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3 reasons I returned my iPhone 3G

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A couple of days ago I bought an iPhone 3G. Today I returned it. Although it’s an amazing device and revolutionary, it didn’t really suit me. My Nokia N95 is pretty much exactly what I want at the moment – it’s like comparing a quality family car like our Ford Focus C-MAX with a supercar such as the Koenigsegg CCX:

Whilst it’s great looking at and borrowing someone elses supercar, you wouldn’t want to go to Tesco’s in it, would you? It would be impractical. And so the iPhone proves to be. Here’s the 3 main reasons why I returned the iPhone 3G:

1. It’s difficult to text

With the N95, as with most mobile phones, it’s possible to compose and send text messages with one hand. It’s not straightforward to text on the iPhone – it requires two hands and is fiddly to enter characters using the QWERTY keyboard.

2. Hannah wasn’t happy

Although if I’d really liked it this wouldn’t have been an issue, my wife didn’t like the fact I’d taken out a contract with 02 when I’ve still got a few months remaining on my Orange contract. We get free broadband and VOIP calls with the latter contract, you see… :-p

3. It’s painfully proprietary

Although you can jailbreak it and there are workaround to create your own ringtones on the iPhone, it’s not always straightforward. It makes you feel like you’re using someone else’s device rather than your own. It’s kind of the same reason I bought and then returned a Nintendo Wii earlier this year.

What I’d like to see is a touchscreen tablet, slightly larger than the iPhone, that can connect both to wireless networks and to mobile broadband via HSDPA. I’d carry that around in addition to my N95 (or equivalent). Either that, or something that has a touchscreen and a keyboard… :-D

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Posted: August 1st, 2008
Categories: Technology
Tags: , , , , ,
Comments
Comment from Terry Williams - 1 August 2008 at 9:54 am

And was it easy enough to return it having taken out a contract?

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 1 August 2008 at 12:47 pm

Yes, absolutely! The Mac 'Genius' only asked out of interest – you
don't even have to specify a reason within 14 days. :-)

Comment from Terry Williams - 1 August 2008 at 3:54 pm

And was it easy enough to return it having taken out a contract?

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 1 August 2008 at 6:47 pm

Yes, absolutely! The Mac 'Genius' only asked out of interest – you
don't even have to specify a reason within 14 days. :-)

Comment from AndyM - 4 August 2008 at 4:27 am

>What I’d like to see is a touchscreen tablet, slightly larger than the iPhone, that can connect both to wireless networks and to mobile broadband via HSDPA.

Have you looked at the Nokia N810? http://www.nokia.co.uk/A4630129

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 4 August 2008 at 5:13 am

Thanks Andy, but you can't connect when there's no WLAN around, can you?

Comment from AndyM - 4 August 2008 at 9:41 am

I believe you can use the data connection on your N95 via Bluetooth.

Comment from AndyM - 4 August 2008 at 10:27 am

>What I’d like to see is a touchscreen tablet, slightly larger than the iPhone, that can connect both to wireless networks and to mobile broadband via HSDPA.

Have you looked at the Nokia N810? http://www.nokia.co.uk/A4630129

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 4 August 2008 at 11:13 am

Thanks Andy, but you can't connect when there's no WLAN around, can you?

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 4 August 2008 at 1:36 pm

Yes, the Nokia N95 has HSDPA capability built-in. Before I bought my
mobile broadband dongle I asked Orange how I'd go about 'tethering' my
N95 to my netbook via Bluetooth. They said that it would cost me a lot
of money as they don't do unlimited data plans. O2 on the other
hand… ;-)

Comment from AndyM - 4 August 2008 at 3:41 pm

I believe you can use the data connection on your N95 via Bluetooth.

Comment from antjessop - 4 August 2008 at 4:05 pm

I've found 'Three' to be excellent for data. It sometimes messes up when I use it with my MacBook Pro though. I agree with you on the iPhone thing, the N95 is somehow better; you need it to do something, somebody else has written the application.

