iPad or iPhone 4?

Col Man

I have recently received a very generous offer from the old man, he's either going to get me an iPad or an iPhone 4.

Simple question to you knowledgeable apple fans, which one?

Obviously like everyone over 5 years old in this country, I do have a mobile phone already. And I also have an iPod. The phone is just a rather standard Nokia, but probably more importantly, the iPod is very much on the dodge side... Probably needs to be replaced sooner rather than later.... However, that's not a huge issue, I can get another (working...) iPod cheap enough if necessary, not a problem.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the iPhone... A worry I had is that I quite enjoy my current situation of being a prepay customer, paying €30 online, getting €36 and free txts for 30 days.... (and then after 30 days having most of that credit left to last another 2/3 weeks till another top-up is required) BUT! I feel that if I got an iPhone, I would probably want to get some form of of a data situation. Not quite sure what the best options are here... I would probably want at the very least 1 gig. Any views on this? And any opinions on how useful internet on the go actually is? Like, is it fast?

Obviously knowing my personal preferences etc. would be useful in making this decision, and I'm not going to bore you with the details, but your opinions would be greatly appreciated anyway.

BBMcQ

Col Man wrote: »

I have recently received a very generous offer from the old man, he's either going to get me an iPad or an iPhone 4.

Simple question to you knowledgeable apple fans, which one?

Obviously like everyone over 5 years old in this country, I do have a mobile phone already. And I also have an iPod. The phone is just a rather standard Nokia, but probably more importantly, the iPod is very much on the dodge side... Probably needs to be replaced sooner rather than later.... However, that's not a huge issue, I can get another (working...) iPod cheap enough if necessary, not a problem.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the iPhone... A worry I had is that I quite enjoy my current situation of being a prepay customer, paying €30 online, getting €36 and free txts for 30 days.... (and then after 30 days having most of that credit left to last another 2/3 weeks till another top-up is required) BUT! I feel that if I got an iPhone, I would probably want to get some form of of a data situation. Not quite sure what the best options are here... I would probably want at the very least 1 gig. Any views on this? And any opinions on how useful internet on the go actually is? Like, is it fast?

Obviously knowing my personal preferences etc. would be useful in making this decision, and I'm not going to bore you with the details, but your opinions would be greatly appreciated anyway.

iPhone is like an iPod touch only connected to the internet all the time (obviously its not as fast as wi-fi but most pages load in a few seconds). This is a huge deal as you get emails pushed to your phone where-ever you are, and can access the internet for info about anything in seconds (think price comparisons in shops etc, yes there's an app for that!

You also get a camera (2 on the new one with HD recording) and a host of other things seeing as the iPhone is the biggest single source of revenue for Apple it will be where the latest tech is going into (ie. retina display and facetime).

The iPhone is the best gadget ever invented so if you into that sort of thing and don't mind forking out on a monthly bill, I think on VF you can get about 100 mins and 100 texts with free VF calls and texts and 1gb data for 45 Eur. I would say that average moderate user would use about 250mb-500mb each month.

Having said all that - we still have no release date for Ireland and wouldn't be hopeful about anybody getting it in July here.

Deep Thought

and...its a built in ipod and strangely enough it makes phone calls.

Thus no need to have Nokia Phone and ipod

Everything can be switched on and off so you dont have to have push on nor do you need to be always connected to the internet....this is standard 3G unless your on WIFI.

TheiPad is just a huge ipod, its got the iphone software on it so you cannot install an actual OS on it like OS X as its not capable thus you cannot install applications like Word or Excel.

The iPad is good for itunes and surfing. That realy all it doses (i know there are other bits) but in the main thats it (IMHO)

Go for the iPhone, best decision I made

Wossack

in your situation, I'd definitely say iphone

gyraterosboy

You would be mad not to go for the IPHONE!

Stainless_Steel

Like yourself I am on O2 prepay. I have an iPhone and on average I buy about 35 euro credit a month! The data is 99 cent a day. You get I think 50 MB per day. I have never gone over this and I use the Internet and push emails quite regularly! Any apps that are a few meg I just download at home over wifi.

The best thing about prepay? No contract!

