Internet connection on iPhone

Just a few questions to help me decide if i should buy an iPhone or not.

What do you think of web browsing/internet usage with NO wifi connection?

Which do you use most for internet/browsing connectivity, normal or wifi?
How often do you use, find or connect to a wifi spot on your iphone?
Do you bother browsing the internet with no Wifi Connection?
Is web browsing painfull with no Wifi?
How is email when your not using wifi?

In the uk, Do you find and connect to many open public Wifi spots, or do you find they are difficult to find and you dont use many?

I browse the web all the time on my iphone, and the edge/gsm network is slow, but not unbearable. I connect to a wifi spot when available, and use edge the rest of the time. Email is great on Edge, not far different than being connected via Wifi.

I might wait a few months for the 3G iphone at this point, obviously that will be quick a bit quicker data wise.

I'm in the US, so ymmv (your mileage may vary).

What do you think of web browsing/internet usage with NO wifi connection?
It's fine. EDGE is stable and reliable, and gives me a good enough connection if I need or want to check something.

Which do you use most for internet/browsing connectivity, normal or wifi?
If I'm in a wifi zone, it's wifi. If I'm not, I turn off wifi and connect exclusively with EDGE. Turning off wifi ensures the iPhone doesn't go looking for a wifi connection, which takes time.

How often do you use, find or connect to a wifi spot on your iphone?
I have it at work and at home, and in one of the local malls (with an Apple Store and a public wifi zone around the food court). In those locations I use wifi.

Do you bother browsing the internet with no Wifi Connection?
Sure. It's okay. While not fast, it's tolerable if you need or want to check something.

Is web browsing painfull with no Wifi?
No.

How is email when your not using wifi?
I have both gmail (web) and mac mail (mail icon). Both work just fine w/o wifi.

In the uk, Do you find and connect to many open public Wifi spots, or do you find they are difficult to find and you dont use many?
Sorry, I'm in the US. Can't help you on this one.

Hope this helps!

I think it's important here to note that O2 in the UK does not have EDGE coverage everywhere yet, so you might be using GPRS a fair bit instead, which is slower. But you do also get access to the Cloud Wifi network, so in a lot of urban / shopping areas finding an access point shouldn't be too hard.

Having said that, even when using the iPhone on my carrier (no EDGE at all), the speed isn't that bad if you know how to use it:

I tend to use it mostly either on iPhone optimized websites (Facebook mobile etc.) or I read blogs using Google reader's iPhone optimized version: Google reformats everything and the feeds load really quickly, even whilst on GPRS.

So personally I think it's great. Sure Wifi is snappier for "large" websites, but when I'm on the go I usually tend to access "lighter" content anyway.

Email is great with both services, except if you get a lot of huge attachments.