Yet another iphone question
 

Right I'm buying an iphone, which one to buy?
5, 4s or 4?

I'm a techretard so hardly use all the gadgets- I use it for camera, talking and music and internet I guess. Not really sure about all the apps etc.

Opinions please.

Buy here or Blighty? how does it work with the sim thing? Can I keep the same UAE /UK number?

Can I just give someone the money and they sort it out and set it up etc?

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

Why an iPhone, why not buy a phone that works properly?

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coz im a designwhore

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I am thinking about buying the Sumsung Galaxy S3. I am a total technophobe, but I feel that if I don't progress to a smart phone I will be left behind by technology!!:)
I am the same Kitty, I only really use my phone for calls/txt/camera but I hope once I learn to use it I may attempt some of the bells and whistles

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That's a really nice phone....

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I have the iphone 4s and it's great. I bought it in Kuwait and use it every where including UK. I haven't had any problems at all:) I did consider the Samsung Galaxy S3 but thought the iphone felt more solid so I went for that one. The iphone and Samsung Galaxy use micro sims but I just went to my provider and they transferred everything over. I am not sure what benefits the iphone 5 has over the 4s but I expect someone has one on the board.

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What's it supposed to not do properly, then? :confused:

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Only if you've got size XXX hands.

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I have the same question.

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Not really, it just sits in your hand as a phone and as a toy for web browsing or playing games, it's a much nicer size than the iPhone.

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Closed system, only apple software. Not allowed flash etc. No Adobe reader. And so on.

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I went through this dilemma a few months ago when I finally ditched blackberry.

Both of my sons use Samsung but I chose iPhone for one major reason. ICloud.

I am a bit of a techie, but I have never seen sync software that is so complete, reliable or easy to use. Everything that I chose to sync is constantly updated across my phone, ipad and mac, wirelessly and automatically. I often ask my sons where they think the Galaxy outscores the iPhone and the only trump they have is the maps. Not really an issue as you can now put Google Maps back on apple products until their offering is improved.

Personally, I fell that the whole iPhone vs Samsung argument is similar to the Canon vs Nikon argument in DSLR cameras - most of the time it comes down to what feels better in your hand and which UI feels most intuitive to you.

For the record KC, I did not upgrade to iPhone 5 as I could not see anything overwhelming useful to me so I still have my iPhone4S which I think has some deals in the malls at the moment.

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

iphone 4s
its great and should be a bit cheaper at the moment, if money isnt any concern get the 5.

as for it being a closed system, blah blah blah, ive used mobiles since 1993 and honestly the iphone is the best phone ive ever had and i have yet to find not having flash an issue in anyway, same with adobe reader, also cloud on now gives you full ms office functionality. where apple really wins is in the sheer volume of apps available

(I say best but thats apart from my nokia 3210, that i swear was built from kevlar and filled with lead, ****ing thing was impossible to break)

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

If you're willing to spend the big bucks...get the iPhone 5.

Otherwise the 4s is spot on.

Ignore the naysayers, the Samsungites and the HTC mobs. As TheShed has said, iCloud is one reason alone.

Camera is great on the 4s, you can get spotify and itunes etc and as long as you don't update software to new AppleMaps then Googlemap app on the iphone is indispensible out here.

Can order on Apple store UAE and it'll arrive in days.

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and www.emiratesavenue.com

what is the difference between the 4 and the 4s?

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4s is a lot faster and has a better camera, 5 is faster still, has a bigger screen and better front camera and a slightly better rear camera

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can't afford the 5 at the moment but the 4 is right down in price, I really only use it for twitter and FB etc, I don't use the camera function that often either as I carry my sony with me most of the time

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how cheap is a 4 then? might pick one up for an xmas pressie if its dirt cheap

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http://store.apple.com/ae/browse/hom...family/iphone4

1699

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The lack of Flash is a bit of a non-argument, given the massive growth of HTML5. After all, even Adobe has abandoned mobile Flash now :lol:

Not sure what you mean by "no Adobe reader" because there is an official Adobe Reader app in the App Store (it's been there for over a year), and I was able to open PDFs in iOS before that anyway.

And as for the closed system, doesn't bother me at all. The people who complain about it tend to be the hacker types; normal people - say, 95% of smartphone users - don't have an issue with it, because everything they need or want to do is handled by authorised apps anyway.

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Emirates Avenue 4S is 2297 but he hasn't got any 4's left, I just checked :)

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double the storage and speed for 500 odd chips more is a much better option. 8gb will fill up really fast

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i have a 4 and did not upgrade to the 4s coz i didnt want to pay extra ONLY for a slightly better camera and the software that talks back at you i.e. SIRI

the iphone 5 is a great phone, i have used it a few days, really fast and really sexy but too expensive in my opinion
if your not in a hurry right now then wait for its price to come down in a month or so, etisalat and du will come up with package plans for the iphone 5 in december and from what i hear from my minions inside that the prices will be very attractive, plus you wont have to run around having the sim card cut down to 'nano'-size (this is the tech bit : the iphone 4 and 4s use a sim cut down to the micro-size where as the iphone 5 uses a sim card cut down to nano-size) usually if you buy a factory unlocked phone you can throw any sim in it anywhere in the world and then run it (pre-paid / post paid doesnt matter) but then u have to get your sim cut yourself hence the hassle

but if you go with a contract mobile like voda, orange, or etisalat or du in this case then u dont need to worry about anything, you just pay the money and get a working phone and start using it, only drawback is that since it will not be a factory unlocked phone, you wont be able to use any other sim in it i.e. lets say if you wana use it back in the uk etc. (well there is a way to crack it / jail break it but i wouldnt recommend it, its a bit complicated and has always has issues)

if you ARE in a hurry then go for the 4s coz i dont think you will be able to find a brand new 4 anymore....well there are a few brand new 8GB iphone 4 available in the market but I find the 8GB cap is too little, I use a 16GB one and sometimes I find myself thinking that i should have gone for a 32 GB one instead (too many pictures of myself in it)

and as far as Samsung / Android.....i curse all of them! The new S3 is great....for hitting someone in the head coz its so large!! I thought the point of mobility was smaller in size...NOT the other way around! And the android OS was an idea stolen from Apple anyway!! I hear Samsung have a new phone coming out...the S-Brick!!
http://thecynicalgirl.com/wp-content...bile-phone.jpg

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

If FaceTime is important to you then be careful where you buy it in the UAE, also note if you buy from the Apple on line store and your Apple account is based in the UAE it will shipped to you without FaceTime.

iMessage doesn't work on my latest iPad either but that's not a problem as I use Whatsapp most of the time anyway.

