Today Apple, in what appears to be a vicious pattern of flogging my wallet until it cries, introduced the new iPhone 3G-S, which will launch in just shy of a week and a half. Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some hot iPhone action and I’ve been in a perpetual state of enthrallment with my current iPhone 3G since I got it in December. Nevertheless a gurgling, hissing voice has arisen with me and several heads have turned as I’ve uttered (uncontrollably) the words “We wants it, precious! Give it to us, it’s ours!” Yes, that’s just the kind of day I’ve had, thank you very much, Mr. Jobs.

So, beyond the obvious shiny, what does the new iPhone 3G-S bring to all those patient consumers who decided to tough it out? Here’s a quick and dirty chart to show you the difference and what you can expect to pay for that difference. Note also that the chart reflects todays price drop of the existing 8GB model iPhone 3G to 99 effing dollars.

Nevertheless, even the iPhone 3G remains an amazing device that can offer you the ability to be much more productive in your daily doings, so if the price has been what’s holding you back you no longer have any excuse. Unless I’m horribly mistaken (a distinct possibility, I haven’t done the research), this officially makes iPhone 3G the cheapest non-refurb Smartphone on the market.

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Back in November of 2008 I decided that it was time to retire my trusty HTC Wizard (Cingular 8125) after more than 2 years of superlative service. Over the time I owned it the phone did something few do: it got better and better over time, thanks to the hacking community over at XDA Developers, who turn out a steady stream of high quality hacked ROM’s (operating system software for the phone) that add capabilities that manufacturers technically could add but seldom do because they want you to buy another device. I did not replace my Wizard with the iPhone because, frankly, it’s just too goddamn trendy for my tastes.

Instead I purchased the HTC Fuze, which in every measurable physical sense is superior to the iPhone. It has a better CPU. It has a higher screen resolution. It has a landscape QWERTY keyboard. It has every connection type known to man and it’s expandable to capacities that the iPhone will never be able to reach without completely replacing the phone. But there was a problem. Within days, my new Fuze began to lock up constantly. It drained battery life like a fat man drains the soup kettle at Souplantation. It rebooted. Randomly. During calls. Clearly my phone was jacked up in hardware, so I exchanged it for a fresh one. Within days it exhibited the same behaviors, though less so. But there was something worse, actually: Windows Mobile. For the record, I’ve always been a fan of WinMo, but as I sat there with this expensive new phone (nearly $400 with tax) I realized something: It was running slower than my old Wizard, whose CPU was only a little more than 1/3rd the speed of the new Fuze. Why? WinMo.

And that’s when it struck me: Windows Mobile hasn’t advanced in years. So I headed back to the AT&T store and decided to give the trendy iPhone a try.

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