A few questions from a Palmie

[PalmFive]

Greetings and salutations,

Well, congratulations to all the first iPhone people. It must feel pretty neato to have the first iPhone. It's certainly a beautiful device and I have my eye on it. Myself, I think I'll wait until October, when according to a post I read here, they'll be a major update. When they do that update, it'll have what I need.

Anyway, just a few questions. I'm a PC guy (I know, one of those guys. ). I need to compile and as far as I know, there's not .NET for the Mac. But now with the new Mac I can boot up Windows, so maybe I'll give one a try when I have a few days to dedicate to it.

Anyway...

1) How does the iPhone do with Outlook? Does it sync easily?

2) How's the browsing on AT&T? Slow? Not as bad as you thought it was going to be? Worse than you hoped for?

3) Has anyone had to deal with support yet? Better than Palm? Worse?

4) Is there a VPN client?

5) I use Sprint. There's great coverage where I live, in Eagle County. Does anyone have a Sprint versus AT&T coverage comparison? Meaning, does the iPhone has as good of coverage as your Sprint phone?

That's about all I have. I read through some of the other posts, it sounds like most are happy with their new toy. Good for you. :thumbsup:

Thanks in advance, happy iPhoning!

 

[BCA2812]

Greetings and salutations,

Well, congratulations to all the first iPhone people. It must feel pretty neato to have the first iPhone. It's certainly a beautiful device and I have my eye on it. Myself, I think I'll wait until October, when according to a post I read here, they'll be a major update. When they do that update, it'll have what I need.

Anyway, just a few questions. I'm a PC guy (I know, one of those guys. ). I need to compile and as far as I know, there's not .NET for the Mac. But now with the new Mac I can boot up Windows, so maybe I'll give one a try when I have a few days to dedicate to it.

Anyway...

1) How does the iPhone do with Outlook? Does it sync easily?

2) How's the browsing on AT&T? Slow? Not as bad as you thought it was going to be? Worse than you hoped for?

3) Has anyone had to deal with support yet? Better than Palm? Worse?

4) Is there a VPN client?

5) I use Sprint. There's great coverage where I live, in Eagle County. Does anyone have a Sprint versus AT&T coverage comparison? Meaning, does the iPhone has as good of coverage as your Sprint phone?

That's about all I have. I read through some of the other posts, it sounds like most are happy with their new toy. Good for you. :thumbsup:

Thanks in advance, happy iPhoning!

I returned my iPhone this morning and cancelled my two day old service and I can answer a few of your questions.

1. Outlook 2003 synced with the iPhone... start and end times were wrong, however. Notes and tasks do not sync... very disappointing.

2. Anything data related on ATT's EDGE network is slower than Christmas. E mail takes forever to download and browsing the web takes forever. YouTube times out as well. Wi Fi is much better, but I want to access the internet from work and home where I don't have access to Wi Fi and not just at Starbucks where they hopefully have a Wi Fi hotspot.

5. At my home and work, Sprint had maximum signal strength with one or two bars disappearing once in a while, and ATT would sometimes appear to have no bars showing. Call clarity with ATT was superb with my dad telling me he could not believe how clear the ATT call from the iPhone was.

Hope this helps. I am a Sprint Treo 700p user and would not recommend ditching it over the current iPhone offering... maybe in the future. The ATT rep that I cancelled my service with this morning said they would be offering a 3G version of the iPhone in December... we shall see. Barry

 

[AnteL0pe]

2) How's the browsing on AT&T? Slow? Not as bad as you thought it was going to be? Worse than you hoped for?

Far better than i thought it would be and far better/faster than when using my 650 on the same network. Its actually pretty snappy though i assume this is based on location, YMMV.

4) Is there a VPN client?

There are VPN settings, i havent used that feature though.

5) I use Sprint. There's great coverage where I live, in Eagle County. Does anyone have a Sprint versus AT&T coverage comparison? Meaning, does the iPhone has as good of coverage as your Sprint phone?

Your best bet is to ask a friend whos local to you that has ATT, coverage is very different in different places and with different devices. I've never had trouble with Cing/ATT and i travel all over the place for work, but others say that ATT coverage isn't as good in rural places.

 

[vinman]

You're going to get opposite extreme answers like these indefinitely - though I suspect you'll get more positive than negative ones.
The best idea is to go to ATT and buy one to try out. If the device doesn't out perform what you already have, take it back.

 

[dstrauss#IM]

You're going to get opposite extreme answers like these indefinitely - though I suspect you'll get more positive than negative ones.
The best idea is to go to ATT and buy one to try out. If the device doesn't out perform what you already have, take it back.

Generally a good idea, but two major differences here:

1. $60 restocking penalty; and
2. If you're switching from another carrier, going back will be very tough.

 

[pdadoc]

True.... here's my plan:

1) Just have to swallow restocking fee; price for checking it out.

