Cell phones forum: What is the final cost of the iPhone?

Cool - thanks for the info. I guess it will be different for each person. We both also wondered about whether or not it was worth $20 a month ($480 over 2 years) for slower web experience due to the iPhone not supporting 3G. The $36 activation fee is negligible because any service will charge you that (albeit a rip-off).Plus we're already paying $55/month for DSL at home, so if the two of us got the iPhone, we would be paying $95/month for our total Web access. Too bad companies don't offer a home & phone deal yet.

As for the text messages, we felt as though the $15/month is absolutely required being that we live in a major city and it is the fastest, easiest form of communicating with multiple people when going out and meeting up with friends on the weekends. Generally we send "heads up" messages to a group of 8 buddies so that we can all meet at the same bar or pizza place, etc. And in those examples, it costs us about 16+ text messages because each send and reply is considered a separate text message use. And then we'll text each other in a bar for laughs.

So I guess the real question is whether or not it's worth paying the extra cash for the extra public attention? Which of course, could lead into costly therapy bills later on in life. But in all seriousness, it really is a major leap of "gadget dependency" because individually, it becomes double the current cost of both of our individual cell services with our current plans over 2 years when everything is totaled in.

And with such an expensive piece of hardware, I personally would feel inclined to get some kind of protection plan that I normally would not need. And who knows how much more that would cost? Ugh - this is frustrating.

the short answer would be "too much" alex

The iPhone certainly is cool. But I'll wait before I leap.
My Treo is faster (3g), cheaper, expandable (SD cards are cheap!)and I can even record my own ringtones. Treo does everything a computer does for business- and also takes pictures and videos. iPhones are flashy and stylish but are not for everyone- and I just can't overpay for something that does less than a Treo.

In my post "Nothing Comes Close", my 6th paragraph was incomplete. I intended it to read:

"So, when WiFi is unavailable, it runs on Edge. Future Apple updates will, no doubt, enable use of 3G and whatever comes next."

Regret the error.

DoctorVik, you are correct, except that the iPhone uses board mounted flash memory rather than a hard drive.

For a rather complete discussion regarding iPhone architecture and Ram, including a table comparing iPhone system ram to sytem ram in 5 other popular multifunction phones, go to:

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q3.07/4F7A7875-05C6-4018-AD86-6DC5A410D108.html

I'd not be surprised to find a number of firms developing ram expansion units that will plug into the iPhone connector. If no one has yet considered that possibility, well consider it now. It could turn out to be a very trim looking 1/2 inch by full width extension, with finishes matching the iPhone itself. It could well incorporate its own iPhone extension dock connector, too.

All you have to do is think and you can change the world!

Of course anyone who has purchased it already, or most people, will try to defend their purchase as best as possible, considering their locked into having the iphone for two years. I didn't get the phone specifically because I'm a big texter, and I've been going to the apple store quite a bit and trying out the text messaging. Having been spoiled already by the M600i's keypad (which a lot of people hate, but it's certainly faster than the iphone's) I wouldn't suggest getting it.

YOU MIGHT want to get it because there's a lot of cool stuff you can do with it. I mean, the programs coming out for it and the widgets people are developing and spreading over the internet are pretty amazing. Check out the CNET Iphone development camp. But if you're not into stuff like that, then don't bother.

The call quality isn't that great, I've had better call quality from T-Mobile phones that come free with plans.

The BIGGEST reason I will tell you to hold off is the lack of features they forgot to add. One thing:

Seconday Video Call Cameras. All phones in Europe have it, Japan has had it for nearly two years, and it's finally coming to the states with the next Razr phone (V8 and V9, or the RAZR 2). Imagine a wireless ichat with your buddies!

Plus, the newer versions will probably be 10 and 12 gigs, and they'll be coming out soon, you know how Apple is with that stuff. Another good piece of news is if you can't afford the next iphone, you can get an older one for NEXT TO NOTHING from the techie who needs his iphone fix. I'll enjoy my $50 iphone free from any service contract thank you very much.

Trust me, it's NEVER worth paying full price for a trendy tech product, it'll probably be better for you to just buy the iphone unlocked for $1,000 and use your existing Sim CARD in it, if it'll even work! (not sure on that yet). If you want to know more about the iphone, or some way better alternatives, give me a holler. Here's my e-mail address

Mustafa.gatollari@gmail.com

I work in a computer lab and literally have nothing to do but research phones and get paid 9.00 an hour for doing so. Sure I need to answer the occasional question and turn the printers on and off, but that counts for about 20 minutes of real work.

And that isn't guaranteed to be necessary, but, quite possibly CAN be necessary. That would be the battery replacement @ about $85. Not counting the additional $40 for an Apple loaner for the 3 - 5 days yours is unavailable.

I haven't pulled out a calculator to verify your numbers, but there are a few things you are overlooking. I have AT&T (Cingular or what ever name they are using this week)phone. I have the exact same phone plan as the base iPhone plan. it is $39.95/ month and does not include web or texting. Web access is an extra $20/month and if I recall correctly texting is either $0.15 per text or $15/month, for some large numbers of text messages. Web access is free with the iPhone. 200 text messages are included with the plan if I recall reading the plan correctly.
So to duplicate the iPhone service using another phone on AT&T it will cost you as much if not more than the straight iPhone service.
So bottom line, is the only difference between two identical plans with AT&T one being the iPhone the other with any other phone is the cost of the umlimted text messages.
So service wise you have $15/mo X 24 =$360. If you don't text a lot (I don't) the costs are identical.

As far as the cost of the phone itself, if you are going to using a web browsing phone you are not going to be using the "get this phone free" phone, you are going to buy a premium phone. So from the cost of the iPhone you have to subtract the cost of the whatever other phone you would have chosen instead. When I picked out my phone 6 months ago I spent about $300 on the phone. So if I was going in today to get a phone, the cost difference is $300 + tax.
as far as the activation goes, you will pay that with any phone you activate with AT&T so that is a wash.
Bottom you are looking at a difference of $360 + the cost difference between whatever other phone you are considering, and the iPhone. (And only that if you text a lot)

"And then we'll text each other in a bar for laughs."

Think how cool you'll look texting each other back and forth with an iphone ;^) How can you put a price tag on that?