IPhone 3GS - Seriously - How Good?

Question

Ok, had a Nokia N97, and if I had any hair, it would have been all pulled out at this stage. Terrible terrible handset, no support from the retailer ( here in Saudi ) and jaw droppingly shocking Customer care from Nokia.
Please don't be offended when I say this, but this an Apple Forum so naturally expect some bias towards the company. I am an Apple fan too, and have had several Mac computers and laptops, currently running a 13" Mac BOok Pro, Snow Leopard.
But I would a truly objective view from iPhone users on the phone. How good is it really?
Things I would use it for?
Phone calls. Obvious I know, but my N97 could not handle calls without freezing / locking.
Interent - Joikuspot usage.
Texting - how good it is the virtual on screen phone.
Stability -
Pics.
Calendar ( and of course seamless syncing with my MBP.
Thanks in advance.
BTW, the the iPhones here in Saudi are sold unlocked, but a lot more pricey than in the UK / Europe / USA.

Answer 1

Seriously?! OK
I am Windows Mobile user for years. Recently I needed an upgrade. The market is full with excellent hardware and I needed a phone with keyboard as I use that a lot. While the hardware is good WM did not catch up with the technology. Nokia do not impress me at all (bad experience with N80 and N85), or any other phone.
I went to O2 and they let me play with the iphone and I liked it. Also, in the UK (don't know anywhere else) I have 14 days to return it back for full refund (other than the warranty) and no questions asked.
I was impressed with how sleek, simple and fast the UI on iphone 3Gs is. As for the virtual keyboard I got used to it very fast and I can type as fast as on a hardware keyboard (not to mention the phone is slim cause of it).
The second important thing is the update I get from Apple. No longer I am at the mercy of my provider or manufacturer. There are a lot more powerful hardware than the Iphone but they are let down by an outdated OS.
I had it now for about 2 months. Not a hitch. Everything just works. Fantastic speed on WiFi. I recharge it once a day (with 30% left over). I use the internet heavily, with occasional (but daily) Youtube, movies and music.
GPS is brilliant and never let me down and it grabs a signal very fast than any other phone I have used before. Faster than my dedicated TomTom software and hardware.
Bluetooth works just fine with my car BT kit.
Camera ... Don't care
As a phone it is crystal clear and I always have good signal and latches well when there is a weak signal and even when there is 1 bar I can still make crystal clear calls.
Text wise, no complaint. once you get used to the keyboard it is child play.
It never let me down stability wise. I am not in an office, I work in the field and I need it to work really good to communicate with colleagues.
I have over 56 apps with about 5 games applications and I am heavy on documents and pdf files which I keep on the phone (as references).
I never ever had to reset the phone so far.
I use WiFi a lot, with O2 i get the BT openzone and the cloud networks for free (not all of them but a lot) and works extremely well.
I am a news freak, and I have 10 apps for news and football and I read them all daily. Plus my facebook update and blogging update right from the phone.
I use it with geocaching and it is great fun if you have the time. The compass is brilliant here.
it fits well in my hand, slim, sleek and very responsive.
I use Windows Vista 32 bit and outlook email client and never had problems synchronizing with them.
I backup once a day (everything) with itunes.
I also manually backup the itunes folder (just in case). All my purchases (except music) are made from the phone itself.
The phone came with 3.1.1 firmware already in it and I only updated it once (as soon as I got it) to 3.1.2.
It does not like synching with other phones (did not investigate as no big deal for me) using BT but great with the car kit (4 years old).
it is not cluttered with buttons and I like that.
I wish it can multitask as not all application get you back to where you left off last time you used it.
I also wish it had a Radio, HSPDA or HSUPA. But no big deal and I am doing fine without them.
I have 6 emails with push or poll, BT always on and so is wifi. I come home with about 30% left and do not recharge till 10 pm, I take it off around midnight. I use it as my alarm clock (**** very loud and I need it ).
it gathers a lot of finger prints - non issue to me and I like polishing it
Hope this helps.