Cost of owning an Iphone

[2ndGen]

what is it? and, hoe does the GPS work? will it work when you are in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception?

[Obi..]

Save your money and get a Garmin or other quality instrument designed to work off of sat-feed. No coverage means just that, and if you try to free connect you pay out the butt for the time on the connection.

The chip in my old garmin, that covered the entire U.S. (streets, county, unimproved road, and mapping I added) was the size of my thumbnail. Nuf said.

*It was a demo version, but IIRC it is now the Oregon 450 model(?): https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145

[EDIT] The Oregon 450T: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=63350

[Obi..]

Here are the reviews off of GeoCaching.com: http://www.geocaching.com/reviews/gps_garmin_oregon-450t

I pretty much exclusively use that site or GeoLadders for info as there is such a strong user base in both places.

[mastacox]

I have a Garmin Oregon 300 (http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Oregon-300-Portable-System/dp/B001B19XMS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265425656&sr=8-1) and love it. It has all of the features of the 450t, but without the built-in topo maps.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EzEU5O0xL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

You don't need to get a GPS with built-in Topo maps, it's easy to find free topo maps for Garmin GPS units of any state in the US on www.GPSFileDepot.com (http://www.GPSFileDepot.com), I have 20 ft contour maps of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado on my GPS right now, all free and excellent quality!

[Scuba]

iPhone : required $30 / month data plan

And that is on top of your minuets plan.
I sprung for the $20 / month unlimited txting

But yeah, If your in the boonies with no cell service, you can't use the GPS.
I believe the GPS runs off of the 3G network, triangulates your position from 3 seperate cell towers..

[slosurfer]

the cost of owning one is enough, that I feel like smacking someone (especially a younger someone) if they have an iphone and they complain that they can't afford health insurance. :laugh:

Yep, like scuba said, on top of your regular phone plan, you have to have the $30 unlimited data plan (which doesn't include texts :shake: ) and then a text plan if you use that often. Same goes with the blackberries now (at least with at&t)

[2ndGen]

yeah, I figured the cell plan is gonna be a *******. I had a chance for a cheap Iphone, but picked up a at&t blackjack instead. my cell plan is the lowest bare bone level, no text, no email and I tend to keep it that way. I just had it unlocked, hopefully I can get the GPS setup in the next couple hours.

[YotaFun]

I have an iPhone, and I still have my GPS.
The iPhone is def not a replacement for the GPS.

I have the iPhone cause I am barely home and needed something to be able to do stuff away from the PC without carring around a huge ass laptop.

[2ndGen]

gotcha, I have wifi at home and free wifi at school, internet over the cellphone isn't any good for me. plus, I hate texting, I can talk a lot faster than push the number keys.

just finished setting up the BJII, pretty cool. GPS is up and running even without a SIM card.

[2ndGen]

phone with SIM pulled:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu105/nwstindy/fs/_IMG0711.jpg

Garmin started to load:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu105/nwstindy/fs/_IMG0718.jpg

ready:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu105/nwstindy/fs/_IMG0722.jpg

[CJM]

I honestly prefer the garmin over a fancy phone. I currently have a nuvi 700 series iirc, 4 inch screen and really nice unit that I got from sams club for liek 200 bucks awhile back.

I do wish I had a fancier phone, but I abuse my things alot and such a device would ultimately wind up a pile of plastic when I am done. I still have my old pos verizon branded motorola phone-it wont die lol..

How do you guys who have the smart phones not break them? I mean I drop, beat, and generally abuse my phone. Hell last one fell in a puddle of water 3x and still worked. Then again the cheapies always work the best and last the longest imho.

[4x4mike]

I've got a Garmin for the vehicles and like it a lot. It's clean, simple and has a great screen.

My smart phone stays in my pocket all the time. I'm not super rough on my stuff and take extra care with the phone and don't forget it's in my pocket. It's a touch screen and flips open to another screen and keyboard. I guess there is a lot to break but it's well built and has been holding up great. When skiing on bike riding it stick it in a ziplock bag to keep water and sweat off of it.

[slosurfer]

My blackberry has been dropped more than any of my other phones and is still holding up fine and I'm pretty hard on my phones since they are always in my cargo pocket. It gets wet at work, bangs on stuff as I'm walking on the jobsite, etc... The only "protection" it has, is a thin plastic screen overlay to help keep scratches off the screen.

[CJM]

My brother has a blackberry storm Chris and so far he is on #3. I tried the LG chocolate way back when, after 2 replacements I gave up.

I even killed one of those old motorola military grade phones, apparently getting crushed by a bobcat isnt covered under the insurance.

[2ndGen]

I have a TomTom, it's in my wife's car, the garage at her work has their own security guards.

I refuse to use any add on GPS even aftermarket stereo in my car simply because these are theft magnet. I had about $2500 of damage for the 2 break-in's, all because these stupid GPS, even I kept the 2nd one in the glove box, they've noticed the dash mount.

[Scuba]

I used to be stupid with my phones (throw them, abuse them..etc..). But then again, I used to be a little shit of a teenager. I think I went through 4 different phones and who knows how many replacements for those in.. 4 years..

Now that I have the iPhone it has a hard rubber case and has been dropped a few times but she's still going strong..

[CJM]

I only used window mounts for the gps and put it out of sight when I get out. I also mount it very close to the dash and A-pillar on the drivers side.

[Robinhood4x4]

I dropped my ipod touch (basically an iphone without the phone) from the hood of the 4runner (4 foot drop) onto the street while I was doing 40 mph. Amazingly, it worked. All it had was a silicone skin.

You can get waterproof enclosures for the iphone.

[2ndGen]

I went to a local AT&T store had a little chat with the guys over there, pretty much if I use an Iphone, my minimum monthly bill would be around $75, compare to my current bill, that's $480 a year extra payment I can't afford, and I have to pay for 2 years.

glad I didn't pick that up.

[mastacox]

Yeah when my wife and I were looking at getting a pair of Blackberrys or Droids (Verizon) we detrmined the bill would go up about $65/month on top of what we were already paying (~$95/mo). I decided I didn't need a smartphone that bad...

[CJM]

Its the data plans that get you, my brother has the blackberry storm and hes paying an extra 30/month for the data plan. No data plan you might as well just fork over each weeks paycheck cause it gets $$$$

[2ndGen]

we are paying ~$68 total after tax stuff for the pair. we'd be looking at $170 if we get new contract and new phones(BB, smart phone or Iphone), yikes!!

[Okie81]

The Tom-Tom app for iphone isn't too shabby, but at almost $60, you're better off applying that to the real-deal.

[CJM]

Tom tom sucks anyways, we have 2 of them at work and the guys are always trying to swap to the garmins in the other trucks.

[DHC6twinotter]

I've been thinking about getting an iphone, but I'm waiting to see if the rumors of a new iphone being released in June are true.

Right now, I have a bare-bones voice plan only, which runs me around $52 total a month (49.99 plan, taxes, pay per text, plus $5 for insurance). It's exactly what I need, but I'd like to have internet. Looks like I'd be adding $30 for the data plan, so I think I'll be paying around $85/month total. Ouch. Internet sure would be nice though. :D

I'd get a Garmin over a Tom Tom.

[Scuba]

I'd get a Garmin over a Tom Tom.


Duece.

Hate my dumb dumb.