Back story
I recently got the opportunity to purchase a Nokia Lumia 1020 really almost brand new off eBay for $320. I am a T-Mobile customer who just came from an unlocked Lumia 920. I have been going unlocked since the HTC Titan as T-Mobile is not known for getting the cream of the crop in the Windows Phone department. With my Lumia 920 everything worked perfectly except for the annoying limitations(more on this later) of not being able to send/receive MMS/group messages over LTE. T-Mobile's latest efforts to expand the coverage for unlocked phones has really paid off in my area. LTE and 4G coverage is 98% where I go. I would often have to hunt down a slower Edge area if anyone sent me a picture message or to download messages sent in a group format. Just a small price to pay for such a great device that is otherwise unavailable on my carrier.
Once in a generation device
After getting my 1020 I immediately went to play with the camera before setting up the device with my apps and settings. I eventually set up the MMS APN settings with the same results when attempting to send a picture message.(I would get an error message when on LTE) That's when I did a search and stumbled across a different set of settings. Voila! I am now using my unlocked Lumia 1020 with no hiccups whatsoever. I am no longer limited to sending MMS messages on Edge or 4G. I am thoroughly impressed the image quality of the 1020. My sim-less 920 immediately seemed old and archaic in comparison. This is not to say my 920 or any other Lumia device has a subpar camera. This is a testament to the technology and ingenuity carefully put into the 1020. This is the phone for me. The detail and crispness with which this phone captures really is a marvel and I'm too excited to own it. I mean how many times will a phone like this really come around? With me being on T-Mobile, my chances of this type of device being official supported are almost nonexistent.(at least based on their entry level history) I will push this baby to the limits and learn all the cool tips and tricks to get the best photos and of course enjoy the wonderful Windows Phone experience all at the same time.
A tale of old and new
On my Lumia 920 I was running WP8.1 via the Developer Preview and it was awesome. I decided to wait for the official rollout of WP8.1 and the Cyan update with my new 1020. Then I learned of all the issues of updating to Cyan if you had the Developer Preview and I knew I was definitely waiting. But waiting actually gave me a chance to go back to Windows Phone 8 and realize the differences of the two. I immediately tried to pull down the action center as I was accustomed to on my 920. It really is such a natural every day thing now. Things I really loved in WP8(and are a more of a miss in WP8.1) brought back fond memories. All the hub experiences work perfectly. Flawlessly even. Now I'm wondering why Microsoft decided to tinker with such a rich experience in the first place. I could go to the Me tile and see all my social activity there with the ability to quickly comment and like posts without opening the actual app it was linked to.(Yeah, seems faster) The music hub had all the related apps tied into it. The music store experience is much more robust and makes more since than the bare bones one in WP8.1. Also all my new music is right there in the new section of the Music+Videos section.(can't they just bring that over to 8.1?) The pictures hub is a central place for all my friends photos from Facebook and Twitter with the banner image displayed in the background while swiping in any direction. The games hub is also better in WP8. These are the things I missed on my Lumia 920 running WP8.1. What I do miss from 8.1 is automatic app updates and I really hate having to hit the download pictures icon in the email app. Microsoft really got it right with the Sense features as well.(WiFi, Battery, Storage Sense) And while I miss being able to set reminders and make appointment on the go using Cortana, seeing all my notifications in the action center, or even using the word flow keyboard, it's the small details that Microsoft constantly screws up when making huge update changes while nailing all the big features almost without fail. But all of these small flaws can be fixed and I believe will be fixed in future updates to the OS. With my new phone and the official Windows Phone 8.1 and Cyan experience on the not too distant horizon, I can truly say I feel pretty content even if the McLaren was cancelled and Microsoft cut all those jobs. Me and my Lumia 1020 can take on the world one click at a time.
I recently got the opportunity to purchase a Nokia Lumia 1020 really almost brand new off eBay for $320. I am a T-Mobile customer who just came from an unlocked Lumia 920. I have been going unlocked since the HTC Titan as T-Mobile is not known for getting the cream of the crop in the Windows Phone department. With my Lumia 920 everything worked perfectly except for the annoying limitations(more on this later) of not being able to send/receive MMS/group messages over LTE. T-Mobile's latest efforts to expand the coverage for unlocked phones has really paid off in my area. LTE and 4G coverage is 98% where I go. I would often have to hunt down a slower Edge area if anyone sent me a picture message or to download messages sent in a group format. Just a small price to pay for such a great device that is otherwise unavailable on my carrier.
Once in a generation device
After getting my 1020 I immediately went to play with the camera before setting up the device with my apps and settings. I eventually set up the MMS APN settings with the same results when attempting to send a picture message.(I would get an error message when on LTE) That's when I did a search and stumbled across a different set of settings. Voila! I am now using my unlocked Lumia 1020 with no hiccups whatsoever. I am no longer limited to sending MMS messages on Edge or 4G. I am thoroughly impressed the image quality of the 1020. My sim-less 920 immediately seemed old and archaic in comparison. This is not to say my 920 or any other Lumia device has a subpar camera. This is a testament to the technology and ingenuity carefully put into the 1020. This is the phone for me. The detail and crispness with which this phone captures really is a marvel and I'm too excited to own it. I mean how many times will a phone like this really come around? With me being on T-Mobile, my chances of this type of device being official supported are almost nonexistent.(at least based on their entry level history) I will push this baby to the limits and learn all the cool tips and tricks to get the best photos and of course enjoy the wonderful Windows Phone experience all at the same time.
A tale of old and new
On my Lumia 920 I was running WP8.1 via the Developer Preview and it was awesome. I decided to wait for the official rollout of WP8.1 and the Cyan update with my new 1020. Then I learned of all the issues of updating to Cyan if you had the Developer Preview and I knew I was definitely waiting. But waiting actually gave me a chance to go back to Windows Phone 8 and realize the differences of the two. I immediately tried to pull down the action center as I was accustomed to on my 920. It really is such a natural every day thing now. Things I really loved in WP8(and are a more of a miss in WP8.1) brought back fond memories. All the hub experiences work perfectly. Flawlessly even. Now I'm wondering why Microsoft decided to tinker with such a rich experience in the first place. I could go to the Me tile and see all my social activity there with the ability to quickly comment and like posts without opening the actual app it was linked to.(Yeah, seems faster) The music hub had all the related apps tied into it. The music store experience is much more robust and makes more since than the bare bones one in WP8.1. Also all my new music is right there in the new section of the Music+Videos section.(can't they just bring that over to 8.1?) The pictures hub is a central place for all my friends photos from Facebook and Twitter with the banner image displayed in the background while swiping in any direction. The games hub is also better in WP8. These are the things I missed on my Lumia 920 running WP8.1. What I do miss from 8.1 is automatic app updates and I really hate having to hit the download pictures icon in the email app. Microsoft really got it right with the Sense features as well.(WiFi, Battery, Storage Sense) And while I miss being able to set reminders and make appointment on the go using Cortana, seeing all my notifications in the action center, or even using the word flow keyboard, it's the small details that Microsoft constantly screws up when making huge update changes while nailing all the big features almost without fail. But all of these small flaws can be fixed and I believe will be fixed in future updates to the OS. With my new phone and the official Windows Phone 8.1 and Cyan experience on the not too distant horizon, I can truly say I feel pretty content even if the McLaren was cancelled and Microsoft cut all those jobs. Me and my Lumia 1020 can take on the world one click at a time.
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