Unless you plan on downloading music/apps while mobile (not wifi), I think prepay will work fine for you.

eoin_mulhern

iphone 4 - easy choice for your situation.

Steve jobs said it would be released in ireland in july in the launch conference and i presume the carriers should snap it up

dougs09

go along with the vodafone Simple, it's a 30 day rolling contract for €30 a month, you get 100 texts and minutes, free Vodafone texts and calls, and then 1 gig of data.

that way, your not going into a long 18 month contract.

eoin_mulhern

dougs09 wrote: »

go along with the vodafone Simple, it's a 30 day rolling contract for €30 a month, you get 100 texts and minutes, free Vodafone texts and calls, and then 1 gig of data.

that way, your not going into a long 18 month contract.

yeah this would be a good package for the op but be aware this tarrif does not come with a phone/upgrade

dougs09

yeah i was kinda assuming that he was gonna buy the phone sim free, i guess i should of added that, you'd need to buy the phone sim free up north and then go on that plan.

be warned, that will mean spending the best part of €600 on the handset though

Col Man

Thanks guys, helpful stuff. And everyone is pointing in the same direction, so happy days, that's probably decision made. Oh yeah, I think my dad was intending to pay the contract-free price if he had to, so that'll work out fine.

Nice one.

culabula

Col Man wrote: »

Thanks guys, helpful stuff. And everyone is pointing in the same direction, so happy days, that's probably decision made. Oh yeah, I think my dad was intending to pay the contract-free price if he had to, so that'll work out fine.

Nice one.

BOTH! :-)

Basq

All these early issues on the iPhone 4 have worried me though.. a phone losing signal by holding it is sort of a big issue to overlook!

dolliemix

I got to play with a real ipad last weekend and it was delicious but not half as practical as the iphone. I f I had money I'd love the ipad for bedtime or travel time or coffee shop time or while watching tv time. It really is gorgeous. But there is no phone or Word or dvd drive facility.

I was a prepay customer with Vodafone until March and I changed to pay monthly with o2 when I bought an iphone. My bills are 5 times the amount!!!:eek: I couldn't afford a prepaid handset at the time but I actually probably would have covered the cost of it already had I just gone with it.

But I love my iphone so its worth it until I work out how to keep the cost down

culabula

basquille wrote: »

All these early issues on the iPhone 4 have worried me though.. a phone losing signal by holding it is sort of a big issue to overlook!

I can tell you there are NO reception issues within the State! The signal loss IS happening on UK networks, but not in ireland. I tested one dozen SIMs yesterday in Dublin from Ireland, UK, France and Italy and could not replicate the issues I am seeing in Belfast *at all* on all four nets.

Note that this issue seems to be nothing more than a loss of bars, it does not appear to impact on the QOS (in my experience).

culabula

dolliemix wrote: »

I got to play with a real ipad last weekend and it was delicious but not half as practical as the iphone. I f I had money I'd love the ipad for bedtime or travel time or coffee shop time or while watching tv time. It really is gorgeous. But there is no phone or Word or dvd drive facility.

I was a prepay customer with Vodafone until March and I changed to pay monthly with o2 when I bought an iphone. My bills are 5 times the amount!!!:eek: I couldn't afford a prepaid handset at the time but I actually probably would have covered the cost of it already had I just gone with it.

But I love my iphone so its worth it until I work out how to keep the cost down

On my iPad, I have made Skype and fring calls and received video too.

I have installed Pages and have exported many letters and articles as both Word .docs and .pdfs.

I don't need a DVD drive -I have Air Video, iTunes and DropBox!

Magic :-)

dolliemix

culabula wrote: »

On my iPad, I have made Skype and fring calls and received video too.

I have installed Pages and have exported many letters and articles as both Word .docs and .pdfs.

I don't need a DVD drive -I have Air Video, iTunes and DropBox!

Magic :-)

Cool.

Do you work for Apple? How come you were checking a dozen phones yesterday?

Does the ipad have a usb drive? I forgot to check.

I'm jealous!

dougs09

dolliemix wrote: »

I got to play with a real ipad last weekend and it was delicious but not half as practical as the iphone. I f I had money I'd love the ipad for bedtime or travel time or coffee shop time or while watching tv time. It really is gorgeous. But there is no phone or Word or dvd drive facility.

