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iPhone 1G to 3G/3GS- much difference?

M

melissa23

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 14, 2009
30
0
Cheshire
Hi,

I currently have an 8Gb iPhone, which I bought in Nov 2007 very soon after it came out here- it's getting on quite a bit, and thanks to a botched case-decorating job half the buttons don't work, or the wifi (I really should stop trying to DIY electronics!).

I am currently paying £35 a month with O2- the 18month contract ran out earlier this year but I kept on with the tariff as I wasn't sure which phone I wanted next, and various periods of unemployment meant I couldn't really afford to get another one. I considered PAYG but I think I would easily spend over £30 a month topping up- have done it before and spent a fortune!

I'm itching for something new...of course the 3GS has just come out and I'm hearing it's so much faster with browsing than the 3G- IMO, browsing is slooow on mine- that's what my laptop is for- and I've used a friends' 3G and found googlemaps/internet to be much snappier than on mine.

I can get the iPhone 3G for £90 from O2 and put my current sim card in- basically the same tariff as the £35/month they offer but I wouldn't be locked into another 18months. I'm considering this as an option rather than the 3GS as I don't have a job at the moment, currently I can't work due to health reasons and it will be a few months before I can work again. It seems somehow behind the times to get the 3G when the 3GS has just come out though. I was thinking that if I got the 3G, I could put in my current sim so I'm not locked into a contract, then at some point in the future if the 3GS price drops I can sell the 3G and get the 3GS.

My question is, will going from the 1G to 3G be a big step up in performance, noticeably so that from the 3G to 3GS would be un-necessary? Or should I spend the extra and get the 3GS, which I've read is 'better' than the 3G? I know no-one can tell me how to spend my money but I'm interested in hearing opinions/experiences, particularly from 'late-upgraders' like me who still have the 1G.

C&C welcome,

Melissa.
 
melissa23 said:
Hi,

I currently have an 8Gb iPhone, which I bought in Nov 2007 very soon after it came out here- it's getting on quite a bit, and thanks to a botched case-decorating job half the buttons don't work, or the wifi (I really should stop trying to DIY electronics!).

I am currently paying £35 a month with O2- the 18month contract ran out earlier this year but I kept on with the tariff as I wasn't sure which phone I wanted next, and various periods of unemployment meant I couldn't really afford to get another one. I considered PAYG but I think I would easily spend over £30 a month topping up- have done it before and spent a fortune!

I'm itching for something new...of course the 3GS has just come out and I'm hearing it's so much faster with browsing than the 3G- IMO, browsing is slooow on mine- that's what my laptop is for- and I've used a friends' 3G and found googlemaps/internet to be much snappier than on mine.

I can get the iPhone 3G for £90 from O2 and put my current sim card in- basically the same tariff as the £35/month they offer but I wouldn't be locked into another 18months. I'm considering this as an option rather than the 3GS as I don't have a job at the moment, currently I can't work due to health reasons and it will be a few months before I can work again. It seems somehow behind the times to get the 3G when the 3GS has just come out though. I was thinking that if I got the 3G, I could put in my current sim so I'm not locked into a contract, then at some point in the future if the 3GS price drops I can sell the 3G and get the 3GS.

My question is, will going from the 1G to 3G be a big step up in performance, noticeably so that from the 3G to 3GS would be un-necessary? Or should I spend the extra and get the 3GS, which I've read is 'better' than the 3G? I know no-one can tell me how to spend my money but I'm interested in hearing opinions/experiences, particularly from 'late-upgraders' like me who still have the 1G.

C&C welcome,

Melissa.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, a few thoughts:

1. You should definitely cancel your contract. You can put any O2 sim in the phone, so for example you could be using a free PAYG sim from this page:
http://freesim.o2.co.uk/3Hb6jmfG
or a monthly Simplicity sim from here starting at £10/month:
http://shop.o2.co.uk/sim-only-simplicity

2. The 3G and 3GS are faster, for sure. I was just forced to change from my first gen iPhone this month when I lost it, so it's nice that maps/webpages load faster when I'm out and about, and nice to have video (3GS). But I wouldn't have got it if I hadn't lost my first gen. I don't think the differences are compelling enough for me. In your shoes I'd go Simplicity or PAYG and save the money. Except that I do use wifi a lot so if I broke that I'm sure I'd get a new one......

