At this point direct fulfillment seems to be the way to go.

The manager at the North Hills store was explaining how it worked and it seems to be the best way to get one without having to wait out in front of the store every morning it opens up. The order never gets put on the shelf, however if takes a week (which it very much could) and a regular shelf order comes in before your direct order does, you can't change your order for one of those.

7/14/2008 10:26:35 AM

jeez people it's called delay of gratification.

7/14/2008 10:33:23 AM

yeah when they were telling me about direct fulfillment, the salesperson was basically (without actually saying it) if you wanted one, you could easily come back tomorrow and stand in line and get one. I was pissed about basically having to pay to ship my phone from their warehouse to the store but right as I about to start doing all the necessary stuff to do direct fulfillment, some order beside me fell through and the lady helping me quickly asked for it and I got one on Friday

7/14/2008 10:37:30 AM

Direct Fulfillment is cool and all, but I just got this update

Quote :

""Thank you for your recent order, we value and appreciate your business. Please be advised that one or more items in your order are currently out of stock and on backorder. We are working hard to fulfill your order as quickly as possible. The estimated shipping timeframe for each item is listed below. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you and we appreciate your patience. ""

and if you think about it, why would they ship the first available phone to me? Why not ship everything to the stores to get people who haven't already committed to it the option of buying it.

I could be in for a long wait

7/14/2008 11:10:32 AM

^thats why I never pre-order. They already know they have your business...so now its time to get someone else's business at your expense

7/14/2008 11:33:52 AM

I'm pretty sure this is OLD but I just accidentally discovered that you can take screenshots with the iphone...in any app or function of the phone...and apparently even in the process of it freezing and needing a reboot. haha

to take a screenshot you just press the home button then click the power button once and your screen will flash white and save a photo in your photo library.

7/14/2008 1:18:02 PM

i didnt know that actually..cool

7/14/2008 1:29:27 PM

wonder how long it's going to take until you can just walk in a store and buy one...

7/14/2008 3:57:36 PM

week

7/14/2008 4:11:51 PM

I was originally planning on waiting until I get paid again in around two weeks to get one...hopefully they'll be in stock everywhere by then.

7/14/2008 4:13:42 PM

Quote :

"i didnt know that actually..cool"

haha yeah, i discovered it by accident when I was trying to answer a call and the phone crashed...so then I tried to reset it and after it did...i discovered the screenshot in my photo gallery later in the day. I thought maybe it was an accident haha...so i started playing around with the home button and the power button together until i found the sequence in which takes screenshots.

7/14/2008 4:31:04 PM

I stopped by the AT&T store on Walnut St today to see about getting one and the lady said that since they are out, they are taking pre-orders. You just pay the full price up front and then they deliver one to the store for you. She said the company makes them say it will be about 10 days but she said it's really gonna be about 5.

7/14/2008 8:45:08 PM

or you could just go to Southpoint in Durham and get one like tomorrow

North Carolina Stores — Monday, July 14 iPhone 8GB Black iPhone 16GB White iPhone 16GB Black
Charlotte, SouthPark Unavailable Unavailable Unavailable
Durham, Southpoint Available Available Unavailable
Raleigh, Crabtree Valley Mall Unavailable Unavailable Unavailable

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 10:14 PM. Reason : more]

7/14/2008 10:13:30 PM

if yuo have ad block turn it off of the vid might not play

http://www.cnettv.com/9742-1_53-50002842.html

7/14/2008 10:21:41 PM

That's what the website showed yesterday and they were out this morning (I called) by 10:15am. In fact, the dude who answered the phone was like "we don't have any iPhones, but people are still waiting outside"...

7/14/2008 11:17:59 PM

I just want to say it took me forever to get here and post this message on my iphone...

7/14/2008 11:28:09 PM

got mine Sunday. Wife went shoe shopping for 3 hours while is stood in line.

7/15/2008 8:59:55 PM

Quote :

"Agrabusiness Management"

7/15/2008 9:08:57 PM

Anybody know how much extra the direct fulfillment would be on top of the price?

7/16/2008 1:29:35 PM

why would it be extra?

7/16/2008 1:31:31 PM

if you don't choose "economy" it's $15 for priority and like $8 for standard

7/16/2008 1:41:48 PM

why the heck are original iphones going for so much on ebay? We're moving and need to break our existing at&t contract ($175). i was going to have someone take over the contract, but if these things are selling for $300-500, i'll pay the break, unlock it if need be, and sell it on ebay and get $200ish for it.

What am i missing here?

7/16/2008 1:58:57 PM

i'm not sure if you're missing anything.. is the early termination fee still $175 on the 3G iphones? they realize $199+$175 != to the price theyre selling them for in other countries right?

7/16/2008 2:01:49 PM

Quote :

"if you don't choose "economy" it's $15 for priority and like $8 for standard"

well damn, I didn't even get an option

that's okay, though. Free works.

7/16/2008 7:03:14 PM

but who knows when the shit is gonna ship

7/16/2008 9:05:35 PM

yeah, no clue on that part

but I really don't have time to be wandering around the city and waiting in lines for hours

7/16/2008 9:18:14 PM

they say on the website that they will be in stock at southpoint tomorrow... what time should I get there to guarantee that I can get one?

and what is it going to cost to upgrade from my current iphone? will there be a fee?

