RANT - Sorry but the iPhone 3G really isn't very good!!

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
thank god for Ebay !



Anyway to add some context.... I am a long time Mac User, .Mac subscriber, Shuffle and Nano owner, original iPhone owner and now ex iPhone 3G owner.



to list..



1/ Build quality, seemingly in line with lots of recent Apple products (the nano looks and feels cheap and tacky) the new 3G iPhone seems to have much worse build quality than even the original iPhone. The metal bezel on mine was so 'un-flush' with the rest of the device it was embarrassing. The headphone volume button came off on my first 3G and the 'vibration' button was dodgy at best.



2/ Crashing Apps - even after multiple re-installs of the new software, Apps still crash regularly. Safari is by far the worst! Ever try placing a bet with safari? Don't bother...useless. 3rd party apps are better but still crash a lot.



3/ GPS - at times its a joke, my cheapo Tom-Tom never had me on the wrong street!! APple say its 'consumer grade' GPS... er no!



4/ Reception - aside from the well documented 3g issues (i have never been able to make 3G actually work and do anything even though the 3G icon shows) the reception as a regular phone is rubbish in comparison to other phones (specifically a Nokia 6300 and RAZR) . AT first I thought it was the network (o2) as I'm in the UK, but having tested the other 2 models in the same location with the same network, I am sure its the phone.



2 examples - in one area I had 'No Service' on the iPhone 3G, but 2 bars on the RAZR and 3 on the 6300! Searching for carriers on the iPhone didn't even reveal o2 as an option.



Secondly i was on the iphone and had a 4 bar Edge signal. Within a walk of 15 yards on a street I had No service at all. The other 2 didn't wobble.



5/ Syncing and push email - well lets face it, its not as described and it doesn't even work properly.



5/ Mobile me - not directly related but an unmitigated shambles none the less.





really disappointed in general, lots of Apple stuff recently seems to be 'less stable' - Leopard been the best example.



rant over..cheers!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Archipellago View Post


    thank god for Ebay !



    Anyway to add some context.... I am a long time Mac User, .Mac subscriber, Shuffle and Nano owner, original iPhone owner and now ex iPhone 3G owner.



    to list..



    1/ Build quality, seemingly in line with lots of recent Apple products (the nano looks and feels cheap and tacky) the new 3G iPhone seems to have much worse build quality than even the original iPhone. The metal bezel on mine was so 'un-flush' with the rest of the device it was embarrassing. The headphone volume button came off on my first 3G and the 'vibration' button was dodgy at best.



    2/ Crashing Apps - even after multiple re-installs of the new software, Apps still crash regularly. Safari is by far the worst! Ever try placing a bet with safari? Don't bother...useless. 3rd party apps are better but still crash a lot.



    3/ GPS - at times its a joke, my cheapo Tom-Tom never had me on the wrong street!! APple say its 'consumer grade' GPS... er no!



    4/ Reception - aside from the well documented 3g issues (i have never been able to make 3G actually work and do anything even though the 3G icon shows) the reception as a regular phone is rubbish in comparison to other phones (specifically a Nokia 6300 and RAZR) . AT first I thought it was the network (o2) as I'm in the UK, but having tested the other 2 models in the same location with the same network, I am sure its the phone.



    2 examples - in one area I had 'No Service' on the iPhone 3G, but 2 bars on the RAZR and 3 on the 6300! Searching for carriers on the iPhone didn't even reveal o2 as an option.



    Secondly i was on the iphone and had a 4 bar Edge signal. Within a walk of 15 yards on a street I had No service at all. The other 2 didn't wobble.



    5/ Syncing and push email - well lets face it, its not as described and it doesn't even work properly.



    5/ Mobile me - not directly related but an unmitigated shambles none the less.





    really disappointed in general, lots of Apple stuff recently seems to be 'less stable' - Leopard been the best example.



    rant over..cheers!



    Stop and ask yourself for one second - "Are these problems typical with the device?"



    How could they be? Wouldn't problems this big (if they are common) have come up in reviews? I'm sure there are issues with the iPhone that need to be resolved (starting with reception). I use Safari almost every day. I've never had a single crash. My syncing has been flawless. The GPS device sometimes lags a bit but I've never used a GPS so I have nothing to compare it to.



    I'm very happy with the iPhone.
  • Reply 2 of 43
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Archipellago View Post


    thank god for Ebay !



    Why didn't you just return it to O2 within the 14 days?
  • Reply 3 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by piot View Post


    Why didn't you just return it to O2 within the 14 days?







    becuase you can get much more on ebay. The o2 contract works well for me.
  • Reply 4 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rsmithgi View Post


    Stop and ask yourself for one second - "Are these problems typical with the device?"



    How could they be? Wouldn't problems this big (if they are common) have come up in reviews? I'm sure there are issues with the iPhone that need to be resolved (starting with reception). I use Safari almost every day. I've never had a single crash. My syncing has been flawless. The GPS device sometimes lags a bit but I've never used a GPS so I have nothing to compare it to.



    I'm very happy with the iPhone.



    I'm pleased you are happy, thats good, I'm not here to try and put people off, just telling my story...



    to answer your points, I think there are people who are willing or even looking for faults with other things rather than the device itself. Even I was willing to blame the network for reception issues.



    App crashing and sync issues have been widely reported.



    GPS should be better/more accurate though if apple's claims are correct
  • Reply 5 of 43
    oh and it cracks as well...



    one bloke is on his 8th unit!!



