thinking about IPhone for next cell phone - would have to last me several years though - how...

Any particular reason you're looking at the 3GS instead of the newer iPhone 4?

 

My Dad has had his 3GS since launch day. He doesn't keep it in a case and aside from a few small scratches it's held up well so far. The interior photos of the iPhone 4 show a well built device and I don't see why it couldn't last for 3 years. Although it's a different brand, my old HTC Wizard smartphone lasted 3-1/2 years before I replaced it NOT because of hardware issues but simply because it was slow and shaped like a brick.

I dropped my 3GS a few time, and once stepped on it when I was drunk  some scratches on the back but none on the screen. I know it's not perfectly scratch resistant, but the glass is quite hard indeed.

Have you looked into the droid at all? A lot of people I know, including myself hehe, have turned to the droid as an alternative to the iphone.

I've had an iphone for about 7-8 months now and it's still in mint condition.  I got one of the slim cases for it that just covers the back with a thin layer of plastic.  Makes it a tiny bit thicker, but it's fine, and since the back points out in the pocket, it protects it from banging on things.  My screen is scratch free.  As long as you don't drop it, I would say it will last years.  And it has solid state memory like the itouch, so the hard drive isn't going to go out on you like  the ipods.

I have a Iphone 3G that is about to be 2 years old.  It has a hairline crack on the screen which does not affect the touch functionality because it is glass on top of another sensitive glass panel.  Moreover, this glass is hairline scratched especially closer to the bezel areas.  The back black plastic cover has developed a crack near the charger/data port and this is due to the endless banging, dropping, scratching that it has suffered in the past two years.  

 

Functionality wise is the same as the first day I bought it...the sound quality is still the same, something that has not been the case with different cellphones in the past...where the more drop it accumulates, the more damage and the worse the the sound quality.  That has been the case with most cellphones I had except this really rugged black rubberized Panasonic cell I had 8 years ago with At&t wireless.  

 

While I had a clear case when I first bought the Iphone, it covered both sides and also the touch screen...but it was useless as anything that comes between your finger and the touch sensitivity surface tends to decrease the accuracy of the commands.  

 

I am getting the new Iphone 4 tomorrow and some of the design choices Apple has made, especially with the back being flatter and also made of a synthetic/extremely resilient and durable pseudo sapphire has to do with the failures they have seen on the field with the plastic back.  

 

While $100 is not chump change, I would jump for the Iphone 4 if I were you, knowing fully well that it is a superior more ruggedly build design, this is not to say that the older Iphone is not a resilient phone but I am betting that the 4 will be like a Mac computer, tough and very long lasting.  

 

The nearest competitor with Droid by HTC, especially the one that is design to do the 4G and be a spot Wifi device, while very responsive it comes at the price of battery life.  At least that is what I read from the NYTImes Pogue review.  

 

The ones I know about haven't been terribly reliable. About what you'd expect from your run of the mill portable consumer electronics really.

 

My original iPhone needed to be replaced within a year, something shorted out and killed the battery. It's replacement lost the ability to upgrade firmware about six months in, still not sure what happened to it there, but a trip to the Apple store didn't fix it and it was out of warranty by then. Still kicking around though, but with greatly reduced battery life. My 3GS has been fine over the past year, though the oleophobic layer on the screen has been more prone to scratching than on the original iPhone.

 

One of my brother's had roughly the same experience with his 2G. Died just short of warranty expiration from unknown causes, Apple replaced it and off it went to eBay. His 3GS lost backlighting about 9 months in, which an Apple store fixed. GPS died a month latter and Apple replaced the phone.

 

Other brother's original iPhone and 3GS have worked without incident.

 

So really, hit or miss. Half have either died or stopped functioning correctly within a year. One survived 2 years without incident, two have been trouble free for ~ 10 months.

The iPhone is as durable as the user allows it to be, meaning that if you're careless with it, things happen to it but if you take some care (don't keep it in the same pocket as your keys, take it OUT of your pocket before you throw your pants in the washing machine and don't drop it out of a 4 story window simply to see how high it bounces) then it should be fine, but in general I would advise you to get the iPhone 4.

 

First of all the 4 is rumored to be a lot more durable (the glass on the back and front is said to be the same glass helicopters have to stop bird who crash into the chopper from entering). It'll last for a good 3 years easily that I can promise you. My iPod touch has been with me for a few years and never got a single scratch on it without the case until I started being careless with it. I take the iPod with me EVERYWHERE and it has never failed me yet. Apple products in general are awesome

 

My cousin has a 3G (he's 18 for the record) and it is the ONLY phone he has not broken to date. It has taken a fair beating from him dropping it, kicking it (don't ask) and basically doing things with it when he wasn't sober and still works perfectly. He even brought this case for it that makes it a bit bulky but more secure than Guantanamo bay. Apple stuff lasts, and I'm living proof of it. I still have an iPod mini, the first generation and the first iPod I ever bought that works like a charm.

