WP7 from a Crackberry User (who was a WinMo user)

[johnpaul13]

A little background: I've been an avid Blackberry user for over 5 years (Curve->Tour->Bold) (having a Moto Q before that). I'm one of those people who just can't let go of their Blackberry. However, when Windows Phone 7 (Series) was unveiled, i fell in love. For the first time in a long time, i found a UI which was completely unique, and two months ago i bought the Samsung Focus.

First of all, yes, the UI is easily the best out there (at least for me). Its smooth, its unique. The only think i want is a slightly more customizable interface (more background/tiles colors or wallpaper for the background). The cool think about the blackberry os is how customizable it is with the themes.

Music is easily the best in the business, killing the BB music player. I had the Zune HD and it is (almost) recreated perfectly. I can't tell you how many bands i discovered because of it. the Zune Pass is one of the greatest things ever created. Video looks gorgeous on the SAMOLED screen and is smooth, but lags behind iOS and even the BBos as it doesn't have a way to scan through the video and instead works by skipping through ever 30 seconds.

Coming from a BB, i was amazed at how fast and smooth it was. Basically it kicks the BB's *** in every possible way.

The screen was actually a little disappointing..pictures and video just pop and the contrast is remarkable, but for some reason the resolution was disappointing with text looking very jaggy and pixelated. The blacks are amazingly black though, which has really spoiled me and has great viewing angles.

Theres several other great things about WP that i don't want to waste my time explaining (number of apps, netflix etc.) but there are some shortcomings that are crucial. First of all, email is not even close to as good as a BB. There's no BBM sorry guys, its an addiction. There's no led, no custom profiles, and you just don't get that feeling of being connected as i did with my Blackberry. And battery life isn't anywhere as good.

So at the end of the day, i went back to my Blackberry. It just works at everything in terms of communication. However, the Focus hasn't been forgotten. I now use it for everything from, web browsing, playing music/videos, playing games etc. I use it more than my Blackberry. As a PMP, its easily the best.

 

[cdook]

I agree on battery life. I probably get half the battery life I did on my Tour. It's kind of annoying not to make it through the entire day, but I've got chargers everywhere I am usually.

I actually like WP7s email experience over BB. BB was terrible with HTML messages and would never format them correctly. I also had a lot of issues with the exchange server I was trying to connect to.

I had used my Tour for music and I think the Tour again lost to the Focus. Zune is a great music player, especially with a Zune Pass.

I find my Focus can do more a PC can do. The web browser is great and I actually do use Netflix a lot.

There's rumors that we're going to see BBM on the iPhone and Android. Maybe we'll see it on WP7 too. Then give the platform another try.

 

[Duvi]

great write-up. i too like you can not make my wp7 my primary device for an extended period of time, but for different reasons as I'm not a multimedia kind of person, so the music and stuff don't effect me much.

i can leave the house and have it as my main line for a majority of things, but when i want navigation which i technically don't need, but enjoy it so much, it technically becomes a necessity for me.

i also need the chase banking app. i was told was coming when i first bought my Focus by Chase Customer Service through email as i use that app a lot. it's my most used 3rd party app after twitter.

 

[cdook]

Duvi have you checked out A to B for navigation?

 

[Duvi]

Duvi have you checked out A to B for navigation?

nope, but i will now. can i input addresses by voice?

thanks for the suggestion.

 

[1jaxstate1]

I just seen this turn by turn app. Can't say how good it is. I dint use Navi systems. I still prefer a paper map. http://wmpoweruser.com/silver-navig...ent from my Samsung Focus using Board Express

 

[Rich Edmonds]

The screen was actually a little disappointing..pictures and video just pop and the contrast is remarkable, but for some reason the resolution was disappointing with text looking very jaggy and pixelated. The blacks are amazingly black though, which has really spoiled me and has great viewing angles.

I agree with the resolution could be made slightly higher and more up-to-par with the iPhone say, and with how the blacks are presented on-screen is fantastic.

Theres several other great things about WP that i don't want to waste my time explaining (number of apps, netflix etc.) but there are some shortcomings that are crucial. First of all, email is not even close to as good as a BB. There's no BBM sorry guys, its an addiction. There's no led, no custom profiles, and you just don't get that feeling of being connected as i did with my Blackberry. And battery life isn't anywhere as good.

BBM? What is the craze with BBM? We have IM, it's exactly the same (while ran as a background process arguably, with no push) - sorry but I'm with countless others who just don't care about this messenger service you have on Blackberries. As for the LED, every Youtube video where I see comparisons of all the platforms it's always a Blackberry device that's there just constantly blinking, every second, non-stop... I almost taped over the LED on my HTC Hero, can't stand the LED flashing, it reminds me (in a negative way) of the bouncing dock icons in OS X.

