Mr.Manchester

Im in a pickle here, im currently with T-Mobile paying £25 per month with 12 months left on my contract, they want £249 to buy out of the contract, screw that deal, id rather let the missus take it!

Anyhoo, with the iPhone dropping in price on July 11th im very tempted by the price of the phone and the minutes i would get on the £35 p/m 18 month contract.

The main thing that appeals to me as im on the road 10 hours a day is the internet access on the move, now i know 02 offer unlimited* browsing, is that the case? how fast is it? is there full Internet access just like the laptop im on now?

Also, is anyone running GPS on there iPhone or do you need any external antennas?

Sorry for all the questions but im a complete iPhone virgin here!

JackClark

Unlimited, yes... so far. Speed is 3g, so variable, I expect about 500kbps, somewhere between the current Edge network and WiFi. Same as a Laptop, not quite, but bloody close, I rarely get my Lappy out in public any more. GPS is built into the new iPhone so no need for external devices.

jowl

There is no GPS - or indeed GPS module for he current iPhone.

The iPhone 3G does have built in GPS - but no Sat Nav software that we know of yet. But I'd be amazed if TomTom or somebody (even Apple themselves?) don't release something. There is google maps at the moment - this will allow you to track your position and get directions - but it doesn't have voice alerts.

As for internet, you access it through the Safari web browser - just like a Mac or windows machines. It doesn't not have Flash though. The data is sold as unlimited but I believe there maybe a Fair Use Policy. The only report I've seen said 3gb - and if you go over that, they don't cut you off or charge you more - just get a warning. Suppose if you hammered it monthly then they might take issue. 3gb is a fair amount though over the data connection. You've still got wireless in there too of course.

Mr.Manchester

Fantastic, GPS isn't a big deal a I have a tomtom one anyway, I take it to use the E-mail on the move you need an 02 email address?

jowl

Nope, the Apple pages say you can use any imap or Pop3 e-mail. Or google, Yahoo too of course.

I

Mr.Manchester

Cool, i have a pop3 account with Tiscali.

Markus

TomTom has said they will be producing an iPhone app, so there should be some SatNav available, plus the iPhone does use GoogleMaps and looking here the "Get Directions" bit does seem indicate rudimentary turn-by-turn navigation is available.

As for email, it has support for MobileMe (DotMac), MS Exchange, Yahoo, GMail, AOL and most IMAP or POP mail systems. What I take this to mean is that you probably just need to enter server and account settings, as you would do in any mail client, and it'll pickup the email from them

Mr.Manchester

Trouble with me is, im really not that patient, can i really wait a month! or are there any deals available now

jowl

No deals for the iPhone 3G - it hasn't landed yet. I'm sure there are many of jailbroken/uunlocked iPhones on ebay......but I'd wait (even though I'm counting down the days and it's going so s---l-----o-----w!

And I've been having a look at the old iPhone in the O2 shop tonight. POP3 e-mail looks easy - just enter username, password and pop3 server!

JackClark

POP3's a bit ancient. Much better to get a Gmail account then just put in your email address and password, it's automatically configured for IMAP which is a whole lot better. Even better than that get a Gmail account for domains, £5 a year, choose your own domain name!

GC8WRX

Vodaphones "fair use policy" is 500mb! That is **** all!

I wonder what o2 policy is!

ScaldedCat

My mate is currently contesting his iPhone bill with O2 as they appear to have charged him an extra £10 for data usage, although he swears blind he has hardly used the Internet since getting the phone several months ago.
I'm guessing he's left a page open that has auto-refreshed itself every few seconds or something, but that surely wouldn't push him over the 'fair use' zone without realising?

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

The iphone is pretty good for the internet when you can actually get a signal. The iphone is basically as close as you can get to proper internet on your phone ! But the phone itself is merely just a toy. Its great the things you can add to it when you hack it but its always droping a signal. I had to go back to my HTC as the iphone could never get a signal but in the same places on my HTC everyone could get back intouch with me.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

Even though 02 have an unlimited usage contract?? I'm sure last time I spoke to them to get it added to my minutes they also have a 500mb fair usage policy ?? You don't have to have an iphone with o2 for the unlimited internet access as they offer it free to any contract of £35 a month and up

jowl

I believe that O2 have a 3gb Fair Use on their non-iPhone 'unlimited' data.