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Which iPhone is best for Stockimo?


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My old pay-as-you-go mobile has nearly died, and I'm looking at getting a refurbished iPhone 4S or 5. As I'm getting an iPhone anyway, I figured that I might try my hand at Stockimo.

 

I've looked at the specs for the iPhone 4S and 5, and have noted the various differences with each model's camera. However, I've no idea whether the improvements offered by the iPhone 5 are really significant in terms of image quality and/or usability, particularly as far as potentially selling via Stockimo is concerned.

 

Grateful for any advice on which model to go for and whether storage size (8/16/32GB) is going to be a significant factor for an average user.

 

Many thanks

 

John

 

 

 

 

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One advantage to buying the newest iPhone you can afford is that it will run the newest system upgrades for several years to come. I have an older 4s, which has an 8 megapixel camera and is fine for Stockimo. Many of my Stockimo images were shot on my old 3Gs which only had a 5 megapixel camera. The 4s will run iOS8, but according to numerous reports, it really slows down functions so I've avoided upgrading beyond iOS 7. Even if I upgraded my system it wouldn't support some of the newer functions such as Touch ID.

 

8gb iPhones are often available for free with a 2 year phone plan. My 4s is 16gb and while I've never used the full capacity I once had to delete a 4gb movie to install a system upgrade over the air. I've also have to delete photos from time to time to free up space.

 

Several providers offer iPhones with Pre-Paid plans but you have to buy the phone outright. I bought mine through Virgin Mobile and pay $30/month.

 

fD

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Virgin Mobile now has a plan for $20 a month for wifi only and 300 minutes a month - unlimited text. They don't have the iPhone 6 yet. I am pondering this but don't know the ins and outs of having a smart phone. I don't like having a cell phone so have an old go-phone -- $100 dollars a year. It is 25 cents a minute if I use it but I hardly ever do so I have over $200 dollars on it. Are there any reasons I should not consider a wifi only iPhone?

 

Paulette

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One advantage to buying the newest iPhone you can afford is that it will run the newest system upgrades for several years to come. I have an older 4s, which has an 8 megapixel camera and is fine for Stockimo. Many of my Stockimo images were shot on my old 3Gs which only had a 5 megapixel camera. The 4s will run iOS8, but according to numerous reports, it really slows down functions so I've avoided upgrading beyond iOS 7. Even if I upgraded my system it wouldn't support some of the newer functions such as Touch ID.

 

8gb iPhones are often available for free with a 2 year phone plan. My 4s is 16gb and while I've never used the full capacity I once had to delete a 4gb movie to install a system upgrade over the air. I've also have to delete photos from time to time to free up space.

 

Several providers offer iPhones with Pre-Paid plans but you have to buy the phone outright. I bought mine through Virgin Mobile and pay $30/month.

 

fD

 

I upgraded my 16Gb 4s to iOS8 more than 3 weeks ago and it has been problem-free. I updated it through iTunes on my Mac as I read this is a safer mode of upgrading than direct to the phone where it may run out of memory during the upgrade which can cause problems. I don't use many apps but I can't see any noticeable difference in speed from iOS7.

 

My main use, besides as a phone and mobile web device, is for making videos of what I am photographing with my DSLR - this usage I now find indispensable rather than making written notes which I never did anyway. The camera on the 4s certainly seems adequate for Stockimo usage  but I've only had a quick scratch at the surface there. Image quality is not the primary requirement there.  

 

I actually prefer the smaller 4s to the later models in terms of size, particularly the iPhone 6 - I want something small that fits neatly in my jeans pocket. 

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Thanks NYCat. I should check my usage and see if I can lower my bill ;)

 

The only thing I don't like about Virgin Mobile is that they gave me a recently used telephone number. In the beginning I was innundated with calls from the pervious person's bill collectors, robo calls from her child's Charter School, and numerous calls and text messages from her friends. Fortunately I'm able to block them in iOS7.

 

I use my iPhone for everything - from Stockimo to online banking and navigating my way around the City. It my alarm clock, my calendar, my grocery list, my weather person, my Roku Remote, etc. It's my back-up internet connection when Time Warner Cable goes down. 

 

I also prefer the smaller size of the 4s but the 5s and 5c seem do-able.  The iPhone 6 is huge and the 6 Plus is more like a small tablet. I'll probably have to upgrade to a larger phone at some point but I'm not really looking forward to it.

 

fD

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Virgin Mobile now has a plan for $20 a month for wifi only and 300 minutes a month - unlimited text. They don't have the iPhone 6 yet. I am pondering this but don't know the ins and outs of having a smart phone. I don't like having a cell phone so have an old go-phone -- $100 dollars a year. It is 25 cents a minute if I use it but I hardly ever do so I have over $200 dollars on it. Are there any reasons I should not consider a wifi only iPhone?

 

Paulette

Is there such a  thing as a wifi only iPhone? Assuming there is such a thing as a wifi only iPhone, you would probably still want to carry a mobile phone around for emergencies say, even if you rarely use it. You probably would not want to carry two phones. There is a good reason I think. You may be able to transfer the money you have built up on your existing phone to a new sim for the iPhone. I did this with my pay and go O2 phone here in the UK when I got my iPhone.

 

Whatever the case, I think that once one gets a smart phone there is no going back, as they have multiple uses - for me the video facility is the killer requirement - I could no longer live (happily that is) without this tiny video camera in my pocket that I can make little video notes about localities, wildflowers etc when I am out with my real camera. The ability to carry a  massive dictionary around in my pocket is another huge plus - I spend quite a bit of time in Spain and it is invaluable. Then there is music, documents, maps, internet, gps if required and so on and on. I only got my first smart phone a few years ago but it is truly indispensable. I used to think along the same lines as you but no longer. 

