Yep Mark another Phone.......

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Funny it worked.....the last time!!Now I am not sure what was working before they put a hole in my head!!!!

I think a better test would be for Jay to use his wife's phone and use it just like he did with the last two phones.

Lets see what the result is.

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VZW, It's 2009! Time to embrace technology, not suppress it. - oops too late I've moved on over to the iPhone w/ AT$T!

Umm, good idea. All he has to do is swap the SIM card

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Funny it worked.....the last time!!Now I am not sure what was working before they put a hole in my head!!!!

You know, after I exchanged the first iPhone I was afraid that I would earn the moniker "dangerous of the iPhone forum" or something like that.

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

If I swap SIM cards, will I also need to wipe each phone? Or, if I swap SIM cards, will I automatically have my contacts and calendar on her iPhone and vice versa?

I asked my wife this evening what she thought about us keeping the iPhones. She said that she's not against it, but she wanted to make sure I realize they're not the best phones. I replied that the issue probably has less to do with the iPhone than AT&T's coverage in our area. She said yesterday, even with 3G off, she had a dropped call and also had a dropped call last week. Of course, yesterday's dropped call occurred before I reset her iPhone.

I suspect we'll just keep the iPhones, and I'll hope that both AT&T improves coverage in Phoenix and the 2.1 firmware upgrade is released soon and fixes the 3G problems. I might continue my tests for a bit longer just to see what's what. So, back to my previous question, if I swap the SIM cards, will I have my contacts and calendar on her iPhone and will she have her contacts and calendar are mine?

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

Sorry Jay, I just tried it, you have to wipe everything of each phone and then enter them back on the new phone..............that's where mobileme comes in.........needs to be re-activated thru iTunes..........rename phones........rename backups.....but doable.

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Funny it worked.....the last time!!Now I am not sure what was working before they put a hole in my head!!!!

Thanks for trying it for me, Andy. I fully charged my iPhone last night. I think what I should do is restart it just in case me briefly turning 3G on and off the other day messed it up. Then see how this round of battery charge goes. I'm also inclined to install the 2.0.2 (or 2.0.1) update on mine and see how that goes.

Honestly, part of me wants to keep the iPhone, cancel my VZW contract, and take Pastor Tim's and Mark's advice of quit all the testing and just relax and enjoy the beauty that is iPhone. On the other hand, the mad scientist part of me, wants to get some definitely answers on battery life so we all know exactly how much turning off certain features (e.g., Location Service, 3G, Push, Wi Fi, etc.) makes a difference. For example, if turning off Push only buys me an hour more of standby and 5 minutes of usage, it's probably not worth turning Push off (unless I know I'm going to need the greatest battery life possible).

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

7:57 a.m.--I reboot my iPhone by holding down the Home and Sleep buttons until the Apple logo appears.

8:00 a.m. (sharp)--I reset the usage stats on my iPhone and unplug it from the charger (it is fully charged and has been charging all night). I also unplug my i760, which also is fully charged.

8:14 a.m.--I call a colleague of mine while I'm driving to the office. I get to the office and park in my parking spot. I get out of the car and walk to area between the parking pad and the back door of my office building. I chat for another 10 minutes or so. Total call time was 22 minutes. The call holds tight the entire time. Seems like turning off 3G has made a significant improvement in coverage at my office.

1:00 p.m.--I haven't used my iPhone since about 8:45 this monring (when I made my 8:14 a.m. report). I intentionally have ignored it (just set it on my desk and have not touched it) so that I could definitely say I did not add any usage time. Now, I'm going to check on it to see what it is doing on it's own (remember, it's just pulling e-mail, contacts, and calendar every 30 minutes). Stats are:

• Usage since last full charge 44 minutes
• Standby since last full charge 5 hours, 0 minutes
• Current period call time 22 minutes
• Lifteime call time 5 hours, 15 minute
• Data sent 73.0 KB
• Data received 285 KB

So, the usage seems to be a more accurate figure than what I was seeing yesterday. I know 22 of the 44 minutes is talk time. Apparently, I also missed a call. And, I know I did check the iPhone before the phone call I made this morning and when I got to the office. Plus, we have to factor in the 10 checks of e-mail since 8:00 a.m. today. The good news is that the battery still shows 100% remaining.

