My wife's cell phone went for a swim. Is it time to buy her an iPhone?

did you retrieve it? I have revived not less than 4 different cell phones and a palm pilot from a watery demise. One motorola flip phone from about 4 years ago was brought back after 3 separate dunkings. It is usually as simple as making sure you remove the battery as quickly as possible after the incident, the take apart the phone enough do you can get air flow to the circuitry. Then hold a blow dryer over it about 6 inches and keep drying it until it comes back. I recommend getting a new battery though.

I didn’t know about it until about 12 hours later. It will turn on, but I think the microphone is shot. I can’t hear anything she says on it.

I just read online about a guy who fixed his iPhone that got moisture in it by wrapping it in a towel and baking it at 140 degrees (which is below the max temp for an LCD screen). I suppose it can’t hurt. Compressed air might also work.

The phone that took the swim was a cheap Nokia that she’s had for several years. It was time to replace it anyway. We were just hoping to wait until June when (supposedly) the next generation of iPhones will be released. I’m trying to figure out if we should buy a cheap throw-away phone to use for the next two months or just bite the bullet and get her one from the current generation.

I’d get a cheapie to tide you over. There are an abundance of obsolete cell phones in this world that could use a good home, so I imagine it would cost next to nothing to obtain.

Then, when the 3G comes out, you can decide what to get. Probably the 2.5G price will have dropped by then, too.

Or, you could plan on getting yourself the 3G and give her your current one. ;-)

Thanks, Kevbo. That’s actually the plan. I’m the “online marketing professional,” so I really need the updated phone more than her. I don’t want to put my career at stake. ;-)

Are you currently an ATT customer?
As someone who had to just return (!) their iPhone because of crappy reception and dropped calls on his iPhone, I would recommend checking it out first.

Apple’s developer conference is in June. The 3G version should at least be announced by then. There are also a ton of rumors that the iPhone will be getting some brothers and sisters too. Smaller ‘candy bar’ like phones…sort of like iPhone nanos.

How did the phone take the plunge?

Both my wife and I have iPhones and we LOVE them. I am very careful with mine and she just drops it in her purse… They are great phones but not perfect. I use my iPhone mostly for calendar, web and ipod functionality. I also have my google calendars sync-ed to my ical which is very useful. (we use google calendar a lot and all our familly and personal stuff is on it and for example, each time my wife adds something to google, I get it on my iphone’s ical). My phone works like a charm but my wife’s freezes every so often (but not too much). The battery life is not great if you use it a lot (about a day), but if you have an office job, just leave an extra cord at work and battery life is never a problem. The iphone will be officially open to 3rd party developpers soon and the new apps will make it an amazing device, impossible to compare to anything else on the market.
Hope this helps a bit.

According to MacRumors, right now, you’ll want to wait on buying an iPhone unless you really need its specific functionality immediately.

The thinking is that the current model is nearing the end of its lifecycle, so yes, wait for the fabled 3G version.

Thanks to everyone. I was already an AT&T customer, so I just picked up a cheap Samsung phone to get her by until the next versions are released.

@trogdor: When she got to her desk yesterday morning, she realized that her Nalgene water bottle wasn’t completely sealed. Everything in her purse had gone for a swim.

@itmustbeken and regisfluther. I’ve had my iPhone since a week after their release and love it. We’ve just been waiting for the second generation to buy one for my wife….or buy me one from the second generation and hand mine down to my wife.

Get the iPhone, you will never regret it. My dad bought my mom an iPhone for Christmas, WOW. It did miracles for my dad, my mom gave my dad a 2 hour massage after that. She was so happy, it changed the whole atmosphere of my house.

Simple answer – yes.
Edge data is perfectly usable. Don’t wait, just upgrade later.

If you purchase an iPhone and decide that you want to upgrade later when a new model comes out you could simply remove the SIM, erase all contents of the phone and sell it at a nice discount to someone online. It doesn’t seem like the demand for the phone is lacking any.

Never wait for rumoured products. The iPhone) is absolutely the best phone available today. If you need one today, get it, you won’t be disappointed. If you don’t need it then wait, but you should never buy anything you don’t need. ;)

Pretty much. I used to work for Apple here in SoCal. All products have a coating (like spray-paint) on all hardware inside..like most phones, it changes a color—which, unfortunately voids your warranty.

Wait for the new one in June. I’m sure you’ll be able to recycle it just like the iPod recycling program.

Best,

PS- I missed the question..Wait ‘til June, you’ll be disappointed. Even the CEO of AT&T said “All phones will be 3G compatible by June. www.AppleInsider.com