What i've noticed with my iPhone 3g

[disdiqqq]

So the other day a guy emailed me on CL wanting to trade me 2 iPhone 3gs for an old laptop I had sitting around. One has a broken LCD but fully functions when hooked up to iTunes and the other is functioning fine.I got home, turned off my Bold 9700 (Blackberry), swapped SIMs and made sure ATT had me on my unlimited data plan and I was off...



Pros- First touchscreen i've ever used that was easy to type with.
Web browser can do every thing I need.
Much better apps then were avaiable for my Black Berry.

Cons- Slow as heck. Can take 5-8 secs to load my contacts or texts
Push never functions correctly, I have to manually refresh to load emails.
Browser is SLOW!...I thought my BB was bad but this thing puts it to shame.
Jailbreaking the phone slowed down all functions to about 1/2 speed.
Can't fully import my contacts from my old phone. Is there a easy way or just sync with Outlook(which is stupid because I do not use outlook.) or set up my gmail account as a exchange server(But it still does not import ALL of my contacts?!)
Battery only lasts about 8 hours but the phone is old so its expected. Its just crazy what I have to go through to change a battery.

Are these pretty common pros and cons or is this very unusual? I am strongly considering switching back to my Black Berry and turning this phone into a mp3 player only. What are your thoughts?

 

[anon(4698833)]

The 3G was basically raped with the new iOS 4 update...wide spread complaints about slow performance and glitchy behavior, so no, it's not unusual.

That said...you're using a phone that is archaic by cell phone standards...it's coming up on it's 3rd birthday, and in that time, it has evolved into a whole new entity, but Apple continued to update the 3G to appease those who still use it, and in that, it took a dump on its performance.

- Email functionality has never been iPhone's strong suit, so your push email issues are the standard, im afraid to say. Will it always be like that? I doubt it, but you wont ever escape that with the 3G.

- Browser speed is a direct result of the performance of the phone after updates and can also have alot to do with how much is loaded on the phone, though by logic of how the memory works on the phone it really shouldn't cause a difference, but alas, it does. Remove alot of unneeded apps and you might increase the speed a little (clear the cache and stuff as well, because it will hold browsing history FOREVER).

- If the JB slowed the phone that bad, revert it back to stock state...1/2 performance isn't worth ANYTHING a jailbreak can provide for you in my opinion.

...and lastly, if your contacts are fully sync'ed from your BB to Outlook, you should be able to get everything into your iPhone from Outlook (while syncing through iTunes).

I want to also point out that you're comparing a less than 1 year old Blackberry Bold to a 2.5 year old iPhone. If you want a fair comparison of an iPhone of the same release date, compare the 3GS performance to the Bold 9700 and you'll find a totally different experience. The iPhone 3G is more comparable to the first gen Storm and a couple of the curve models...to which i think you would find there's a little more even playing field as far as performance goes.

 

[jdavis530]

Very well said Sean.

 

[appsasia]

even though it was raped, it really improved the experience for the users of the newer models...

 

[BLiNK]

i would not recommend someones first "iPhone Experience" to be on a 3G. not even chrisgonzales90

 

[disdiqqq]

Thank you for the response...I didn't really think it was a fair fight knowing the difference in the age of devices, I just know so many people that are still using the 3g iPhone so I figured it cant be THAT bad. I know it is never really recommended but would you say that if I downgrade to some 3.x version of the firmware it would run better? If so, what build would you guys recommend that I use?

 

[Jellotime91]

disdiqq, 4.2.1 performs just as good as 3.1.3. You might want to try a restore or making sure that you're on the latest firmware to begin with, as the newest upgrade really helped performance on the 3G.

Also, reset daily!! Even my iPhone 4 acts slow sometimes and I just have to reset it.

 

[Ipheuria]

One of the good things about the 3G is it's ability to downgrade. I would suggest to go to 3.1.2 if you can, you'll find OEM firmware on iClarified's site. You can also try if you like the features of 4.1.2 reload the OS from scratch don't make any folders. Then when you JB don't enable multi-tasking or wallpapers. If you want wallpapers use Winterboard, don't use any folders or just one the animation slows the 3G down. If you JB just use a few themes and use it for a week without installing everything under the sun because the apps can really make a difference on the phone. Check your apps, update them and if the app hasn't been updated since an old firmware 1.x or 2.x leave it behind. If you want the battery to last get SBSettings if JB and turn off 3G or Wifi depending on which you're using. I found that to be a big hit on the 3G.

 

[anon(4698833)]

disdiqq, 4.2.1 performs just as good as 3.1.3. You might want to try a restore or making sure that you're on the latest firmware to begin with, as the newest upgrade really helped performance on the 3G.

Also, reset daily!! Even my iPhone 4 acts slow sometimes and I just have to reset it.

Im sorry, but this is simply not true...the 3G iphone has not functioned as well AFTER the iOS 4 upgrade as it did before. I have had countless people bring me their iPhone 3G (assuming i guess that updating it on a mac will make some magical difference, lol), and they are simply not the same phones that they were. 4.2.1 is certainly BETTER than the initial iOS 4 updates, but to say its just as good as the 3.1.3 (and previous) is simply false.

 

[jsntrenkler]

i would not recommend someones first "iPhone Experience" to be on a 3G. not even chrisgonzales90

Ha! ... LOL

 

[Chavista]

If you find your iphone 3g working slow (slower than usual) it is more than often a memory problem, try an app called XSysInfo, I got it for my wife iPhone 3g and it does wonders by releasing unused ram that the iPhone is not using. I also sometimes use it on my iPhone 4.

 

[BLiNK]

If you find your iphone 3g working slow (slower than usual) it is more than often a memory problem, try an app called XSysInfo, I got it for my wife iPhone 3g and it does wonders by releasing unused ram that the iPhone is not using. I also sometimes use it on my iPhone 4.

i've heard about this. is this the same as using features within sbsettings? (jailbreak)

... or better?