Quote :

"^and a locked down shitty phone"

I read this and had to double check that I was still in the iPhone thread.

10/30/2009 8:28:23 AM

Quote :

"Get verizon and you will probably have signal in your room anyway."

Negative. I just dropped Verizon a couple weeks ago b/c they were dropping 40% of my calls (I got about half a bar).

10/30/2009 11:53:08 AM

you must have a suck-ass phone. i've been on verizon 6+ years and had maybe 2 dropped calls due to signal on my end.

10/30/2009 12:14:29 PM

See I've been on AT&T and before longer than that. Either I haven't gotten more than a few dropped calls, or I just don't notice them. I've never had issues with their network. Just drove to Texas from Charlotte. Got reception the entire way there. True the 3g cut out, but I'm typically in 3g areas.

10/30/2009 2:39:28 PM

I had nothing but problems with AT&T once I moved to Texas. Granted, I don't live in a large city, but there's an awful lot of area in Texas that isn't a major city, or anywhere near a major city.

10/30/2009 2:45:36 PM

My cell provider can kick your cell providers ass!

No really, brand loyalty is stupid.

10/30/2009 3:05:03 PM

^I think the point we're all trying to make is both providers have their happy customers and their not so happy customers so its dumb to say Verizon is better than AT&T and vis versa

10/30/2009 3:08:01 PM

it's not dumb however to look at studies of customer satisfaction on both networks

like this one http://www.cfigroup.com/news/pressreleases/2009_Smartphone_pressrelease.doc.pdf

that says both

Quote :

"the iPhone is the undisputed leader in customer satisfaction, scoring 83 on a 100-point scale, 8% higher than its nearest competitors, Android and the Pre (77). Smartphones popular among business users, like Research In Motion’s BlackBerry (73) and Palm’s Treo (70), trail significantly in customer satisfaction, while the “others” category, which includes Symbian and Windows Mobile, scores 66."

and

Quote :

"Among smartphone providers, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile tie in overall provider satisfaction, scoring 79. Sprint scores 74. AT&T’s non-iPhone smartphone customers score 73, while its iPhone users rate AT&T 69. Verizon is the ideal provider for 86 percent of smartphone users surveyed, yet only 38 percent of Verizon smartphone customers say their current phone is their ideal smartphone, the lowest percentage of any provider. Verizon has none of the most satisfying smartphones but still maintains a leadership position in satisfaction on the perceived strength of its network. For AT&T, the opposite is true. It has the most satisfying smartphone but lags in provider satisfaction, in part because of its network problems associated with its iPhone customers’ overwhelming data use"

10/30/2009 3:15:49 PM

I still find it amazing that the number of users coming to AT&T JUST for the iPhone is more than all the users combined coming to Verizon.

10/30/2009 3:24:02 PM

I am happy with AT&T/iphone for the most part... but...


- (as noted above) it fucking sucks ass at football games, completely worthless

- there are certain points in Atlanta where it ALWAYS cuts out. I dont mean general areas, I mean within a 12' by 24' strip. One of them is on I-85 coming south (south only), and the other is GA400 coming south (once again, just south). The one on 400 I have down to a science, can predict exactly when its going to cut out. MARTA runs right beside it, I wonder if it has something to do with that... like something in that MARTA signalization blocks it out or something...

- the phone freezes up a lot, especially when starting a text or email

10/30/2009 5:10:55 PM

Last time i was in Europe i had an unlocked winmo phone and i just bought a temp. sim card out of a vending machine and used that with my phone. My iPhone isn't unlocked currently so that's out. Is AT&Ts international roaming plan really excessive for minutes/data?

10/30/2009 5:48:51 PM

it's fucking horrible. esp for data/texts.. or at least it was in 2006 when i went to europe

10/30/2009 5:50:57 PM

yeah just looked. $.50 for texts, and $.0195/KB for data. I guess that's not horrible if you check a couple emails and tell iPhone to restrict size of emails it downloads. What about incoming texts? Are they also $.50?

Quote :

"Home pay-per-use or package rates apply to all text, picture, or video messages received when roaming internationally. See your Rate Plan Brochure for details."

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/international-roaming.jsp

Does this mean incoming texts are free?

[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 5:59 PM. Reason : /]

10/30/2009 5:57:09 PM

yes, incoming texts are also .50

my bill was $800

lawlz

10/30/2009 6:00:40 PM

^jeeez. Website says incoming texts are free. If I'm there for a week and check emails and make say 5 minutes of calling a day. That will only come out to be like $50 which isn't horrible.

10/30/2009 6:04:18 PM

^^psh...when the first iphone first came out I went to Germany and Egypt for a few weeks and came home to a $3500 bill all texts and data because I rarely used voice.

10/30/2009 6:06:44 PM

^why didn't you just unlock it, and buy a sim card? Would have saved you thousands.

