iphone 3g suitable for streaming podcasts?

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Morgenmuffel

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#237618 10-Jun-2018 12:23

3 weeks ago my immune system went haywire and tried to take me out, I am much better now owing to a load of steroids (apart from an Austrian accent), anyway the one thing I missed was listening to my podcasts, which I normally listen to on my commute to/from work

I know I can listen to them by turning on the computer or the appletv and tv, but both of those are inefficient in that I need a screen to do anything.

I'll get this right out here now, I am a cheapskate I don't want or like to spend money, but I think I should be able to achieve this for less than $50, and I know it sound naff but I can't let myself relax listening to podcasts when I have a power hungry device like the computer or TV on, it just irks me which I know is ridiculous

anyway

My Local op shop has a number of iPhone docks with speakers for around $5 to $15, and I have been watching trademe and the iPhone 3g seems to be selling at around $25-$35

So I am wondering would this be a better solution and would it all work specifically

1) Most of them seem to have a Bluetooth logo on them so I assume that's how they synch, is there any incompatibilities there or should it just work with the iphones

2) The charging bit on the dock, they are all the same I assume, I was planning to get the iPhone first and then take it to the op shop and see if it fitted ala Cinderella style

3) iTunes will still work on an old iPhone? as despite being a PC person I have always used iTunes for my music and podcasts etc

4) the iPhone 3g seems to only be 8gb is the whole 8gb available or is there only a couple of gb left over after the OS and apps

5) I assume I can use it as an alarm clock by synching it to my gmail calendar?

6) Will it work without a sim card? or do I need one to initialise it? so it links to my apple account if that makes sense

Thanks in advance

Morgen muffel

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

sailedpeep

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#2033248 10-Jun-2018 19:44

1) Most of them seem to have a Bluetooth logo on them so I assume that's how they synch, is there any incompatibilities there or should it just work with the iphones"

They should work in theory as Bluetooth is meant to be backwards compatible. My only concern would be audio quality -- there might be a very good reason why they're in the op shop.

2) The charging bit on the dock, they are all the same I assume, I was planning to get the iPhone first and then take it to the op shop and see if it fitted ala Cinderella style

The iPhone 3G used the 30 Pin Connector, it's very easy to identify at a glance, it's very wide and quite different from Lightning, micro USB, etc. You should be able to see the difference by Googling.

3) iTunes will still work on an old iPhone? as despite being a PC person I have always used iTunes for my music and podcasts etc

iTunes should work flawlessly in transferring podcast files. Backwards compatibility is one of the reasons why it's so clunky these days.

4) the iPhone 3g seems to only be 8gb is the whole 8gb available or is there only a couple of gb left over after the OS and apps

It's definitely not the whole 8GB. I'm not sure on the details though.

5) I assume I can use it as an alarm clock by synching it to my gmail calendar?

Not quite sure what you mean by that. If you just need a manual alarm clock, it should work fine.

6) Will it work without a sim card? or do I need one to initialise it? so it links to my apple account if that makes sense

Depends on the model that you buy. Most NZ models should be fine.

My biggest concern with your plan is just how old the 3G really is. The battery isn't going to hold up on a 10 year old phone well especially running with Bluetooth.

jpoc

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#2033465 11-Jun-2018 07:36

I'd worry most about Bluetooth.

The original 3G shipped with BT support for handsfree kit but not for streaming audio to wireless speakers.

There was a software update that was supposed to support streaming. Some users reported that it worked others said that it did not.

That is one of the biggest reasons that a 3G is so cheap today.

SATTV

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#2033472 11-Jun-2018 07:53

If you are in Auckland I have an Iphone 3G or 3GS you can have, it was gifted to me some years ago and I have it in my glovebox as an ipod.

I have something to replace it with but have not pulled finger.

My wife has been though something similar and it was a horrible time for us, those steroids can be nasty.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

Morgenmuffel

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#2033767 11-Jun-2018 17:53

SATTV:

If you are in Auckland I have an Iphone 3G or 3GS you can have, it was gifted to me some years ago and I have it in my glovebox as an ipod.