3. Are you sure about the £90 with no commitment? That sounds too good to be true.... usually an upgrade price involves a new 18/24 month contract and the no commitment 3G price is £342 from O2's website:
http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/iphoneindex/Pay_And_Go/3G

Hope that helps
 
Moi un Mouton said:
Hmmm, a few thoughts:

1. You should definitely cancel your contract. You can put any O2 sim in the phone, so for example you could be using a free PAYG sim from this page:
http://freesim.o2.co.uk/3Hb6jmfG
or a monthly Simplicity sim from here starting at £10/month:
http://shop.o2.co.uk/sim-only-simplicity

2. The 3G and 3GS are faster, for sure. I was just forced to change from my first gen iPhone this month when I lost it, so it's nice that maps/webpages load faster when I'm out and about, and nice to have video (3GS). But I wouldn't have got it if I hadn't lost my first gen. I don't think the differences are compelling enough for me. In your shoes I'd go Simplicity or PAYG and save the money. Except that I do use wifi a lot so if I broke that I'm sure I'd get a new one......

3. Are you sure about the £90 with no commitment? That sounds too good to be true.... usually an upgrade price involves a new 18/24 month contract and the no commitment 3G price is £342 from O2's website:
http://shop.o2.co.uk/promo/iphoneindex/Pay_And_Go/3G

Hope that helps
Click to expand...


Yea, big difference from original to 3G (network speed only). Again, big difference from 3G to 3G S (system wide).

One thing to consider though: Are you planning on getting the 4th gen iPhone? If history repeats itself, the 4th gen should be do out in June or July of 2010. If you do plan on grabbing a 4th gen, then the 3G should hold you over just fine until then.
 
1G vs 3GS

I upgraded from my 1G iPhone to the 3GS a few months ago, and love the new phone.

It's much faster and contains more capabilities. Several features that I wasn't sure of have surprised me. For example: I thought the compass was 'cute' at best, then I found myself walking downtown Seattle, Chicago, and more last month. Having a compass that tells me which way I am facing helps! If you travel- several of the features (like the compass) are priceless.

If it's in your price range, I think it's worth it!
 
I went from a 16GB 1G iphone to the 3GS and let me tell you, its a HUGE difference!
 
Hi guys,

you've given me a fair bit to think about.

I was under the impression that I could get the £90 3G, put my current sim in, it would just work as it's 02, with the same benefits- unlimited internet, 500 texts etc, keep paying £35/month but not be tied in to a contract. Maybe that's because of when I first got my iPhone- I have a vague memory of signing something, going home with the phone and not actually -having- a contract til I'd set it up in iTunes. Of course, I might have the finer points wrong there...

I thought that, if the above worked, I could use the 3G til I can more readily afford the 3GS, take out my sim, unlock if I can (I don't know how easy this is), sell it on ebay and use the proceeds to buy the 3GS, and repeat. Of course, if I'm wrong about the contracts then this wouldn't work at all!

I haven't cancelled the sim yet because of my hope for the above plan to work, plus I do use the internet (despite no wifi- not sure if it's the phone or my router)- I didn't want to go PAYG and end up paying more.

As for 4G..it depends- I try to appreciate what I've got, but I get definite gadget envy! It pretty much depends on my financial state at the time.

I do get lost easily, I think googlemaps helps more there than a compass though! (I'm an avid pedestrian...)

Financially, I could buy the 3GS, but then I'd be pretty much broke, and not being able to work atm means I'm on benefits (the UK system is another long post!) which are basically £200 a month, so that's all the spare money I'd have. I live with my parents, so my expenses are basically my phone bill and whatever I buy for myself (gadgets, things for hobbies, dvds, clothes etc-- of course, being a shopaholic doesn't help!

I think, if the 3GS had not just been released/didn't exist, I would get the 3G. Not sure if that says a lot about me...