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My 4 is fine--pics and vids great for computer viewing. Loads of great Apps which work great. I occassionally use the "phone" feature, which seems to work OK too ;)

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All tech companies steal from each other, but Apple still seems to be the best at taking ideas and making them really work as products.

Isn't there some kind of issue with Android not being a true standard? Meaning that different brands of Android phone have varying levels of support for Android's various features? Or did I misread that?

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So when you buy an iPhone or iPad in the UAE, it doesnt have Facetime installed or Facetime just diesnt function?

If it isn't installed isn't it just a case of downloading from App store next time you are back in UK?

Also... I bought an iPad in UK, as did my daughter. They both have Facetime on, but when we try to contact through Facetime, it says it is 'connecting' but then doesnt eventually connect (unavailable or something like that). Is this because we are trying to connect within UAE and it is blocked in some way?

Regards other comments, I worked my way through smartphones from Nokia N72 (which was stolen from work), Blackberry Torch (way too clunky, though the trackpad was really good), then I debated for a long time between Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4. I went for S2 but, now having an iPad, wished I had bought 4 or 4S to sync.

I really like the simplistic exterior design of the iPhone and am really pleased that they kept the same(ish) design for the 5, just a little longer and thinner.

Guess what I will be using by this summer? iPhone 5 - can't wait til prices go down a little more.

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

The iPad (3) I bought earlier this year, via a Groupon voucher from a Dubai supplier, DOES have Facetime installed - but I have never used it, as I use Skype instead (which does work fine in UAE).

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No facetime will be installed but it might not work here. I think the port for facetime might be blocked in the UAE, I know for a fact that Viber and Trango (almost similar apps) are blocked, I also know for a fact that Skype does not work properly on some Du connections

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

we bought our 4s from Emirates Ave and facetime works, I think it is the phones you get via Etisalat, Du and Apple Dubai that are blocked.

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Deal on with groupon at the moment from 3299 upwards depending on memory http://www.groupon.ae/deals/national...0_0_319&a=2026 plus 20 delivery.

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

A decent Android phone runs rings around iphones. I've had both. The Iphone 5 is a total disappointment, they're just chasing Samsung now with a bigger screen and what with producing a smaller tablet too.

The iphone operating system is creaking and looks pretty dated now. It doesn't have widgets so you're still stuck with icons to launch apps, you cannot run apps on the home screen. And the maps is as bad as everyone says. They have the intersection at the end of my street as a roundabout (it never has been in the 7 years I've been in Dubai) and they don't show the bridges on and off of the palm or the tunnel you go through to atlantis. And these are just the problems I found in 5 minutes looking at my local area, so I wouldn't trust it going somewhere i didn't know. Google maps and navigation has everything in far more detail and it all looks accurate.

As for cloud stuff, Google is the master of that, so you can sync everything up with your desktop machines. If you have a mac, maybe the Apple one is better, but Google syncs perfectly across any platform browser based, so you don't have to install anything like the truly awful horror that is itunes.

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

bollocks.

apart from the itunes bit that i agree with, other than backing up or hardwired syncing i bypass itunes for anything and everything i can. version 1 of itunes was shit and its got progressively worse now for over 10 iterations.

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I am sick to the back teeth of my 3GS, I know it's old but it's only two years old surely their products should last longer than two years. It constantly crashes and I have no idea why. I have updated, synced etc still crashes for no reason whatsoever. Today half way through sending a text it died.

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

Several friends who have FaceTime say it works fine here. We've been on Du since we arrived in 2005 and while Skype calls to phone numbers don't work without a VPN, Skype-to-Skype works like a charm for both voice and video. Du doesn't even block the Skype website.

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Well, I went out this morning to do a little bit of shopping, suddenly fancied some chocolate. I asked the man for a Galaxy and came home with the S3..I can't eat it..so please can somebody who has 1 help me!!!
I suddenly feel like a grown up...NOT a good feeling!!!!! :rofl::rofl:

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

Facetime works on my iPod touch but that's because it was an american one luckily, as a mate got an iphone and they won't allow it. Which is stupid.

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Well done on popping your cherry as it were ;) What do you need to know?

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

I am slowly finding my way round it, fortunately there are some very good you tube tutorials. :)
Mind you, I tried to send my contacts from my old phone to this1 and ended up with 350 contacts with no numbers and half of them being what looks like my email account contacts..how did that happen?? It took me 2 hours to work out how to delete them all! Now I don't have ANY contacts in my new phone!!

Re: Yet another iphone question
 

This debate about Samsung v Apple will always go on. I'm an Apple fan, simply because they work very, very well. Closed system? I have worked in IT for 16 years, I don't want to be ****ing around with filesystems etc...on an evening/weekend. I just want a simple-to-use phone that does everything well (which the iPhone does), and it syncs perfectly with my Macbook/iPad.

Just picked up a iPhone 5 for the missus in London, FaceTime works fine and it is a lovely piece of kit.