got an iPod Touch, couldn't stand it and sold it. I just use a regular phone and throw contacts/events in that and sync WIRELESSLY with my mac, which one can not do with an iphone/itouch.
 
I had an iPod touch and a cell phone. Got tired of carrying both around, sold them and bought an iPhone 3g. Haven't looked back.:)
 
I originally got an iPod touch last Christmas.. and just a month ago got an iPhone. Main reason: got sick of carrying both a phone and an iPod. Also, since wireless isn't allowed in the dorms, I wasn't able to really use my iPod much.. it was pretty much useless as anything but an iPod.

Network access is KEY to the usability of the iPhone. I think the iPhone is useless without being continuously connected to some type of Internet source.
 
You definitely cannot cancel the data plan on the iphone in the U.S. If you remain with AT&T and decide to switch to a basic phone while under contract you can cancel the data plan--but that will be because you *stopped* using the iphone. At that point you'd have an overpriced ipod touch.

You may be able to get a discount on monthly service with AT&T through your employer. My bill (data and text messaging included) is now only about $10 more per month than I was paying for a regular cell phone. Not an unreasonable increase for a vastly more useful device.

A lot of people want to cancel the data plan on an iphone (prior to actually getting one) because they don't think they'd use it. Once you get an iphone with an usable browser that tends to change and you find yourself on the internet all the time. If you can't *afford* the data plan--don't even consider the iphone--go with the touch.
 
me2000 said:
I originally got an iPod touch last Christmas.. and just a month ago got an iPhone. Main reason: got sick of carrying both a phone and an iPod. Also, since wireless isn't allowed in the dorms, I wasn't able to really use my iPod much.. it was pretty much useless as anything but an iPod.

Network access is KEY to the usability of the iPhone. I think the iPhone is useless without being continuously connected to some type of Internet source.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what my girlfriend is dealing with. She has a dorm with only Ethernet connections. I tried setting up her "Acer" laptop to share her Ethernet connection through her wireless card, but I couldn't get it to work... in contrast, it's so easy to do on a Mac. So she has no wifi in her dorm. A few weeks ago, I gave her my old iPhone 1st Gen (lucky her) and it's unlocked so she can use her current cell plan, but she can't access the internet on it without wifi because her carrier does not have a data plan... I had to install BossTools for her and turn off Edge so she wouldn't ring up any charges.
 
sers said:
I had an iPod touch and a cell phone. Got tired of carrying both around, sold them and bought an iPhone 3g. Haven't looked back.:)
Click to expand...
Me too! Also, the amazing GUI of the iTouch helped convinced me it was time to take the plunge...
 
i got both, my ipod touch has nearly all my songs and my iphone has like 500 top songs, i use it more for the phone, gps and other features not the ipod part of it so much as it helps with battery saving. ipod touch is used all the time for music.
 
Today a guy in Home Depot showed me his new T-Mobile "touch" phone. He scanned the barcode of a tool I was buying. The phone showed the price--then it searched all other local stores and showed what they were selling if for!

Beaming humans from one place to another no longer seems like Sci-Fi.
 
TheSpaz said:
That's exactly what my girlfriend is dealing with. She has a dorm with only Ethernet connections. I tried setting up her "Acer" laptop to share her Ethernet connection through her wireless card, but I couldn't get it to work... in contrast, it's so easy to do on a Mac. So she has no wifi in her dorm. A few weeks ago, I gave her my old iPhone 1st Gen (lucky her) and it's unlocked so she can use her current cell plan, but she can't access the internet on it without wifi because her carrier does not have a data plan... I had to install BossTools for her and turn off Edge so she wouldn't ring up any charges.
Click to expand...

I have a question. I am about to unlock a first gen iphone and the unlock says it will unlock EDGE. Will i still have to buy a data package for this to work with the internet? Or when it says it will unlock EDGE, the internet will work?

I have T Mobile and although the G1 is cool, .....you also have to buy a $25 or $35 a month plan with it and i dont want to.

I am just buying a 4gb 1st gen iPhone(for a $100) to play around and unlock it and jailbreak it to see if i like it enough to get a 3G.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
I'd make sure you like the iPod touch/iPhone first.

I got an iPod Touch, couldn't stand it and sold it. I just use a regular phone and throw contacts/events in that and sync WIRELESSLY with my mac, which one can not do with an iphone/itouch.
Click to expand...

Is plugging an iPhone up to sync it that hard? Really? I know it's tough with that 8x faster transfer rate (assuming you're using 802.11g WiFi), but geez.
 
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