Finally -- Truth in Advertising -- Apple iPhone Live!
Written: Jul 06 '07 (Updated Jul 29 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Easy to use, fun to play with, works well, lots of great features!
Cons: No discounts on service. Who knows what bugs could be lurking?
The Bottom Line: I love its sleek design, ease of use, colorful display, and quick access to email and the web. It packs a lot of features into a great little package.
diverpam's Full Review: Apple iPhone (8 GB) Smartphone
This is the first product that got me excited enough to write a full-blown review in years!
I had been lusting for this beauty since the almost "too good to be true" commercials started airing. What? A phone that was simple to use? A screen that was bright with good quality resolution? Turn it sideways and the screen adjusts?
Yeah, right, I thought.
I kept watching the commercials and checking out the online demos. I wanted it. I really wanted it.
No, I didn't stand in line for hours waiting for them to go on sale. I waited until the day after the hoopla was over and the lines had disappeared. I waited until the following afternoon, when presumably all the iPhone stock had been depleted.
It was then that I lured my husband into the AT&T store. "I'm sure they're already sold out by now. At least we can look at the demo models." Let me note that we were on the way to Home Depot, so it took a bit of doing to divert him from there!
The lines were gone and so were the 4GB iPhones. All the better, I thought. I had told my husband that I would be willing to settle for the 4GB model.
Less than 15 minutes after entering the AT&T store, I was happily leaving with my beautiful new iPhone!
Sleek, small and very lightweight... it was a beauty. I couldn't wait to get home and get it activated on iTunes.
After sitting in the Home Depot parking lot reading the scanty instruction brochure while my husband made his purchases (he does not shop). I was soon sitting at my computer, creating my iTunes account.
All was well until I began the activation process. Saturday, 4:32pm. "Your activation will require additional time by AT&T." Oh, boy! Famous last words.
So I sat and admired my beautiful phone. Before the phone is activated you can only see the globe and a slider to use in case you need to make an emergency phone call.
I waited. An hour passed and I got an email from AT&T saying my request was being processed. Progress!
Then my Treo, obviously feeling very neglected on my desk, turned itself off. Hmmmm. When I turned it back on I saw a message that my sim card was no longer active. That was a good sign. Old phone deactivated. New phone sure to be activated soon.
I watched the pretty globe until 10 pm, then sadly went to bed. At 5:30 the next morning I hopped out of bed as my husband sarcastically said, "I'm sure it's activated by now."
Okay, get to the iPhone.... I'll make this long story short.
I called AT&T at 5:30AM when they supposedly corrected the billing on my account to remove a corporate discount.
At 11:30AM iTunes message change and told me my activation had expired.
I called AT&T, this time spending upwards of 3 hours talking and on hold with AT&T and Apple before Apple cut me off.
At 4pm, almost in tears and ready to pack it up and return it to the store, I got an AT&T customer service rep who corrected the billing, set up my media package and gave me an escalation number to call.
Thirty minutes later the agent pressed the magic button, my phone came to life, and I instantly fell in love.
I give you all this nightmarish background to make a point. For me, getting my iPhone was like being in labor for 24 hours, but delivering a beautiful baby that made me forget all the pain and instantly fall in love.
The fact that I love my iPhone in spite of 24 hours of iBrick hell. (Yes, that's what the bloggers call it before it gets activated, because you can't do anything with it!)
What I Love:
* The overall design. Lightweight, sleek easy to hold in your hand or slip in your pocket.
* It's easy to enlarge the screen or make it smaller. I can move things around with one finger.
* It does exactly like the commercials show. I can zoom in, zoom out, turn it sideways.
* The colors are bright, the resolution is good, I can actually see and read the screen without reading glasses!
* It's simple to operate. One button on the bottom takes you back home no matter where you have wandered on the iPhone.
* It is easy to make calls, the favorites list is easy to use. The phone sounds good and I like the variety of ringtones included. The phone is very simple to use. I like simple. Simple and cool is even better. Thank you, Apple.
