iPhone launch 14th March on O2 Ireland...

Archytas

Bubonic wrote: »

I see a few people on here are saying the tarrifs are ok. I'm sorry but you are being stupid. In the Sunday Business post there is a write up on the packages. As they say it we are paying 4 to 5 times what people are paying up North. We pay more for less.

But that's the case with all bill pay plans. Its the same with every company for every phone. I pay 75 a month on a phone bill and its ok. I know if I moved to England it would be cheaper but I don't care. I live here. I pay Irish prices.

Branoic

Archytas wrote: »

But that's the case with all bill pay plans. Its the same with every company for every phone. I pay 75 a month on a phone bill and its ok. I know if I moved to England it would be cheaper but I don't care. I live here. I pay Irish prices.

Exactly.

We all know we pay more in this country than elsewhere. Rip off Ireland and all that, etc etc etc.

The point some people are making about the tariffs is that compared to other tariffs we already pay in the Irish market, the iphone tariff is, for what you're getting, not that bad. And what I mean by "what you're getting" is not just the talktime minutes and texts, which I couldn't really care less about.

Gillo

Archytas wrote: »

But that's the case with all bill pay plans. Its the same with every company for every phone. I pay 75 a month on a phone bill and its ok. I know if I moved to England it would be cheaper but I don't care. I live here. I pay Irish prices.

Well put, give yourself a hug;)

Oafley Jones wrote:

No, what you're seeing is the phone using triangulation between the phone masts to acquire a rough fix on where you are. No where near as accurate as GPS

TBH, I wouldn't put a lot of faith in it over here. It also uses triangulation between wi fi spots, in the states. But this is still being rolled out in Europe so I'd say it'll take quite a while before the hot spots are mapped in Ireland. If you download the latest Macworld Keynote Steve Jobs explains how it works, pretty nice feature on it though.

future_plans

Bubonic wrote: »

I see a few people on here are saying the tarrifs are ok. I'm sorry but you are being stupid. In the Sunday Business post there is a write up on the packages. As they say it we are paying 4 to 5 times what people are paying up North. We pay more for less.

Have to agree here. I guess O2 are banking on the hype and the gullible Irish consumer to fork out for this. One of the reasons Ireland is more expensive is exactly because of some of the attitudes and opinions displayed above.

"175 minutes of call time and 100 texts on the lowest cost tariff compared to the UK's 600 minutes and 500 texts."

And also a 1GB cap when one gets unlimited use in the states and in the UK?

dubmick

eamon234 wrote: »

Has anyone noticed there's been no update on the Apple Ireland website since this was announced? Bit strange considering....

I would say it will be on the site when it is actually available i.e.. 14 March

djfitzerjnr

my friend has one, unlocked and i have to admit it looks the sh1t!!!:D

Ste05

matchthis wrote: »

Anyone notice that you have to put all your contacts in manually :eek: It doesn't read contacts from your sim, but will take them from outlook if saved. Still a bit of a pain, don't know anyone that does this

You can get an application that imports your Sim contacts. The one I used was called SIMport.

Scottish

Couple of things about this.

I think that the 2nd Gen iPhone might be a bit further away than everyone thinks. Unless I'm mistaken, the FCC in the US test new hardware over a period of 6 (?) months before giving it the green light to go to market. They did this with the first iPhone. Many people reckon this was the reason that it was announced 6 months in advance, because Apple knew they couldn't keep it a secret when the FCC got a hold of it. I reckon announced in May/June for a holiday release in the US. Another 6-12 months for the rest of the world.

The tariffs are ****e. But even if you unlock, you still have ****e tariffs.

Unlocking isn't for everyone. I looked into it, and unless you have a certain level of competence at this stuff, I would avoid it. Bricking something that expensive would scare the hell out of me.

Petands

I am seriously considering an iphone very soon, My dilema being will i go with o2?(18 month contract:eek::mad:) or should i get an unlocked version. Any realistic opinions appreciated

MrVestek

Have been using one for the past few days that I got unlocked for someone else... been using it to try it out myself and I can honestly say that like alot of apple products it's pretty but there are much cheaper devices out there that can do the same and more for cheaper.

It's pretty and erm... that's about it. I wouldn't buy one for myself to be honest.

Bubonic

Scottish wrote: »

Unlocking isn't for everyone. I looked into it, and unless you have a certain level of competence at this stuff, I would avoid it. Bricking something that expensive would scare the hell out of me.