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 4 August 2008 at 7:36 pm

Yes, the Nokia N95 has HSDPA capability built-in. Before I bought my
mobile broadband dongle I asked Orange how I'd go about 'tethering' my
N95 to my netbook via Bluetooth. They said that it would cost me a lot
of money as they don't do unlimited data plans. O2 on the other
hand… ;-)

Comment from antjessop - 4 August 2008 at 10:05 pm

I've found 'Three' to be excellent for data. It sometimes messes up when I use it with my MacBook Pro though. I agree with you on the iPhone thing, the N95 is somehow better; you need it to do something, somebody else has written the application.

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 5 August 2008 at 12:28 am

I'm with 3 as well on pay-as-you-go. It's a bit annoying that any
credit expires after 30 days, though!

Comment from Doug Belshaw - 5 August 2008 at 6:28 am

I'm with 3 as well on pay-as-you-go. It's a bit annoying that any
credit expires after 30 days, though!

Comment from MK - 11 August 2008 at 8:09 pm

I just returned mine after using 3 days. Iphone battery sucks. With out of the box settings, it lasts 2-3 hours max. apple says to disable 3G and location services(gps) to improve battery life. disable 3G for iPhone 3G? I tried disabling both and I got around 6-8 hrs battery life. May be mine was faulty. I am going to wait couple more months before considering iPhone again. phone is also not stable. It used to restart more, not sure why.

Comment from MK - 12 August 2008 at 2:09 am

I just returned mine after using 3 days. Iphone battery sucks. With out of the box settings, it lasts 2-3 hours max. apple says to disable 3G and location services(gps) to improve battery life. disable 3G for iPhone 3G? I tried disabling both and I got around 6-8 hrs battery life. May be mine was faulty. I am going to wait couple more months before considering iPhone again. phone is also not stable. It used to restart more, not sure why.

Comment from Linda Reichman - 14 August 2008 at 8:49 pm

I bought and love my iPhone 3G. The widgets are great. But I do have some trouble texting on it. Otherwise, great for me. And I drive an old, inexpensive car.

Comment from Linda Reichman - 15 August 2008 at 2:49 am

I bought and love my iPhone 3G. The widgets are great. But I do have some trouble texting on it. Otherwise, great for me. And I drive an old, inexpensive car.

Comment from Linda Reichman - 15 August 2008 at 2:49 am

I bought and love my iPhone 3G. The widgets are great. But I do have some trouble texting on it. Otherwise, great for me. And I drive an old, inexpensive car.

Comment from Linda Reichman - 15 August 2008 at 3:49 am

I bought and love my iPhone 3G. The widgets are great. But I do have some trouble texting on it. Otherwise, great for me. And I drive an old, inexpensive car.

Pingback from 4 reasons you should jailbreak your iPhone 3G at dougbelshaw.com - 24 September 2008 at 9:18 pm

[...] don’t think I’ve actually mentioned that I re-purchased an iPhone after previously returning one. I love it. I paid £59 upfront for a 16GB version, then £45/month for 9 months and then dropping [...]

Pingback from I’m 28, I’m not *old*… at dougbelshaw.com - 22 December 2008 at 8:45 am

[...] netbooks (Asus Eee 701 -> modded OSX-powered Advent 4211 -> Asus Eee 1000), bought an iPhone, returned it, and then finally changed my Nokia N95 for an iPhone 3G 16GB, and bought a wonderful digital SLR [...]

Pingback from dougbelshaw.com/blog » Blog Archive » I’m 28, I’m not *old*… - 1 January 2009 at 8:20 pm

[...] netbooks (Asus Eee 701 -> modded OSX-powered Advent 4211 -> Asus Eee 1000), bought an iPhone, returned it, and then finally changed my Nokia N95 for an iPhone 3G 16GB, and bought a wonderful digital SLR [...]

Comment from ADSL Viettel - 17 November 2009 at 5:19 pm

Thanks man, just what I was looking for. Worked like a charm Thanks so much…

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