The perennial "which iPhone should I get" question (16 GB EDGE vs 3GS vs ???)

All about the Blackberry storm :)

I just upgraded to the 3GS from the Edge. Definitely worth the upgrade in my opinion. I wouldn’t have upgraded from the 3G to the 3GS, but going from Edge is a big difference. Network speed is much faster, the phone speed is twice as fast, the camera is so good that I really don’t feel the need to take my pocket digital camera anywhere anymore, the GPS has become more useful than I anticipated (not just for giving directions and google maps).

Definitely worth it in my opinion. I wouldn’t buy an Edge model again. And I wouldn’t even consider another brand of phone.

@StellarAirman, can you elaborate on your enthusiasm for the GPS?

Well, it has a faster CPU and GPU and more RAM. Mobile Safari isn’t really slow because of the network, but the browser is slow to render the pages because of the CPU. It is like a 10+ year old computer.

The new one just about doubles the speed to display a webpage when using WIFI.

I use Runkeeper to track my runs and it shows a nice map with the path I took, speed, elevation changes, etc. I do use it for directions. I use it in location aware apps for all kinds of things from finding a restaurant to finding people near me that scored higher than me on some games, etc. Yeah the Edge phone can do the latter thing with its pseudo-GPS but it’s much easier and more accurate and more reliable to do it with the real thing. I think the compass is going to allow for some cool stuff in games and other software in the future.

It’s just nicer to have to real GPS available. I would definitely not get the Edge model again.

Get the 3GS. When a super duper new model comes out, your phone will have a higher resale value, so if you decide to upgrade, it’s not going to be as costly.

Upgrading the iPhone is worth it solely for the upgraded speaker—having had both the 1G and 2G models, I can vouch for that. I’d get the 3GS—or maybe the android. It’s not horrible.

I have owned all three. The 3g is much better than the original, in terms of speed. The GPS is pretty good. The new 3gs is super fast. In my home it is as fast as my laptop. The speakers are much louder than the older ones, but still don’t sound great. Other than being amazingly fast, there is not that much difference between the 3gs and 3g in the way that you would use it. The voice command feature is pretty nice. I will rarely, if ever, use the video recorder. I would get the 3g to save money. I bought the 3gs 32gb because I am addicted to Apple products like a junkie!

I just got the iPhone 3G S (upgrading from the original iPhone). I’d say that if you have $285 to spend, go with the 32 gb iPhone 3G S—it’s $299 and you’d get a pretty major upgrade from your original iPhone. Plus, it’s always good to get as much memory as possible. When I’ve been in areas with 3G, it’s blazing fast, I love the better camera, and (having kids), I’ve been using the video capabilities quite a bit. I also really like the better location/navigation features (especially since the original iPhone was abysmal in that area). I’ve got a free app that will tell me what things are close by, so wherever I am I can just load the app and find out what restaurants, banks, Starbucks, etc. are close (I love that). When you’re using WiFi or 3G you’ll notice an appreciable difference from Edge. Edge is so frustratingly slow that I can hardly stand using it anymore.

Disclosure: I am an Apple fanatic, so take all of this knowing that you’re listening to an Apple FanGirl.

Thanks all. I’m caving already. ;-)

Went for the 3GS. I’ve only had it an hour, but I’m not disappointed. Thanks, all!