 

But back to the point, get the iPhone 4. The 3GS will last you physically, but it'll be outdated in a year easy. the reason is that it lacks a heavy hardware upgrade that the iPhone 4 has had and all the next gen iPhones will have as well. The iPhone 4 uses a faster chip, a gyroscope and a few other goodies that the iPhone 3gs doesn't pack. Soon the OS won't be compatible and you won't be able to use half your apps with the 3gs.

 

The iPhone 4 is also a lot more durable. With a protective layer behind it as well as a stainless steel border, it can take a few hits (will be getting one tomorrow and doing an unboxing on youtube if anyone is interested, my youtube username is the same as the one on this site) though I haven't tested it, Jobs does stand by that. Also, the iPhone isn't exactly a wimpy device.

 

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME: One of my good (but slightly slow) friends' iPhone 3G fell out of his pocket right behind the wheel of my other friend's nissan rogue. Before we realized it, my friend backed out of his parking space and ran over the phone. After we got it, it had a crack down the middle of the screen and a lot od edge damage, but still worked (with a few dead pixels) and could receive and send calls and texts (though the camera was shot). These things will last as long as you aren't careless with them, and the iPhone 4 is supposedly the tougher phone so think about that for a second.

 

The one thing that did actually get one of my iDevices however was water damage. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU TAKE THE IPHONE IN THE SHOWER. Fair warning. I will neither deny or admit that I felt like showering with my iPod one day and to this day the click wheel doesnt work because of it. again I will neither admit or deny it.

 

Anyway bottom line, GET THE IPHONE 4. :D

The Iphone 4 which I have been playing with since yesterday is leaps and bound more sturdy and incredibly sleek in comparison to my older Iphone 3G.  It is very responsive mostly due to its higher spec/faster processor as well as doubling of its memory capacity.

 

The screen, as it was noted is extremely sharp which makes my old 3G almost feel like an analogue TV vs a HD LCD set.  It is impressive.  

 

I say, for the $100 difference, it is well worth getting the 4 which will make Apple's domination of the smart phone market more so.  

Get the iPhone 4. It is well worth the extra $100. Sell some DVDs or old videogames if you need the extra cash. It's worth it.

I bought the original iPhone three years ago. It worked great and still does - I passed it along to my father and it's as good as it always was. My mother's 2G iPhone similarly works fine, though she's planning to get one of the new white ones in a few weeks. About five other family members have owned iPhones and there hasn't been a problem with any of them, save for when my cousin accidentally put his through the washing machine.

I upgraded to the 3G two years ago and it was my companion 24/7. Never had a problem with it and it just got retired yesterday when the pre-ordered iPhone 4 arrived.

The iPhone 4 is head and shoulders above the 3G and 3GS. I cannot overstate how good the new display is. It makes everything else look soft and fuzzy. Text is so crisp and beautiful it is hard to believe. The A4 processor cooks along at a good pace (not as fast as the iPad, but I don't care) and the new iPhone feels much, much more solid and substantial than the 3G or 3GS.

I'm sure Apple will upstage it a year from now, but I don't know if I'll buy. The 3GS didn't tempt me away from the 3G, which was a pretty good phone for me. But the iPhone 4 is just so much nicer. Buy one, you won't regret it.

I have also have an iphone 2g 16gb which is in pristine i keep it as collectors and a 3g white that i use day to day so far all i can say they're the most responsive in touch screen display that i encounter in a phone. but i will never upgrade to an iphone 4 or buying an ipad. im in the process of changing phones wanna try sony or something else so goodbye jesus phone

I'm still using the iPhone I got on the launch of the very first model. It works as good as when I got it, and it is in perfect cosmetic condition too. Finally replacing it with a new one next week. I kept it in a case, and it has been dropped onto concrete and even into a toilet. No problems.

DO NOT BUY THE IPHONE 4 !!!

 

Sorry about the caps, I am just too disappointed with the iphone 4. Drop it from about 10 inches, or less, and the plastic at the side of the phone just broke, and about 4 scratch at the front. Needless to say, I had to buy an insurance plan right away :(

This is just so disappointing, I was used to my 3GS without anything...

Apple are trying to make them as durable as possible, without compromising the design.  My 3GS is in a carefully chosen plastic case, with a protective film over the screen (I actually don't like the feel of the naked screen) and I am always careful to put it in a leather case on my hip, or a pocket it can't easily fall out of.  After having broken enough phones through accidents, if I'm going to own a phone for a while, I'm going to take care of it.