10/30/2009 6:08:22 PM

Well like i said that was the summer the 1st gen iphone came out so it was barely out a month.

and a lot of it was people who were like 'omg is that the iPhone!'

[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 6:10 PM. Reason : .]

10/30/2009 6:09:27 PM

Note to self: If I bring my iPhone outside of the United States, that thing is going into airplane mode.

10/31/2009 3:42:39 AM

So, I don't want to start a war, but with all the factors being taken into consideration, which is the phone to get, the iPhone, or the Droid?

I want my wife to be able to upload video and pictures to youtube/facebook directly from the phone. For me, I would love a ton of apps, including GPS and nav.

The things we use most are Gtalk, Gmail, Facebook, browsing websites, etc...

We are currently with Verizon, if that has any impact.

10/31/2009 8:15:19 AM

I don't know much about the droid but I imagine it too does everything you just said. If you're happy with Verizon I would just stay with them and get a droid. Even though the iPhone is awesome...but you may not be pleased with AT&T

10/31/2009 3:20:48 PM

I went from Verizon to AT&T when I got my iPhone.

I'll be going straight back to Verizon the millisecond my contract is up.

10/31/2009 4:30:58 PM

wait, will my iPhone not work in Canada?????

11/1/2009 9:20:10 PM

Talk to Adam Savage about that one.

11/1/2009 9:26:01 PM

my gmail push account has been sucking the past couple days. 3 emails since 2pm haven't come through yet. I click refresh on my iPhone and they don't show up.

11/2/2009 11:21:19 PM

yeah mine has been a little flaky too

though the every 15 minute imap check was always flaky too so my expectations weren't that high to begin with

11/2/2009 11:32:35 PM

So, before I throw this thing out the window, I'll ask here.

I recently formatted my main computer, which was also the computer my iPhone was synced with. In order to do pretty much anything with my new install, iTunes wants me to Erase and Sync the phone.

How can I get around this?

11/3/2009 8:16:53 AM

isn't there a "transfer from iPhone" button or something similar somewhere in iTunes? seems like i responded that there wasn't a way to do this before and someone corrected me about that..

[Edited on November 3, 2009 at 8:23 AM. Reason : i usually just erase and re-sync..]

11/3/2009 8:23:26 AM

^^do you have all your music/apps/etc and account set up with the computer now? if not, you needed to have copied your library and saved it on a disc or other drive before you formatted, then replace the itunes folder with it when you reinstalled. otherwise, you're SOL because the transfer from iphone thing is "transfer purchases from iphone", so only the stuff you bought thru the phone would go back (if you could get your phone to sync w/ the computer).

we just got new computers at work and i had to do this with both of my bosses' computers/phones.

--
there may be some sort of illegal or 3rd party way to do this, but i don't do that kinda stuff.

[Edited on November 3, 2009 at 9:00 AM. Reason : ]

11/3/2009 8:46:11 AM

I still have my music on other hard drives, but it's not currently imported into my iTunes. My account is set up. My old iTunes folder is gone, though if some settings files lived in the My Documents folder, I have those. I'm at work now, so I can't play with it, but is this going to get me anywhere or is erasing this thing and starting over my only option?

11/3/2009 8:54:13 AM

I haven't tried this with an iPhone yet, but I remember on my old iPod's that when they showed up in My Computer as a device, if I browsed them with hidden folders turned on, I could find a folder that contained all of the music which I just copied to the computer and added to iTunes. Your library (i.e. playcounts, ratings, playlists) are gone though.

11/3/2009 9:01:52 AM

if you can copy your old itunes folder, the whole thing, and replace the new one with it, you'll be fine. i'm not talking about individual files, but the actual itunes folder filed under My Music. you might have to consolidate the library first, i don't remember. you won't have to go to File > add to library or whatever.

both bosses had simple setups. all music was filed under the itunes folder and itunes organized the files. if you've got stuff scattered in different places, it might be harder.

11/3/2009 9:01:57 AM

Quote :

"if you can copy your old itunes folder, the whole thing, and replace the new one with it, you'll be fine."

I can't. It's gone. I have the MP3s and that's it.

I swear, this was the first and is now definitely the last Apple product I ever purchase.

11/3/2009 9:05:55 AM

all of the raw "backup" data is under documents & settings , application data, blah blah blah.. not in my documents at all.

11/3/2009 9:18:08 AM

^that method is what worked for us.

^^you should have checked ahead of time to find out what you needed to do before reformatting. consider it a lesson learned. it's not the product's fault.

[Edited on November 3, 2009 at 9:37 AM. Reason : ]

11/3/2009 9:36:51 AM

^^^it's your own fault.. can't you force it to back the phone up anyways then restore from backup for all of your settings? it's not like it's that big of a deal anyways.. import all of your shit, download some apps and let it sync. it's not like it erases every single setting on your entire phone and starts from 0 again

11/3/2009 9:40:12 AM

hai guise, so i finally caved in and bought a iphone 3g

temme what apps and stuff i need to get this going? its unlocked and jailbroken already

11/3/2009 9:42:20 AM

you got a 3G or a 3GS?