I was a prepay customer with Vodafone until March and I changed to pay monthly with o2 when I bought an iphone. My bills are 5 times the amount!!!:eek: I couldn't afford a prepaid handset at the time but I actually probably would have covered the cost of it already had I just gone with it.

But I love my iphone so its worth it until I work out how to keep the cost down

yeah i was the same last year, went from vodafone pre pay to o2 contract, i tought as well at first it was madness spending so much on the phone on o2 prepay, so i went contract.......big mistake. regrettyed so much not going prepay and getting it unlocked, but o2 are now letting you get out of contract if you need by the new changes, so your legally allowed to get out of it for free now, check it out, i did.

dougs09

dolliemix wrote: »

Cool.

Do you work for Apple? How come you were checking a dozen phones yesterday?

Does the ipad have a usb drive? I forgot to check.

I'm jealous!

no the iPad has no usb drive, but you can buy a dongle afaik that allows you to connect your camera to it, but it only supports a camera afaik and nothing else lol

culabula

dolliemix wrote: »

Cool.

Do you work for Apple? How come you were checking a dozen phones yesterday?

Does the ipad have a usb drive? I forgot to check.

I'm jealous!

Ha! I wish!

I was checking the SIMs not the phones - just my one phone. I was getting most of my SIMs transferred to microSIM and in the process noticed the absence of the so-called 'reception issue'.

dolliemix

dougs09 wrote: »

yeah i was the same last year, went from vodafone pre pay to o2 contract, i tought as well at first it was madness spending so much on the phone on o2 prepay, so i went contract.......big mistake. regrettyed so much not going prepay and getting it unlocked, but o2 are now letting you get out of contract if you need by the new changes, so your legally allowed to get out of it for free now, check it out, i did.

Wow thanks for that info. Did they charge you to change over or get out of contract? It really would suit me better because I feel with prepaid at least I'm aware of how much I'm spending. Is the internet still unlimited when you switch to prepaid?

dougs09 wrote: »

no the iPad has no usb drive, but you can buy a dongle afaik that allows you to connect your camera to it, but it only supports a camera afaik and nothing else lol

mmm lol it really would be so unpractical for me workwise. I entered a competition to win an ipad before the World Cup started. Question was what team will win the World Cup. I picked Germany!! So I'm still hoping......!

dougs09

well your still in it anyway

eh, no o2 didnt charge me, cause the changes in calls or summat, there is a massive thread here bumbling about and discussing it, most have satisfaction getting out of it, me being one, but some do have a bit of trouble, all you can do is ring em and see what the craic is, but yeah it gets you out of bill pay so you can keep control of your spending, i went to €353 one month :eek:

when you go prepaid, you will have to go on a deal that gives you a data package, i went to vodafone simple, get 1 gig of data for a tenner

BBMcQ

dolliemix wrote: »

Is the internet still unlimited when you switch to prepaid?

For me this is the deal clincher in the Bill Vs. PAYG debate. An iPhone is useless without data and 99c for 50mbs per day is crazy. This is the O2 PAYG Data price, not sure about VF.

culabula

dolliemix wrote: »

Wow thanks for that info. Did they charge you to change over or get out of contract? It really would suit me better because I feel with prepaid at least I'm aware of how much I'm spending. Is the internet still unlimited when you switch to prepaid?



mmm lol it really would be so unpractical for me workwise. I entered a competition to win an ipad before the World Cup started. Question was what team will win the World Cup. I picked Germany!! So I'm still hoping......!

There's no charge: when someone changes T&Cs to your detriment, then you are legally entitled to disagree and terminate the contract without penalty. You can leave tomorrow. There is no argument and should be no quibble or hassle. This happened to me recently with 3UK and the 15Gb debacle and two years ago with O2 UK -and as a result of their stupidity, I got to keep an unlocked N95 after just 4 months.