Perhaps I should put it all on the backburner til I have more money coming in- maybe the price will have dropped by then, but of course speculation is just that, and the 3G's been £90 for a very long time so I don't think they will drop the 3GS price soon.
 
melissa23 said:
I haven't cancelled the sim yet because of my hope for the above plan to work, plus I do use the internet (despite no wifi- not sure if it's the phone or my router)- I didn't want to go PAYG and end up paying more.
Click to expand...

I still believe you should cancel the contract. Right now I have Simplicity with 600 minutes + 1200 texts + unlimited web for £19/month with 30 days notice to cancel. You could usefully use the £16/month as a shopaholic, I imagine :)

And if you don't need that many minutes/texts, you'll save even more.

melissa23 said:
plus I do use the internet (despite no wifi- not sure if it's the phone or my router)
Click to expand...

You can find out by trying to connect at a wifi hotspot, like Macdonalds, Starbucks, hotels, airports, etc. Once you know, you can probably fix it (with help from here!)
 
Moi un mouton, I took your advice!

I logged in to check my bill (don't do that often) and found out I've ran up £8 in texts already this month- went £20 over last month..! The o2 site is so confusing I can't find out when 'this month' starts or ends though- just that my bill (the £20 over one) from the period of approx a month ago, to 2 days in the future (?) has been taken on the 1st Sep- how does that work?? When I click on 'what I've used' it shows me the £8- gone over 500 already..I've rarely gone over it before, but I'm clearly texting lots more. I never use all my minutes though.

Just sent an email to customer services asking to cancel my contract. Does anyone know if the 30-day waiting period still applies? My contract technically finished months ago, but I'm not sure how it works. Also ordered the same sim you mentioned. The 1200 texts one- cos 500 is too little for me. I then found a number to ring (to cancel) in the help section, it said they are open til 9, and pressed lots of buttons repeatedly and listened to them saying they don't have stock of the '3G...ess' only to be told the lines closed at 8 so call back another time! Hmmph!

I'm a bit nervous as when I was a lot younger I had a contract phone and ran up a huge bill, called to cancel and had to call back to confirm 3x and o2 kept saying they had no record of it, charged me twice, and only finally cancelled when my dad spoke to them...
 
michael.lauden said:
yeah but when in the car the small difference between network speeds, and the reliability of a GPS chip vs tower triangulation is a HUGE difference.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you meant by GPS comment, but since both the 3G and GS have one so that performance is the same. The GS, however, will load maps data faster on Edge, 3G and WiFi.

While I agree that the 3G network will feel considerably faster than the 2G, bear in mind that the GS will make not only make 3G feel faster than the 3G but also make EDGE feel faster than the 2G phone.

Personally I would find the money to get the GS, unless you don't spend that much time online. In which case the 3G will meet your needs just fine.
 
melissa23 said:
Moi un mouton, I took your advice!

I logged in to check my bill (don't do that often) and found out I've ran up £8 in texts already this month- went £20 over last month..! The o2 site is so confusing I can't find out when 'this month' starts or ends though- just that my bill (the £20 over one) from the period of approx a month ago, to 2 days in the future (?) has been taken on the 1st Sep- how does that work?? When I click on 'what I've used' it shows me the £8- gone over 500 already..I've rarely gone over it before, but I'm clearly texting lots more. I never use all my minutes though.

Just sent an email to customer services asking to cancel my contract. Does anyone know if the 30-day waiting period still applies? My contract technically finished months ago, but I'm not sure how it works. Also ordered the same sim you mentioned. The 1200 texts one- cos 500 is too little for me. I then found a number to ring (to cancel) in the help section, it said they are open til 9, and pressed lots of buttons repeatedly and listened to them saying they don't have stock of the '3G...ess' only to be told the lines closed at 8 so call back another time! Hmmph!

I'm a bit nervous as when I was a lot younger I had a contract phone and ran up a huge bill, called to cancel and had to call back to confirm 3x and o2 kept saying they had no record of it, charged me twice, and only finally cancelled when my dad spoke to them...
Click to expand...

My experience is that if you ring Customer Services on 202, and choose the "thinking of leaving us" option, you get through pretty quickly to the Retentions team. Once there, just say you want to cancel your contract and they will ask why.

