You pay for Apps once only, however if you pay for one particular App (AppSniper) then it finds all the discounted or free Apps daily.

I have hundreds of really useful Apps I've downloaded over time (and a lot of corny games too) and I've paid for about 4 of them. The most recent was a scheduling/time management tool that was free.

The 3.0 software updgade seems to make things go faster too!. I really love my iPhone.

Thanks, Lash. Is there an app that finds me cheap flights to Down Under?

www.jetstar.com :)

This is what I had at Sprint and what I now have with AT&T.

I used the Motorola Q for two years before switching to the iPhone. I used the Q for online banking, Twitter (until it crapped out on me a couple of weeks ago), accessing some email, the calendar for reminders, and some texting and, oh yeah, phone calls. Any phone that I have gets used the least as just a phone. All those functions were okay but clunky for me on the Q and the screen was just too damn small. Do I really need to do all those things away from home? Probably not but I really enjoy the convenience. I don't have access to the internet at work for personal stuff so to be able to do something as simple as pay a bill at work instead of at home is great.

Now with the iPhone all those things I got used to click, click, clicking through the Q are so easy on the iPhone it's a real pleasure. I love being able to check AOL and gmail from the same icon and it's so easy to delete mail without reading it (a necessity for the AOL account, I don't know if it was even possible with the Q). Do I need to do that during the day? Now that I can, yes.

And the iPhone is just so pretty.:snap:

One week in with the Pre and there are definitely battery life issues, though I haven't yet done anything to research if there are simple things I can be doing to extend it.

That said, if you get the Touchstone, the magnetic induction wireless charger, it makes it extremely easy to be charging your phone all of the time. Here in my cube I just set it down when I get in and never having to plug it in it is just as simple as pick it up if I leave. Since the screen doesn't go to sleep when it's charging (unless you tell it to) it is like having another really small computer next to my work one.

But yeah, with normal use it would seem you're not going to go much more than 36 hours without needing to charge.

36 hours? That's about 4 times as much as I get with my current phone. Sounds good to me.

Jailbreaking usually just involves a comp program w/your phone attached or a code that you enter after a couple of click throughs. I've never done it but I understand it is simple.

Bah, I'm technophobic re upgrades. Been without a home computer for nearly a week all because I tried to plug in a new monitor.

There will be no changes to any other tech in my life for quite some time.

Did you check the pins on the computer port to see if they are bent?

iSm, it seems to me that you don't want to pay for the iPhone but are attracted to its, well, attractiveness. Personally, from your comments, it seems to me that you could probably get what you want in a much cheaper phone/plan, with or without a contract.

If you don't want a contract but want a capable not quite smartphone, Olivia (dd) has the X-tc by Kyocera for $99 through Virgin Mobile. It is 3G and you can download Opera so you have access to real, not just mobile web pages. I think her bill is about $60 for unlimited phone/text/data (review).

Virgin's (Helio's) Ocean 2 ($149) is supposed to be an excellent phone as well-- according to a friend who owns one and loves it (review)
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Sprint's Boost Mobile has the Motorola i9 which, although not a smartphone (like the Razr, which was my previous, previous phone and was really quite smart enough, to be perfectly honest), has internet capability (not sure if it's 3G) and lots of other features for $50 unlimited phone/text/data.

Sure, they aren't as sexy as the iPhone, but they do a lot of the same basic functions, including (important to me) push email from any provider.

If you're willing to enter into a contract or pay a little more for your phone (as I did with my Nokia smartphone), your options expand greatly and your pricing will be lower.