But when CPW opened we discovered that they were not selling PAYG’s.  So quick change of plan saw one contract 3G S bought at CPW, and then we nipped round the corner and joined the queue at Apple.  The queue was out the door and round the corner by now (8am) but moved quickly.  In lesss than 30mins we were in posession of a PAYG 3G S and had a free coffee courtesy of Apple.

However, Apple transferred my existing 3G PAYG SIM to the new phone and claimed this was what they had to do?  Only when I got home did I discover that this meant no addittional 12mths Web & WiFi!  No mention of this in the store and no new SIM provided with my 3G S because of this.

A call to O2 reveals you only get that if you use the new SIM.  So why didn’t Apple tell me?  So now O2 are sending me the new SIM and I can the transfer my old number.  There are already a number of Twitter posts from users who have had similar issues at O2 stores.  Is this a policy or is someone taking advantage of a nice PAYG SIM that has 12mths free data?

I may use the new SIM in the old 3G and buy the £10/mth web bolt on when my current Web & WiFi package expires in September.  I topped up £10 when I bought the 3G last year and still have £3 left, not a big phone user hence why I wanted a PAYG with free data and not a nasty contract!

Plenty of interest in the new 3G S

We’ve used a few and by far the biggest bug bear of all of them has been the need to remove any case or wrap you use to protect your iPhone before they can be accommodated in a cradle. Having to do so every time you get in and out of the car soon renders the cradle unused.

However, times are a changing. Thanks to the suppliers ProClipUSA and the wizards at Brodit, a Swedish company long regarded for their vast range of custom cradles and ProClip vehicle mounts we now have a solution that resolves this thorny issue.

Brodit have engineered a simple but effective solution with a cradle that is adjustable.  Using four small thumbscrews on the rear of the unit you can easily alter its width and thus adjust it to firmly grip your iPhone whilst it remains in its case. Perfect!

I tested the cradle with a Griffin Clarifi case and a Proporta shell and both fitted perfectly.  A deep vertical groove in the side ‘arms’ of the cradle is sufficient to hold the iPhone securely and a rear mounted swivel allows it to be used in both portrait and landscape orientations.

Pass-Thru Sync Connector (Bottom)

Another great feature which is equally important for car use is the sync connector.  Brodit have chosen to fit a pass-thru connector that allows any standard iPhone sync cable to be connected to the bottom of the cradle itself, a neat solution that allows 100% compatibility with any charge or sync cables you already have.

Using this solution I was able to hook my iPhone 3G up to the cable that is provided with my Alpine iDA-X100 iPod head-unit.  This allowed me to keep the iPhone charged, play iTunes music through the head-unit and switch to SatNav/GPS.

To install in a car you will need a ProClip.  These are vehicle specific brackets that mount with no holes to your dashboard. They offer a secure mount for the cradle which is screwed to the ProClip and can be removed without any damage when you change cars.

If you upgrade your device you can buy another cradle and attach it to the existing ProClip, or upgrade your car and buy a new ProClip, brilliant.  The adjustability makes this solution suitable for 1st Gen iPhone, 3G, 3G S and Touch.

Our review unit was provided by ProClipUSA