So I finally decided to buy a Lumia 900 off-contract (and possibly sell my Lumia 800) yesterday.
I leave my northern Virginia office and head to the first AT&T Store... sold out (both colors). Second AT&T Store (about 3 miles up the road). Sold out! Third store, sold out. There's a Best Buy and a Radio Shack near by. I head there and both say they never got any Lumia 900s.
I drive to Tysons Corner Center, a large mall several miles down the highway and check out the AT&T Store in there. You guessed it, "sold out." I was kind of skeptical that they were genuinely sold out. I mentioned that its a bit strange a Windows Phone sold out so quickly. "Were there not many in stock to begin with?" I asked. "No we had plenty, they just sold out fast." I wonder if the data and WiFi issues prompted them to take a bunch off the shelves, limiting their stock and making it easy for the handsets to be "sold out."
Anywho, my last stop was the Microsoft Store in the same mall. The store was pretty packed, with a bunch of people huddled around to take the Smoked by Windows Phone challenge. The lines were very disorganized and nobody was directing people where to go for what. Apparently there was one line for service and Windows Phone challenge swaps, and another for checkout. All at the same counter. It took forever, and even when the checkout people were free they just stood there instead of helping out people from the other line.
I brought along my Lumia 800 to see what kind of trade-in deal I could get. It took them about 30 minutes to find trade-in appraisal information, and then they couldn't find any for the Lumia 800 (just the 710). The store associate was very polite and apologetic. She ended up giving me a "friends and family" discount which amounted to a $30 savings after tax! So that was good
So I get home, stick my Red Pocket sim in the phone and hold my breath as I go through the first boot, hoping it'll detect the correct MMS settings. No dice, as I wrote about here. This was what I was fearing most about purchasing a Lumia 900. No way of changing MMS settings (inexcusable for a supposed high-end smartphone range in 2012).
I think I'll stick with it though (instead of reverting to my MMS-capable Lumia 800). It's like that beautiful girlfriend you just can't leave despite some obvious deal-breakers. I don't seem to have any of the data or WiFi issues that some were reporting, so that's a plus. I've only had it for around 14 hours though, so I'll report back with any issues.
Quite disappointed with no MMS and very frustrated with Nokia for taking down the Network Setup app, and with Microsoft for not designing a way within the OS of changing this basic information. I am however glad for Nokia and Microsoft that the Lumia 900 is apparently selling well. Although, I'm a bit skeptical of how much they had in stock to begin with, and/or whether they're including the devices taken off the shelf in "sold out." The discount I got made up for the hassle of finding the device and needlessly wasting time waiting in the Microsoft Store.
Awesome phone, but I want my MMS
I leave my northern Virginia office and head to the first AT&T Store... sold out (both colors). Second AT&T Store (about 3 miles up the road). Sold out! Third store, sold out. There's a Best Buy and a Radio Shack near by. I head there and both say they never got any Lumia 900s.
I drive to Tysons Corner Center, a large mall several miles down the highway and check out the AT&T Store in there. You guessed it, "sold out." I was kind of skeptical that they were genuinely sold out. I mentioned that its a bit strange a Windows Phone sold out so quickly. "Were there not many in stock to begin with?" I asked. "No we had plenty, they just sold out fast." I wonder if the data and WiFi issues prompted them to take a bunch off the shelves, limiting their stock and making it easy for the handsets to be "sold out."
Anywho, my last stop was the Microsoft Store in the same mall. The store was pretty packed, with a bunch of people huddled around to take the Smoked by Windows Phone challenge. The lines were very disorganized and nobody was directing people where to go for what. Apparently there was one line for service and Windows Phone challenge swaps, and another for checkout. All at the same counter. It took forever, and even when the checkout people were free they just stood there instead of helping out people from the other line.
I brought along my Lumia 800 to see what kind of trade-in deal I could get. It took them about 30 minutes to find trade-in appraisal information, and then they couldn't find any for the Lumia 800 (just the 710). The store associate was very polite and apologetic. She ended up giving me a "friends and family" discount which amounted to a $30 savings after tax! So that was good
So I get home, stick my Red Pocket sim in the phone and hold my breath as I go through the first boot, hoping it'll detect the correct MMS settings. No dice, as I wrote about here. This was what I was fearing most about purchasing a Lumia 900. No way of changing MMS settings (inexcusable for a supposed high-end smartphone range in 2012).
I think I'll stick with it though (instead of reverting to my MMS-capable Lumia 800). It's like that beautiful girlfriend you just can't leave despite some obvious deal-breakers. I don't seem to have any of the data or WiFi issues that some were reporting, so that's a plus. I've only had it for around 14 hours though, so I'll report back with any issues.
Quite disappointed with no MMS and very frustrated with Nokia for taking down the Network Setup app, and with Microsoft for not designing a way within the OS of changing this basic information. I am however glad for Nokia and Microsoft that the Lumia 900 is apparently selling well. Although, I'm a bit skeptical of how much they had in stock to begin with, and/or whether they're including the devices taken off the shelf in "sold out." The discount I got made up for the hassle of finding the device and needlessly wasting time waiting in the Microsoft Store.
Awesome phone, but I want my MMS