    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...525177&page=21
  • Reply 6 of 43
    I can feel a 'watchdog' coming on for the iphone cracking case issue if Appl don't sort it soon!
  • Reply 7 of 43
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    If your phone is such a broken PoS do you really think it's ethical to try to hoist it off on someone on eBay? Your iPhone does not seem at all typical.



    If your iPhone is the lemon you describe it as, you're going to have one angry e-bay customer.



    Why not return it as a lemon and then sell the new one on eBay if you're so disillusioned with it?
  • Reply 8 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    If your phone is such a broken PoS do you really think it's ethical to try to hoist it off on someone on eBay? Your iPhone does not seem at all typical.



    If your iPhone is the lemon you describe it as, you're going to have one angry e-bay customer.



    Why not return it as a lemon and then sell the new one on eBay if you're so disillusioned with it?





    no, mine is fine. I'm just saying that in general the case cracking issue (with further research) is very widespread.



    The other 'features' or lack of them are just how the 3g is.
  • Reply 9 of 43
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    I don't think constantly crashing applications is "just how the 3g is"
  • Reply 10 of 43
    really??



    this bloke has restored his iPhone 34 times!



    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=544584



    you should try viewing the official forums or nip to MR...lots and lots of issues.



    its a poorly made product clearly. There are stories of phones with cracked cases out of the box!!...actually opened in store.
  • Reply 12 of 43
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Archipellago View Post


    really??



    this bloke has restored his iPhone 34 times!



    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=544584



    you should try viewing the official forums or nip to MR...lots and lots of issues.



    its a poorly made product clearly. There are stories of phones with cracked cases out of the box!!...actually opened in store.



    Yes, and I'd wager that is not normal either.



    There's a difference between the echo chamber of complaints on internet forums and the actual rate of such unacceptable performance. There are always lemons. What matters is if it's an unacceptably high rate, which isn't possible to determine from cruising forums.
  • Reply 13 of 43
    I can only say I've been very happy with my iPhone and haven't noticed any of the supposedly "widespread" problems that some people are reporting. About the worst I've noticed is an app not loading but powering off then on fixed the problem. And no, I didn't write an email to His Steveness demanding compensation for the 30 seconds I spent doing so!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    Yes, and I'd wager that is not normal either.



    There's a difference between the echo chamber of complaints on internet forums and the actual rate of such unacceptable performance. There are always lemons. What matters is if it's an unacceptably high rate, which isn't possible to determine from cruising forums.



  • Reply 14 of 43
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Archipellago View Post


    really??



    this bloke has restored his iPhone 34 times!



    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=544584



    its a poorly made product clearly. There are stories of phones with cracked cases out of the box!!...actually opened in store.



    That bloke is either a liar or an idiot. Obviously something is seriously wrong and that phone needs to be repaired or replaced.
  • Reply 15 of 43
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Archipellago View Post


    I'm not here to try and put people off, just telling my story...



    You now appear to be trawling the web looking for other people's stories!
  • Reply 16 of 43
    justflybobjustflybob Posts: 1,337member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    Yes, and I'd wager that is not normal either.



    There's a difference between the echo chamber of complaints on internet forums and the actual rate of such unacceptable performance. There are always lemons. What matters is if it's an unacceptably high rate, which isn't possible to determine from cruising forums.



    Me thinks the END USER needs to be repaired or replaced...
  • Reply 17 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by piot View Post


    You now appear to be trawling the web looking for other people's stories!



    not at all, I didn't realise the magnitude of the issues until I started looking today. It piqued my interest.
  • Reply 18 of 43
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Archipellago View Post


    not at all, I didn't realise the magnitude of the issues until I started looking today. It piqued my interest.



    The problem is that you are stacking the deck with negative stories. Without consideration for the fact that these are possibly a small minority of people having problems and are the most vocal. The far majority of people who are not having problems would have no reason to complain. I would also wager some number of these anonymous complainers are Apple/iPhone haters telling tall tales.



    Do you really think any company could stay in business if a significant number of its products are defective?
  • Reply 19 of 43
    I would have to disagree. Everything works great for me.
  • Reply 20 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    The problem is that you are stacking the deck with negative stories. Without consideration for the fact that these are possibly a small minority of people having problems and are the most vocal. The far majority of people who are not having problems would have no reason to complain. I would also wager some number of these anonymous complainers are Apple/iPhone haters telling tall tales.



    Do you really think any company could stay in business if a significant number of its products are defective?





    A strange fact of life that most unhappy customers don't complain they just leave or never buy anything from company X again.



    Apple has had the Nano screen issues, MAcbook case cracking and now 'all' the 3g issues and they seem to be doing ok.



    What is a significant number anyhow? If it happens to ME then its significant! Stories of cracked phones out of the box and the pictures of white 3g phones on display in Regent Street AP Store cracked all over the place make this issue far from isolated.



    Apple charge a premium price for a supposed premium product when in truth the iphone is just like nearly evry other gadget made in China. Cheap and poorly assembled with poor components. Its been made to fit a price point. I have no problem with good business and profit, I do have issue with lack of ownership and responsibility though.



    Look at the ipod its not even the best music player, the new nano build quality is appalling ..so cheap and tacky....



    but..



    hype, marketing and 'cool' wins out over functionality in this crazy world.



    in short..it just needs to do what they say it can all the time.... it doesn't.!
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