A while back, I posted that I was having trouble with my iPhone connecting to the cellular network. It finally stopped connecting altogether earlier this week, and no amount of resetting helped. I went back over to the Dedham store, where Chris E tried all sorts of tests to rule out the software; it became clear that it was a hardware problem.

He also did a much better job of explaining my options than the original tech in the Providence store did. I could pay Apple $200 for a “replacement” iPhone 3GS — a brand new copy of the 32 GB phone I had, through the Genius Bar, or I could buy a new one. He pointed out that an 8 GB 3GS could be had for only $49, but that would start the contract clock running.

The thing about having Apple do a “replacement” of the phone–rather than just buying a new one–is that it doesn’t affect your contract status. The replacement still cost me $200, but I’m not on the hook for another two years at this point, and if a new one comes out in a month or so that I really want, I can get it for the subsidized price by going with a contract then. And, I assume, I now have a phone I can rely on, so I don’t have to be standing in line right when the new ones come out.

He also pointed out I could try to get a cheap temporary phone somewhere else and use the SIM card, until the new iPhones come out. I decided against that because it felt like it would take some running around to find one, and I’ve also become accustomed to having Internet access whenever I want.

That’s been borne out to me over the last couple of days. They didn’t have my model in store, so I’ve been without a phone for a couple of days. Drove me crazy.

I picked up the new phone tonight. Activating it at the store didn’t take long, and when I got home, I was able to restore my data from a backup of the old phone. All my apps and music and pictures copied over. Interestingly enough, passwords, didn’t — I had to re-enter all my mail box passwords, and re-authorize Twitterific. While I was in the settings app, I went through all the individual settings and tweaked a few of them.  For some reason, I enjoy this kind of tinkering.

I’ve also noticed that the color temperature of the screen is noticeably warmer (at least for me) than the old iPhone. I’m also noticing that the viewing angle makes more of a difference than I remember for the old phone– if I tilt the screen a bit, the color is more like I remember. I wonder if that’s a result of a deliberate change on Apple’s part, or if the screens simple get bluer looking as they age.