Buy Lumia 900 now or wait for Windows Phone 8?

Boles

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Unfortunately my 3 year Rogers Hardware Upgrade was in January 2012, so I am struggling with a choice to either get the Mercedes like quality Nokia Lumia 900 now and not be 100% compatible with Windows 8 Apollo OS or delay for 6 months and get the phone that is fully Windows 8! From what I hear, Windows 8 is supposed to be the biggest update that Microsoft has ever done, so I definitely want to be on-board with that; especially if I am to be stuck with that phone for the next 3 years.

Another benefit of waiting is that it provides time for HTC/Sony/others to play catch up and finally come up with something decent (it has a big challenge in the Lumia 900) and thus give me a choice.

I believe that with the Lumia line, Nokia wanted to establish a foothold to regain the Windows Phone market (which they did since their sales exceded those of HTC last December), but that is all it is - a stop gap measure. Their top of the line phone is NOT the Lumia 900, because it is based on soon to be obsolete Mango OS, but that they already have a phone that is fully Windows 8 compatible. How else could Microsoft develop their new OS with the release only 6 months away. Make no mistake, once a new thing is announced the current becomes obolete. You do not buy phone for the next 3 years for an obsolete OS and that is why Nokia has not announced their new Windows 8 phone, they want some sales for the Lumia 900.

As far as upgrade of Lumia 900 and Windows 8 is concerned, you have heard the tip-toeing and half-a**ed comments of executives at both MS and Nokia; my conclusion is it will not be 100% compatible. Nokia knows darn well that it will have VERY strong competition in the fall of 2012 for devices fully supporting Windows 8, so you can bet they will have a killer phone ready. How else could Microsoft release its OS without a platform? And why do you think HTC and others are abstaining at this time - they are ramping up for Windows 8 devices, they don't care to develop for an obsolete OS.

If you are like me choosing between Lumia 900 or waiting, I would recommend the more difficult choice; to wait. On the negative, Rogers will then start counting my 3 year term from then, but that is whole another story.
 

jimski

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A new model will always make the previous version obsolete. But saying that Microsoft and Nokia plan to piss off 30-40 million WP users (my estimate by Oct 2012), many with long term contracts, when a WP8 device is launched, with no backward compatibility is dumb.

Yes, new devices with have upgraded hardware, but I don't expect any revolutionary change to the OS. The revolution will be the introduction of the W8 slate and PC, and their seamless compatibility with WP.

Do what you will, but I will be first in line when the Lumia 900 launches, without any concern for the future, as I can't predict it.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express
 

Alteran195

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Microsoft would be incredibly stupid to not support the current gen mango phones, most of which won't even be a year old by the time Apollo is released.

We all know that there will be cool new apollo phones in 6 months, can you wait that long to get a new phone? I'm not, I'll be buying the 900 the day it's launched, I was lucky enough to get a preorder in before they closed them.
 

diplomat696

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I would definitely get the lumia 900 its not as though MS releasing WP8 is going to be a totally new OS for phones it will just mean greater integration between all your devices. Basing a decision now on something that is simply rumors right now makes no sense to me.
 

jfa1

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Buy now sell if you must or start saving your money to buy Apollo device(s) when the fall or early next year rolls around. Add a new line or whatever! if you must have a brand new Apollo device at launch.
 

wilco9

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no way i'm waiting another 6 months. besides, i think i read it somewhere before that lumia 800 and 900 will be able to update to windows 8.
 

dkp23

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I am probably going to get the 900. I have a focus S now that i got for a penny, i intend to sell and get a 900.

It also comes down to how much is the phone off contract too, if i know i can get the phone for $500-$600 off contract and sell my focus S unlocked for ~400, i can drop the extra cash to get the 900. If off contract retails for $800-$800, i'lll prob wait for wp8.