10:08 p.m.--Current stats for my iPhone are:

• usage since last full charge 1 hour, 33 minutes
• Standby since last full charge 14 hours, 8 minutes
• Current period call time 36 minutes
• Lifetime call time 5 hours, 28 minutes
• Data sent 217 KB
• Data received 852KB

I still have 90% or more battery remaining (just a sliver of the battery icon is missing). So, I seem to be doing much better today than yesterday. I really do think yesterday must be some type of anomaly and am less and less concerned with the battery life issue (although I'll continue to track it for awhile to help others). On my way home this evening, I called my dad from Tatum & Deer Valley Road and talked to him until I got home. The call held even in the parts of my neighborhood that previously gave me trouble. So, even though I'm disappointed at 3G's unreliability, I am glad that I can get by with EDGE.

Earlier today (I'm not sure when), my wife got the 20% low battery warning. I just went to check her usage stats. For some weird reason, it's not showing any usage time or standby time. I suspect that is because I rebooted her iPhone the other day (after I switched 3G on). Since I last fully charged her phone (3 days ago?), she's gotten 1 hour and 37 minutes of call time. I'll give her iPhone a full charge tonight.

I realized today that I miscalculated the deadline for me to cancel AT&T without having to pay an ETF. I actually have until Friday, not tomorrow. I did call VZW today to find out what my ETF will be if I do decide to port my numbers to AT&T. The good news is that my wife is out of contract so I won't incur an ETF for her line (I knew that already, though). For my line, I'll end up paying an ETF of $120; the amount will drop to $115 if I port on or after September 4.

More tomorrow!

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

Jay
I'm so glad I found your blog on testing the iPhone. Found it last night and read it all. I had an iPhone I got July 11th, but took it back 4 days later. (I paid a 10% re-stock....BTW they tried to base the 10% on the $299 price, not the discounted $199)

I'm waiting on the HTC Diamond, but when I saw the size of the screen, I started to think about the iPhone again.......had I made a mistake in taking it back?.......well reading you experience, I'm more inclined to wait for the Diamond.

I live in Ahwatukee (AZ) and with Sprint I have a dropped call area about 1/2 mile from my home. So I don't expect perfect coverage. But the problems you've had with AT&T coverage and the lack of battery life, plus the 3G adding to your problems......we'll I'm going to wait and take a look at the Diamond (though I hear it may be having LCD screen problems)....Sprint might have next week.

One of the main problems I see is: here you have this great looking, ton of aps phone and you can't really play with it much, as you have to start worrying about the battery life. ......Okay switch to 2.5G, but that's why I waited a year for 3G....now I have to ration it? .....I want a device I can use more consistently.

And the price of the Plan with AT&T is about 35% more than the family plan with Sprint.....willing to do it, but I expect more/better coverage.

Also, when I got the iPhone, AT&T did not offer an insurance plan. That worries me......Oh and a little random here, but the iPhone doesn't have a video camera function, not a big deal, but in a way it kind of is......oh random again, but with a Win mobile platform I can tether my phone to my laptop when I need full internet access, at no additional charge (don't let Sprint know) (our MLS system only does a dumb down version for a handheld)

One thing I haven't been able to confirm is the ME.com functions.....can you see other peoples schedule, similar to MS Outlook on an exchange serve.....so you can do meeting requests or see when they are free.....this would be a great asset. (I had this when I worked at Intel and I've been looking for an app that would allow me to sync with my wife and send and see here schedule)......I don't think this is available with ME.com. Maybe someone else can comment on another app that would do this.

Again, thanks for you doing all the due diligence in vetting this phone and I can understand you keeping it, if you do, as there are a lot of compelling features.

I'm so glad this thread is helping you and others. It means there's actually a purpose for my blog.

If I could use the iPhone on VZW's network, I don't think I'd hesitate for a minute in keeping the iPhone. I agree that we should not have to ration the phone to use 3G. On the other hand, I think my tests indicate that the battery life on the iPhone is the same, if not better, than the battery life on my i760 (I suspect that I just had a few fluke tests). Ironically, my wife is doing great on her battery life. Of course, she is getting next to no e-mails on her iPhone and isn't checking her iPhone every few hours to see what her usage has been. Her only complaints are the coverage, the difficulty she has dialing without a real keypad, and the difficulty she sometimes has when swiping to unlock the iPhone.

