iPhone 8GB enough?

EMA747

EMA747

Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,070
Name
Andy
Edit My Images
Yes
My old mobile is playing up and the battery on my ipod nano is dodgy so I'm thinking of killing two birds with one stone and getting an iphone 3GS.

One question - is 8GB storage enough for the average user?

Another question while I'm at it - Is 500mb of internet enough or should I get 1GB? Again for just average amounts of use.
 
I have an 8GB 3Gs and find it's plenty but if it was only a bit more expensive for the 16gb I'd get that but I wouldn't pay £100 more for it
 
I have a 32Gb Ipod touch and had no problem filling it. I was looking to get a 64Gb one but they are just too damned expensive.
 
wack61 said:
I have an 8GB 3Gs and find it's plenty but if it was only a bit more expensive for the 16gb I'd get that but I wouldn't pay £100 more for it
Click to expand...
I could get a used 16GB one but they don't seem to sell them in more than 8GB new now. If I buy new it cost slightly more and you get a warranty but only 8GB. Used you get more capacity but no warranty. It's a bit of a dilemma. :shrug:
 
EMA747 said:
Another question while I'm at it - Is 500mb of internet enough or should I get 1GB? Again for just average amounts of use.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about web space, or Internet connection speed?

If it's the latter then I'm wondering if you mean 512Mbps and 1Mbps?

**edit**

Just realised I'm being thick, and you probably mean for the iPhone monthly download amount. I'm on Orange who have a 500MB fair usage limit amd I rarely get anywhere near it with moderate use.
I thinkif you watched a lot of youtube stuff or listened to streaming radio a lot you might get close to the 500MB mark
 
Last edited:
I've had 3 iphones, a 2g 3g and 3gs

all have been bought secondhand and none have had any problems

Was your nano big enough, 8gb is a lot of albums, I could fill 200gb up if I wanted to but it doesn't mean I need or want to listen to it
 
It depends on how much music you have and the apps you buy also. I have a 32GB and I'm on about 25GB. Most of the is music (say 15GB) and the rest apps. TomTom alone takes up nearly 2GB, but that's a rare one to be so large.

If you don't have a ridiculous amount of music and/or you have an iPod (or similar) then 8GB will be fine.
 
I have a 32GB and I have 6GB left. I have 3,441 songs, 305 photos, 50 apps and 17 videos.

I was looking at getting an iphone 4, but I cant afford the 32GB, and 16 isnt enough. I'll wait til June when I get the free upgrade
 
Just checked my itune and it's up to 17GB! I wouldn't put that much on an iphone though as there is a lot that I never listen to.

I could see myself getting quite a few apps though. They looks really fun and the odd one might even be useful! :D

I am currently wondering if I can get a used 3GS maybe from someone on here. Sadly there seem to be a few good ones that have just sold in the for sale section. I always seem to miss the good stuff. :bonk:
I was thinking I could then get a 3 sim only deal at £15 a month http://www.three.co.uk/Phones/iPhone/SIM_Only
That way it would be the initial outlay for the phone but after than it's only a fiver more than my current contract so not too bad price wise.
 
Ignore everything I just said, looked at the back, it's a 16gb :bonk:
 
Personally, 8GB is no where near enough.

For a start, you don't get 8GB of space. You get 7 and a bit.

So, you put 2-3 movies on there at 700MB a pop, you've got 5.5GB left. Then you have some apps. Some of the more graphically pleasing ones are a 1GB - so let's say all your apps total 3GB, you've now got 2.5GB left.

So, 2.5GB left for music and photos. not enough.

If you go for the 8GB, you are going to be plugging it into iTunes every 5 minutes taking this off and putting that on. It's a pain.

Just get a 16GB one (although I still think that is too small).
 
I agree with you BarryG. With my ipod at 8GB I am constantly having to add and delete things when I get a few new albums and it's annoying.

Ok so given that bit of info the iphone 4 looks like a better deal.
From the apple web store:
3GS 8GB £428
4 16GB £510
4 32GB £612

I I can't afford £612 so that's out of the question. It makes the 4 16GB one about right. I initially thought why is it so much more than the 3GS but then realised the 3GS is only 8GB. Given that the 4 32GB is £100 more than the 16GB it seem that the 4 16GB isn't really any more than the 3GS as it's twice the size, if you get what I mean.
 
Another question - Is there a way to always know how much data you have used at a given time? Looking at a few contracts it seems they have pretty scary charges if you go over the limit be it 500mb or 1gb.