* I love the gadgets -- stock quotes, weather and maps in beautiful color and easily accessible.
* The clock includes a stop watch, a time, and an alarm. It also lets you select multiple time zones. That could be handy if you're a world traveler or make calls to folks in a lot of different time zones.
* Camera and Photos -- Photo resolution is good and they look great on the iPhone screen.
* Blue tooth capability makes it easy to use a wireless headset, especially helpful when driving.
* Everything was easy to sync up. My AOL email. My Outlook mail and contacts. My bookmarks. My photos. No fuss, no muss.
* The smart, intuitive "virtual" keyboard that pops up when you need it. The size and style vary on the application and when you no longer need it, it slides from view. Unlike my Treo with the tiny keyboard at the bottom, this "virtual" keyboard is easier for me to use. It's learning how I type and making it easier by offering to finish words for me and helping keep me from fat-fingering too much.
You don't actually "push" the keys to type on the virtual keyboard. As you slide your finger over the keys, the letter pop up in enlarged size so you know exactly which key your finger is on. When you remove your finger, the key is selected. Typing slower is actually faster, since you have less mistakes.
* Oh yeah -- it's an iPod. All the great features you'd expect with the ability to scroll through visually using album covers. I can listen to music or podcasts and watch videos or tv shows to my heart's content. Everything is easily updated through iTunes. Earbuds are included for your listening pleasure.
Never having owned an iPod I don't have a basis for comparison there. However, I found it simple and easy to find and play the songs I wanted.
I used iTunes to import music from my CD collection, then sync them up on the iPhone. It was a lot easier than I expected and I don't believe I yelled or cursed at my computer or iPhone a single time. (A true measure of ease of use, in my book.)
* It's cool, it's fun, and I will never be bored again! I will look forward to the doctor's waiting room, the line to buy lottery tickets, or long plane rides.
The first day at work the battery died just after lunch. Five hours of everyone passing it around and playing with it did the battery in! I must say, I felt like the cool kid at school. (Many years too late!)
Adjusting the Settings:
It's very easy to adjust the settings, using the "Settings" button on the main screen. The settings screen clearly lays out the options.
Airplane mode and Wi-fi use simple sliders to to the function off or on. This allows you to turn off the radio transmitter so you can used the other functions while flying. It also allows you to conserve battery life by using the Wi-fi only when needed.
The other categories are clearly labeled and logically grouped. It's easy to see your usage statistics outlining time use, time since last full charge, and network data sent and received. This can be reset with one touch.
You can select different sounds for different functions and adjust the brightness, as well as select a wallpaper. Of course,you can use one of your own photos to use as wallpaper.
The mail settings make it easy to add mail accounts or specific email display. The font display options are great: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, and Giant! Even the Medium setting is pretty easily read.
The phone settings allows you to select International Assist (adding the correct prefix to US numbers when dialing from abroad)
You can choose the sort order for your contact list, as well as change your Voicemail password.
It's simple to forward calls, turn call waiting off or on, or elect whether or not to show your caller id.
You can also view your AT&T account information with one touch that will open the Safari browser and display your account.
Using the Safari Browser
The Safari button is at the bottom of the main screen. It will open the browser to your home page where you can view bookmarks, open multiple screens, and move easily between multiple browser screens.
The best part - turn the iPhone sideways and the display adjusts, giving your more room for the display and making the popup keyboard larger when you need to use it for typing in URLs.
An open book icon at the bottom of the Safari screen puts you quickly in touch with your bookmarks. Touch the edit button at the bottom of the bookmarks page. Red icons will appear next to each bookmark. Select the red icon and a red "Delete" button will appear. Use this to delete unwanted bookmarks.
Click directly on the bookmark name to open and edit the information. Again, a popup keyboard displays, allowing you to update information.
