My Lumia 900 purchasing experience (Washington, DC region)

hasasimo

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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 :D

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 :(
 

hasasimo

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Not being an MMS user myself, what exactly can you do with MMS that you can't do with Facebook or plain old email?

It's often a quicker way to reach someone with a picture or video. Not everyone is constantly on Facebook and Email, but most everyone has a cell phone on them. And even if I didn't use it much, many others do, so I'd like to be able to get that content when its sent to me.

I've Googled ad nauseum and I'm out of ideas as to how to either get the Network Setup app or transfer the app from my 800 to my 900. Sigh :|
 

moc426

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There might be hope ... http://forums.windowscentral.com/1645895-post19.htm

It's often a quicker way to reach someone with a picture or video. Not everyone is constantly on Facebook and Email, but most everyone has a cell phone on them. And even if I didn't use it much, many others do, so I'd like to be able to get that content when its sent to me.

I've Googled ad nauseum and I'm out of ideas as to how to either get the Network Setup app or transfer the app from my 800 to my 900. Sigh :|
 

panchi2131

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the at&t store was practically empty with sales guys chit chatting when i went it to get lumia ,hardly took 10 minutes to get the phone ,in and out in 10 minutes :)
 

levelbest

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Washington region must be selling well. DC Stores, Gaithersburg, Frederick - all sold out. I bought the last one in my DC store near Farragut Metro. It was a lemon. Had to drive to Hagerstown 30 minutes - to find stores with any stock. All have said it's been selling well.
 

hasasimo

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Interesting. I wonder if original stock numbers and the number of devices pulled off of shelves due to bugs is contributing to this "sell out." In fairness, Amazon's sales figures would indicate the numbers are genuine.
 

cckgz4

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I slightly had that problem with my HD7 (was using Simple Mobile) and friends were sending me all kinds of attachments that I couldn't view. You don't really miss something until it's gone.
 

sting7k

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Washington region must be selling well. DC Stores, Gaithersburg, Frederick - all sold out. I bought the last one in my DC store near Farragut Metro. It was a lemon. Had to drive to Hagerstown 30 minutes - to find stores with any stock. All have said it's been selling well.

Yes, Frederick is sold out; that's my hometown. I went to get my iPhone 4 unlocked yesterday and see if they would exchange my Lumia for one of the updated ones and they said they didn't have any left.
 

hasasimo

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I slightly had that problem with my HD7 (was using Simple Mobile) and friends were sending me all kinds of attachments that I couldn't view. You don't really miss something until it's gone.

And I doubt the Network Setup app will really be available Monday as someone here said Nokia Customer Care told them. And that, of course, is the only solution to the MMS issue short of an OS redesign.
 

Oldmajor

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Washington region must be selling well. DC Stores, Gaithersburg, Frederick - all sold out. I bought the last one in my DC store near Farragut Metro. It was a lemon. Had to drive to Hagerstown 30 minutes - to find stores with any stock. All have said it's been selling well.
Sounds like they gave you the one I returned! All over DC they were either sold out or only had 2 left.
 

drankurn

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i went to 2 different att store in nova around fairoaks, both were sold out, checked bestbuy but they did not get any in the store, they could ship it to my house.

but the important thing was that at all three stores, sales reps were very enthusiastic about the phone, and no one tried to steer me to ios or android.
 

hasasimo

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i went to 2 different att store in nova around fairoaks, both were sold out, checked bestbuy but they did not get any in the store, they could ship it to my house.

but the important thing was that at all three stores, sales reps were very enthusiastic about the phone, and no one tried to steer me to ios or android.

There's a tiny store on the lower level of Fair Oaks Mall that says "AT&T Authorized Dealer" on it, its in of those side alleyways. As of yesterday they had some in stock. You can't buy it off contract there though. So if you're renewing or just starting with AT&T, go check that one out.
 

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