I guess I was lucky. I took my 3G to the Apple store 1 month out of warranty.
They replaced my phone for free when I was having issues.

My 3G did slow down quite a bit when I upgraded it to iOS4.0. I have the iPhone 4 now and it is amazingly faster. How you'd expect it to work.
I'm using my old 3G as an iPod, but I think I will downgrade the OS because it is still too slow.
[Reply]

Was in Columbus this past weekend and stoped in the Apple store. I made an appointment with a "genius". He run a few diagnostics on the phone and gave me a new one free. Two months out of warranty and handed me a reconditioned phone that is working like a champ. I guess if you have a problem it is worth the two hour drive to an apple store. Apple is back in grace for now.
[Reply]

If AT&T's network isn't covering enough in your area, you may try looking into another carrier.

Android based phones are very nice!
[Reply]