iPhone prospect - three questions

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mainlydata

60 posts

Master Geek

#79962 24-Mar-2011 22:41

First off - this is for my other half who's interested in buying an iPhone, a product I know next to nothing about.

She has a laptop running Windows XP and there's a wireless LAN in the house.

Moving Files To/From
She would like to move photos/videos etc from the iPhone to the laptop (and possibly vice versa). Short of emailing them what's the best way to do this ?

Synch Diary with Windows Calendar App
She assumes there is a diary app on the iPhone (or that one can be bought) . Is there a Windows based diary app (preferably not Outlook) which would allow her to synchronise with the phones diary ?

Backing up Email Address Book
Whats the best way to backup email contact details and get them off the phone ?

Lastly - if you'd never used an iPhone before what would you tell someone who was about get one ?

Regs

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Snowflake

#451618 24-Mar-2011 22:50

not an iphone user, but i would hazard a guess and say you could do the files and backup using itunes.

as for the diary app, either microsoft exchange server has email+contacts+calendar sync or google sync for gmail + contacts + calendar sync. i've used exchange personally, but not google.

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1eStar

1604 posts

Uber Geek

#451619 24-Mar-2011 22:53

iTunes sorts out photo and video sync. Other file types can be transferred and stored with third party apps like goodreader

Diary sync works very well using gmail calendar.

Contacts sync works real well using Microsoft exchange to a gmail account

One piece of advice for a potential iPhone user: these puppies use data. Get a decent plan, the don't be surprised if you use 500meg a month. The telecom deal for 500meg will end up more economic if your usage fluctuates

mainlydata

60 posts

Master Geek

#451624 24-Mar-2011 23:07

Thanks for info - much appreciated.

Am a bit confused about the references to 'Microsoft Exchange' - she's only got Windows XP and doesn't have Exchange running on that (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Exchange_Server).

mainlydata

60 posts

Master Geek

#451625 24-Mar-2011 23:09

Regarding data - thanks for heads up. She was going to go with VF as she's out of contract and so happy to sign up for a 24 month plan which gives here a discounted handset.

The plan is a nominal 250Mb currently 'specialled' to 3GB but (as far as I can see) there is no other plan from VF currently. Confused now ! It's really unclear to me what all those people who are signing up for 250MB with VF 'Smart' plans are going to do once the special comes off ... well except pay VF skiploads of money that is.

Regs

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Snowflake

#451626 24-Mar-2011 23:09

exchange server typically means a company mailbox, paying for a hosted exchange mailbox from a hosting company, or paying for aMicrosoft BPOS/Office365 service. its not something you install on XP.

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Regs

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Snowflake

#451627 24-Mar-2011 23:12

as for data usage, i have some users that use <60MB per month. home and work locations both have wifi so the iphone typically uses these connections instead of the 3G connections.

regarding free or cheap phones on vodafone - make sure you understand the ETC's (early termination charges). They will be high if you need to break that contact before the 2 years is up. if you usage isn going to be that high, it might be cheaper to buy a device non-contract and have the freedom to change plan (and telco) as you please.

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clicknz

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#451634 24-Mar-2011 23:21

Yep - iTunes is the gateway to syncing most of the data you'll be interested in - use it to determine what photos/videos/music/podcasts you sync across to the device.
Easier to set up a contacts list on you computer to sync across to the phone, from then on once you add or change a contact on either the phone or the computer, next time you sync it will update the phone & the computer.
Depending on the user's discipline or requirements a big data plan may not be required. If you turn off cellular data and wait for a wifi network to get email, check Facebook etc., then it'd be possible to live with a casual data plan or 50MB per month.... but it depends on the user.
iBooks is very useful to keep all sorts of PDF files - newsletters, instruction manuals, documents - it can be very handy.
The owner should be prepared to spend some time (maybe lots of time) sifting thru' the App Store - there will be apps you haven't thought of that will be useful for work, leisure, hobbies, quiz nights, cooking, mixing drinks, etc, etc, etc.
Then check back in another week and there will be more - these apps can add a heap of functionality to the iPhone (should you decide to go there... and why wouldn't you).

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

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khull

1245 posts

Uber Geek

#451636 24-Mar-2011 23:28

It's really unclear to me what all those people who are signing up for 250MB with VF 'Smart' plans are going to do once the special comes off ... well except pay VF skiploads of money that is.

In a way I am seriously hoping Voda will actually stop the 3GB, I'll pay the termination fees and jump ship, coz I am just itching to switch to 2degrees - heck even the XT network is faster than Voda. have used different sims on the iphone and I would rank Voda last.

All your questions have been answered by the previous posters - except the last

'Lastly - if you'd never used an iPhone before what would you tell someone who was about get one ? '

It's magical.

Watch the ads at http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/ads.html :)

SteveON

1916 posts

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#451638 24-Mar-2011 23:31

Just bought myself an iPhone 4 today, so happy I got it over the 3Gs. Unfortunately in 3 months the 5g will be out =[

khull

1245 posts

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#451641 24-Mar-2011 23:46

SteveON: yep and do it all over again - amazing how a company can get people to talk about products which have yet to exist

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#451644 24-Mar-2011 23:55

khull: SteveON: yep and do it all over again - amazing how a company can get people to talk about products which have yet to exist

ha ha ha. All I want is for my iToy not to break down this time and for the battery to last for 2 days. I use it too much for youtube and email...

JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#451663 25-Mar-2011 07:01

I'm running XP as well. You can easily sync calendars, email, photos, notes and contacts (and even web page bookmarks if you use explorer) with itunes. I have it set up to do so automatically, it's completely thought free, lol, which suites me perfectly. If you don't use explorer (I use firefox) you can still sync them it's just more complicated as you need to import them into Explorer first.

Also, for photos the phone will act very similar to a camera and the scanner and camera wizard will open when you plug the phone in and you can download pictures just like you would from a regular camera if you want to do it that way.

The phone is just amazing. I'm trying to decide if I want to upgrade to the 5 version when it comes out or keep my hard earned money in my pocket. So many toys, so little money.

Also, I rarely use data as I have wifi at home and at work. And GPS (I use Tomtom) doesn't require it.

As people have said, there are various utilities for pdf files or whatever. I personally only use files on the the phone for books (audio and text), if I want to transport files I generally use a usb stick but since my laptop travels back and forth to work with me I rarely use a usb stick either.

For trips without a laptop, an ipad tethered to the phone works good for a larger screen to read...if you're not using a wifi you'd use data that way. The phone does web browsing perfectly well but my eyes are getting on in age, hah.

Edit: I should add, it syncs with Outlook, google contacts, windows and yahoo address book. I am using Outlook for calendars, email and notes. There is also MobileMe but I haven't used that.

Is anyone else using MobileMe? I thought I read accounts were free now.

xpd

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#451673 25-Mar-2011 08:23

1eStar:

One piece of advice for a potential iPhone user: these puppies use data. Get a decent plan, the don't be surprised if you use 500meg a month. The telecom deal for 500meg will end up more economic if your usage fluctuates

Depends what you use the phone for.... I use mine daily for emails, FB, Twitter and a bit of browsing, and only use 50mb a month.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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1eStar

1604 posts

Uber Geek

#451818 25-Mar-2011 15:40

I use in excess of 1gig per month often. My advice re the telecom plan is because they charge 10c per meg so proves cheap even for light users

blakamin

4431 posts

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#451839 25-Mar-2011 17:25

Hate to be a naysayer, but iTunes and XP... errgghhhhhh.

Just my experience with an iPod.