I recently bought an iPhone, myself, so I can only speak to you on it's loveliness, as I've not experienced the G1. It is lovely. Mine's 16gigs, 2G and I probably paid too much for it ($350 + shipping, insurance), but I didn't wait around for a better deal. It came pre-unlocked + jailbroken, though they're not difficult procedures if you're not inclined to that. Unlocked, if you unfamiliar, lets you use any SIM card with the phone (I use AT&T, myself, prepaid), and jailbroken gives you a variety of user-made apps, which quite pleasantly DOES make it open source.