Jason Unger

Should I Buy an iPhone? Vote Now

Posted by junger - 11/13/07 at 12:11:11 pm

Right after we moved into our new place, we discovered a HUGE problem.

Our Sprint cellphones don't work inside.

The walls are so thick that we literally have no signal inside, except a faint signal by the windows. However, outside, we have at least 3 bars of service.

As you can imagine, this is a problem.

Since it took us a few days to get Comcast installed (a whole separate story), we were completely disconnected … except out on the porch. (We use Vonage for our landline.)

It's brought me to this question: should I get rid of Sprint and get an iPhone?

I'm a fan of the iPhone — it's a sweet device — but have held off because of the AT&T lockdown and because I'm in a service contract with Sprint.

But if AT&T works inside — T-Mobile gets three bars, while Verizon's signal is weak — it might be a great choice.

Here are the pros and cons, as I see them.

Pros:
- The iPhone is awesome. I would love to get one, even if I wasn't having signal problems with Sprint.
- Make calls over Skype using iPhone WiFi.
- Potentially have service inside. Don't have to sit out on the porch to make calls.

Cons:
- Have to break Sprint contract and buy new phone.
- Stuck with AT&T's inferior network.
- May or may not grab a signal inside.
- Can't make regular calls over WiFi (see Skype above).
- Price jump in service — from $38/month to $120/month

For what it's worth, I currently own the Samsung m610.

So, should I switch to an iPhone? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Home Again: Finally Settling In

Posted by junger - 11/10/07 at 07:11:49 pm

After making the big move down to DC two weeks ago, we barely had any time to settle in.

We moved in on a Thursday, went to Philadelphia for the weekend (with a stop in Harrisburg on Sunday), then back down to our new place.

But that's not the end of the traveling — while Debbie stayed home, I flew out Monday to Long Beach, Calif. to cover EHX Fall until Friday. So for the first week and a half in our new place, I spent a total of two nights here.

Thankfully, the traveling is over for now and we're starting to settle in. There are plenty of boxes still to be unpacked (mostly books, since our new place does not have the wonderful built-in bookshelves we used to have) but we're getting there.

We're all connected with the Internet and TV and phone, which is crucial considering we have absolutely no cell phone service inside. It works perfectly out on the porch, but inside the phone basically blows up.

Sounds like an excuse to get an iPhone, right? Stay tuned …