Setup is simple, but if you haven't yet downloaded iTunes 7.3 and the latest system updates, you'll need to do that first. iTunes 7.3 is 33 MB for Mac, 47 MB for PC. The Mac OS X 10.4.10 update is 20 to 300 MB, depending on your CPU type and what version of 10.4 you currently have. iPhone includes no software CD, so you'd better have broadband or be prepared for a long wait.

The manual appeared to be missing, until we realized that the unmarked black cardboard beneath the acrylic tray wasn't a spacer, but a carrier for the manual. It also enclosed support information, a microfiber cleaning cloth and two white Apple stickers.

Once we had downloaded and installed the required software updates and rebooted, setup and activation was fast and easy. iTunes guides you through the setup process. (See our Flickr iPhone Activation photo set.)

We already had an AT&T family plan, so we simply added iPhone service to one line. At one point, while awaiting activation, iTunes put up a notice that it could not complete an iTunes Store request, and try again later. We aren't sure what this was, but it did not interfere with activation; it may have been unrelated background activity.

Despite reports of activation problems, we had no trouble and were up and running in minutes. iPhone even had a nearly full charge already, so we could start using it right away.

iTunes synced our photos, movies, music and podcasts. (We selected a subset of our photo and music collection to fit within iPhone's limited storage.) It also copied our contacts from Address Book and set up Mail accounts on iPhone, and synced over Safari bookmarks (no support for Firefox, but at least Windows users can sync Internet Explorer bookmarks).