iPhone Or G1 - Choices

Going with the iPhone. This is something my wife has been pushing for recently yet as I have shared in the past, AT&T has made it clear that it cares little about making this reasonable for its customers. Because we are not able to “upgrade” yet, AT&T expects us to pay full price. AT&T can stick that in its ear. And at this point, perhaps even its mobile service while it’s at it.

With this said, I am giving serious thought to going with one of the T-Mobile options. For $150, I can get my family on an unlimited calling plan. Clearly, this is as good or better than AT&T’s rollover minutes. And I can also get two of the G1s for my wife and myself. Certainly not an iPhone by any means, but considering Apple’s choice to do business with AT&T has just left a bad taste in my mouth, I am willing to explore other options.

Now we approach where the G1 from T-Mobile is just not cutting it for me - no real MS Exchange support. Sure, plenty of support for the crap-tacular Google apps. And yes, a third party app has been able to provide limited Exchange support for your contacts. But like the iPhone *when it was first released*, we are stuck with a really cool phone lacking the features for business owners to taken seriously.

What is really unfortunate is the fact that if I want to get another BlackBerry 8820 on T-Mobile, it will mean dropping another sum of money for the same phone I already own! You know, while I get the economics of subsidized phones and locking them down, I really find that in the end, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The thing that strikes me most is that it will actually be cheaper for me to simply buy a new iPhone outright at cost, without the upgrade eligibility than it will be for me to make the switch. Sadly, it looks like we will be throwing more money at AT&T rather than moving on. But hey, this is fine. It’s not like I am going to stick with it forever, right?

What has your experience been when looking at getting a new iPhone - existing AT&T customers, have you found it to be a complete hassle to get one after discovering you were still months and months away from being upgrade eligible? Despite being able to pull the SIM card, I hear AT&T has found a way to make this a no go as well. Share your experiences in the comments area.