I wish I could answer your question about seeing other people's schedules on an Exchange server. I'm syncing directly to my firm's Exchange server and the only calendar that shows up on my iPhone is my calendar. However, that doesn't necessary mean I can't see others' calendars; I just might not know how to do it. Some of the iPhone veterans here (Pastor Tim, equus, JMT, JPMihalk, etc.) might be able to help you with the calendars question.

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

me.com does not (yet) have the capability of the "sharing calendar". Mind you Apple is still in the embryo stage when it comes to the "good ole MS Exchange" services. I don't even know if Apple will ever venture into that territory I have tested out the Diamond and it is truly a hype of media about how great that device and hate to bust your bubble it is NOT, its an OK device. Well that's me saying it and NOT some editor of a well known magazine or a Technical Writer who gets paid handsomely for their writing skills .

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Funny it worked.....the last time!!Now I am not sure what was working before they put a hole in my head!!!!

At first I was impressed with the Diamond, or what I read about it. Looked like HTC was moving in the right direction. The only problem is, it's still based on WM, which is buggy.....a lot more so than the iPhone IMHO.

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It's working for me, there must not be anything wrong!

I've enjoyed reading it too Jay, and it's helped temper my inclination to jump to AT&T and the iPhone when I get frustrated with the old i730. Knowing that the 3G iPhone isn't perfect makes it easier to wait for Apple to correct any hardware/software problems and AT&T to get better 3G coverage.

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-Duncan

"If it can't be expressed in figures, it is not science, it is opinion" - R. Heinlein

Thanks, Duncan. Although I'll probably stick with the iPhone, my recommendation to folks who are not currently on AT&T and who are in the US would be to hold off on switching to the iPhone for another month or two while we wait and see whether AT&T and/or Apple make some improvements. In the alternative, be prepared to keep 3G off most of the time.

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

I think you will find that this whole debacle will help to fuel the change necessary for the U.S. to REALLY make 3G a reality. Even though I live in a fairly good (and new) 3G area, I find that too many 3G connections just hang or don't get responses as I think the bandwidth allotted to 3G is marginal at best, and pretty cr@ppy at worst. I have several buddies, family, and a girlfriend with the iPhone and the 3G iPhone and we are always quite surprised by the randomness of whether it will work or not. Face it, many of us are spoiled by high-speed cable connections and expect that level of service from our wireless service. It just isn't a reality. And batteries... well... wireless devices REQUIRE battery power to be truly wireless, and unfortunately until technology overcomes the poor radio/battery life situation, 3G might as well remain off unless you require it for something like streaming video. I'd rather have my 3G last all day reliably than to be able to browse a web site a few seconds quicker.

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John

PDAPhoneHome Forum Moderator

7:31 a.m.--My wife's iPhone is fully charged (having been left connected to AC power adapter for 8+ hours) so I reset the stats and unplug it.

7:35 a.m.--My power has decreased since last night but just by another sliver or so. I estimate 85-90% remaining batter life based on the battery icon. Current stats:

• Usage since last full charge 2 hours, 8 minutes
• Standby since last full charge 23 hours, 36 minutes
• Current period call time 36 minutes
• Liftime call time 5 hours, 28 minutes
• Data sent 346 KB
• Data received 1.2MB

These stats make a lot more sense than the stats I was seeing a couple of days ago. I think the reboot helped.

9:40 a.m.--Bad news: My wife just called me a few minutes ago. She's at our kids' school and was trying to use her iPhone to look something up on Safari. She got a message that said she had too many pages open (I think she said she had . I had to walk her through how to close some of the open pages (which I something I've never done before so it was new to me). While we were talking, she kept losing service. I walked her how to turn off 3G. She still didn't have service for a few seconds, then it came back. I asked her whether the phone was showing E (for Edge) or 3G. She said it was showing E but that it had been showing E before. So, based on that statement, it sounds as though she never had 3G coverage while at the school. She then said to me: "I don't like this phone." Keep in mind that she's coming from a Moto E815 and has never had a PDAPhone (and never surfed the net on her old phone). However, the iPhone is not making a good impression on her. I sure wish AT&T had its act together.

2:12 p.m.--I'm at my office and receive a telephone call. At the time of the call, I'm actually in my firm's suite but at someone else's office, deep inside the building (not a window office). The call is loud and clear. I walk to my office and continue talking for the next 41 minutes, when we hang up. The call holds the entire time. No problems (other than my Jawbone 2 running out of battery--I knew I should have charged it last night!). Thank heaven for EDGE.