As for "unpracticality" -why? That's what The Cloud and the like of Dropbox is for -your memory USB stick in the sky! I have 10,25Gb of free space on Dropbox, anywhere, anytime. No wires, cables, USB peripherals or anything else -and especially -no COST :-)

Tazz T

How about the Dell Streak as a happy medium between the iPhone and iPad. No Apple walled garden.

dolliemix

culabula wrote: »

There's no charge: when someone changes T&Cs to your detriment, then you are legally entitled to disagree and terminate the contract without penalty. You can leave tomorrow. There is no argument and should be no quibble or hassle. This happened to me recently with 3UK and the 15Gb debacle and two years ago with O2 UK -and as a result of their stupidity, I got to keep an unlocked N95 after just 4 months.

As for "unpracticality" -why? That's what The Cloud and the like of Dropbox is for -your memory USB stick in the sky! I have 10,25Gb of free space on Dropbox, anywhere, anytime. No wires, cables, USB peripherals or anything else -and especially -no COST :-)

I need to transfer files and cd roms for work though from 'foreign' computers so it would end up being a hassle I reckon!

keane2097

With most of the rolling 30 day contracts you can purchase data add ons fairly cheap. Best option for iPhone users imo.

cojomo2

culabula wrote: »

I can tell you there are NO reception issues within the State! The signal loss IS happening on UK networks, but not in ireland. I tested one dozen SIMs yesterday in Dublin from Ireland, UK, France and Italy and could not replicate the issues I am seeing in Belfast *at all* on all four nets.

Note that this issue seems to be nothing more than a loss of bars, it does not appear to impact on the QOS (in my experience).

Not in my experience. I have tested a 3 and a Meteor SIM.

3 SIM drops all bars and then goes to 'no service', Meteor sim usually drops down to 1 bar, at best 2(from full).

Four of a kind

keane2097 wrote: »

With most of the rolling 30 day contracts you can purchase data add ons fairly cheap. Best option for iPhone users imo.

Is this for the VF simple plan??

keane2097

Four of a kind wrote: »

Is this for the VF simple plan??

Yes afaik, amongst others. You can do it with Meteor's version as well.

Four of a kind

keane2097 wrote: »

Yes afaik, amongst others. You can do it with Meteor's version as well.

Why don't o2 do something similar as well.

keane2097

Four of a kind wrote: »

Why don't o2 do something similar as well.

They actually have a plan called "Simplicity" that's similar to the VF one as well, although I can't find whether you can get a data add-on with that...

BBMcQ

keane2097 wrote: »

They actually have a plan called "Simplicity" that's similar to the VF one as well, although I can't find whether you can get a data add-on with that...

20 EUR a month
O2 Simplicity 150
150 any network minutes
100 any network texts
Unlimited O2 to O2 calls and texts
30 day contract

Mobile Internet 250 Add on (250mb of data) -> 7.47 EUR a month
1gb Data add on 12.50 EUR a month
7.5gb Data add on 16.99 EUR a month
15gb Data add on 19.99 EUR a month
30gb Data add on 34.99 EUR a month

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

Not in my experience. I have tested a 3 and a Meteor SIM.

3 SIM drops all bars and then goes to 'no service', Meteor sim usually drops down to 1 bar, at best 2(from full).

Central Dublin, Monday. Could not replicate problem which I can easily see at home.

culabula

dolliemix wrote: »

I need to transfer files and cd roms for work though from 'foreign' computers so it would end up being a hassle I reckon!

Dropbox is in no way racist and will happily install on 'foreign' computers :-) Drag your files to your Dropbox on them and watch them appear as if by magic on your iPad.

If you had an iPad.......

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

Not in my experience. I have tested a 3 and a Meteor SIM.

3 SIM drops all bars and then goes to 'no service', Meteor sim usually drops down to 1 bar, at best 2(from full).

Were you able to get a microSIM from Meteor or was it a hatchet job?

dolliemix

culabula wrote: »

Dropbox is in no way racist and will happily install on 'foreign' computers :-) Drag your files to your Dropbox on them and watch them appear as if by magic on your iPad.

If you had an iPad.......

....lol! when Germany win the World Cup!

dolliemix

Look what else the ipad is good for!

uvox

If you don't want to make phone calls or take pictures. Go with the iPad - superior UX.

None of this it's a bigger iPhone/iTouch/iPod stuff is accurate.

See: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66647077&postcount=37

Besides everyone has an iPhone now. Be a leader, not a follower.