Waiting for the iPhone
 

is anyone else seriously contemplating shedding blood at their local Optus World store waiting for the global shortage of iPhones to be rectified?

I have been waiting 2.5 weeks now since signing up to my contract...

GRRR

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I waited and although placed a pre-order didnt go through with it.

Frankly I'm glad for a number of reasons, but primarily that telco's are now having to reconsider things in terms of the packages.

Virgin mobiles plan for iphone basically wins hands down now and since they use the Optus network there is no real difference.

I'm still holding back and will see what happens once stock of the 16gig is actually readily available.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Im waiting for it on 3 and the release of a 32Gb one before taking the plunge with the 3G version.

Have had a 1st Gen iPhone since the US launch so not too bothered about upgrading, not a surpirse that stock has been short over here though its impossible to get anything new :curse:

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I think the excess data rates are killer over here, Telstra get you by the balls.

The GPS/Map function is ment to chew data.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Ohhhh, tell me about it!!!!! :curse:

Ordered mine 3 weeks ago and still waiting - bloody useless Optus scrotes!!!

Have been told so much crap - first I was 10th on the list, then she was gonna move me to 1st place - rang up next day and spoke to the bloke that sold it to me (told previous day he had been sacked ????) only to be told I was 6th on the list!!!???:confused:

Wouldnt mind but am paying for the contract for a phone I dont yet have!!

Grrrrr..........!!!!

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Call the TIO, make a complaint that they wont let you out of your contract even though you haven't got the phone. He'll give you a special complaint line for Optus that they HAVE to take seriously.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Tell me about it - being doing likewise for a car for 2 months. It finally arrived at the lease company last week - with a broken window. :rolleyes:

(The Geek got his iPhone the day it was released. I almost killed him when he confessed how much it's costing him in total contract fees, when he gets a paid company phone. :curse: )

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

A few people I know in the UK didn't rate it that much and one mate wished he hadn't committed himself to it.

My Dad has got one of the LG Viewty(?) phones and said that is shite, battery runs down super quick.

I went for the latest Nokia N95 (I think it is) and so far I am impressed.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I think the iphone is way overrated. It's a fashion statement more than anything else. I have the HTC Tytn II, and although it's an awesome piece of technology, the actual phone function is a pile of crap. The phone I would buy right now is the Nokia E71.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Oh god yes. Just for the fanbois and grrls. The Geek doesn't even use his as a phone. (He could have worse vices, so what can I say? :) )

Good feedback on the Viewty, PP, thanks. I'm looking for something to replace my dying O2 and would have considered that as it has a stylus.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Considering the iphone2 has already come out in the UK, I'd say it's a waste of money getting this. Haven't met anyone who was actually impressed once they started using it anyway.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I'm getting a HTC Touch Pro as it's more important to have a functional PDA rather than a fashion statement. A few people at work have the new iPhones and they seem pretty but not very useful to me.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Depends what you want from a phone I suppose, if you want an all in one media device which syncs everything between your phone and your computers all in one fantastic UI then it cant be touched by anything else on the market.

As a standalone phone its not the greatest but as an all in one package nothing comes close IMO.

As usual its way to easy to just dismiss it as a "fad" or a "fashion statement" with it being an Apple product, same as the laptops I suppose which also fall into the same bracket for useability.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Exactly! I've been looking and waiting for an all-in-one PDA which syncs seamlessly, out of the box, with my Macs for years.

Not too fussed about the phone aspect as nobody ever calls me out of work anyway :(

I resisted the temptation to rush out and buy one on day 1 and prefer to wait until they get real with the data plans.

Excess data charges can be a killer. I heard on ABC radio that 1GB of excess usage with Virgin would result in a $15k phone bill.:ohmy:

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Nope - Virgin are offering 5 GIG per month and $520 of credit for $100 per month.

Now thats actually good value for a change from an Australian Telco.

Virgin have the best plan out there and I dont think any of the other companies are going to match it. Vodafone has patchy 3G, Telstra is...Telstra and 3 havn't got it.

If you are after a simple phone then there are better out there. Nokia is about to release the N96.

If you want something to synch seemlessly, actually be able to use the real internet, have an ipod, play games and about the only thing it doesnt do it make coffee (yet) the iphone is hands down the best product out there and makes all the other smart phones look like Tomy My First Phone.

I already use an Ipod Touch and thats the same thing without the calling and camera features of the iphone and it, quite simply, is amazingly slick.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Yes but a lot of people will go out and get the cheaper plan, switch the map/gps feature on not knowing how much data it sucks down, then have to re mortgage there house to pay the phone bill.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I have the HTC Tytn II. The PDA part of it is awesome - does everything I need it to do. The GPS part is great - it does not need to download data like the Nokias. The phone part is shocking crap though. It drops calls. I often cannot make calls - even though I have a full signal. It constantly goes into roaming mode - even in the CBD. Terrible. It chews battery power too - especially when using GPS.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

What do you mean - nope?

I'm not disputing the fact that Virgin's deal is a good one.

What I was saying is that 1GB of *excess data usage* will result in a bill of $15,000 according to the ABC. They were saying that the small print associated with these type of contracts should not be so, er, small.

I thought the iPod touch didn't have push email functionality?

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Zoinks!

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Actually, I think ABC have got it wrong

According to my calculations:

1 Gigabyte = 8,000,000 kilobits (kb)

Virgin charge $0.015 per excess kilobit (kb)

Therefore, excess usage of 1GB will result in a bill of 8,000,000 x $0.015 = $120,000 :ohmy::ohmy::ohmy:

See for yourself

https://www.virginmobile.com.au/pdfs...on_Charges.pdf Section 7

Happy to be proved wrong on this one!

