iPhone???

Agent Basil · Post by **Agent Basil** » 07 July 09 10:38 pm

Camstal wrote: How much did it cost upfront?...may invest further into this plan.

Camstal

about $800 if I remember correctly....or was it $900 -

Skippy · Post by **Skippy** » 07 July 09 11:05 pm

You will also find Optus calls are charged by the minute , not 30 secs, so a 5 sec call will cost you :

"Yes" cap $19 flagfall 35c and 92c per 60 sec's

"Yes" cap $49 & $59 flagfall 35c and 80c per 60 sec's

"Yes" cap $79 flagfall 35c and 78c per 60 sec's

Telstra has better value if your calls are under 30 sec's

You can check which plan might be the best by using this calculator http://www.numbersinaflash.com/iphone-p ... on-calcul/

Team Wibble · Post by **Team Wibble** » 08 July 09 9:28 am

Both of us Wibbles were at the Optus shop at 7am on the day that the iPhone 3GS was released.

Me (Mrs Wibble) because I accidentally washed my ipod a few weeks earlier and that, together with the release of the new model, was the final push for me to plunge into the world of 3G phones.
Mr Wibble because his contract was almost up, and his current phone was starting to fall apart.

So our experience is based only on the 3GS and only a couple of weeks worth of use, and unfortunately no specific geocaching on the phone.

I've looked at the Geocaching app but not bought it, mostly because I have a Garmin Oregon which is with me most of the time anyway, and has almost all of SA's caches loaded onto it, so using the geocaching app would be doubling up and eating into my data download. That's not to say I won't end up downloading the app and having it there "just in case".

What I can say is that with the 3GS the GPS receiver appears to be very good. It can pinpoint my location in google maps while at work, and I work in the centre of the CBD in a multistorey building with 14 floors above me - the Oregon can't do that.

The compass in the 3GS is VERY good - almost better than the compass on the Oregon.

The camera is better than any phone camera I've experienced but is still a long way off of the quality of a proper camera, but certainly handles itself for happy snaps.

As far as plans go, Mr Wibble is on a $69 cap with Optus. This includes 1GB of data, $400 of included calls and unlimited texts, and no handset repayments on a 24 month plan.

I'm on a $49 cap with Optus, including 250mb of data, $330 of included calls and text, and monthly $49 handset repayments over a 12 month contract.

As far as data usage goes, in the 2.5 weeks I've had the phone, with reasonably frequent web surfing, mail checking, occasional app downloading etc, I've used up 50mb.

So, all this may or may not be useful to you. But that's our experience so far. If either of us downloads the caching app and tries it out we'll let you know.

nomad_penguin · Post by **nomad_penguin** » 08 July 09 10:02 am

Being a mac fangirl, I bought a 16GB iPhone when they were released last year. I signed up with virginmobile on a 24 month plan. The $74 a month plan gives 1GB data and $520 worth of calls + text.

Virgin use the Optus network. I weighed up the coverage (or lack of) for the few times I am 'out in the sticks' vs what was the best plan on the market at the time for my mainly city use. I've noticed lags in connecting to a call; whether this is the phone or Virgin/Optus, I'm not sure.

I indiscriminately surf the net and read my emails on my iPhone and have never exceeded 10% of my monthly data quota, however, with free tethering with Virgin, I expect to start eating into my data quota a lot more

.

I use the geocaching app. I don't rely on it for my caching, but will fire it up when I am at a trad and need to check details, or would like to read back through some logs. Also good for getting details of a new cache when an email notification comes through while you are out in the field

, or changing your plan on the run as you can look at a map that shows nearby geocaches that you haven't found. It also allows you to save cache details for viewing off line, so I occasionally bookmark cache details if I think I am going to lose coverage soon.

It might also be worth noting that Apple have 'unlocked' the iPhone and are selling it outright in the Apple Australia store. I haven't looked into these deals (and how you might sign them up with a carrier) because I haven't needed to!

Hope this helps in some way.

covert · Post by **covert** » 08 July 09 12:12 pm

This is mainly directed at Team Wibble but the info should help others.

If you need to download apps for the iPhone or other items of large data you can connect to a wifi network and not cut into your data plan. If you don't have a wifi network at home there a plenty of free ones at coffee shops, McDonald's and so on.

Also don't forget about wap.geocaching.com A nice mobile only low data interface to geocaching. Good for checking up on the newest field logs if there not in your Origan or other offline GPS device.

There are also other free iPhone applications that take a GPX for geocaching. I don't know them of the top of my head but I am sure you can find them.

Hovo · Post by **Hovo** » 08 July 09 9:33 pm