11/3/2009 9:43:56 AM

3G

i wanna play with this before i get the official 3GS from ATT/Apple...i didnt wanna sign a 2 yr contract paying $80+ if i dont really have much use of iphone features

11/3/2009 9:46:46 AM

Quote :

"So, before I throw this thing out the window, I'll ask here. I recently formatted my main computer, which was also the computer my iPhone was synced with. In order to do pretty much anything with my new install, iTunes wants me to Erase and Sync the phone. How can I get around this? "

http://www.getsharepod.com/

Sharepod will rip files off your iphone. I've used it to get mp3s and ripped cds off my iphone and onto my work computer so it could sync. I dont know what it would do with purchased stuff.

11/3/2009 9:54:22 AM

Quote :

"^^you should have checked ahead of time to find out what you needed to do before reformatting. consider it a lesson learned. it's not the product's fault."

It's very much the product's fault that it works differently from pretty much any other music playing device (IIRC, even other iPods). I shouldn't have to do research in order to hook my phone up to a different computer and have it not want to erase itself. How does that make any sense? What the hell is the point of the manually manage music on this device button? If my computer had crashed rather than just been reformatted, would it be my fault then too?

Quote :

"it's not like it's that big of a deal anyways.. import all of your shit, download some apps and let it sync."

16GB iPhone, 30GB+ music collection. It's not a !!!BIG DEAL!!!, but it's a completely unnecessary pain in the ass. Rather than plugging it in and taking a second to add a song to the iPhone, I now have to rebuild my entire library, and copy half of it back onto the phone. It's just extraordinarily dumb.

11/3/2009 10:16:35 AM

yea itunes is the single gayest thing about the iphone.

11/3/2009 10:26:12 AM

in iTunes defense it does warn you repeatedly that you should back up your library and that it will do it for you. Unless you select the option 'don't show me this again'

Also its silly to assume that your iPhone is your libraries back-up because most peoples entire library won't fit on 32gb especially if you have videos. For instance my library wouldn't fit even on an iPod classic 120gb. I don't know why people assume that their phone is their computers back-up. That defeats the purpose of having your PC as your phones back up.

Everytime I reformat I always make sure all my files are backed-up (music included) but when it comes to iTunes since the media is on an external drive anyway i usually just back up the library xml file. It's hardly fair to expect an App to restore itself to the last state you were using it in after a reformat it IF you didn't back up its preferences. If any app can do that i'd be impressed.

Quote :

"It's very much the product's fault that it works differently from pretty much any other music playing device (IIRC, even other iPods). I shouldn't have to do research in order to hook my phone up to a different computer and have it not want to erase itself. How does that make any sense? What the hell is the point of the manually manage music on this device button? If my computer had crashed rather than just been reformatted, would it be my fault then too?"

its not the devices job to make sure you don't lose any data if you reformat or your computer crashes. The manually manage music just allows you to drag and drop songs from your library onto your iPod...as dumb as that is when you can just sync checked songs/playlists but thats what its there for. It does not mean you can drag and drop songs from any computer.

[Edited on November 3, 2009 at 10:36 AM. Reason : .]

11/3/2009 10:32:48 AM

^agreed.

yes, i would rather go back to good old mp3s without copyright protection crap that you can just copy a million times to every computer and portable player all you want, but that's not going to happen.

Quote :

"It's very much the product's fault that it works differently from pretty much any other music playing device (IIRC, even other iPods)."

no, you're just not following the instructions. it doesn't work differently from ipods either. i had to do the same with 3 different ipods when i got a new home computer.

11/3/2009 10:49:41 AM

Quote :

"Also its silly to assume that your iPhone is your libraries back-up because most peoples entire library won't fit on 32gb especially if you have videos."

I'm not "assuming the iPhone is my library's backup". I'm saying that if my computer were to crash, outside of third party tools or unconventional means, I wouldn't even have the files that were on my iPhone.

Quote :

"Everytime I reformat I always make sure all my files are backed-up (music included) but when it comes to iTunes since the media is on an external drive anyway i usually just back up the library xml file. It's hardly fair to expect an App to restore itself to the last state you were using it in after a reformat it IF you didn't back up its preferences. If any app can do that i'd be impressed. "

What does the state of the app have to do with anything? I don't care if the iTunes knows what music is or isn't in my library, all I care about is whether or not it can put a song on the iPhone, which unless I went and hunted down the Library XML file before formatting, it can't do.