I'm still unsure whether to go sim only rolling contract or PAYG. Basically at the moment I have about 150 minutes talk and 3000 texts for £8.50 a month on my crappy old phone. If I get an iphone I am more bothered about the data than calls as I really don't call or text all that much. What I got at the moment is ample. I don't want to be wasting money on loads of inclusive minutes and text that I don't need but I DO want lots of data use. Would this favour PAYG?
 
I would've said pay the extra for, any, iPhone 4 over the 3GS if it's an option. Not saying the 3GS is a bad phone, but the 4 really does run better IME.

You can check the data usage within the Settings menu.

- What kind of data do you use at the minute and what do you see yourself using the phone for?
- How often do you think you'll be using it when "on the move" and what for?

500GB doesn't sound like a lot, but if it's just general browsing and you're not doing a load of media streaming and downloading from iTunes/App Store I think you'll be fine. Most sites recognise whether you're on 3G or WiFi and will instruct pages to load either low/hi res images accordingly.

You can use your home wifi when you're at home, obviously, so you'll not incur any of your tariff data use then, and depending on what network you go with (o2 I'm thinking off the top of my head) you get free use of CLOUD and BT OpenZone wifi hotspots and there's also plenty of pubs, coffee shops, etc who offer free wifi inside their establishments.

Take a look through here and see what's local to you..
http://consumero2.directoryconnection.com/search.php

EDIT: Moved to a new post..
 
Last edited:
TCR4x4 said:
I have a 32GB and I have 6GB left. I have 3,441 songs, 305 photos, 50 apps and 17 videos.

I was looking at getting an iphone 4, but I cant afford the 32GB, and 16 isnt enough. I'll wait til June when I get the free upgrade
Click to expand...

ooooer.... crikey ...things have move on abit since my auld 3310 nokia ,10 txts and it were full lad :D

Seriously though...thats an incredible amount of information being stored on something the size of my pinkie nail and slightly thicker (wonder how many of you who read this looks at their pinkie nail,because i did as i type this...:D)
 
Last edited:
Forget iphone3. Get iphone4. If you wait a momnth or so you may find a nice deal as apple are rumoured to be announcing a new iphone or 2 very soon.

500MB per month will be plenty enough, especially if you have wifi in your house. I've used only 600 meg since october and I use it a lot. Most data is ransferred via wifi at home / work and theres a surprising number of free wifi hotspots about.
 
Pui thanks for your comment.

I don't currently use any data as my phone doesn't have anything more sophisticated than text,lol.

I think I would generally use it for browsing mainly. A few times recently I have been out and thought it would be really useful to check something on the internet. Useful for travel info. Plus some just browsing for fun. I wouldn't really download anything like songs/videos other than when I'm connected to my internet at home. Does things like watching youtube etc use a lot of data?

If I went PAYG I could use it for a couple of months and see how much I use then re-evaluate after that. I assume all the iphone PAYG sim only deals you can just stop using if you want, like a normal PAYG sim?
 
You'll be fine with 500MB I'd say. I think, unless you go way over on a regular basis, that most networks will just turn a blind eye, but don't quote me on that.

I'm not sure how much data youtube actually uses but, like I mentioned with images, you don't get a top quality, high definition version of the video when using 3G. Your usage sounds pretty much identical to what I use mine for when I'm out, ie. I'll be sitting having a discussion with friends about something and google it to find a conclusive answer :lol:

I've just checked mine and I admit I'm not a heavy internet user on my phone but this is how my 3G internet usage works usually.
- Possibly downloaded an album or two over 3G,
- Use Twitter quite regularly
- My email is set to PUSH so it alerts me of emails almost as soon as they're in my inbox
- I often use the Maps as a quick and easy route planner/checker when out and about
- Quite often leave eBuddy connected 24/7
- I use RunKeeper Pro to live track my runs (so it follows my route via GPS and sends the info to the RunKeeper website over 3G/GPRS constantly, which is usually around 45mins a time).
- Checking Sky Sports News and Score Centre via the respective apps.
- General browsing like I mentioned before

And since November I've only used 465MB of data (65MB sent & 400MB received).
 
I forgot about this bit lol

EMA747 said:
If I went PAYG I could use it for a couple of months and see how much I use then re-evaluate after that. I assume all the iphone PAYG sim only deals you can just stop using if you want, like a normal PAYG sim?
Click to expand...

If you mean re-evaluate as in see if there's a more suitable network/tariff in a few months then, in theory, yes, but (and I'd get someone to confirm this) when you first activate your iPhone I think it locks it to the network you've selected. I'm semi speculating here, as I bought an iPhone 3GS a while back from someone who'd bought it PAYG on Vodafone and it wouldn't work with anything other than a Vodafone sim until I badgered Vodafone to unlock it for me.