Return buttons make it easy to navigate back to the main bookmarks page, where you can add another folder or click done to close the bookmarks.
Email
Touch the mail button and your email accounts display. You can choose your default email address to display automatically, or select from a list.
From here you can also visually see your voicemail display. You know who left a message when and choose which ones to listen to delete or save.
The inbox is clearly display with the sender's name in bold and the first two lines of the email displayed (my choice).
With a click of the edit button at the top of the screen, the red circle icons appear next to each email. Touch the icon and the delete button appears. This makes it very simple to weed out email you don't want without having to see more than what is initially displayed.
My favorite part of deleting email, though, is to delete the email after reading. There is a trash can at the bottom of the email page. When I click it the trash can lid opens and the mail is visually "sucked" into the trash can with an accompanying sound effect. Very cool.
It's easy to start an email by selecting the pencil/paper icon at the bottom of the mail screen.
It is also easy to forward email and select whether or not to include attachments.
YouTube
Touch the YouTube icon and the screen opens with options to view Most Recent, Top Rated and History. You can also edit the options that display here. Options include featured, Most Viewed and Bookmarks.
It is easy to locate and view videos here.
Calendar
From Calendar mode you can quickly view a list of events, as well as add or edit events.
Each touch will display the areas you need to add an event and will pop up the appropriate size keyboard for the task. You can quickly move through the display by day or month.
Overall, I found it easy to use and very similar to the Outlook calendar.
However, one feature that looks cool, but is a bit cumbersome to use is selecting the time for a new calendar event. You are given a screen that looks like a slot machine where you roll the hours, minutes and AM/PM to select the time.
If you're sitting really still and have skinny fingers, it probably won't be a problem. I, on the other hand, made myself dizzy trying to set the time for an appointment. It kept moving up and down - kind of like the cable remote when you've clicked it several times, then it keeps moving way past the channel you want.
Don't even think about using this feature in a moving vehicle!
SMS/Text Messages
Sending a message is very simple. Touch the green SMS button on the main page and the message screen opens. (I confess, I could never find the right screen to send text messages on my Treo.) The navigation on the iPhone could not be simpler.
The basic iPhone AT&T data plan ($20/month) includes 200 text messages. That should be more than enough for me, but use caution if you spending more time texting than talking. You can add more included messages each month in $10 increments. For $30 a month you get 1500 messages, or for $40 a month you get unlimited text messaging.
I love the way the text string displays in different colors with a bubble like appearance. It very clearly shows what you're typing, as opposed to what is being received. It makes nice eye candy.
Photo Album
The photo album has "Camera Roll" which displays photos taken with your iPhone.
The 2MP resolution is very good and photos can be used as wallpaper or you can assign them to a contact. The assigned photo displays when you make a call or receive a call from that contact.
You can also choose to email a photo from the display.
I have several folders of photos that were on my computer. They were transferred easily during my initial sync. I can quickly move through folders, click on photos and show off my grandkids, my sailboat, or my Dyson vacuum. (I admit, I took a picture of my vacuum to see how the camera worked.)
Click on a photo that would display nicely in landscape, turn the iPhone sideways and prepare for people to gasp in amazement as the display turns and widens.
Resizing Photos on the Screen
Use your thumb and index finger to "stretch" the photo on the screen for great closeups! Or your can tap the screen, but that's not as impressive to your friends. You can then "pinch" the screen to make the photo smaller.
This is truly one of the most amazing and fun features.
(You can use the stretch and pinch functions on email and browser windows for ease in viewing, as well.)
Camera
The camera button opens a very simple interface. It first looks like the lens shutter then displays the photo field. A click on the camera icon takes the picture (with accompanying shutter click if you like.) You see the shutter close, then open again. That's it click on the photo icon and you'll see all the photos that you've taken with your phone.
I now have a lovely, new picture of the clutter on my desk.