Here's the question I want you to answer: How does it make any sense that if I have iTunes installed and have an iPhone, I can do absolutely nothing to add a single song to my iPhone because my "Library" according to iTunes has changed. Why should my "Library" be involved in this process? Especially when, IIRC, if I had an MP3 floating around on my hard drive, I could copy it directly to my iPhone before and bypass importing it into my library.

Quote :

"yes, i would rather go back to good old mp3s without copyright protection crap that you can just copy a million times to every computer and portable player all you want, but that's not going to happen."

...you mean like how Apple now sells music without a DRM?

[Edited on November 3, 2009 at 10:50 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on November 3, 2009 at 10:51 AM. Reason : .]

11/3/2009 10:49:46 AM

Quote :

"I'm not "assuming the iPhone is my library's backup". I'm saying that if my computer were to crash, outside of third party tools or unconventional means, I wouldn't even have the files that were on my iPhone."

If you purchased the media on the iPhone then yes you could transfer back. (dumb that its restricted to purchased content only, i know)

Thats why its important (iphone or no iPhone) to keep your files backed up. (not directing that at your setup, just in general) because when a computer crashes you're fucked unless you've got frequent back-ups to restore from. This is why Time Machine or whatever windows equivalent is called is very practical.

Quote :

"What does the state of the app have to do with anything? I don't care if the iTunes knows what music is or isn't in my library, all I care about is whether or not it can put a song on the iPhone, which unless I went and hunted down the Library XML file before formatting, it can't do. Here's the question I want you to answer: How does it make any sense that if I have iTunes installed and have an iPhone, I can do absolutely nothing to add a single song to my iPhone because my "Library" according to iTunes has changed. Why should my "Library" be involved in this process? Especially when, IIRC, if I had an MP3 floating around on my hard drive, I could copy it directly to my iPhone before and bypass importing it into my library."

There is nothing to hunt down...its located in your iTunes folder. Also, i don't know why you expect iTunes to know anything about your phone when it doesn't know anything about your library due to a restore or being a fresh iTunes install. Your library/iTunes is managing your content on your mobile devices so it should be involved in the process.

Quote :

"yes, i would rather go back to good old mp3s without copyright protection crap that you can just copy a million times to every computer and portable player all you want, but that's not going to happen."

All of the music content (music videos included) is DRM free on iTunes now. This doesn't mean your previously purchased music is...however you can download the DRM free version for 30cents (i know, its a ripoff).

11/3/2009 11:08:41 AM

Quote :

"...you mean like how Apple now sells music without a DRM?"

no. if you're going through itunes with synced ipods and iphones, you can't just copy willy nilly from one device to the computer and to other devices synced with other computers.

that's what we're discussing here...

[Edited on November 3, 2009 at 11:13 AM. Reason : ]

11/3/2009 11:10:09 AM

^not sure who you're saying no to or to what?

11/3/2009 11:12:56 AM

Quote :

"Thats why its important (iphone or no iPhone) to keep your files backed up. (not directing that at your setup, just in general) because when a computer crashes you're fucked unless you've got frequent back-ups to restore from. This is why Time Machine or whatever windows equivalent is called is very practical."

Again, I have the files. Every one of them that's on the phone I have on my hard drive. However, because I don't have this one XML file, I can't copy new files onto the phone.

Quote :

"Also, i don't know why you expect iTunes to know anything about your phone when it doesn't know anything about your library due to a restore or being a fresh iTunes install. Your library/iTunes is managing your content on your mobile devices so it should be involved in the process. "

It's involving itself in a way it doesn't need to in order to function, though. And remember, iTunes shouldn't be managing my content, because I told it I wanted to do it manually. Seriously, why does it need to know about my computer's library in order to let me update what's on the phone? The iPhone knows what is on the iPhone. iTunes knows what is on the iPhone. I can have songs on my iPhone without them being in my iTunes Library, so why all of a sudden is it so important that my Library be the same one I had before?

11/3/2009 11:22:48 AM

Quote :

"Again, I have the files. Every one of them that's on the phone I have on my hard drive. However, because I don't have this one XML file, I can't copy new files onto the phone."

It's a pain, i know...but at least you do have all your files. and just like any app after a crash or a reformat you have the pain of reinstalling all your apps and their preferences. Unless you have something like time machine or windows back-up that will restore all that data for you.

Quote :

"It's involving itself in a way it doesn't need to in order to function, though. And remember, iTunes shouldn't be managing my content, because I told it I wanted to do it manually. Seriously, why does it need to know about my computer's library in order to let me update what's on the phone? The iPhone knows what is on the iPhone. iTunes knows what is on the iPhone. I can have songs on my iPhone without them being in my iTunes Library, so why all of a sudden is it so important that my Library be the same one I had before?"

I believe this has something to do with the type of content you can have on an iphone. Such as apps. If you were free to add/remove media from any library without the penalty of having to restore it...it would be very easy for us to share purchased apps and other media.

11/3/2009 11:30:53 AM