2) I'm *not* switching carriers yet (Verizon). Will open new account, try it for a couple weeks, and if ok, will port over number at that time.

I'm a long time treo user. I know there are tradeoffs, but I have no doubt iPhone itself will serve my needs very well. Having used macs for 20 years, I also know the company, and am confident that software updates will come (and I'll bet they start very soon).

My only real issue is whether ATT coverage will be ok where I live. Tried switching a couple years ago from verizon to sprint, and got very poor coverage in my house....

 

[AnteL0pe]

If there's an Apple store near by you can always go in there and check out the devices, though that wont give you a great picture of reception in all the places you'll be. You could also turn off the wifi and try out the EDGE network on their display phones.

 

[detective]

If you are coming from another carrier, be careful that AT&T's temporary help doesn't assign you someone's landline. I went to get a manicure this morning and my manicurist was beside herself (and had her husband calling AT&T on his cell to try to get it fixed, for which AT&T wanted to charge $50 and not send anyone for three business days) because her business landline was assigned to someone's iPhone over the weekend and she was not getting any incoming calls starting on Monday.

 

[Malatesta]

True.... here's my plan:

1) Just have to swallow restocking fee; price for checking it out.

To be honest, even though it's just $60 I wouldn't worry about it.

Most reports seem to suggest that if you return it with 2-3 days they usually waive the restocking fee--at least I haven't heard of anyone being charged yet.

Seems like a simple risk to do what you are saying, nothing really to loose.

 

[vinman]

One thing I have seen firsthand that you may or may not be able to notice with the iPhone - EvDo performance compared to EDGE. I have an 8125 on ATT and my wife uses the comparable Verizon phone. Which one is faster totally depends on where we are. Here at home in Greenville, SC - my device on EDGE is faster. In Manhattan, my device is faster (or was in October). In Vegas, her's is faster (considerably). In Phoenix, they're about the same. There seems to be a lot of inconsistency. I think that, in theory, EvDo is faster, but it's not that simple. In short, if you get service where you need it, I don't think you'll incredibly disappointed - and you might even be pleased.

 

[PalmFive]

Thanks all, for the replies.

From what I've read, the iPhone seems to be a big hit with anyone on a Mac, which is not a surprise. For example someone on the home page did an indepth review, but they were using a Mac. So as soon as I read that, that they're on a Mac, I didn't read anymore. They type with Apple colored glasses.

I've had my 755P for a couple of weeks now, it's been rock solid. Easily, the best Treo I've had and I've had them all. Not one reboot. It doesn't look as good as the iPhone, I'm sure it doesn't feel as good. But it works for me.

I'm going to wait until the next version of the iPhone comes out, then take a look. I'm happy for everyone who loves their iPhone, good for you.

- Out

 

[glsda]

edge to 3g a software or hardware issue?

This thread has been very informative. I have owned several Palms and a treo 600 and currently a 650. I am not a power user and think the iPhone will work for me but may need to wait for the'iPhone2'. I have 2 questions:
1.) if the iPhone goes to 3g is that a software issue that may be downloaded to existing edge iPhones or is it a hardware issue requiring a new iPhone. I would think that if it is a hardware issue that Apple would have equipped the existing phones so that a software update would be all that is required. 2.) The issue of synchronization with office. I have talked to a couple of my friends that have iPhones and viewed their desktops and they swear everything sync's. It is critical that I be able to sync calendar, tasks and contacts between desktop and the iPhone. Everything I read in various forums and blogs indicate this is a problem. I really love the iPhone but my 650 has been a trusted work horse. I don't believe Palm will be out with anything competitive in the next 18 to 36 months. If the 2 problems will be solved and the solutions retroactive to existing iPhones I may
buy now but am inclined to wait. I am with AT&T. Any advice would be appreciated. Jerry

 

[BCA2812]

Well, I ended up trying the Iphone again with the price drop. I cancelled my Sprint service and ported my number to AT&T. As a previous Treo 700P owner, there are a few things that I miss from the Palm OS. But the Iphone web surfing via Wi Fi (I bought a wireless router for home)using the Safari browser is great. Movies on the Iphone are awsome and the screen clarity is unbelievable. The only items that sync from Outlook to the Iphone are Calendar and Contacts. Tasks and Notes do not sync as of yet... may be an option with a future Apple update. The calendar times being messed up (stated in my earlier post)was just a setting that I had to adjust on the phone. 3G has to do with the internal hardware in the phone and not just software. I don't think Apple installed the necessary hardware in the phone just to have it lay there dormant until a future software update activates it. My advice, get the Iphone... you will not be disappointed. Barry

 

[ajg]

Regarding syncing -- Mark Space is going to release a version of Missingsync that for iPhone that will support and Notes. No doubt, when the iPhone supports tasks, Mark Space will also support that.

 

[glsda]

Thanks for all the input. I will wait until iPhone comes out with 3g and a number of 3rd party app's. have been approved and have most of the bugs worked out.

Jerry