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iPhone 3G S: first impressions on buying, smudges and what's in the box

It's here, it's here! Check out the gallery below for what's in the box. Same as usual: headphones (the earbuds with volume control), sync cable, manuals (one called "Finger Tips" -- cute), the phone and a metal tool for popping the SIM out. The Finger Tips manual is updated to show off the new features in the 3G S. Oh, and there's no dock in this box. It is much smaller nowadays, and probably saves a ton on packaging. Update: whoops, forgot to mention that you do get a wall plug (2-prong, very tiny) for charging.

My in-store experience was great. Once I got into an Apple Store within less than 30 minutes I had activated the phone and had my first MobileMe sync done. The creative specialist I was talking to was eager to show me anything else I wanted, but there was a big line and I know what's what. Something I thought was interesting: the very first thing he did once I removed the plastic on the phone itself was to touch and sorta swipe at the screen. "No smudges!" he said with a smile on his face. When the 3G S was first announced we speculated about the oleoresistant surface, and it looks like that's a feature Apple wants to quietly promote.

I also tested the smudge-resistance on my admittedly greasy face and fingers (I once killed a Mighty Mouse within a month, if that's any indication). Sadly there's no official metric for resisting smudges, but on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being "smudges if you look at it" and 1 being "rub it on a pizza and it still squeaks" I would rate the new iPhone at a 5. The 1st-gen, which I had been using, I would rate at a 9. So there is an improvement. See the gallery for a little bit of testing.

How has your 3G S experience gone so far? Update #2: yes, this is the first iPhone I purchased. My previous iPhone was an aftermarket 1st-gen iPhone. So all of this is new to me, thanks for pointing that out.

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