Is anyone having 2nd thoughts?

I got sucked into the hype so bad and I must say even though this is a really great phone I can't justify paying over $700 and 60/month for a phone, any phone, but I waited 28 hours, I was #1 in line and I didn't care how much I was spending at that point but now that I think about it I realized how much I spent and how much I'm going to spend.

Phone:
$599.99
Case:
$29.99
Tax:
$48.74
Total:
$677.73
+ Activation Fee:
$34.99

Monthly fee:
$60/mo

What makes me sad is that I sell phones and Cingular plans indirectly and they still can't subsidize nor give a discounted monthly rate. At this point I'm not will to spend $700 for a phone thats cool.

My only cons about this phone besides the ones already stated are:
- Edge speed but the coverage is very nice even got it out at the beach.
- Screen can't help to get smudges and/or fingerprints and is prone to cheek prints
- No flash, and a lot of sites I go to are flash
- Mono speaker (not stereo)
- *** did they do to the headphone jack, they put a stupid little dip in there so you can't directly connect headphones w/o buying an adapter.
- Battery Indicator isn't accurate
- YouTube is watered down because not all the videos are converted to h.214 (w/e its called) format.
- Can't type in landscape mode for texting or note taking but that could possible change with an update.
-*No real time GPS
- Mail system won't delete e-mails from inbox from the actually e-mail provider but instead will just delete them off the phones display and you can't empty out the entire trash if you want to completely dispose of an email you have to delete it twice yet there still there in my gmail inbox.
- No custom ringtones
No 3rd party application support
- Can't play WoW on it (I'm just kidding I don't even play that game).

Pros:
- Built-in iPod
- Interface - Not crowded, very clean and easy to use
- 2MP Camera compliments 3.5" screen and it looks very nice
- Although there is no real-time GPS google maps works great!
- Weather widget is great, basic and gets straight to the point, current, highs, lows, mon-sun.
- Built-in Wifi and easily connects to any network
- All of the widgets work great and are easy to use. The stock widget I can really see a shareholder using it works great and looks fantastic.
- Size and battery life

I'm really on the fence right now and I'm really not sure what I'm going to do but I'll really miss this phone. But is anyone else feeling this way?

Count me in as another amongst thousands that were sucked
into the "hype" of this phone but came out a bit disappointed.

The biggest disappointment for me is email. I get 300 pieces of
email per day (mostly spam) and the iPhone downloads it all. There
is no spam filter and no way to do a mass deletion.

I can see Apple fixing this in a future software update so I am not
grossly concerned, but right now, email is unusable.

Battery life is not good. The iPhone has to be recharged daily.

On the plus side, this is by far the best smart phone I have ever used.
If it had cost $200 less I would have been more tolerant of its faults.

I'm going to keep it as I know that Apple will improve upon it with
software updates.

I was actually on the fence before and now I want one after doing my research I believe that many of your issues will be updated via software updates, but you have to decide if you want to wait that long. A revision 2 iPhone may be a better choice for you. Have you considered an AT&T 8525? It's basically the same as the iPhone (feature-wise that is, software is Windows Mobile) but has pretty much all the features you want plus a slide-out keyboard:

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/8525/?_requestid=101778

As with kaidomac, I too was on the fence before buying. When I first saw Steve Jobs demonstrate it months ago it was absolutely the coolest device I'd seen. The scrolling was amazing. I laughed at how neat that was.

Just before it came out I knew I couldn't justify having one. I'm not one for showing off to others, nor do I have a need to "keep up" with others. Still, the iPhone represented a leap in technology that I wanted. It also looked as if it was something I could really use. Technolust got the better of me.

I bought mine yesterday, a 4G model. I'm just started to exploit its capabilities. I know it has its limitations, but it also has its capabilities.

On cost, the iPhone isn't cheap. I've been in situations in the past where I realized I might have done better not spending money on something. Yeah, those memories come back nice and painfully clear. For me the iPhone is a luxury item. I'll use much of its capabilities, but I don't need it. I don't make or receive many calls, and don't use the net over the phone, well at least prior to the iPhone. I need simple basic service, which I had. iPhone is an indulgenge.

