iphone 3GS - Beware of updating software

[cjmillsnun]

Originally Posted by Gate Keeper

It is always interesting to see the solution to the problem from another view and to take on board your opinion. Clearly your sources are different to mine Chris and I do not have a problem with that. I have a question for you and it is about the iPad but as it is not in keeping with the OP here, I will pm you. Cheers

I have no information about the iPad. What I do know is how long it would take to prototype and productionise a complex product. Normally at least a year.

[AngryDog]

I guess you're either an Android Fanboi or an Apple Fanboi. Ive used both and I just cant get on with Android......

[guru]

Originally Posted by AngryDog

I guess you're either an Android Fanboi or an Apple Fanboi. Ive used both and I just cant get on with Android......

Yep, mobile OSes seem to really polarise opinion, I'm yet to see a smartphone thread that doesn't descend into an Android vs iOS argument!
To be fair they are both good and I think it's a matter of personal opinion. Up until ICS iOS was easier to use however Android has always had far better customisation and choice of hardware.
I have recommended iPhones to people in the past as I though they might struggle with Android although ICS may change my mind on that.

Personally as an I.T. bloke anyway it's Android all the way for me. I'm just glad that Blackberry is dying a death, never could stand them.

[cjmillsnun]

I'm quite liking of all things, Windows Phone 7. It to me is better than Android.

[Gate Keeper]

Originally Posted by cjmillsnun

I have no information about the iPad. What I do know is how long it would take to prototype and productionise a complex product. Normally at least a year.

I just wondered if the next iPad will have a mobile phone feature built into it?

[minty2]

Just Jailbreak the phone. It's easy and safe and lets you restore to older firmware. Once done, restore from the last backup you did before updating to iOS 5.

Originally Posted by Reebs

I've had an iphone 3GS 32 GB for over 2 years and it has served me very well, especially for accessing the forum on the go.

Well on Wednesday I decided to do a very over due itunes sync on the laptop, and up popped a message saying there was a newer version of software for the phone (version 5.0.1), bonus, I thought, lets see what goodies they have added to the functionality, so I updated the phone.

Well I have to say, that for me anyway, it knobbled it. Whenever I tried to swipe or scroll through my pictures, or email messages, or surf the web, the phone would just stick temporarily then continue, and when trying to type replies to posts, it would only display the first 2 letters of a word before freezing for a second then quickly revealing them on catch up. This makes it very difficult to type a reply on the forums.

Not happy, I went along to my local carphone warehouse (other leading companies are also available ) to ask them about it. They said that the latest version of software although backwardly compatible with the older 3GS phones, was ideally intended for the iphone 4S dual core A5 chip, and so the older non dual core processor would now struggle to perform as well as it used to.

They also said that there was no way of reverting back to a previous level of firmware, so I had to accept it.

Luckily for me, I was due and upgrade and so plumped for the new 4S model and also got £98.00 trade in for my old handset, but really Apple should make it clear to owners of older equipment, that the later releases of firmware can actually have a detrimental effect on the phone's performance.

I post this simply as a warning to anyone considering doing the firmware update to version 5.0.1 on an earlier 3GS handset. I should have stuck to the old maxim 'If it aint broke, don't fix it'

[MrBitsy]

Originally Posted by mamasboy

I personnaly dont think i'd go for another iphone purely due to cost. They very good but are mostly a fashion symbol and there are phones out there such as the galaxy 2 which are as feature laden and relaible if not better than the iphone.

Fashion symbol is one of those odd phrases people use - i really have no idea what it means. I use an iPhone because of the seamless integration between products, good design, excellent support and ease of use.

People often state the iPhone is a closed system, yet I don't think many people understand what this means. For me, it means the hardware and software work seamless together. The products are easy to use, have few software glitches and all apps and music are easy to get to from a central source. Ok, Apple may not allow software developers to do certain small things, but this is to ensure a good end user experience.

An open system like Android will introduce many different flavours of the operating system, software incompatibilities, issues with upgrades, a less satisfying user experience because the hardware, OS, apps etc are all from different sources. These are real negatives that I don't want to experience, so chose Apple products.

