Jumping on the iPhone bandwagon

I'm getting an iPhone!!!!!! I am SO excited. My sis-in-law has one that got me drooling. I knew we could never afford such an expensive toy, so I tried not to think about it much. Then Christmas and my birthday came around. My family was so generous, I felt positively RICH! Okay, I was rich before: I've tried to count my blessings and lost track, but that's not what this post is about. When one's family is living on a grad student stipend that was only ever intended to support a single person, having a little bit to spend on oneself is a total luxury. So with an inflated gift money account burning a hole in my pocket, I started dreaming about all the prohibitively expensive THINGS I could buy. (It's all about the stuff you know.)

One of the things I can't wait to use, by the way, is a Comparative Study Bible. It's one Bible with 4 different translations: NIV, KJV, NASB, and Amplified (good price here). I could go on, but that's not what this post is about.

Yes, I need one
An iPhone. DH and I spent a couple days discussing it to determine if I really "needed" one (it's a moot point really, but it made me feel better about spending most of my gift money on one thing.) We decided that 1) it would help me be better organized (because of all the third party apps, I can download whatever tools I need to help me) and 2) it would reduce the amount of time I spend on the computer. I am absolutely addicted to facebook, blogger, and my email. So being able to access those things from anywhere in the house will free me up to (hopefully) get more work done.

It's an iPod too
Another thing I'm excited about is the iPod feature. After reading this tip, I've downloaded some podcasts that I'm looking forward to. I know I don't need an Apple device to use iTunes, but since I wanted to get an iPhone anyway, it's like icing on the cake. (Wait, is that circular reasoning? "I need an iPhone because of the iPod feature." "Any MP3 device will work with iTunes, but since I'm getting an iPhone anyway...." yep, that makes a circle. Don't tell anyone I realized that, okay?)

iPhone vs. iTouch
One debate was whether an iPod Touch would be better. This article helped with that decision. The iPod Touch doesn't have the phone or the camera. If it had a camera, I'd be willing to carry two devices: the iTouch and a small phone. But it doesn't have either one, so that did it for me. I did find this chart in that article helpful as well. It was tempting to get a NEW iTouch with 16gb for less money than purchasing an iPhone, but I decided trading 8gb and paying a little more for the phone and camera was worth it. For my needs anyway.

Sans data plan
We also had to research whether I could use an iPhone without having to purchase the data plan from AT&T. This article answered those questions. I also visited a number of discussion threads, but compared with the helpfulness of the article, they were relatively useless. It also helps to have a (very) technologically saavy husband who assures me that he'll get the thing working just the way I want it.

2G vs. 3G
The last two decisions were regarding age and size. I chose the 2G over the 3G because the 3G phones are more expensive and all I'm missing out on is the GPS, which I don't need because we have a TomTom. Also, since I won't have the data plan, I don't need the faster connection speed that the 3G's have to offer.

8gb vs. 4gb
Finally, although the 4gb phones are less costly, the 8gb ones aren't that much more expensive, and I'm planning on putting some of my CDs on it as well as any audiobooks and podcasts I download, not to mention third party apps. (This is why I was tempted by the 16gb iTouch.)

Mischief Managed
So, after doing our due diligence, we jumped on ebay and started scoping out the listings. I'm not sure we had decided WHEN the purchase was going to be made, but we found one that looked like a great deal within the pre-determined price range and decided to go for it! Before we went to bed that night, we had purchased an iPhone!! The deed is done! It is now certain that I am getting one!!!

This is the one!
It's a 2nd generation 8gb iPhone that is unlocked to work on any carrier. Which means I can just pop the sim card out of my current phone and drop it in the iPhone. Of course, it's used, and has some nicks on the case, but the auction listing assures us that the screen is in perfect condition and the phone works like new. I can't wait for it to arrive! Let's see, we bought it late Tuesday night and the auction listing states that it'll ship within 24 hours of receiving payment, so it should ship Wednesday via USPS Priority, so it should arrive Friday or Saturday. I know what I'll be doing this weekend!!