The iPhone camera does not have a zoom, nor does it take video. My Treo did that, but it was not something I used very often and don't think I'll miss that.
Recommendations:
* Don't have the Wi-Fi on when you don't need it.
* It's also a worthwhile investment to purchase an extra cable for use at your office. This will allow you to keep the battery charged during the day.
* The very sleekness of the iPhone makes me a little nervous that I might drop it. Shop around for a case that will help protect your investment and make you feel more comfortable while using it.
* Spend some time just exploring the features. Although the interface is intuitive, I have found features I didn't realize were there.
* Go to the Apple website and watch the video demos on the features. They've packed so many features into this product, that you might never discover them all.
* Be prepared to amaze your friends. I spent five minutes giving a friend a demo and she couldn't wait to get to the Apple store to see if there were any phones left.
Would I buy it again? Absolutely!
Updates:
I will continue to update my review as I use the iPhone more. I'll share both good and bad with you to help you make the right choice as to whether the iPhone is right for you.
If you have questions, feel free to email me.
Update #1: (July 11)
It's official. The honeymoon is over. Last night I tried to answer a call and the slider that unlocks the iPhone didn't work the first few times.
Today, I missed a call because I couldn't get the slider to work right before the call rolled to voice mail. Throughout the day, it just got worse.
By the end of the day it took 50 attempts to move the slider and unlock the iPhone. This is not a good thing.
I had noticed a bit of hesitation in moving the slider on previous occasions, but I attributed that to not touching the right spot.
Sometimes it would work on a slide or two, other times it took 20 or more tries. I decided heed the words of Barney Fife and "nip it in the bud!"
My attempt to nip it was to go back to the AT&T store where I plunked down $599. Guess what? Not the right thing to do.
I signed my name and waited to be called, finally to be told that only Apple could help me. AT&T does not do any after sale assistance, service, repairs, returns, etc. And I quote, "They only trained us on how to SELL the iPhone."
I was advised to go to the Apple web site and told there was a number I could call for help, but the lady couldn't find the number. She said if they can't help you over the phone, then you'll need to go to the Apple store.
I decided to circumvent trying to find the number to call and being put on hold (if I could get the iPhone to unlock so I could use it) and went directly to the Apple store.
When I walked in there were two young ladies at the counter. I showed them my phone and asked who was the iPhone expert.
"We're all at about the same level." Not comforting.
After demonstrating my problem (fortunately not like the funny noise in your car that goes away when you take it to the mechanic) the young ladies stopped a man and asked him to look at it. He didn't have a clue as to the source of my problem, either.
I was offered an appointment at the "Genius Bar" in just over an hour. Having already driven almost to my house to get to AT&T, then driving in the other direction about 10 miles to get to the Apple store in rush hour traffic, I was not in the mood to wait around more than an hour to visit the "Genius Bar" so I made an appointment for tomorrow. Martini bar -- I might have considered!
So, I will wait until my visit tomorrow at the "Genius Bar" before I take away a star or two from my rating. Depending on what I hear from the certified resident genius, I will either be very happy or very ticked off.
So far, no one else has reported that particular problem to the local AT&T or Apple store. Also not comforting.
After publishing this update, I poked around the web to see if I could find anyone else with the same problem. (Always feel so much better when I know it's not just me!)
I found a few posters reporting this problem. One had discovered that by pressing the button at the top and the home button at the same time you can turn off the power and reboot. I gave that a shot and will see if it does the trick. Apparently it has worked for others.
Update July 13:
The reboot did the trick. I've had no further problems with the slider.
Update July 29:
Absolutely no more problems with the slider. I got a call from the manager of the local Apple store. (I completed an email survey they sent.) He was very apologetic about my experience and invited me to stop in to see him and he would hook me up with a good iPhone accessory.
Note to Apple and AT&T:
Please share with your frontline personnel. This could be very helpful to others.
They listened -- Apple is now allowing their frontline employees to show people how to reboot for minor problems.
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