Logical thing is to wait, but for me personally, i am ok with going with the 900 and potentially unloading the 900 down the road for a wp8 phone.
 

hossiam

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I'm in the same position as you, Rogers and all. My plan is too wait, tough but I must do it. The 900 brings a few apps and great hardware but for 6 month wait I couldn't pull the trigger. I don't like losing money so this is my choice. If it was an iPhone I would do it but the resale on nokia wp7 I'm MY area is not defined. Good luck.
 

Boles

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A new model will always make the previous version obsolete. But saying that Microsoft and Nokia plan to piss off 30-40 million WP users (my estimate by Oct 2012), many with long term contracts, when a WP8 device is launched, with no backward compatibility is dumb.

Yes, new devices with have upgraded hardware, but I don't expect any revolutionary change to the OS. The revolution will be the introduction of the W8 slate and PC, and their seamless compatibility with WP.

Do what you will, but I will be first in line when the Lumia 900 launches, without any concern for the future, as I can't predict it.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express
Actually you are mistaken, WP8 is a totally new OS and the largest effort Microsoft has ever attempted. It is totally different from WP7.5, in the same way that WP7.5 is different from WP6!

And yes i know that there will always be new phones around, but the WP world is different. The specs are determined by Microsoft and not Nokia!

Personally for me the tight integration of WP8, the Windows 8 OS on PC and the MS Live Cloud is what is making me wait for Apollo devices. Plus I do want the MicroSDHC slot.
 

Dileu

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Buy now. If Apollo was a month away then it'd be worth waiting. But it's at the end of the year, and in the meantime you are paying part of your line rental in handset subsidy. For someone else's handset :)

Nokia and MS aren't going to screw you over. They are trying to be Apple, not Android - look at the experience updating to Mango, which for most people (especially outside the US) went pretty smoothly. Compare this to all the Android users who are left stuck without OS updates, or waiting months and months for an outdated update.

If you want a new phone, and your old handset is going to be recycled or sold on (don't leave it in a drawer!) then get it.
 

anon(5325135)

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I don't understand why people are saying WP8 is a completely new OS. I guess because of their experience with Windows Mobile 6 and the whole complete transition, but this isn't how it's going to be now.

ALL WINDOWS PHONES WILL BE UPGRADABLE TO WP8!

The only limitation to this is that First Gen devices, due to hardware compability, are that some features will be removed. But upgradable will be.
 

dkp23

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I don't understand why people are saying WP8 is a completely new OS. I guess because of their experience with Windows Mobile 6 and the whole complete transition, but this isn't how it's going to be now.

ALL WINDOWS PHONES WILL BE UPGRADABLE TO WP8!

The only limitation to this is that First Gen devices, due to hardware compability, are that some features will be removed. But upgradable will be.

Link to backup what you just said?
 

jgschwandtner

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Actually you are mistaken, WP8 is a totally new OS and the largest effort Microsoft has ever attempted. It is totally different from WP7.5, in the same way that WP7.5 is different from WP6!

And yes i know that there will always be new phones around, but the WP world is different. The specs are determined by Microsoft and not Nokia!

Personally for me the tight integration of WP8, the Windows 8 OS on PC and the MS Live Cloud is what is making me wait for Apollo devices. Plus I do want the MicroSDHC slot.

@Boles Unless you know a lot more about Windows Phone 8 than most people here, that's a pretty bold claim. While we believe that they'll switch code bases, that does not prove that the Windows Phone 8 experience will be near as radical a departure from WP 7.5 than WP 7 was from Windows *Mobile.* There aren't that many different devices out there to support, either, so they could certainly make an effort to make the transition quite smooth. Notice that Windows 8 borrows the Metro design language from Windows Phone, so Windows Phone 8 should bear strong similarities with its predecessor if it goes along with an OS that borrowed its very UI paradigm from that very predecessor.