Email is not as good as Blackberry? Are you kidding me? Blackberry email only works if you use a corporate system, other than that the Blackberry email redirection either screws up due to ISP port restriction or just doesn't work at all. Battery I can agree with, but the Omnia 7 has good charge compared to other WP7 devices.

So at the end of the day, i went back to my Blackberry. It just works at everything in terms of communication. However, the Focus hasn't been forgotten. I now use it for everything from, web browsing, playing music/videos, playing games etc. I use it more than my Blackberry. As a PMP, its easily the best.

Good choice, stick with what you're comfortable with and perhaps WP7 will be for you when Mango comes

 

[Ivan006]

Thanks for the write up johnpaul12. I was considering a BB before I got my WP7 LG Quantum, but after testing out the phones, I chose to go with WP7.

I guess it really depends on what you use your phone for, and what you're more comfortable with.

 

[johnpaul13]

I agree with the resolution could be made slightly higher and more up-to-par with the iPhone say, and with how the blacks are presented on-screen is fantastic.


BBM? What is the craze with BBM? We have IM, it's exactly the same (while ran as a background process arguably, with no push) - sorry but I'm with countless others who just don't care about this messenger service you have on Blackberries. As for the LED, every Youtube video where I see comparisons of all the platforms it's always a Blackberry device that's there just constantly blinking, every second, non-stop... I almost taped over the LED on my HTC Hero, can't stand the LED flashing, it reminds me (in a negative way) of the bouncing dock icons in OS X.

Email is not as good as Blackberry? Are you kidding me? Blackberry email only works if you use a corporate system, other than that the Blackberry email redirection either screws up due to ISP port restriction or just doesn't work at all. Battery I can agree with, but the Omnia 7 has good charge compared to other WP7 devices.


Good choice, stick with what you're comfortable with and perhaps WP7 will be for you when Mango comes

I HAVE NO IDEA EITHER! Its weird, its the kind of thing if you had (for over 5 years) its just hard to leave. And the led is something that i need to know if theres a message coming, i am a complete addict lol. And i'm connected with my office email but Gmail is also pretty instantaneous.

But yes, if RIM doesn't get their things in order, even i'll leave the platform. WP7 is just an awesome platform which i can see one day meet all my needs so i don't need to carry around two devices everywhere i go.
But right now, what i'm using for my BB for needs a constant data service, while what i'm using my WP isn't needed all the time. I really hope theres a version of the Dell Venue Pro for Verizon soon.

 

[johnpaul13]

Thanks for the write up johnpaul12. I was considering a BB before I got my WP7 LG Quantum, but after testing out the phones, I chose to go with WP7.

I guess it really depends on what you use your phone for, and what you're more comfortable with.

If i never had a blackberry before, i would definitely have chosen a WP7 over it. In some way i have, it honestly get so much more use than my Blackberry now (which i now use mostly for texting, bbming, and email)

 

[VernonEL]

I don't use Navi systems. I still prefer a paper map.

Absolutely. I like to have a overhead view of things. It seems to give me a better sense of direction and location. Plus, I can make it back there no problem the next time because I had to "learn" the way instead of "turning when told".

 

[VernonEL]

BlackBerries = Good For Texting

Good write-up JohnPaul.

Between my Touch Pro 2 and my Quantum I used the Bold 9650, and felt that it was very solid and usually worked well. It just didn't have anything that made it stand out. Sure the battery was good, but so was my Motorola Razr V9 from 4 years ago. I used both the 9650 and the V9 for about the same things: Voice, email, text.

I feel that BlackBerries are still good for those who just text, email, and make calls. I doubt that anyone reading this can honestly say that that is all they do with their device.

I feel that Windows Phone is the future. Especially all of the cloud-based services integration.

I personally would like to see better customizing options, similar to Windows Mobile, but I doubt that the average consumer wants to dig that deep. (Custom ringtones is an obvious exception.)

I will probably end up selling my 9650 to my ex-wife who wears out phones from texting.

 

[johnpaul13]

number of apps bought

Just wanna say that i bought more apps in the two months i've had the Focus than the 5 years i've had with a Blackberry.

 

[Duvi]

I just seen this turn by turn app. Can't say how good it is. I dint use Navi systems. I still prefer a paper map. http://wmpoweruser.com/silver-navig... to west bubba pluck quite a few states away.

 

[Duvi]

Absolutely. I like to have a overhead view of things. It seems to give me a better sense of direction and location. Plus, I can make it back there no problem the next time because I had to "learn" the way instead of "turning when told".

i usually remember a route on the first (and some times the second) time i use the navigation to get to a place.

i used to work at a lumber yard a while back and i could not stand using paper maps.