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Jonathan Richards
Click here for a gallery of iPhone images
There are lots of things you can buy for £269. A return flight to New York, a year's subscription to The Times (with some change), a pair of this year's Christian Louboutin shoes.
Instead, Apple wants you to spend it on a small lump of metal and glass which, depending on who you believe, is either one of the most revolutionary electronics devices ever to have come on the market, or rather over-hyped.
So - is it worth it?
Based on two hours of ‘play time’, this reviewer would say: most certainly yes. Provided, as is the case with many Apple products, that fashion matters to you and you're willing to put up with the fact that some of its most useful features are cramped by the slowness of the network it runs on.
If not, you might want to reserve judgment and play with a friend's before you break your contract with your existing phone operator and sign up for an 18-month minimum term at £35 a month, which is what you'll have to do if you're not with O2.
For the uninitiated, the iPhone is a 11.6mm-thick phone, e-mail server, music and video player, internet browser, personal organiser, camera and photo-storage unit rolled into one. It will be available in the UK from 6.02pm on Friday.
It represents a significant leap forward from anything else on the market and people who fail to exclaim even a quiet 'Wow!' when handling it for the first time will seem unreasonably disenchanted.
The ease of navigating around using the giant, 2.4 x 4.5 inch ‘touchscreen’ - which takes up the whole front face - is remarkable.
There is a single button at the bottom, which always takes you back to the homepage. Otherwise it's a combination of sliding - or gently touching - your fingers on the screen that makes the features come to life.
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It looks great but its really not that good. All the keys are fiddly so you end up endlessly going back to correct mistakes. It's generally set up for use in the USA so SMS is not good - eg you cant SMS a photo attachment. (The camera is very poor) Voicemail is very slow because the "visual voicemail" only works in certain areas. The weather is inaccurate and different from Yahoo's weather on the net which it claims to be (don't ask me why) the sound is poor and because it scratches easily you have to have it in a case. Of course its not all bad but it is a triumph of hype over quality and i wish i hadnt fallen for it
Charlie, London,
Mike- That's a good idea....Im from Southern California and have family in Spain, I thought about pruchasing one there or back in Santa Monica, but if the US one can't be unlocked... what to do. But runing to France seems like a good idea and being able to use with a provider I elect....thanks for the advice.
JC, London, UK
The thing with a number of Apple products is not what they can do but the way in which they do it. The iPhone is not really a leap forward in my opinion but the way it packages existing technology usually puts a smile on your face. I have had my iPhone since about 6:30 on Friday and everything works better than I had thought, with one exception - I am not sure I can text photos to anyone, hmmm...
Charles, Epsom, UK
I was a little sceptical about the iphone initially but having used it solidly for 2 days I'm a true convert. Yes it is more expensive then other phones, yes it isn't as powerful as some, and yes apple have figured out another way to suck more money out of the consumer but the phone is simply unlike any other out there. They have really raised the bar massively. All those conventional companies who have pushed essentially the same product for year after year on the accepting consumer will find themselves haemorrhaging customers. Throw your old blocky n95 away, tear up the contract and admit you got it wrong. Get the iPhone.
morgan, london,
The iPhone is purely a fashion statement and an expensive one at that for a mediocre phone, no memory upgrade capability and inferior internet browsing performance. I'd suggest to UK posers who must have one that they go across to France and buy one there if they want an unlocked phone not tied to an expensive contract from O2. The American version although cheaper than the UK cannot be unlocked from AT&T legally in the US, the UK version can be unlocked legally in the UK from O2 but at a cost , but the French version is not allowed to be locked to a service provider under French legislation. Enjoy a day trip to Calais, fill the car with cheap wine and spirits and pick up a unlocked iPhone which I suspect will cost very little more in Euros than what it costs in pounds in the UK.
Mike, Alicante, Spain
Four years ago I was talking to a friend who said he would rather have a different device for each function, ie. a ipod, a phone, an organiser, etc. He hated tech gadgets but was getting used to using a cell phone. He is now completely different. Now he can't wait to get his hands on the iphone.
Mindy, Leamington, UK
I'm making this comment on my new iPhone. It really is as impressive as I had hoped. If you don't want one, don't get one. If you are tempted, go and take a look at one in the shops - it's well worth it!
John Allen, Oxford, UK
I live in Texas ,I 've been using my iPhone for 3 months and it is the most complete , beatifull, iPod, phone, I've ever used , I call it my true mobile personal computer, the camera is cool ,it takes beatifull pictures,the big plus for me is it keeps me updated on the stock market on a single touch.
Fernando, Dallas, Tx, USA