So I bought an iphone...

pp2

Shared on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 06:17

Yeah, go figure...me of all people.  I figure I won't have the company cell to abuse forever so I wanted to just go ahead and get my own cell.  My one buddy at work has one and he really likes it.  I've checked it out a few times and it seemed cool, so I broke down and bought the 3Gs phone.  I went with AT&T service, since by all accounts from people I talked to their service is the best, or at least the people I talked to had the best experiences with them. 

So anyway the phone itself is pretty cool, except for a few things.  First, the compass feature.  I don't know if I'm sitting on a pocket of electromagnetic energy or what (gratuitous Lost reference heh) but the compass on it does not register north correctly.  Its not even "slightly" off.  Its a good 23 degrees off lol.  Not a big deal of course since I don't care about that app, but still a little disconcerting that an app doesn't work to that extent.

Secondly, the GPS feature on it (where it asks you to use your location) is off by a block or so to the NE.  I think I was able to manually override it but still...why was it off that much?  I also wonder if that has anything to do with the compass being off. 

Now as far as the other apps go, its been kind of neat so far.  I found some free apps that I will actually use, like Google, facebook (shaddup!), Best Buy, IGN games, Fandango, etc.  What else is out there thats good?  I don't mind paying a bit for a good app.  I don't really want games or anything, but more functional stuff would be cool.

I've been thinking about getting the ring tone editor, except I don't have any tunes on my phone.  My computer is still down (work-issued laptop for surfing...hey, the IT guy said everyone does it) so I don't have the ability to download programs or my music to the laptop.  I'm guessing that if I tried to import some songs that were acquired via...less scrupulous...means the phone would reject them.  Yeah...thanks a lot for that, Lars.  Looks like I may have to break down and buy stuff from the itunes store.  Bleh.

The phone aspect of it is good so far.  Which is good, because thats actually the reason I bought it heh.  I went through my directory on the work cell and pulled the numbers from that that I will need.  I spent a bit of time yesterday calling and leaving messages...sober dialing ftw!  I still have a few more calls to make...MJ, you're next up on the list!

Battery life is pretty good too.  I managed to run it pretty much all the way down yesterday, that took over 4 hours to do.  The guy at the store told me if I just talked it would be 4 hours of battery life, so considering the time on it was spent not just talking but watching videos, reading stuff online, etc, I'm pretty happy with that.  I also bought a blu-tooth headset since I'm still kind of unclear on which towns around here will ticket you for cell phone use while driving.  Not taking any chances heh.

So if anyone has any cool app suggestions I'm all ears.  Drop them in the comments section or PM me, either works.

Comments

JPNor's picture
Submitted by JPNor on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 16:36
If you need ringtones there are some tricks out there so you don't need to pay for them and you don't need to buy software. If you have a regular audio editing program, cut together a 20-30 second clip and add it to iTunes. Right click on it in iTunes and click on "Create AAC Version". Right click on the new file and "Show in Windows Explorer" change the file extension from m4a to m4r and drag it into your ringtones. It's good to go!
pp2's picture
Submitted by pp2 on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 16:48
Nice man, thanks!
JPNor's picture
Submitted by JPNor on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 16:51
No problem. I'm a HUGE advocate of getting shit without having to pay for it!
pp2's picture
Submitted by pp2 on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 18:13
YARRR!!! heh heh
Fish66's picture
Submitted by Fish66 on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 09:42
There are Soooo many Apps you'll have to go through the app store and pick your poison. 1. If you see something you might like try the free "Light" version first if possible. 2. Don't get the first one you see. There are usually many that do the same thing, but you will like the one two pages down better. 3. Don't be afraid to install and try LOTS of free apps. Deleting them is easy. 4. You can arrange all of them from the screen or in iTunes. I am thinking about "Jail-braking" mine and customizing everything, there are lots of YouTube vids on how. "MapQuest" is a good free map app. Google, not good at all for dirrections. "Doc to Go" is great for office stuff, Word, Excel and all. If you use "Outlook" you are set for calender and contacts. "Car Minder" is one of my Favs, great for car maintenance. "Bump" is a must for easy contact or picture sharing. "Night of the living dead" will give you the full movie, so cool ;) and you can add your own from Safari. Just hit the + and add to Home Screen.

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