It was more complicated but its easy now. Apps like Ziphone are available on Windows and Mac and do a pure software unlock.

Mine is on the way to me as I speak.

I can stay on my Business Time 500 and add a data package and have a way better deal on any of the iPhone packages. Plus my outside package options are better.

I understand what people are saying about all the packages being expensive in Ireland but that doesn't cut it. In this case the iPhone tariffs are worse than the other other trariffs they have, at least for business bill pay customers anyway. So you have to buy an expensive device for the privileges of paying more. I would have been happy with my same tariff and some data, but instead they decided to fleece people.

The attitude that its always expensive in Ireland is what got us in to this sort of thing in the first place.

Henne220

I dont think you should go for an iPhone. Ok they look amazing but c'mon 18 month contract?! Thats not fair. Go for a Nokia n95 8gb absolutely brilliant phone imo.

rymus

why would you be bothered getting one on contract for €399 when you can get one elsewhere, unlock it and use it on your current provider for around €380?

meep

I like apple stuff and would love an iPhone but won't be getting one from O2;

1. Their MD called potential customers "apple freaks" (last Thursdays Irish Independent business section).

2. See the copmparative figures between offering in Ireland and UK;

Ireland:
€45 - 175 mins, 100 texts, 1GB data
€65 - 350 mins, 150 texts. 1GB data
€100 - 700 mins, 250 texts, 1GB data
NO visual voicemail, NO wifi hotspot access

UK:
£35 (~€47) - 600 mins, 500 texts, unlimited data
£45 (~€60) - 1200 mins, 500 text, unlimited data
£75 (~€100) - 3000 mins, 500 texts, unlimited data
Visual voicemail, access to UK-wide wifi hotspots.

Not a good deal.

Peter

Branoic

In fairness, I think the "apple freaks" comment has been blown up and taken way out of context. It even made headlines on an Apple website in the US!

She was referring endearingly to those people who would be queuing outside the stores on launch day, and tbh, i think its accurate to call these people freaks

Branoic

rymus wrote: »

why would you be bothered getting one on contract for €399 when you can get one elsewhere, unlock it and use it on your current provider for around €380?

Because not everyone feels comfortable messing around with a piece of kit that costs that much money and run very real risk of bricking it and losing functionality? Also, I don't see why the 18 month contract is a problem for some people. How often do you plan on buying new phones? 18 months is grand.

iPhone = yay from me.

Basq

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy..

.. that is all!

meep

Branoic wrote: »

In fairness, I think the "apple freaks" comment has been blown up and taken way out of context. It even made headlines on an Apple website in the US!

She was referring endearingly to those people who would be queuing outside the stores on launch day, and tbh, i think its accurate to call these people freaks

I don't think that's fair at all. When a company MD mocks their potential customers like that, I think it's time to look elsewhere for a similar service.

I only saw the expression reported in the contect of the article cited above. It struck me that she was calling me a freak. (I like Apple products and have been known to evangalise).

That, combined with the rip off prices, really make me think that O2 are laughing all the way to the bank. No thanks.

Peter

navin.r.johnson

As is the case with most Apple products, and putting the ridiculous 18 month contract aside, wait for the next generation/product update. Apple are notorious for ironing out the glitches on the 1st wave of a new product. It's possible that they have addressed any potential teething problems during the gap between US and European release dates. Dosn't make me want one any less, but I can afford to wait the 6-9 months for an updated product thats less likely to crap out on you.

meep

navin.r.johnson wrote: »

As is the case with most Apple products, and putting the ridiculous 18 month contract aside, wait for the next generation/product update. Apple are notorious for ironing out the glitches on the 1st wave of a new product. It's possible that they have addressed any potential teething problems during the gap between US and European release dates. Dosn't make me want one any less, but I can afford to wait the 6-9 months for an updated product thats less likely to crap out on you.

