iPhone 4

I’ve only had it two hours and I love it, but the signal deterioration problems when you pick up the iPhone 4 are quite real. Resting on the arm of the chair: five bars. Held in my hand with my hand resting on the same spot: “Searching…”. The effect is not immediate; it takes up to a minute to go from five bars to no signal. It recovers in about 15-20 seconds.

So, it’s great if you don’t want to make any telephone calls.

I had signal problems around home with my iPhone 3G, but not this drastic. I haven’t tried the $30 bumper yet.

No regrets mind you — I’d buy it again for all the other reasons — but I’ve seen enough to come down on the side of those who say Apple messed up, at least for now.

UPDATE: The bumper, which I bought before the antenna issues came up because I tend to drop my phone, seems to resolve my reception problem rather well. I like it for protective purposes too.

5 thoughts on “iPhone 4”

  1. You neglect one issue.

    AT&T!

    They are notorious for the worst coverage period.

    I spent a long time in the Cell Tower Construction/Maintaining field, when all we had were bag phones and bricks. Then Vector one, which became New Vector , which became USWest, now known as Verizon.

    The iPhone has issues no doubt but, the carrier has even more.

    I have in fact tried AT&T/Cingular and promptly went back to Verizon. Not for just lack of coverage (that was and is still a problem ) But the coverage I did get was shotty at best.

    I must confess I am an apple dissenter, I don’t want computers or phones I can not service myself ie. change batteries. I don’t want to spend upward of 200.00+ just to have a battery replaced by apple (having to send it in to do so). I also do not like the idea of having to pay apple for music, ringtones, and damn near everything else you may want to use your cell phone for.

    I am also an advocate for Palm. (Was US Robotics, Then Palm, Now Recently Bought by HP) I have had Palm electronics since the first Palm Pilot came out. Just about all of my cell phones since have been from Palm.

    I had to wait years to get the PIXI/Pre’, Because of the same reason you can not get and iPhone on another network, exclusivity contracts. It was worth the wait. I make my own ring tones and use my own music at no cost to me.

    I create my own personalized apps at no cost. I do not rely on the manufacturer to decide what is good for me.

    Funny thing is the Palm in several ways acts very similar to the OS on an iPhone. Touch screen etc….

    This Roman Meal Bakery Thought You’d Like to Know….

    -John

    1. I have an iPhone and make my own ringtones with my own music not bought from iTunes.

      Last time I was in Arizona, everyone there was complaining to me about crappy Verizon coverage and wanted to switch to AT&T.

      I have not been able to repeat the hand held signal issues unless I am in area where I barely get a signal to begin with.

  2. I have few issues with AT&T. Certainly its coverage has improved considerably since I bought my previous iPhone two years ago and switched from Verizon.

    It’s my opinion that cell phone companies vary from bad-to-badder and choosing among them is simply a matter of price and which one has the instrument you want. And after two years I wanted another iPhone. I consider it a computer (and more) that makes phone calls.

    I can use the browser to get what the apps don’t give me. Some mobile web sites in fact are better than their app (Washington Post for one). I can make free ringtones from any piece of music. Most of my music comes from CDs. Most of my movies come from Netflix. Most of my books, print and electronic, come from Amazon. I hardly feel dependent on Apple.

    Oh, and my Toshiba laptop was a piece of shit. My Apple MacBook Pro is lovely, thank you. I’ve never needed an Apple battery.

    1. Touche’

      I use a Sony Vaio Laptop. I love It! It is very much upgradeable.
      I build all my own Desktops and Servers. (8 of them, so far) FYI.

      No issues with any of them. I too utilize my Palm as a computer often.

      I am a Toshiba Authorized Technician, HP, Sony and many others as well.

      So, I will reserve my opinion on your laptop.

  3. My HP laptop was an expensive Frisbee. My Vaio wasn’t much better, although I was never allowed to say so, since I was forced to use one because I was leading the Sony creative team at the agency where I worked. It was heavier–does that count? I’ve never had one tiny little skoonch of trouble with any of my Macs (spanning 15 years). And I’ve never needed a battery for my iPhone, either.

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