Buying an Apple iPhone - Four Must Haves
Given that this is a first-generation phone and is likely to have a lot of problems, I wonder how many will get stuck with these things or feel foolish they paid several times list price to get a phone that will go through what are expected to be dramatic changes — and probably two versions — over the next 12 months.
If you do buy an iPhone, I suggest you also buy four other things:
1) An extended warranty with breakage protection. This phone has a metal case and a glass screen — which suggests that if you drop it, the screen will be toast, and you’ll have a US$700 doorstop. In addition, the battery, given its 300 cycle expected life, should need replacement before the year is up, and you’ll want that replacement to come under warranty. Make sure the warranty covers the battery — otherwise, you’ll have around a year with a phone that has a bad battery.
2) To the first point, get a protective case for the phone. This thing is really fragile, and if it falls out of your pocket or you drop it, you’ll be more upset than you realize. This is because the phone comes with a substantial subsidy tied to your service plan. If you have to buy a new one without the service plan — as you would if you broke the phone — it should cost you close to $700. While this will make AT&T and Apple very happy, you are likely to be really pissed — so take my advice and protect the phone.
3) Get a good wireless headset. The best is the Jawbone, but it isn’t stereo; Plantronics makes some great wireless stereo headsets, and this will allow you to see the screen while you talk and not make it look like you are showing pictures to your ear — and you can both listen to music and use the phone with greater safety, and look less like a dork. More important, using this phone in the car will be unusually dangerous anyway — folks tend to look at a touch screen phone while driving — and you’ll want to make it as safe as you can.
4) Pick up a cell phone battery extender — also a handy option for an iPod. There is no way to replace the battery in this phone. If you use it for videos and pictures, there is a good chance the phone battery will be dead when you need to actually make a call. If you have an emergency external battery, you should be able to get the phone up and running again — and that could quite literally save your life. Nothing like being stuck in a bad neighborhood with a dead cell phone to give you religion.
Now, one final thing: If you are buying this phone for a child or another member of your family, please emphasize that entering data on this phone while driving is dangerous. Although you can blind-type — that is, type without looking at the keys — on a traditional cell phone (but shouldn’t while driving), that isn’t what happens with a screen-based phone, because you can’t feel the keys. Refraining from texting while behind the wheel could save your child’s life.
My standing advice, however, is to wait until version two or three to purchase an iPhone. The first one comes with a two-year contract, so the good news is, if you do buy one, it likely will be the last time you buy a version one product.
Source technewsworld
June 25th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Since the iPhone is considered a “PDA” by AT&T it will *NOT* have extended coverage except through AppleCare. Straight from the horse’s mouth.
Hell’s Bell’s! Don’t advise people to wait to purchase. Are you insane man!? I have friends with stock in AAPL. You guys buy all you want. Two even!