As for my current iPhone 4, I've been on o2, in its various guises, for about 14 years now and I bought the handset as a PAYG one from the o2 shop, but I've never tried another networked sim in my to see if it would work so I can't comment with 100% certainty.

If you
 
Last edited:
EMA747 said:
Another question - Is there a way to always know how much data you have used at a given time? Looking at a few contracts it seems they have pretty scary charges if you go over the limit be it 500mb or 1gb.

I'm still unsure whether to go sim only rolling contract or PAYG. Basically at the moment I have about 150 minutes talk and 3000 texts for £8.50 a month on my crappy old phone. If I get an iphone I am more bothered about the data than calls as I really don't call or text all that much. What I got at the moment is ample. I don't want to be wasting money on loads of inclusive minutes and text that I don't need but I DO want lots of data use. Would this favour PAYG?
Click to expand...

I definitely prefer payg (monthly rolling) as I much prefer to pay for what I USE - no more, no less.

I just pay 2.5p per MB of data, 8p per text and whatever calls I make. I think most calls are about 15p per minute to mobiles and about 4p per minute to landlines (rounded to the nearest second). I think my bills are about £10 per month on average as I mostly use data and not many calls or texts.

There is no way I would ever have a package where I get charged for a set number of minutes or data per month regardless of whether I use them or not as that just seems a real waste.
 
boliston said:
I definitely prefer payg (monthly rolling) as I much prefer to pay for what I USE - no more, no less.

I just pay 2.5p per MB of data, 8p per text and whatever calls I make. I think most calls are about 15p per minute to mobiles and about 4p per minute to landlines (rounded to the nearest second). I think my bills are about £10 per month on average as I mostly use data and not many calls or texts.

There is no way I would ever have a package where I get charged for a set number of minutes or data per month regardless of whether I use them or not as that just seems a real waste.
Click to expand...
Adrian can I ask what provider and deal you are on? It sounds like you use it like I would, ie more data less calls/tetxs.
 
EMA747 said:
Adrian can I ask what provider and deal you are on? It sounds like you use it like I would, ie more data less calls/tetxs.
Click to expand...

It's a sim only mobile service provided by my ISP

http://aa.nu/telecoms-mobile.html

It uses the "Three" 3G network but I don't actually have a contract with Three which suits me well as I have a general dislike of having to deal with mobile networks.

One thing I like is that you can have more than one "line" on your sim so would be handy if you made both business and personal calls on the same handset.

I just prefix the number with "9" if I want to dial out on my second line, and if someone dials in on my 2nd line the displayed number is prefixed with "9", so if I call them back it automatically dials out on line 2. I have an 01823 number and an 03333 number on my sim, but you can choose any 01, 02 or 03 code. (An extra line costs £1 per month in line rental). I don't think they do 07 codes which is kind of strange with it being a mobile.
 
Hmm that doesn't look that good IMO. You pay for incoming calls, plus it uses 3, but only Thr 3G network, and it'll never go on 2g! That's pushing it, there's still a lot of 2g coverage about, and with it being 3...

Sent from my iPhone 4 using TP Forums
 
lawrenceots said:
Hmm that doesn't look that good IMO. You pay for incoming calls, plus it uses 3, but only Thr 3G network, and it'll never go on 2g! That's pushing it, there's still a lot of 2g coverage about, and with it being 3...
Click to expand...

Probably would not suit some people, but it's only 2.5p/minute for incoming calls so not really an issue for me. I'm pretty sure that 3 are drastically cutting down on the amount of 2g roaming they offer via orange's masts as it costs them money and they are adding quite a few new 3g masts. The only time I have not been in a 3g area so far is when I was in the scottish highlands last year, and took a spare voda payg sim, but they charge a flat 50p per day for data even if you only use a few kb.

One thing I know for certain and that's I would never use orange's 3g service as I had an orange 3g sim about a year ago and the data connectivity was very laggy and slow. I was getting ping times of 500ms+ quite often vs about 50-100 ms with 3, and also my data upload speeds sucked and were often less that 100 kb/s.
 
Data wise, don't worry.

Last summer, I was using the phone for data on the way to work and back. Usual browsing and collecting emails throughout the day. On top of that I was streaming the world cup live to it over the 3G network. I used about 200-300MB max.

500MB doesn't sound much in laptop terms, but the data coming to a phone is a lot less than a full size machine.

Worth keeping in mind if you are going to a contract on o2, they will let you drop your monthly payment by £5 per month every 9 months. So if you sign to a deal and are not using all your texts/mins, you're not stuck for the whole term.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top