Having worked out the cost of an iPhone 3G on any contract anywhere in the world as being just too expensive, and learning today that the Pay As You Go option will not be available until Christmas here in the UK at least, I wondered if there was any real alternative out there?

Luckily, the Web and an Electric Pig came to my rescue.

The Electric Pig gadget sites has a round up of three mobile handsets which go a little further than just Google Maps for location display and include proper satnav functionality. The three phones covered are:

1. Garmin Nuvifone which automatically switches into GPS mode when you put it on your car dashboard.
   
2. N96 with Nokia Maps which comes with a dedicated pedestrian mode as well as optional voice prompts.
   
3. Windows Mobile with CoPilot Live 7 which combines, according to Electric Pig at any rate, the best Windows Mobile Smartphone with the killer navigational app.

Meanwhile, Dan Costa over at PC Magazine is urging people not to buy an iPhone 3G at all. Amongst the persuasive arguments he puts forward are the fact that it isn't worth the upgrade, the battery life will suck and it simply is not a feature leader.

The list of bad stuff continues over at TrustedReviews where we are told that amongst the disappointments, as the reviewer tactfully calls them, are:

• It is fatter 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3mm verses the originals 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
• The sleek metal back is now plastic.
• Screen resolution remains unchanged at 480 x 320 when many rivals have adopted VGA
• Video recording unbelievably remains absent
• No front mounted video camera, no 3G video calling
• No announcement of Flash for the web browser

So, still want an iPhone 3G at launch?