iPhone 3G[s]

[iCraig]

Originally Posted by Desmo

Saw that price a while back.....no way I'd be paying that.

How come?

[iCraig]

Originally Posted by Mark

Guess that means the option to archive the files for a future jailbreak is gone then, so less urgency on me.

Got a couple of questions for Daz on the HTC side of things, then I'll decide, but here's the current state of play:

iPhone:

• + Great phone. I'd be very happy to own one.
• + Very polished interface.
• + Great App Store. Ragdoll Blaster* (and other applications)
• + iPod
• + Accessibility across the board (3GS only). VoiceOver, zoom, white on black, and so forth. Having said that, zoom isn't really usable for anything more than emergencies, VoiceOver (like most TTS systems, would probably annoy me and I certainly wouldn't be seen using it in public without headphones), and white on black has some rather odd side-effects - it changes the palette rather than the interface, so all photos and videos don't quite look right ).
• + TomTom (in the near future).
• - Locked down tighter than a bank (unless Jailbroken, with the risk that brings).
• - Safari uses a pixel zoom, so if text doesn't fit, you have to scroll to read every line. Having said that, some sites work better than others - BBC News gets plenty big enough before scrolling is needed, BD** just about gets big enough.
• - No memory expansion or user-replaceable battery.
• - Expensive.

HTC Hero/G2:

• + Great phone. I'd be very happy to own one.
• + Very customizable interface, but with a little less polish.
• + Great browser for me. Reflows text on zoom so much less left/right scrolling (at the cost of some layout oddities).
• + Memory expansion and replaceable battery.
• + Tethering (who'd have thunk that). I do of course have an O2 dongle which will remain my primary tethering choice.
• - V1'ness rears its ugly head sometimes - Google Maps not doing the pinch zoom thing (licensing), and task managers killing off important HTC tasks.
• - No accessibility (outside the browser). I've lived without it all these years, but now I've seen what the 3GS does, I know I want it.
• - Less developed App Store. No Ragdoll Blaster*, no TomTom.
• - Expensive (but much less so than the other contender).

* Yes, I do want to play Ragdoll Blaster. Given how much a certain person who shall remain nameless was laughing at it, I want some.
** Yes, if you find the right iPhone in the Liverpool ONE Apple Store, you will find Boat Drinks in the browser history. I didn't log in though for security reasons.

When are you thinking of buying? I already have an iPhone (3G) and will be grabbing the Hero in September (or late August if MOT goes well ) so I'll be in the position to own both phones you're interested in. I think I'll be able to give you the most objective viewpoint possible. Depending where you live you can always pop down for a coffee and have a proper play with both of them, I know how you don't always get the time or opportunity in a store with sale pushers circling.

[Joe 90]

Originally Posted by iCraig

How come?

you can get a standalone tomtom for the same kinda price.

to pay that for just an iphone app and cradle is stupid. Although i know people will pay it, its not really worth it.

i'd much rather spend an extra £10 for a proper TomTom; http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145575
bet the iphone app doesn't come with Europe maps also :/

[iCraig]

Originally Posted by |Show|

you can get a standalone tomtom for the same kinda price.

to pay that for just an iphone app and cradle is stupid. Although i know people will pay it, its not really worth it.

True, the TomTom one is about the same price, but you're also paying for the practicality of having your nav and phone and whatever else you use your iPhone for all in one device. I've never purchased a standalone for that exact reason, I'd hate having to carry it around with me (and walking into meetings with it would tempt me to leave it in the car, which is just asking for trouble) Having it on the XDA Orbit has always been a godsend.

[Matblack]

You can pay £50 for a TomTom but then again you can pay £300 for one, surely the value of this is only open to asessment when we know if it acts like a One or top of the range (is it) 730? if its the later and the cradle includes a sat nav chip(iphone sat chip isn't good in a car or indoors) then its worth it? My understanding was that it would have access to the Live routing system which is only on the high end TomTom units and as long as this I don't have to pay a massive subscription I would say that would be worth the dosh.

MB

[Desmo]

Originally Posted by iCraig

How come?

I don't like windscreen mounts, always use Brodit. No doubt there will be a hefty delay to just the software being released without the mount and things like that piss me off so I refuse to pay.

[LeperousDust]

Originally Posted by iCraig

How come?

I don't own an iPhone, but i'm thinking that paying that much for a piece of software you can't multi task with seems a little wrong! Where as with a stand alone you could use your iPhone and the PND at the same time and maybe for cheaper?

[Mark]

Originally Posted by iCraig

When are you thinking of buying?

Given that I blew out my previous 'deadline', my only deadline now is that if I'm going to get an iPhone, I'd like to have it before 3.1 hits (for reasons that might be obvious). Other than that, it might be in my interest to wait a little while now.

PS - TomTom was something I'd considered as an iPhone option, primarily for when I'm out of range of a data connection or want good quality turn-by-turn (you wouldn't believe the number of times I've nearly walked into things using my current handheld GPS), but at that price I'm likely to reconsider.

Edit - actually - scratch that - makes sense to use my PAC before it expires. I could get another but I think it's time to move on. That gives me a few weeks so probably too soon.

[Matblack]

Errr, the iPod and Phone functions of the iPhone both allow multitasking

In fact most of that article seems to have been writen by a biased reporter who isn't really aware of the functionaility of the product the hardware or the software. He just seems to not like the iPhone, nor does he mention that Handango have a tendency to overprice products pre-release.

MB

[Joe 90]

yeah but apple wont allow third parties that privilege so tomtom wont have it.

As the engadet article says, if you get a phone call at a critical time in your route it could get a little annoying.