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tim2006

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 18, 2006
269
0
my iphone is all beat-up. i was planning on getting a new one but waited for the announcement. i have a black 3g. why should i buy a 3gs over just another 3g. the 3g is cheaper. are there any design differences like a matte back? i understand the 3gs is faster, faster doing what? 3g is already fast and at home on wifi my phone is as fast as my macbook pro. I don't care about video. what are the other differences?
 
I would buy it for its video camera and voice control

But Im not going to because Ive got iPhone 3G already... cut&paste is all I need anyway
 
Wirelessly posted (iPod touch 32GB: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

Apart from video, the other differences are faster processor, longer battery life, voice control, compass, better camera, full support for the in ear headphones and autofocus


also, the 3g will now only come as 8gb: if you want more storage space you need the 3GS





there are no external differences
 
I dont really see the benefit, its only worth upgrading if your contract is up!

I was hoping to get the new phone, but I'm not eligible for the full subsidized price until December. It's just not worth paying the extra couple hundred dollars for the new changes, only to have another IPhone released six months later from December. Potentially this will have me looking at other smart phones when my contract is up.
 
The camera and the speed is tempting but there's really no other features that would tempt me to plunk down 399 for the phone. To be honest, if I had the opportunity to buy it at 299 I'd still wonder if I should.

Now if I wasn't an iPhone owner then it would be a no-brainer to buy it, but the delta between the 3G and 3Gs isn't that great.
 
For the people who are eligible for the 399/499 price, just sell your current iPhone on eBay and use that money towards the new one. :D
 
If I didn't have a 3g I would definetly go for the 32G 3g S.

But there is not enough to tempt me away from my 9 mnth old 3g so I'll wait until next year for the 4G.
 
Another difference: faster processor.

This is the primary difference, the speed bump is on a much higher order than the small speed bump the 2g iPod Touch received, this will make a difference in every aspect of the phone being faster. I am quite curious to see what the actual specs are, but I am guessing along with a new processor they also bumped up the ram.

The other reason I am going for a 3GS is the camera, I have an HTC Touch right now with a 2MP camera that is half decent, but the new iPhones camera has autofocus and touch to focus which is very nice to have. I usually don't use my phones camera as it is painfully slow but I am hoping the iPhone's is quite a bit better. According to Engadget the Pre had a nice responsive camera so I am hoping Apple gives us similar.

The video recording/cutting is nice also. And voice control. If I had a 3G I would definitely wait it out till next year because of the higher price, plus Apple will probably come out with something better....
 
At this point I am considering allowing AT&T to keep me as their whipping girl for two more years because of the processor upgrade. I didn't expect that they'd really give a damn how it ran, just that it did. Otherwise, I'm fairly ok without it all.

I have no plans to unlock so AT&T will continue to get my cash and not give us simple features (MMS) because they're incapable of actually turning a switch on.

I have to think about it and I have some time because I believe I am not eligible until 9/30/09.
 
For the people who are eligible for the 399/499 price, just sell your current iPhone on eBay and use that money towards the new one. :D

Exactly. That's what I just did last night. I am supposely guaranteed 2 new iPhone 3G S 16GB (one for me and one for my wife).

I just sold my 16GB iPhone 3G for $420. I can probably sell my wife's 16GB as soon as she gets her new iPhone 3G S (my wife can't live without her iphone...I have a G1 and a BB Bold as my "backup" phones).

Essentially I am breaking even with selling the older iPhone 3g and upgrading to new iPhone 3G S.

I have to pay $399 for "early upgrade" But I just figure, I am getting a new phone with new 1 year warranty and it's really not costing me any money. Sure I would have like to get the full subsidized price but it's not big deal. I'm out very little cash with the trade in. I don't plan on leaving ATT anytime soon so renewing my contract another 2 years is not bothering me.
 
I am still not sure whether to upgrade or not, only things that make me want to get one is the new 3.2mp camera with autofocus and video recording and voice control. I don't think the iPhone 3g is that slow in performance really

I am hoping they will release voice control on a later version of 3.0 software for 3g
 
People were saying the same thing over the first iphone and the 3g but yet people gobbled up the 3g.
 
I think people need to realize that with the iPhone apple doesn't expect you to upgrade every single year. Just to play nice with the carriers they'll provide minor updates every year and maybe "big" updates every 2 years (aka: the length of a contract everywhere except canada). So this year there isn't a lot to entice people to upgrade and renew their contracts, but maybe next year?

I mean do you really need a new phone every year? Or should the life of your iPhone last at least 2 years?

Just my 2cents on the matter.
 
I mean do you really need a new phone every year? Or should the life of your iPhone last at least 2 years?

Absolutely! - Unless of course you are a "technoposer" who has to show off his latest bit if kit and "keep up with the latest technology" or a school kid, who, as the result of peer pressure, has to maintain his stature with his mates. ;) :D
 
are you still able to buy an iphone off the shelf without a contract in the usa? i did that with the iphone 2g as i live outside the usa.
 
coming from an 8GB Gen 1:

Video camera and recording
3MP camera with auto focus, auto exposure, auto white balance, macro-mode
Larger capacity
Compass
GPS
Faster CPU
More RAM
Voice Control
7.2Mbps 3G speeds
improved battery life
new screen to reduce oil and finger prints
 
Absolutely! - Unless of course you are a "technoposer" who has to show off his latest bit if kit and "keep up with the latest technology" or a school kid, who, as the result of peer pressure, has to maintain his stature with his mates. ;) :D

And what if you want the things that the new device offers and you can afford it?
 
I still have the original 8gb iPhone, which I bought in Oct 07.

The screen is starting to develop a white blob in the upper right corner. I like the design of this phone better, so I was disappointed that they kept the 3g design.

I'm not a fan of the $15 increase a month though, but I just pre ordered a 32gb.
 
Razeus, I stole your list to make some points, hope you don't mind? :)


Video camera and recording - If the quality is like that shown on the keynote, it'll be great. Especially being able to upload it to youtube, mobileme etc in a push of a button.

3MP camera with auto focus, auto exposure, auto white balance, macro-mode - Better pictures obviously. Auto focus will enable apps such as ShopSavvy to work (which is a great little app if you've never tried it on a G1) Macro mode will be usefull.

Larger capacity - Obvious again, the more space the better! No need to trim your collection as much for your iPhone.

Compass - Should improve maps a LOT. Also since it knows the direction you are pointing, could open up all sorts of possibilities for apps! Imagine a city guide, that can tell you what you are looking at and tell you more details/information!

Faster CPU - will speed up the general use of the device and maybe enable more CPU intensive games to run. Though by having 3GS only apps, they may alienate 3G/1st Users.

More RAM - As above. Very useful if you plan to jailbreak(should it be possible!) and want to use backgrounder.

Voice Control - Sounds more of a gimmick to me, will impress your mates/family :)

7.2Mbps 3G speeds - Excellent it available, don't hold your breath if you are on o2 and not in London though!

improved battery life - Big plus in my opinion! My 3G rarely makes it through a day of heavy use.

new screen to reduce oil and finger prints - less fingerprints?! Sounds very good to me! Where's my cloth for wiping my 3G again!?
 
Wow as it a compass? really...well lm throwing my 3G in the bin and going to pre order a 3GS.
How do people manage to live without a compass on there mobile phone beats me.
 
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