With release cycles of about a year or less, phones on the market will inevitably lag what is already in the labs. You could wait indefinitely if you go by that logic.
 

mparker

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I'm planning to wait for WP8. While it's likely that current WP7 phones will be upgradable to WP8, I think it's also very likely that it will be like the iPhone 3GS/iOS 4.0 situation (it ran, but not well). Or the Win95->Win XP transition, same thing, you pretty much had to upgrade to a new machine to run Win XP well. Microsoft is swapping out a kernel that is heavily optimized for speed and a small footprint for a kernel that is optimized for desktops and servers. It's the right approach, because SoC's nowadays have the sort of power (and need the sort of capabilities) that desktops had a decade ago. But I fear that current WP7 handsets will be a bit short on memory under WP8, and 1st gen handsets will be too underpowered all around to handle it gracefully. In addition, 1st gen phones will be at the end of their contracts this fall, so I think the carriers and manufacturers are more interested in selling you a shiney new trinket than ensuring those Foci run WP8 smoothly.
 

jimski

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At the rate AT&T is moving with the Lumia 900, may not have any decision to make. The new "Lumia 900, available this Holiday season".

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express
 

mrmprince

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After thinking hard abt this, I have decided to wait for WP8. I recently got the Lumia 710 as a "temp" phone because my old one was going nuts on me and the price of the 710 was way too hard to resist.

My decision was based on the following:
1. The difference between 710 and 900 is the screen size, better camera & FF camera
2. FF camera isn't really that useful right now (since skype hasn't officially released yet even tho beta has).
2a. With no push notification on skype even in the final release, skype is pretty much useless IMO
3. I can live with a smaller screen size on the 710
4. I wouldn't mind seeing if they pack in PureView on WP8

At the end, i can't really justify upgrading to 900 when the diff between 710 and 900 aren't that material..So those are my reasons for waiting for WP8...but of course, i'm sure everyone's thoughts are different :)
 

jfa1

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I cant do anything until May 6 so I am hoping that by then the 900 as well as the Titan II and the Mandel will be out and I can choose between them ( 900 is at the top right now) and if they dont sufficiently grab my attention then I will again wait for the round of WP or switch to the I world like my wife and daughter (low end of probability)
 

Alteran195

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Am I the only one that doesn't want that hideous pureview lens on the back of my phone? I mean it's awesome that it takes great pictures, but the iPhone has one of, if not the best cameras on a phone, and it isn't huge and ugly.

I've taken pictures with my iPhone 4 that I've blown up to poster size and they still look damn good. I'd rather have Nokia work on making the optics better for the smaller lenses on windows 8 phones rather then just giving us a 41 megapixel camera that's ugly as sin.
 

kenosando#AC

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Am I the only one that doesn't want that hideous pureview lens on the back of my phone? I mean it's awesome that it takes great pictures, but the iPhone has one of, if not the best cameras on a phone, and it isn't huge and ugly.

I've taken pictures with my iPhone 4 that I've blown up to poster size and they still look damn good. I'd rather have Nokia work on making the optics better for the smaller lenses on windows 8 phones rather then just giving us a 41 megapixel camera that's ugly as sin.

If you think the iPhone takes the best pictures for a camera phone, you live under a rock that has an Apple logo on it. Nokia has made cameras that far surpasses the iPhone image quality on phones from 2007. I understand not wanting a large bulge (and that will likely be compensated if it makes its way to WP) but my Nokia N8 takes far superior photos than the iPhone, especially in low-light. Only a slight bulge.

And EVERYONE wants better optics out of smaller lenses/sensors, but due to physics, it is pretty tough to capture millions and millions of pixels with a small opening. Backlighting the sensor only goes so far.
The point of the PureView is not to produce a huge image, it is meant to oversaturate the image and make features like digital zooming lossless. 3 MP cameras look great without a digital zoom, but the point of PureView is to produce "stunning" standard-sized photos.
 

dkp23

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came back from Hawaii a few weeks ago and in my opinion, iphone camera is pretty bad.

I used my GFs iphone 4 for still pictures and we always had to take multiples because of the blur.

I also had my focus s as well and they took pretty nice picks, but you can not compare the two since one is 5 mp other is 8mp...

essentially, we stopped using the 4 because we didnt want to keep re-taking pics.
 

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