I have something to replace it with but have not pulled finger.

My wife has been though something similar and it was a horrible time for us, those steroids can be nasty.

John

Congrats on reaching 666 posts, I am sure there is a badge for it

I am more than happy to pay for the phone and shipping if it suits as i am in the South Waikato, otherwise I'll keep an eye on trademe

Just had my first day back at work today exhausting but a relief to get some normality back

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

Morgenmuffel

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#2033768 11-Jun-2018 18:00

@sailedpeep

Cheers for the indepth answer, my knowledge of iphone stuff is hopeless and the research just got confusing, you can tell my limited knowledge by the simple fact I assumed the iphone SE meant iphone Second Edition (like windows 98se) as in it was older than the iphone 3.

sailedpeep:

1) Most of them seem to have a Bluetooth logo on them so I assume that's how they synch, is there any incompatibilities there or should it just work with the iphones"

They should work in theory as Bluetooth is meant to be backwards compatible. My only concern would be audio quality -- there might be a very good reason why they're in the op shop.

2) The charging bit on the dock, they are all the same I assume, I was planning to get the iPhone first and then take it to the op shop and see if it fitted ala Cinderella style

The iPhone 3G used the 30 Pin Connector, it's very easy to identify at a glance, it's very wide and quite different from Lightning, micro USB, etc. You should be able to see the difference by Googling.

3) iTunes will still work on an old iPhone? as despite being a PC person I have always used iTunes for my music and podcasts etc

iTunes should work flawlessly in transferring podcast files. Backwards compatibility is one of the reasons why it's so clunky these days.

4) the iPhone 3g seems to only be 8gb is the whole 8gb available or is there only a couple of gb left over after the OS and apps

It's definitely not the whole 8GB. I'm not sure on the details though.

5) I assume I can use it as an alarm clock by synching it to my gmail calendar?

Not quite sure what you mean by that. If you just need a manual alarm clock, it should work fine.

6) Will it work without a sim card? or do I need one to initialise it? so it links to my apple account if that makes sense

Depends on the model that you buy. Most NZ models should be fine.

My biggest concern with your plan is just how old the 3G really is. The battery isn't going to hold up on a 10 year old phone well especially running with Bluetooth.

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

gzt

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#2033770 11-Jun-2018 18:04

My recollection of iphone 3g docks is they used audio through the main connector. I don't recall Bluetooth for those docks. Maybe the ones you saw are later.

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Morgenmuffel

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#2033771 11-Jun-2018 18:04

jpoc:

I'd worry most about Bluetooth.

The original 3G shipped with BT support for handsfree kit but not for streaming audio to wireless speakers.

There was a software update that was supposed to support streaming. Some users reported that it worked others said that it did not.

That is one of the biggest reasons that a 3G is so cheap today.

I didn't know that however I am sure one of the docks had a couple of audio jacks on it so I will fave to check if it can plug the phones headphone doohickey straight into the docks input thingie (those are technical terms I swear)

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

Morgenmuffel

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#2033773 11-Jun-2018 18:06

gzt: My recollection of iphone 3g docks is they used audio through the main connector. I don't recall Bluetooth for those docks. Maybe the ones you saw are later.

That actually sounds more like what i want, i will definitely need to do a cinderella style fitting and test when i get organised

Cheers all

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

RunningMan

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#2033779 11-Jun-2018 18:13

Morgenmuffel:

6) Will it work without a sim card? or do I need one to initialise it? so it links to my apple account if that makes sense

They're obviously supposed to have a SIM. Fairly sure you can get it to go without, but you you may need one for initial setup and activation.

Considered an iPod touch or similar?

Morgenmuffel

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#2046398 30-Jun-2018 12:27

Greetings all,
I did look at ipod touchs but they were $20dearer than the cheap phones

Apologies for the slow response, turned out it wasn't an immune issue but an infection in the heart valve, which the steroids suppressing my immune system caused to amp up a bit, so hospital time and a lot of recuperation time which is boring as heck as SWMBO is making me take everything easy.

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON