7 Minute Miles

iPhone 3GS Impressions


It’s been almost two weeks since we picked up the new iPhones at the Mall of America, so I thought I’d write up a short review. AT&T also sent me a survey last week, so it got me thinking about what I like and don’t like about the 3GS (after switching from a first generation model).

As I wrote when I got the original phone, I’m not a big fan of the touch screen keyboard. After several years, I’m still not sure I like it all that much. I’ve gotten better at typing on it, but it still seems awkward to me. Even with the auto-correction, I still find myself correcting errors way, way more than I do on my laptop keyboard. The new cut-and-paste tools don’t work very well for me, either. It nice to have the option, though.

The 3G service from AT&T has been OK in my area – faster than Edge with decent coverage. I still experience the same dead zones as before and have had a few dropped calls. I don’t care about the MMS issue (don’t use it), but the tethering thing bugs the hell out of me. I’d use that if I could (and it should be included at no extra cost).

As for the phone experience, it feels better in my hand (lighter and sleeker), apps run much faster and the new camera options work great. It’s amazing to me that I can shoot video, edit it on the phone and upload it directly to Facebook from just about anywhere. I had some issues moving my settings and files over from the old phone, but nothing major. Having the extra storage space is wonderful – I now need to figure out what songs and movies I want with me all the time. I still have 15GB open on the device, after loading 1799 songs, 11 videos, 591 photos and 20 applications.

Here are my most used third-party apps:

I’ve also been looking for a good TV listings app (currently using i.TV, but I’m not sold on it). I love that you when you buy an app, you can put it on all your devices without having to pay again.

Colleen bought a case for her new iPhone, but I’ve left mine plain so far. I’m really partial to Skinizi products (especially this one), but they are expensive. I also picked up a pair of the Apple in-ear headphones, which are awesome (and well worth the price).

So overall, I’m very happy with our purchase. It’s not perfect, but it does just about everything I want.

Originally published by DK on October 23, 2009 at 11:07 pm in Longform, Technology


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