Just two weeks ago I wrote about why you should resist the urge to buy an Apple iPhone. But I couldn't heed my own advice. Last week, an uncontrollable force propelled me out of my cubicle to the Apple Store where I plopped down 600 hard-earned dollars for the most hyped electronics gadget in years. I blame it on evil signals emanating from Steve Jobs' brain. It was an impulse purchase for sure. And I haven't regretted it for a second. But there are some annoying glitches to this otherwise wondrous device. After extensive testing around Salt Lake County, here are some observations I haven't seen in other reviews. - By Vince Horiuchi

The good

After hesitating to make the switch to Cingular/AT&T, which has not had the best reputation for coverage, I was pleasantly surprised. Service in my house was better than with my previous carrier, Sprint. Coverage in Little Cottonwood Canyon was good nearly all the way to Snowbird, and service in Big Cottonwood Canyon was OK save for spots in the middle. Signal quality was good throughout the valley from Draper to downtown Salt Lake City. I have yet to drop a call or have the phone's operating system crash.

The iPhone and the iPod are well integrated. When a call comes in while listening to a song, the music fades out and the ringtone fades in. A small microphone on the headset cord also is the switch to answer. Click it again to hang up, and the music fades back in.

It's really the best iPod Apple has made, as Jobs claims. The bigger 3.5-inch screen is more detailed, the video is smoother, and scrolling through CD covers in the iPod's Cover Flow function is like fingering through a box of albums.

The Safari browser is stunning - it works just like the desktop version.

Voice quality is outstanding, clear and loud.

Yes, AT&T's EDGE data network is slower than others, but it was speedier than anticipated, working especially well around the valley for Google Maps and for e-mail.

The bad

I had a hard time connecting to my home Wi-Fi network initially and had to change my wireless security protocol. Chances are, it won't be hiccup-free at first for you, either. Expect to call Apple's technical support the first day.

The external speaker sounds clear and loud when playing a song or video but inexplicably loses volume with the speakerphone.

One of the great advantages of the last iPod was outputting the video signal to a TV to watch videos on a bigger screen - like a portable DVR in your pocket. You can't do that with the iPhone.

It takes forever to charge, anywhere from six to eight hours. And the battery life is less than Apple claims under more normal use, more like six rather than eight hours.

At eight gigabytes, storage is inadequate. At least 16 would be better.

No Flash or Java support for the browser yet. And you can't download files or ringtones to the phone.

Did I mention the $600 price tag?