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I don't think there would be any problem using the phone function. Going online would only be possible through wifi. I have an iPad and I got the 3G capable model. With the iPad it is possible to use it on wifi and then buy one month of 3G for $15 when you are traveling. I don't think that would be possible with the iPhone plan that is wifi only. I will ask before buying to make sure I could switch to a more expensive plan with data in the future if I wanted it.

 

Paulette

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Virgin Mobile now has a plan for $20 a month for wifi only and 300 minutes a month - unlimited text. They don't have the iPhone 6 yet. I am pondering this but don't know the ins and outs of having a smart phone. I don't like having a cell phone so have an old go-phone -- $100 dollars a year. It is 25 cents a minute if I use it but I hardly ever do so I have over $200 dollars on it. Are there any reasons I should not consider a wifi only iPhone?

 

Paulette

 

I have a similar type of phone. It was free and costs me only about $60 per year, so it seems like a smart phone to me.

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If you really don't want the phone functions you could get an iPod Touch. They start around $200  and look exactly like an iPhone. You'll only have internet and text messages over wi-fi networks but now that free wi-fi is becoming so common, it's not as limiting as it was a few years ago. Downside is, the camera is only 5 megapixels - same as the old 3gs - but still OK for Stockimo.

 

fD
 

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I don't think there would be any problem using the phone function. Going online would only be possible through wifi. I have an iPad and I got the 3G capable model. With the iPad it is possible to use it on wifi and then buy one month of 3G for $15 when you are traveling. I don't think that would be possible with the iPhone plan that is wifi only. I will ask before buying to make sure I could switch to a more expensive plan with data in the future if I wanted it.

 

Paulette

I misinterpreted what you meant. You can certainly do what you are talking about here with O2 - there are plans where you don't have to make any regular payments and you can use it as a wifi only device by turning off Mobile Data. Turn this on as required when travelling. Travelling in Europe, it is £2 a day for 50Mb of data with O2.

 

Just reading fotoDogue's post about an iPod touch instead, you would be reliant on being near an existing wifi network in the first place and then trusting it is secure (there are various scams associated with free wifi networks for getting your personal details such as passwords. I am certainly no expert but the advice I have read is that it is preferable to use the mobile network for email and other uses where security is important or vital (e.g. banking). 

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I do want the phone functions. I keep my dumb phone for emergencies and when I am meeting someone. I also want to try out Stockimo. Having a "small tablet" iPhone 6 Plus sounds good for me since using it for photos and reading are what I will want. I live in NYC, of course, so will probably be able to get wifi almost everywhere. My travel is in wild places where we occasionally can get wifi in a hotel. Here in NYC I would mostly be using my home wifi.

 

Paulette

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My Sony Experia on Android only costs me £7 to £8 per month with 200 minutes calls, 500,00MB data and 5000 texts thrown in. I am waiting for Alamy to enable Android on Stockimo. ;)

 

Allan

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I have the iPhone 6 and don't consider it huge at all. It fits in all but the shallowest of my pants pockets. Works in all my blue jeans pockets. I personally like the larger size ( it actually is smaller than the LG I just gave up and I didn't consider that one too big.)

 

I like it because the larger size allows me to see the image detail better. Just my humble opinion, but really doesn't answer Allan's question. He isn't asking about the 6. I did have the 4s, and didn't like the image quality. The Lg was better by leaps and bounds. And I like the iPhone 6 image quality, but even it doesn't compare with the LG's 13 mp. But it is good enough.

Betty

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Many thanks for all the comments - clearly lots of things to consider before I leap into the 21st Century. That said, I think I'm leaning towards the iPhone 5 (not S or C models) as there are some pretty good deals in the UK on refurbished and sim-free (unblocked) via the likes of Tesco and Sainsburys. So, after a sim-swap, I should be able to continue using my old pay-as-you-go deal, number and contacts.

Cheers

 

John

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Very pleased with the iPhone 6 Plus (64gb) - finally big enough screen to easily/comfortably read and get some work done. Camera is excellent - the OIS really makes a difference in low light. Have been and wil continue to use the phone as a wifi-router/modem with the laptop when away from the office - 4G should now make this even faster then the 3G in my previous iPhone 5.

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Very pleased with the iPhone 6 Plus (64gb) - finally big enough screen to easily/comfortably read and get some work done. Camera is excellent - the OIS really makes a difference in low light. Have been and wil continue to use the phone as a wifi-router/modem with the laptop when away from the office - 4G should now make this even faster then the 3G in my previous iPhone 5.

 

Thanks for your comments, Martin. I have been wondering if reading would really be comfortable on the 6 Plus.

 

Paulette

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I am using an 8Gig IPhone 4s. My understanding is that the camera on the 4s is almost identical to that of the 5s.The 5s has a better screen though. I have the latest IOS version via iTunes and it does not appear to slow the phone down any. I find that 8Gigs  more than adequate given the 8mb  file size generated from its camera.

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I am using an 8Gig IPhone 4s. My understanding is that the camera on the 4s is almost identical to that of the 5s.

 

 

There was a problem when the iPhone 5 was first released. Backlit images sometimes had flare and excessive purple fringing.... but then maybe that's a feature for Stockimo ;)

 

There was some mention of purple fringing with the iPhone 4s but not to the same extent. Other than that, I believe the cameras in these iPhones are pretty much the same.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/apple-says-purple-fringing-on-iphone-5-camera-is-normal-1101188

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