Well, as expected, I gave in...
I picked up a PAYG 16GB iPhone 3GS from the Apple Store on Friday evening after work.
Got there at about 5:50pm, 10 minutes before closing.
Got served a few minutes before six. The assistant ("A-Train") was very helpful, & I was out of there around 6:10pm.
I had to do a £10 Top Up online on the PAYG SIM & Activate the iPhone in store, even though I said I was planning on simply putting my Pay Monthly SIM in it & not actually using it as a PAYG. Apparently this is standard practice & the same happens if you buy a PAYG one in the O2 store too. He told me though that all I had to do was phone O2, & they could credit it back to my contract bill - I did that on Saturday, & a very helpful O2 iPhone CSR called Patrick sorted that out for me.
Swapped SIMs at home on Friday, hooked the 3GS up to iTunes & then restored the 3G backup to my 3GS & sync'd it. And then my new 3GS was up & running
Not had a full play with it yet, but it's definitely a lot faster than the 3G. Even just web-browsing with Safari is noticeably faster.
The compass works well, & the way Google Maps orientates accordingly is good.
I tried the Voice Control, but didn't have much luck. Seemed a bit hit & miss (something I also found when using voice control on my
old old XDA Mini S running WM5). It's just a novelty for me though anyway.
Me: "Play Portishead."
iPhone: "Playing The Verve."
Me: "No, PLAY PORTISHEAD."
iPhone: "Call Richard?"
Tried a few other things. Some worked, some were way off...