Given you sell phones and contracts, you know you have 30 days to cancel with AT&T. Look at your budget and your phone needs and wants. Can you justify the difference between what you need and what you're paying for the iPhone? What could/would you be doing with the money otherwise?

It's not an easy decision, to keep it or get rid of it. Ultimately you're the one playing for it, and it's you who has to decide how you'll use your money. Good luck in what you decide!

I still have my gripes (the ones Bently suggested plus no bluetooth sync or bluetooth stereo headphones or bluetooth file xfer oh and the no MMS to/from other people totally sucks), but now that I have ripped 10 full length DVD movies onto the phone, have about 500 songs, and over 200 contacts with pictures and all the informational stuff from my Entourage contacts list (I'm kinda anal about filling out every piece of info for every contact I have including children, spouse, pictures, and birthdays) all at my fingertips, I must admit I love it and am glad I spent the money for the 8G model. I also believe that lots of those issues will be updated in software releases later on.

Bentley said:

- Edge speed but the coverage is very nice even got it out at the beach.

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For the built in apps (minus Youtube) I find EDGE to be more than adequate. 3G would slow down the battery life and its not widely available in the US yet.

Bentley said:

- Screen can't help to get smudges and/or fingerprints and is prone to cheek prints

Click to expand...

But do you actually notice them when you using the phone? I wipe mine down when I get home from work and thats just because I like making it look nice and clean, but when using it fingerprints and smudges are undetectable

Bentley said:

- No flash, and a lot of sites I go to are flash

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I can see this bothering people, but I am a huge believer in not using flash in websites, and combined with it being EDGE it wouldn't be worth going to the sites.

Bentley said:

- Mono speaker (not stereo)

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What do you really need stereo for? I have used the speaker for calls and it is fine, and to show somebody a funny youtube video, nothing that needs Hi-fi quality

Bentley said:

- *** did they do to the headphone jack, they put a stupid little dip in there so you can't directly connect headphones w/o buying an adapter.

Click to expand...

No clue here

Bentley said:

- Battery Indicator isn't accurate

Click to expand...

How isn't it accurate?

Bentley said:

- YouTube is watered down because not all the videos are converted to h.214 (w/e its called) format.

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By this fall their entire catalog will be converted to H.264. The deal with Youtube was only reached a few weeks before launch, so theres no way the catalog could be ready for launch

Bentley said:

- Can't type in landscape mode for texting or note taking but that could possible change with an update.

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Some of the rumor sites are saying landscape keyboard mode will be available system wide in an update

Bentley said:

-*No real time GPS

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Would really inhibit battery life and probably require bulking the phone up.

Bentley said:

- Mail system won't delete e-mails from inbox from the actually e-mail provider but instead will just delete them off the phones display and you can't empty out the entire trash if you want to completely dispose of an email you have to delete it twice yet there still there in my gmail inbox.

Click to expand...

You have to set your GMail POP support to remove the e-mails when downloading so they aren't in both places.

Bentley said:

- No custom ringtones

Click to expand...

This will almost certainly be changed in a software update in the future. But I'm pretty much always on vibrate mode so dont mind

Bentley said:

No 3rd party application support

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There are already a decent amount of webapps popping up that are made for the iPhone. Security and stability would be a big concern if developers could make full apps

If I were you I'd at least wait until Apple gets an update or two out, and at least give them a chance to fix some of these issues. They're well aware of them and this IS their first attempt at a cell phone, so I'd say they did a pretty darn good job, considering.

Bentley said:

- *** did they do to the headphone jack, they put a stupid little dip in there so you can't directly connect headphones w/o buying an adapter.

Click to expand...

Well, thats typical Apple proprietary rubbish. Ever looked at the end of the USB connecter on Apple products? They have dips in them so you cannot use regular extenders/other peripherals with them.