6:50 p.m. (appx.)--I talk on my iPhone virtually my entire drive home. All is good until I get to the group of mailboxes about 1 block from my house. I park my car and get out of the car to get my mail. Because my Jawbone 2 ran out of juice earlier today, I'm talking directly on the iPhone. As I walk to the mailboxes, all the sudden I can't hear the person on the other end of the line. I continue walking to my mailbox and still can't hear him. It's only once I get back to my car (which is parked across the street from the mailboxes) that I can hear the other person. The funny thing is that he was in mid-sentence. I don't think he had a clue that I kept telling him I could not hear him. I wonder what caused that. He was talking on his cell (6800) on VZW in Buffalo, NY, so I have no idea whether the problem was on his end or mine. Very strange.

9:21 p.m.--My iPhone shows roughly 33% of the battery remaining. My stats are as follows:

• Usage since last full charge 4 hours, 21 minutes
• Standby since last full charge 1 Day, 13 hours
• Current period call time 1 hour, 53 minutes
• Lifetime call time 6 hours, 45 minutes
• Data sent 535 KB
• Data received 2.0MB

So, I suspect that I can get 2 days of standby time, but I'll have only had 4 1/2 hours of usage. This is with 3G, Location, Vibrate, Push, and Wi-Fi off (but with BT on and pulling e-mail, contacts, and calendar every 30 minutes). Perhaps my next test should be to push the usage of the iPhone--just surf the net, use a third party app, talk as much as I can, etc., to see whether I can get 10 hours of usage in 24 hours.

My wife's iPhone looks to have roughly 90% battery remaining. Her stats are:

• Usage since last full charge 1 hour, 33 minutes
• Standby 13 hours, 54 minutes
• Current period call time 6 minutes
• Lifetime call time 5 hours, 52 minutes
• Data sent 132KB
• Data received 1.5MB

Keep in mind that her 3G has been turned off since roughly 9:45 this morning. I'm going to turn it back on now and reboot her iPhone.

So, tomorrow's the last day for me to return the iPhones. I don't think that's going to happen.

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

Gawd, maybe I should say NOW..........honestly Jay what you are seeing now in the improvement in battery life is the fact that these Apple batteries stabilise usually after the fourth "full charge cycle" and this will last usually 14 months and then you will need a battery. Mark my words as I have been thru it "already" on my old iPhone. hence the reason why I got Apple Care. Another two months its going in for a battery repacement.

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Funny it worked.....the last time!!Now I am not sure what was working before they put a hole in my head!!!!

My comment this morning was just that in the previous battery cycle test, my Usage and Standby times were too close to one another to be real. There was no way I had used my iPhone for 90% of the time since it had last been fully charged. I suspect the problem had to do with me turning 3G on and off without rebooting the iPhone. In fact, I wonder if there's something about the iPhone that makes it work better if it's been rebooted whenever 3G is turned on or off. Guess I should add that to my list of tests.

I really, really, really need to consolidate all my test data in to an Excel spreadsheet so we can easily compare the results rather than having to scroll through 200+ posts (holy crud, I can't believe this thread has more than 200 posts!). I haven't figured out how to structure the spreadsheet, though. Any ideas? Anyone want to start a template and then I'll go back through and fill in the data.

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-Jay
The Fine Print:Nothing in this post (or any of my other posts) is intended to constitute legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship. For purposes of this forum, I'm just another nerd like you. :-)

Slightly off-topic but, as a married man also trying to acclimate his wife to a pdaphone...maybe you should punt. Her iPhone I mean (not her that would just be cruel). Its just not worth having your wife left with a device that is probably a) way beyond her needs in terms of capability and b) way worse than her personal tolerance for a device that doesn't work. Get your money back on her phone and get her something that just works.

My experiance with my significant other has been the opposite. I think she would get rid of me before giving up her iPhone . Replacing her iPod being able have her mail,contacts, calendar sync, and the biggest show stopper, bejeweled.

I bought her a Dell axim a few years ago to carry with her phone thinking of doing the same things, what a nightmare, and I knew WinMo would not work out for her, but I tried anyway.

Of course given that here in Tampabay we are getting the same reception quality we had on Verizon that is the foundation for it working out, if we had reception problems I don't know if she would still have one.