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

1 gigabyte = 8 388 608 kilobits

8 388 608 x 0.015 = $125829.12

Zoinks!

What are the chances of exceeding your limit by 1GB?

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Actually (and I bet you're getting really bored of this now) it's not *quite* as bad as this.

After further investigation (http://www.virginmobile.com.au/rates..._cap_plan.html) it seems that Virgin *only* charge 0.2 Cents per KB (KiloByte)

So excess usage of 1GB would *only* result in a bill of $2000 and a reaction similar to that bloke in your avatar

I reckon it'd be quite easy for people iPorno types especially to use an extra 1GB

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I had the first gen Iphone with At&T in the US. They offered UNLIMITED data for around $10 a month. This made the phone useable without the worry.

When I came to Oz I got a Vodaphone red sim for it as a quick solution. I added $20 to it , the following day it had all gone !!

All I did was leave it on. I guess it must have been checking my mail etc. Anyway I decided not to use it again until they brought out an unlimited affordable plan here. After seeing the plans they were doing I decided to sell it on ebay. I got more than I paid for it in the US over a year ago :)

I would have another one if it was affordable, however I wouldn't touch it without an unlimited data plan.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Why is the Iphone better than the LG Viewty ? Does it have a 5mpixel camera ? Does it play Divx... can it take movies ? Sure it has a larger memory, but hell you can get 7 movies on a 2 gig card at the resoultion that a Mobile uses. Unless everyone that buys the Iphone is only interested in the Internet/Wifi aspect. I just read that the Iphone doesnt do 3G with Java... that cant be right surely ?

The Viewty is free on a 24 month 29buck plan at 3 at present. Just got my Daughter one for her 14th... I was amazed by it.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I didn't say it was better than any other phone.

I personally liked the fact that you could open it up and have extra apps etc for it. I also found it very easy to use. What ever floats your boat I guess :D

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Got to admit It's my question, only because I got my hands on my Daughters Viewty that I bought this week. Since then I've done some research. I suggest people buying the IPhone compare the two. Especially bearing in mind the difference in cost. The Viewty almost out does, my Cowon D2 Multi Media player, thats what made me sit up and take notice. As for the Cowon, that what people move onto after the Ipod.... I do like my Gadgets ;)

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

My comment was not that you are wrong. My comment disagreed with the accuracy of the ABC.

Of course anyone can run up huge phone bills. You don't need 3G to do that. Just take a silly plan and then don't check your usage whilst making a shed load of calls.

Anyone who takes a 1gig plan and just assumes that they are within allowances is asking for it when for a small amount more you can have 5 gig and sleep easier. Even still checking the usage monitor on the iphone every once and a while couldnt hurt.

I agree with you and especially that the telco's in Australia's fine print and contracts are piss poor.

The touch does have push mail. It obviously only works when you have a wifi connection. Of course thats another subject entirely since most people will have to shell out another $99 for Mobileme to get a feature which for the masses is not useful at all.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

The less said about mobileme the better I think :o

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Thought i'd close off this thread by saying that i picked up my 16Gb iPhone yesterday from Optus World in Prahran.

What a fantastic device! Great toy! Was up until 03:00 last night setting up iTunes and sorting out my contacts etc.

This is my first foray into the world of Apple and i have to say i am very, very impressed. The UI is slick, easy to use and very intuitive. Comms speed on 3G and WiFi have been more than acceptable.

I like!! :thumbsup:

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Got mine yesterday as well and was also up til the wee hours setting it all up! Not much has been done today either!!

Verdict:

Bloody brilliant device.....yes, a few quirks here and there but nothing else I have sampled even comes close!!

A bloody big thumbs up for the iPhone 3G!!!

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Is it possible to get a plan in Australia that offers unlimited data on a contract for the iPhone. We'll be bringing over our 16g 3G iPhones when we come over, and want to find the best deal.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Well I had a detailed look at the HTC Touch Pro and proceded to go and buy an iPhone. I can write applications for it to make it more useful to me.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

I havent seen an unlimited data contract - well, not within my budget anyway. Aus is not big on unlimited anything really!

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

spent weeks researching smart phones.....the blackberry bold "AWESOME"!!!

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Anything the Iphone can do the Viewty can do Better.

BTW the Viewty will take a 16gig Micro SD card belive it or not.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=j0W617nGDeQ

Viewty with the Iphone theme installed. Which anyone can do.

So far the Only thing the Iphone has over the Viewty is GPS. A situation which is being rectified by Viewty hackers right now.

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

They come, they go - but nothing on the market comes close to the N95 in whatever metric you care to judge it on. And if you really must have a screen you can paw at, then the Nokia Touch is imminent ...

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

as long as the Symbian OS meets your needs

Re: Waiting for the iPhone
 

Certainly preferable to the fenced-off world that is the iPhone ...

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I may well be a Luddite but I can't get along with the touch screen. I have fairly small hands and I almost threw my husband's damn iPhone across the room when I tried to type a message; I just couldn't hit the right letters.

Seriously, is this the future of phones? If it is, I'm just going incommunicado. I love my stylus, I want to scribble on a screen. I've been suffering The Geek's cast off dopod/HTC S621 for six months now because my O2 croaked and I can't find anything else I really, really want. :frown:

Re: Waiting for the iPhone