Is it perfect? no.

But I really do like it a lot.

Plus, the thing is all software.

There are some hardware limitations like EDGE obviously, but imagine what kind of updates they can provide on this platform....and even if they don't, I like it right now as is.

Would I prefer EDGE to be broadband speed? Of course.

No second thoughts so far though.

Bentley said:

At this point I'm not will to spend $700 for a phone thats cool.

I'm really on the fence right now and I'm really not sure what I'm going to do but I'll really miss this phone. But is anyone else feeling this way?

Click to expand...

You should've thought about that PRIOR to buying the phone.

If it makes you feel any better, I made this point in another thread:

Cost of regular smartphone: $350 (on average)
Cost of an 8 GB iPod: $250
Rough Tax Estimate: $50
Total Cost of two devices: $650

Cost of iPhone (smartphone/iPod in one): $652 (rounded up the change including tax)

Alright, I thought I would give my 2 cents on this thread, haha.

Like mentioned, most of the complaints are software oriented complaints. Now, we all know how good apple is at releasing software updates, I get mine all the time with my PowerBook. Its just a matter of time before they release a fix or two that will completely fix most of your current problems.

The only real problem with the phone is the recessed headphone jack, bad Apple. I find this to be really lame because the **** adaptor from belkin costs 10 dollars, and is ****ing huge. Then, the Apple one costs 20 but is a fairly good size. As an audio engineer, an adaptor like that should cost like 3 or 4 bucks. This is my only complaint, the rest is software but I'm not too worried about it.

I'm at work right now posting from my iPhone. I completely love this phone. It really is the best iPod, the best handheld browser, and phone i have ever had. Enjoy it dudes, its a typical Apple product, full of entertainment and extremely cool features.

Peace!

Before the iPhone came out, I had convinced myself that I didn't need it. The cost, lack of 3G, and on-screen software keyboard were all things that had done a pretty good job in keeping me from buying it.

But then I played with it and all of my reservations went out the window. I want one so badly now, but I know that the second version will be better, all I have to do is wait for it. But the iPhone is so nice......

I'm calling my local AT&T and Apple Stores to see if there are any in stock.....

Kash said:

Before the iPhone came out, I had convinced myself that I didn't need it. The cost, lack of 3G, and on-screen software keyboard were all things that had done a pretty good job in keeping me from buying it.

But then I played with it and all of my reservations went out the window. I want one so badly now, but I know that the second version will be better, all I have to do is wait for it. But the iPhone is so nice......

I'm calling my local AT&T and Apple Stores to see if there are any in stock.....

Click to expand...

Your chances of finding one now are extremely slim to none.

Bentley said:

Your chances of finding one now are extremely slim to none.

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Whoa, didn't think that would be true, but after a quick run through Apple's availability, it looks like only a few out off all Apple stores have any left! Well, if the reports of 3 million pre-manufactured are true, it shouldn't take long to restock the shelves.

I had some second thoughts for a few hours the other day. Then I got a call, found the restaurant my wife wanted to eat dinner at, found the directions to the restaurant, then checked out the website so I knew the menu and hours....my second thoughts soon went away

NolaWegs said:

I had some second thoughts for a few hours the other day. Then I got a call, found the restaurant my wife wanted to eat dinner at, found the directions to the restaurant, then checked out the website so I knew the menu and hours....my second thoughts soon went away

Click to expand...

Exactly, this is such a great tool and lots of software updates will come out shortly to address most of these concerns.

I agree, I was out in the city going between clients and needed to find something, the iPhone didn't disappoint. I've never had information so readily available anywhere I'm at. I find the Edge network to be sufficient for basic mapping and email use.

Availability is NOT a problem. Despite the site saying that none were in stock at my local Apple Store, I just walked in today around 8:30PM and there were plenty in stock. I just asked for one, paid for it and walked out.

I gotta say, thing is BETTER than I could have imagined

Congrats on your purchase, Kash.

Thanks! This thing is amazing