If you say something like "I've just found out that if I go to T-Mobile I can get 600 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited web browsing for £20" you will find they get very co-operative. (They may say the iPhone won't work on T-Mobile but just say you already unlocked it.) You may be able to get an extra bolt-on to the Simplicity plan (they offered me free wi-fi as well as web earlier this month) or get them to make it unlimited texts or something. This team has the power to do just about anything to keep you. They can also switch you over with immediate effect, no SIM changes, no notice period or anything, which is probably the real goal here.

(Here's the T-Mobile details by the way, it's not a bluff: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobi...-monthly/pay-monthly-solo/solo-20/allowances/ )

Good luck and enjoy the savings!!!
 
Thankyou :) I get nervous on the phone and I've never been a smooth talker, but I'll give it a go tomorrow morning!

If I say I want to cancel so I can put in the simplicity sim, will they be as helpful? I told them that already in the email I sent...

Did you ask them for free wifi or did they spontaneously offer it?

Yep, no notice period is the biggie- basically I could carry on texting, and not be charged for it, due to the larger allowance. Incidentally, do you have to change your number? I did order the simplicity sim online but I don't know how long it will take to arrive.

Thankyou for your help :)
 
O2 will be able to carry your old number across. If you were on another network, you'd get a PAC code, so it will be possible.
 
You'll see a 2x-5x overall boost in performance. I personally saw a 20x increase in Internet speeds when I got 3G service. :)
 
Thanks everyone for your replies :) the 3G does sound very tempting to me, but at the moment I'll have to think about things for a while, til I've paid to have my MBP fixed, then I'll see how much money I have left (if any).

Moi un mouton, thanks so much for all your help. I phoned o2 this morning and told them about the T-Mobile offer- she switched me over to the simplicity sim I've mentioned on here, and said it will take up to 48 hours and they will refund me for any charges I'm incurring after the call (as in, now, I'm being charged for going over my texting allowance).

She said I don't have to put in a new sim or do anything- I did order the simplicity sim online, but this way is a lot quicker. She confirmed that my £35/month contract was cancelled, my number would remain the same, and that she'd send me a letter confirming it.

I tried to haggle for free wifi but she said no, thats £7 a month and I wouldn't notice the speed difference anyway (********! it's my phone- I know I do!), and that I could call back if I found I needed it and they could add it on or cancel the 30 day contract. I don't understand how they can charge when the wifi connection I'd be using is my own, but since I'm not paying the £7 and my wifi doesn't work anyway it's irrelevant. I said £7 is quite expensive for wifi and she agreed!

I wish I'd done this earlier- contract ended in May- and seeing as my phone is on it's last legs (my fault- most of the buttons are missing, bashed up case, no wifi, no vibrate) it gives me some time and money to think about what to do next.
 
Well I'm glad you got somewhere with that.

The wi-fi bolt-on, by the way, is to let you use BT and Cloud hotspots when you're out and about, so it doesn't sound like it's any loss. You don't need it to use your own wi-fi. You just need to figure out how to make that work again! :)
 
very satisfied

1g>>>>3gs

could not be happier, very fast, looks much better, cooler features. really like this compass and its ability to track you while driving. voice response features are cool as well. battery is amazing on mine. lowest i have gotten it is 7% and that is uding it all day long.
 
Stop it now with the 3GS stuff, Melissa has not got much money and still needs to get her Macbook repaired!!!!!!!!! :D

(Yes I know that's the thread's title, but read it through......)
 
nippyjun said:
Actually in my opinion the 3GS is a major update. It looks that same but the performance is dramatically better. It's like night and day.
Click to expand...

I guess I was being sarcastic because a couple of months ago almost everyone was saying that the 3GS is a minor upgrade and I strongly disagreed. It's a huge upgrade.
 
Yes, that's true! I just got the final quote- just under £250. The original quote was £150 but that didn't account for the snapped screen bezel (I did tell the guy about it...) and left ambient light sensor needing replacement (I broke the cable by accient). Nobody replied to my thread about it (guess no-ones heard of MacKing.co.uk- they seem legit) but I think £250 is a good price to reassemble the whole laptop and add 2 new bits.

So, I'll have about £150 left if that- so no new iphone in my near future! Plus now I'm paying £20 a month I don't want to be tied into a contract and pay £35 for the same things.

Thanks everyone for your replies :)
 
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