Thinking of getting one but have a few questions

evad_lhorg

Howdy, looking to invest in one of these fancy pants iphones but Im a bit unsure about a few things.

Im on o2 pay as you go so here we go:
1: Am I missing out on anything being on pay as you go?

2: Do I just get my normal charges?

3: Will the internet be expensive on it?

4:Where is the best place to pick one up at good value?

5:what model would you recommend?

6:What else do I get charged for app wise i.e using gps or anything?


Thats all I can think of for now I think but if I have more Ill come back:cool:
any help would be greatly appreciated.

Creamy Goodness

evad_lhorg wrote: »

Howdy, looking to invest in one of these fancy pants iphones but Im a bit unsure about a few things.

Im on o2 pay as you go so here we go:
1: Am I missing out on anything being on pay as you go?

2: Do I just get my normal charges?

3: Will the internet be expensive on it?

4:Where is the best place to pick one up at good value?

5:what model would you recommend?

6:What else do I get charged for app wise i.e using gps or anything?


Thats all I can think of for now I think but if I have more Ill come back:cool:
any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'll answer the best i can.

1. kind of, you can do everything you can do on PAYG iPhone as you can do on a contract iPhone but... you have to be more weary of how you use applications on your phone (i'll explain this more later).

2. normal call and text charges and data charges as any other PAYG customer.

3. PAYG internet is 99c a day for 50mb's, anything over that i think is 2c a kilobyte (don't hold me to this rate) but it's defintely 99c for 50mb in one day.

4. buying in ireland? o2/carfone warehouse. ebay/adverts if you want unlocked versions.

5. personally having had the iphone 1st gen and the iphone 3G S i'd go for the 3G S, purely because the iphone 3G was just the iphone 1st gen with a shiny new case and 3G abilities. 3G S is HSDPA and a whole lot nippier. what size storage you go for, i can't answer that only you can.

6. some apps you got to pay to download, most are free or have lite versions which are free. Anything that uses data (applications that get data from web/mail/surfing/maps) will cost you but only the 99c charge. if you use any app that requires data from web you'll be charge, if you don't, then you won't but ya need to plan you usage. i know if i'm going to be out a lot for the day, i'll use my 99c a day thing, if i'm not or i'll be around a wi-fi network that i know password to i just don't worry about it.

anymore questions just shoot.

evad_lhorg

sweet thanks. i didnt know i could just use a wifi network. does gps count for something connecting to the net or does the gps work like normal car ones?

Creamy Goodness

the gps itself is free. to download the maps you use data.

so in essence if the phone is has cellular data turned off, it will find a GPS co-ordinate, but will not load the map, quite pointless really.

you need a data connection to load the map be it a wi-fi connection or a 3G/EDGE cellular connection.

STBR

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

the gps itself is free. to download the maps you use data.

so in essence if the phone is has cellular data turned off, it will find a GPS co-ordinate, but will not load the map, quite pointless really.

you need a data connection to load the map be it a wi-fi connection or a 3G/EDGE cellular connection.

This is correct.

HOWEVER, if you have a Jailbroken iPhone you can just use a feature called "Maps Enhancer" and it allows you to cache [save] the maps locally [offline] to the phone itself, so you don't need an internet connection at all.

Creamy Goodness

must look into this, would be extremely handy, especially as any sort of data transfer over the cellular network completely drains the battery.

mossym

or just buy one of the gps apps which store all the maps on the phone, no web access required then, copiolot is only 30 euros, i know that's a fiar bit but it is a one off payment

Creamy Goodness

mmm 30 euros, or free. i think i'll take the free option at the moment anyways.

mossym

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

mmm 30 euros, or free. i think i'll take the free option at the moment anyways.

does it allow you to cache the maps for the entire uk and ireland? pretty handy if it does...

how are the voice directions on it? petrol stations/bank/restaurant lookup?..routing choices? I'm well impressed if someone released all that for free...

i guess it depends on what your needs are...

Creamy Goodness

mossym wrote: »

does it allow you to cache the maps for the entire uk and ireland? pretty handy if it does...

how are the voice directions on it? petrol stations/bank/restaurant lookup?..routing choices? I'm well impressed if someone released all that for free...

i guess it depends on what your needs are...

exactly, i don't need to know where the next petrol station/bank/restaurant is, i can use google for that: restaurants in *placename* as for petrol, i fill up before i go on a journey so that i won't run out before the journey ends as for banks, everywhere accepts credit/debit cards so unless i need to lodge money, i don't need to find a bank.

i also don't need a persons voice telling me to turn left when it clearly displays on the map that there's a left turn ahead.

mossym

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

exactly, i don't need to know where the next petrol station/bank/restaurant is, i can use google for that:

the main topic was about trying not to use the web? using Google to find all that stuff requires the web, which defeats the purpose somewhat. if using the web is an option then that's a different matter.

also, not all journeys can be done on a single tank of petrol, or are done in ireland...and banks can simply mean atm...not everywhere takes cards

nothing wrong with the free maps option, but they are not the equivalent of a proper gps, for some the free maps are better, for some the gps, only threw it out there as an option....