7/16/2008 10:01:09 PM

just the $199 for the phone, no other fee. i heard something about an activation fee on next months bill but i'm 100% sure on that

[Edited on July 16, 2008 at 10:08 PM. Reason : and what time do they open?]

7/16/2008 10:08:30 PM

word... is this something i should try to get out there at like 830 for? or would i be fine getting there at like 930

7/16/2008 10:10:58 PM

So that's what the website has said for the last 4 days, they haven't gotten any shipments in. Call the store, they'll tell you the same...

7/16/2008 10:17:47 PM

i dont even know when they open.. 10 i'm guessing??

hell if you dont have anything else to do i'd just get out there around 830-9.

wish i could send teleport you some money so you could pick up one for me while i'm at work

[Edited on July 16, 2008 at 10:18 PM. Reason : ^so do they have any or not??]

7/16/2008 10:17:58 PM

^^yesterday it said they were getting them in charlotte today

and tonight it says they will be getting them in southpoint

I will probably leave here around 745ish and just head up there with a folding chair and a book

7/16/2008 10:19:56 PM

what is with the stores getting shipments of everything EXCEPT the 16gb black?

7/16/2008 10:23:07 PM

...because that's the one that's in highest demand?

7/16/2008 10:23:31 PM

I was there yesterday (the website had said they'd have them in stock). Not only did they not have them in stock, the next shipment coming in did not have any either. I have a friend who works there telling me that they did NOT get a shipment with them in stock today, and they don't re-stock outside of business hours. Generally their first shipment in is at 11:00 to 11:30.

7/16/2008 11:47:17 PM

the website didn't say anything about the apple store in southpoint having them yesterday

the only place they said yesterday that would have it was in charlotte (I remember it very distinctly)

and they said they would have it in southpoint monday, and they did... they just sold out very quickly

7/16/2008 11:54:15 PM

Let me put it this way to reduce possibility of confusion:
Monday night at 9:30 the website showed that Southpoint would have phones, and no other store. I called my friend that works at the store, who told me that they don't get shipments in while the store is closed, and as of store close Monday night, they didn't have any iPhones in stock. I showed up Tuesday morning anyway. We waited for the first shipment (which actually came in early at 11), and it did not contain any phones even though the website showed that they would've. Fast forward to Wednesday night, the website shows shipments, just as it did on Monday. Roll the dice...

7/17/2008 12:38:13 AM

at the very least, i can have them look at my current phone and have them tell me why it isn't working

7/17/2008 7:16:00 AM

Goodluc..hopefully they at least do some warranty work on your current phone

And yeah I want another iphone, this blackberry blows for web access

7/17/2008 7:36:06 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/17/unlocked-iphone-3g-available-for-direct-shipment-from-china-1/

7/17/2008 9:24:53 AM

all you need to do is either have 1000 bucks or order 1000 of them...not quite clear yet.

7/17/2008 10:43:41 AM

i think it's 1000$. Who wants to go in with me! Wonder how much they cost.

7/17/2008 10:49:56 AM

well we ended up selling the old iphone for $300 on craigslist. like 8 offers in 40min so i probably lowballed myself. oh well, done and done.

7/17/2008 11:11:43 AM

anyone pick one up today from southpoint?

7/17/2008 11:47:04 AM

I know that most of you know exactly how you feel and what you expect from the iPhone, but anandtech has a very thorough and thoughtful review.

http://anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3358

7/17/2008 12:44:44 PM

Quote :

"A friend of mine has huge lips and listening to him talk is already difficult, but on the first iPhone I can barely understand him."

lolz

7/17/2008 1:35:41 PM

Just got my new iPhone. It feels better than the old one did but it's just nice having a working phone again

7/17/2008 2:48:27 PM

Has anyone had serious issues with their original iphones after doing the 2.0 upgrade? Ever since I upgraded the fw, I have been noticing a serious decline in the phone's performance. Some issues that I have been experiencing:

- poorer reception. Areas where I never had issues are suddenly dropping to single or no bars at random. And it will happen even when I am perfectly still as if a dead spot just floated over me. The sound of callers also seems somewhat degraded.

- LOTS of random crashes. This has happened while in Safari, apps, app store, when calls come in, etc. And there is no rhyme or reason as to why it is happening. I would have safari crashes in the past, but they were very infrequent. Now I am getting them multiple times a day.

- trouble connecting to the internet in safari both in wifi and edge areas. Places where I shouldn't be having any issues, I am getting the "safari can't connect to the internet" popup. Rarely ever got this before, happens a lot now.

I am using the proper 2.0 firmware for old-school iphone and have done a total restore once already. Is anyone else having these issues here? Any suggestions on how to fix them?

7/17/2008 2:57:10 PM

Yeah, there's been tons of reports of bugs and crashes and all sorts of things going wrong from people that have upgraded.

http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/07/17/iphone-20-software-whats-the-opposite-of-rock-solid/

I think I'm gonna stick with 1.1.3 until they release 2.0.1

7/17/2008 3:35:08 PM

After a very long wait in line, I grabbed a 3g iPhone today. Also, I'd been running 2.0 software on my first gen iPhone without any problems. New phone also runs problem free.

7/17/2008 7:06:19 PM