Ugh, which iPhone should I get for my wife?

[Deleted member 11852]

Yeah another carrier is offering Home 5G at my home.

But there is also a Fiber provider as well.

I am still waiting for fibre in an affluent part of central London that is just not setup for typical fibre infrastructure deployment. 5G is still a massive improvement over the copper DSL I was limited to before!

 

[wco81]

Yeah another carrier is offering Home 5G at my home.

But there is also a Fiber provider as well.

I am still waiting for fibre in an affluent part of central London that is just not setup for typical fibre infrastructure deployment. 5G is still a massive improvement over the copper DSL I was limited to before!

Ordinarily, it would be a no-brainer to dump my cable TV and switch to fiber and go all streaming. The fiber would have no data caps like my cable modem.

But I'm under contract through end of the year, though the fiber provider would pay early termination fees.

But I have a Tivo DVR and it's still way better than the cloud DVRs that I have tried. Admittedly I haven't tried the cloud DVR from YouTube TV. I would expect Google to do a better job but I'm not so sure.

Physical DVR has its benefits, including being able to skip commercials so easily.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Does enabling wifi calling solve that?

I've turned off wifi on my phone all together. Ever since t-mobile took over sprint officially a couple of months ago all our phones have trouble recognizing if there is wifi and if not it ignores the data, ever so slightly totally infuriating.

 

[BRiT]

But I have a Tivo DVR and it's still way better than the cloud DVRs that I have tried. Admittedly I haven't tried the cloud DVR from YouTube TV. I would expect Google to do a better job but I'm not so sure.

I ditched my Tivo when I switched to YouTubeTV and didn't miss it back in 2018/2019. Now I'm on DirecTVStream. They are both better than Tivo for me.

They both offer better video image quality than my cable provider, which transcodes to lower quality to fit on their QAM network. DTVS has the better IQ than YTTV. YTTV and DTVS both provide exceptional Trick Play functionality, like skip forward or back. Some of the interactivity feeling depends on having a solid quality streaming device. Don't use really old streaming devices. You can't tell it's not native hardware.

They both auto-extend sporting events with no intervention on my part. They both offer unlimited simultaneous recordings, so not limited to only 2 or 4 or 6 tuners that Tivo has. I can add entire sports league like NCAAFootball and it will record all events. I can also pick individual teams like The Ohio State Buckeyes to record. They both will record shows even if I have power outage, so better functionality than Tivo there.

The only downsides I can see anyone saying maybe negative is the retention is 9 months from the last time it records. Some series always air so the episodes never expire. DTVStream has a limit of 30 episodes in a recording series, but offers ability to record ALL or NEW Only. YTTV will record everything new and old.

I like both offers better than my Tivo CableCard 6 Tuner setup and I even had auto commercial skip program running too. It's a relic of a bygone era.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I just use old desktops and hook 'em up to our TVs. Quality can be whatever you want and lots of storage or streaming options.

 

[wco81]

I just use old desktops and hook 'em up to our TVs. Quality can be whatever you want and lots of storage or streaming options.

What software are you using to record/stream?

Also, what kind of hardware, because if you want to access cable channels, you're going to need CableCard hardware.

 

[BRiT]

I just use old desktops and hook 'em up to our TVs. Quality can be whatever you want and lots of storage or streaming options.

Quality is determined by the source. Comcast and Cox cable is downmuxing from say 1080i 8Mbit or 720p 8Mbit down to 720p 4Mbit. Those are not the exact numbers, but demonstrate just how much they gimp the quality.

 

[digitalwanderer]

What software are you using to record/stream?

Also, what kind of hardware, because if you want to access cable channels, you're going to need CableCard hardware.

I don't record, I just download everything I wanna watch. For cable channels we have Comcast that we can tune in through any web browser, part of our internet package. I didn't want cable TV, but it's a cheaper way for me to get GB speeds online.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Quality is determined by the source. Comcast and Cox cable is downmuxing from say 1080i 8Mbit or 720p 8Mbit down to 720p 4Mbit. Those are not the exact numbers, but demonstrate just how much they gimp the quality.

That's fine. I'm getting older and my vision is getting suckier.

 

[BRiT]

That's fine. I'm getting older and my vision is getting suckier.

Trust me, it's not fine, especially when it's the text quality that is impacted first and then it's the edges between objects. Paired with lower visual perception from aging, it makes it even worse.

 

[BRiT]

I've turned off wifi on my phone all together. Ever since t-mobile took over sprint officially a couple of months ago all our phones have trouble recognizing if there is wifi and if not it ignores the data, ever so slightly totally infuriating.

Maybe a new iPhone will fix that...

 

[PSman1700]

Maybe a new iPhone will fix that...

With the 'sattelite connection'

 

[digitalwanderer]

Neither of you are wrong and I know it too, but if she wants a new phone she's welcome to get one.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I've turned off wifi on my phone all together. Ever since t-mobile took over sprint officially a couple of months ago all our phones have trouble recognizing if there is wifi and if not it ignores the data, ever so slightly totally infuriating.

Unless your carrier is providing your phone and managing the wifi settings remotely as part of the contract, these are unrelated events.

It is your phone and the settings that determine which available network the phone will use. Most phones, probably all of them, are smart enough enough to differentiate between wifi networks with and without WAN (internet) access and will alternate between cell and wifi accordingly.

You might want to consider resetting the phone, or just the network settings and starting over. It sounds like is not quite right and rather than trying an diagnose it, it's often simpler to reset the ket settings to the default. This might mean having to setup wifi networks and passwords again.

 

[digitalwanderer]

iPhone 14, all models 256GB: Plus is $33.33/mos $0.0 down, Pro is $37.50/mos $0.0 down, Pro Max is $37.50/mos $99.99 down. 24 month contract so Plus=$799.92, Pro=$900, Max Pro=$999.99.
I don't have the slightest clue what the differences are, the big thing for me was getting a big screen and more memory. Anyone have any input? I'm leaning heavily towards the Plus since it's the cheapest and isn't back ordered but I really have no clue if the Pro is worth the extra. Thanks in advance.
Oh all prices contigent on trading in her Pixel 3a XL, but they're offering her $200 for it so I don't mind.

 

[wco81]

Pro and the Pro Max have the fastest processor with probably more embedded RAM and better cameras.

For instance a 48 Mp camera which also has some 2X telephoto mode based on cropping.

They also have the nicest OLED screens and I believe the Pro Motion up to 120 Hz refresh is only on the Pro models.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Yup. I was just being unlazy and doing a bit of research and the camera jumped out at me too. The Pro has a much better processor, camera, and optical zoom. (6x for the pro compared to 2x for the plus)
I think I'll recommend the pro to her, thank you!

 

[BRiT]

Wait a sec... So there's a "Plus", a "Pro" and "Pro Max". Is there a "Basic" that is below the Plus? Seems extremely dumb marketing to have a Plus model if there's no base to be plus over.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Wait a sec... So there's a "Plus", a "Pro" and "Pro Max". Is there a "Basic" that is below the Plus? Seems extremely dumb marketing to have a Plus model if there's no base to be plus over.

The lower tier ones have a 6.1" screen. We both currently have 6.7" and she doesn't want smaller.

 

[BRiT]

The lower tier ones have a 6.1" screen. We both currently have 6.7" and she doesn't want smaller.

Ah, I see they do have a basic model. It seemed like they didn't have a base model. It didn't make sense to me, but then again this is marketing so I wouldn't put it past them to come up with stupid product line names.