It is similar to owning a PC from one vendor and running Microsoft Windows on it - where does one go for support? The hardware vendor says it is a windows fault, but windows will say its a hardware fault. The hardware itself comes from many different sources - graphics cards, sound cards, chips etc. Most of us have experienced the negatives in PC ownership :-)

After 20 years I recently ditched the PC in favour of a MAC. I now have the hardware and software developed by the same company. I go to one source if there is a problem. This is the benefit of a 'closed' system.

Iphone or Android will give you an amazing smartphone that will do so many amazing things. For me, Apple products package the phone, apps, music and OS in such a way that owning one is a pleasure. Android will also be a pleasure to own, but you WILL get more issues with usability to have an 'open' system.

I overheard someone at work saying don't get an iPhone because Apple have 'locked it down'. I asked him what that meant. He replied Apple will only let you do what they want you to do. Again, I asked him what that meant - he didn't know, it was just the urban myth surfacing again. It really is rubbish with half a million apps available for download - most of them not from Apple!

[cjmillsnun]

Originally Posted by MrBitsy

Fashion symbol is one of those odd phrases people use - i really have no idea what it means. I use an iPhone because of the seamless integration between products, good design, excellent support and ease of use.

People often state the iPhone is a closed system, yet I don't think many people understand what this means. For me, it means the hardware and software work seamless together. The products are easy to use, have few software glitches and all apps and music are easy to get to from a central source. Ok, Apple may not allow software developers to do certain small things, but this is to ensure a good end user experience.

An open system like Android will introduce many different flavours of the operating system, software incompatibilities, issues with upgrades, a less satisfying user experience because the hardware, OS, apps etc are all from different sources. These are real negatives that I don't want to experience, so chose Apple products.

It is similar to owning a PC from one vendor and running Microsoft Windows on it - where does one go for support? The hardware vendor says it is a windows fault, but windows will say its a hardware fault. The hardware itself comes from many different sources - graphics cards, sound cards, chips etc. Most of us have experienced the negatives in PC ownership :-)

After 20 years I recently ditched the PC in favour of a MAC. I now have the hardware and software developed by the same company. I go to one source if there is a problem. This is the benefit of a 'closed' system.

Iphone or Android will give you an amazing smartphone that will do so many amazing things. For me, Apple products package the phone, apps, music and OS in such a way that owning one is a pleasure. Android will also be a pleasure to own, but you WILL get more issues with usability to have an 'open' system.

I overheard someone at work saying don't get an iPhone because Apple have 'locked it down'. I asked him what that meant. He replied Apple will only let you do what they want you to do. Again, I asked him what that meant - he didn't know, it was just the urban myth surfacing again. It really is rubbish with half a million apps available for download - most of them not from Apple!

Couldn't have put it better myself. (sent from my MacBook)

Yes Apple have very strict rules for app development if you want to go in their app store. However that has not stopped people from developing a multitude of apps that do almost anything you could want.

As witnessed by the amount of malware found on Android recently, I'd rather be in Apple's walled garden where there is at least an attempt at keeping things in order.

If it can be done via HTML 5 then there are no restrictions at all (look at Amazon's kindle website https://read.amazon.com/about as an example). Just host it on a website. Mobile Safari is fully HTML 5 compliant. Hows that for being open?

Android has it's place for those who don't mind full on tinkering. But for those who want simplicity (even some geeks like me do), then other mobile os' like iOS or Windows Phone 7 fit the bill.

[Andyd358]

I have used Android and now Iphone I like the I Phone as it just seems to work.

I have two PCs in my room one is dual boot server 2008 R2 and Win 7 (so i can watch tv on it.) The other is Dual boot between Win 7 premuim and Mac, Ive installed a Hackintosh on it using iBoot and a retail copy of lion and it works very well, Installed the Mac OS so that i can get to know it.

The machine is a dell XPS 8300 iCore 5 with 8gb Ram and it rund Lion at the same apeed as a Mac Pro, obviously its not perfect but does what I want it to do so that I can learn the OS.

[Gate Keeper]

Now my o.h tells me she wants a smart phone for her birthday in Feb. A niece aged 9 has just had a blackberry for hers. The 3 GS I have has no trouble with except I am not impressed by it's battery life. I am going to have to decide on the 4S or the Galaxy. Happy new year!