Indeed, rumors indicate an updated iPone with 3G capabilities to be in the works. Of course, it's a rumor so take with a pinch of salt.

jpfahy

Well I have an iPhone, using it to type this actually, and I will be getting an 'official' one on the 14th and here's why:
1. Internet all the time with Edge instead of having to look for hotspots
2. Can update it without worrying about bricking the phone or losing all my data/contacts/settings/ texts
3. Warranty
4. Can complain to O2 about any issues I have instead of having to trawl the web as I do now
5. I expect O2 will make the tariffs better after a while just as they did in the UK

mgsrocks

jpfahy wrote: »

Well I have an iPhone, using it to type this actually, and I will be getting an 'official' one on the 14th and here's why:
1. Internet all the time with Edge instead of having to look for hotspots
2. Can update it without worrying about bricking the phone or losing all my data/contacts/settings/ texts
3. Warranty
4. Can complain to O2 about any issues I have instead of having to trawl the web as I do now
5. I expect O2 will make the tariffs better after a while just as they did in the UK

But is all that worth €400 + 18 month contract adding another €800/1000. Im happy spending €300 for mine from the state.

You still get the warranty (its one year world wide) just make sure you restore before you send it to be fixed.

When you have a problem with it odds are o2 wont be able to help, most people on those help lines are just reading off a sheet and have no idea about how stuff like that works.

If your on vodafone you can set it up for vodafone live, so you can get 50mb for €1, not great but ill take it.

Cant believe people will be spending €1400 when its out over here!


EDIT: By the way, if you get the iphone through o2 you wont be able to jailbreak it as that voids the warranty, and a non jailbroken ipod is just not the same.

Gillo

mgsrocks wrote: »

When you have a problem with it odds are o2 wont be able to help, most people on those help lines are just reading off a sheet and have no idea about how stuff like that works.

There's been a "warm link" set up between both Apples and O2's tech support so when you call either looking for help if you need to contact the other you can be transfered directly.

Having used one for a good bit today, have to say I'm very impressed. It's a proper O2 model (ie; not jail broken) and runs amazingly smooth.

ADSLUSER

Apple iPhone on 02 now advertised on www.apple.ie

http://www.apple.com/ie/iphone/

fbradyirl

jpfahy wrote: »

Well I have an iPhone, using it to type this actually, and I will be getting an 'official' one on the 14th and here's why:
1. Internet all the time with Edge instead of having to look for hotspots
2. Can update it without worrying about bricking the phone or losing all my data/contacts/settings/ texts
3. Warranty
4. Can complain to O2 about any issues I have instead of having to trawl the web as I do now
5. I expect O2 will make the tariffs better after a while just as they did in the UK

I agree. Even point 2 you made is good enough for me to buy it from O2. Apple will be adding a few things more to the iPhone (SDK stuff, bug fixes etc...) and it would be a bummer not to be able to upgrade the software on it to save 140 euro by buying in the US.

buachaillbeoir

so is there any definite price out yet? i was told in the o2 shop last week that it will most likely cost the equivalent sterling to euro amount plus 100 or so euro. its gonna be way to expensive.......

techguy

Surprise surprise, it costs more here than it does anywhere else (way more!)

I really think that there should be a boycott!!

Gillo

buachaillbeoir wrote: »

so is there any definite price out yet? i was told in the o2 shop last week that it will most likely cost the equivalent sterling to euro amount plus 100 or so euro. its gonna be way to expensive.......

8GB is 399
16GB is 499

As with other countries it's unsubsidised, hence it appears more expensive, but it you compare it to K850I at €500 or N95 at €690, it's a pretty decent price.

I don't follow your logic of adding the tarrif's to the price and coming up with a much higher value. I can see how you worked out the price. But unless you are just going to use the ipod features you will incur charges with whichever network you use the iphone on.

faceman

i was going to get one until i read the tarriffs. I can live with the fact the phone is not subsidised, but higher tarrifs and longer contracts are not justified. Its a real test for consumer power, if demand is low then o2 will be forced to review their price book.

However given most people is this country dont send back a cold meal in a restaurant, i reckon my call to o2 to register my dissatisfaction was the only one.

I challenged the price comparison in the UK and the response was, "well the offer is competitive to other countries." My response was simply, "yes but no the UK. Why not? You give free roaming between the UK and ireland so why is the tarriff higher? Plus its not competitive with your existing offerings in ireland"

The response was "ehhh, but it is competitive with other countries."

muppets.

meep

faceman wrote: »

I challenged the price comparison in the UK and the response was, "well the offer is competitive to other countries." My response was simply, "yes but no the UK. Why not? You give free roaming between the UK and ireland so why is the tarriff higher? Plus its not competitive with your existing offerings in ireland"

The response was "ehhh, but it is competitive with other countries."

muppets.

I contacted O2 by mail asking the same question. No response. Quelle Surprise!