College student Adrian Jurado, 18, arrived at the AT&T store at 12211 Montwood about midnight Thursday to be among the first of more than 50 in line for the newest iPhone "because the Internet browsing is the best I've seen and because of the faster speed."
He was willing to give up the BlackBerry device he was using - and that his father was paying for - and will foot the bill himself for the latest version of Apple's smart phone.
But buyers faced long waits getting the new service activated on Friday.
AT&T said a problem with Apple's iTunes software prevented the phones from being fully activated in-store, as had been planned.
Instead, employees told buyers to go home and perform the last step by connecting their phones to their own computers.
"Apple is working to resolve the issue that is actually affecting their iTunes software," said Sarah Andreani, an AT&T spokeswoman in Dallas.
Sascha Segan, lead analyst for mobile devices at PC Magazine, said Friday's rollout of the iPhone 3G "has been pretty painful. I'm only now getting the iPhone working after several hours of trying. This is clearly an opening day problem."
Despite the activation problems, all four stores in El Paso were sold out before noon Friday.
"We do not know exactly when our next phones will arrive, but shipments will arrive throughout the week," said Mary Bustillos, AT&T spokeswoman in El Paso.
AT&T stores in major markets didn't seem to have a shortage, Segan said. "They probably just underestimated the demand in the local market," he said of El Paso's shortage.
Lines started forming outside El Paso AT&T stores Thursday night.
Michael and Delores Cohoon arrived about midnight Thursday at the Montwood AT&T store.
"We knew it was going to be busy. We knew a lot of people wanted this phone just because it's cheaper," Delores Cohoon said.
AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone, is subsidizing its purchase price so the iPhone 3G starts at $199 for customers who also purchase a two-year service plan. That's down from the $599 charged for the first iPhones last year. Current iPhone customers in good standing who want to upgrade also pay an $18 service fee.
Monthly service plans start at $60. A plan that includes unlimited data and texting will cost $90 a month, Bustillos said.
The Cohoons, Maryland natives, want the new phone so Michael Cohoon will be able to call home more easily from Iraq when he is deployed there next year with the 1st Armored Division.
"We love Verizon (their current cell phone service provider) but we just need phones we can use overseas," said Delores Cohoon, 23.
For Jurado, a Montwood High graduate who just finished his freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin, and many other iPhone 3G owners, the device's cell phone may be the least-used feature.
Jurado will use it primarily, he said, "for texting, and when I'm bored, I get online."
Daniel Roberson, 23, a recent UTEP graduate who plans to attend law school, already has the first generation iPhone but said he wanted the added features and faster speed of the iPhone 3G.
He also likes carrying one just device for music, Internet access, phone and texting. Carrying a cell phone and MP3 music player "was clunky," he said.
Prospective iPhone buyers who missed out on Friday can still order the phone at any of AT&T's four company stores in El Paso, Bustillos said. Store employees will call customers when their order arrives, she said.
PC Magazine's Segan said anyone interested in buying an iPhone should just wait.
"What I've been advising anyone is wait a week, wait two weeks if you can," he said. "Because by then there won't be any lines, all the rollout problems will have worked themselves out, and there won't be the hysteria that goes along with the first day and first week."
AT&T and Apple aren't the only sources for 3G phones and services.
Verizon and Sprint have offered 3G service in El Paso since last year. Verizon says it now covers 80 percent of metropolitan areas in the United States with the faster broadband speeds offered by 3G, spokeswoman Jenny Weaver said.
"I believe customers are truly interested" in smart phones, she said. "They want faster speed, downloadable music over the air and Internet browsing. These are features that customers are demanding."
Verizon, the nation's largest mobile phone provider, sells LG phones and uses Rhapsody's online music service.
Verizon released its newest 3G phone, the LG Dare on July 3, and will release the LG Chocolate 3, a 3G device that offers a variety of music features, on Sunday.
Segan said the real impact of the iPhone and other 3G devices will be the software applications users buy.
"The applications really turn the iPhone (and other 3G devices) into a pocket computer because it lets you add applications" including such features as driving directions and Microsoft Office, he said.
Ed Shugert may be reached at eshugert@elpasotimes.com; 546-6352
iPhone stats
More 3G phones
Other 3G phones and their prices. All offer Internet access, e-mail retrieval, camera and music features.
Source: Verizon, CNET.com reviews.
