Arrive arrived - 1st day thoughts

[ben55124]

My SERO contract with Sprint finally told me I could upgrade from my Winmo 6.5 phone. Glad I can join you.

I was going to hold out for a 2nd gen WP7 phone on Sprint, but news is that Nokia is going to ATT and Verizon. Must retain SERO plan on sprint, so I chose from sprint's list of one WP.

First thoughts... WP7 is slick. Arrive is heavy.

Does anyone use their hardware keyboard? First day impression is that WP7 doesn't need it. I miss my Intrepid's hard keyboard for speed dial, but I don't see sliding out a keyboard for dialing (if speed dial is supported by WP).

I hope in 2 years WP will be popular enough for Sprint to offer a wider selection.

 

[caliborn]

We're glad you could join us too...

I came from an Intrepid as well and I do use my keyboard quite a bit for composing emails more than a single sentence. It's just more comfortable with a full keyboard(less mistakes too). Had the Dell Venue Pro made it's way to Sprint I would have chosen that phone over the Arrive.

The Arrive is a bit on the heavy side but it's solidly built so an accidental drop or two won't shatter the thing to pieces.

Once again welcome to Camp WP Arrive!

 

[foosball]

While the software kb is great, there are just some instances where I know I'm going to just start typing away, like right now, and its great to have the physical keyboard to back me up. Thats about the only thing I'll miss when I jump to a bigger phone.

Sent from my HTC Arrive using Board Express

 

[Mike-Mike]

We're glad you could join us too...

I came from an Intrepid as well and I do use my keyboard quite a bit for composing emails more than a single sentence. It's just more comfortable with a full keyboard(less mistakes too). Had the Dell Venue Pro made it's way to Sprint I would have chosen that phone over the Arrive.

The Arrive is a bit on the heavy side but it's solidly built so an accidental drop or two won't shatter the thing to pieces.

Once again welcome to Camp WP Arrive!

I came from a BB, and definitely would have got the DVP had it been on Sprint.. but I got the Arrive because it was the only Sprint WP7, and the physical keyboard.

I gotta say, I love it and I use the keyboard constantly, I do almost any typing on it, the big spacious keyboard was awkward at first coming from BB, but I really love it now, going back to a BB would be difficult at this point....

what is SERO?

 

[ben55124]

what is SERO?

SERO - Sprint Employee Referral Offer

Back in 2007 Sprint opened it up to anyone who could type "savings@sprint.com" into their employee referral form. You can google for SERO for more details. Now they have tightened it up and require more details that you actually know an employee.

SERO is a $30/mo plan that includes 500min / unlimited data and text. Smart phones like the Arrive require a $10 "premium". $40 is still about a $20 savings - so if you know anyone who works for sprint it could be a valuable friendship.

Now in my 4th day, I have found the keyboard useful for emails. It takes some forethought - I find myself typing on screen and then debate whether to slide the keyboard out.

 

[starblade876]

Yeah, generally, if I'm going to type and edit a lot and use proper punctuation and whatnot, I'll slide it out. For short replies, though, I just two-left-thumb dance on the screen.

 

[Forgewizard]

I use the hard keyboard more than the virtual one, because there are less errors on my part which translates to faster input. It bothers me to have the screen taken up by a virtual keyboard and I never seem to be able to tap in the right place to go back where I was prior to any typing.

I prefer a device with some heft to it - I come from an era that something with a bit of weight behind it equated to a higher quality device. Like how metal fans are more durable and long lasting than plastic fans, how an old heavy singer sewing machine is less quirky than the lightweight ones - altough pushing a button may give you a new stitch, the older models simply required changing a presser foot.

The Palm Pre was lightweight and we all know how that equated to an under par device. The Arrive has a fair amount of metal in the casing- which may or may not actually help reception, I choose to believe it helps - because I get reception with this phone in places where I didn't with other plastic devices.

I also feel like this device will do just fine for the next 2 years, maybe even beyond!

Welcome to the world of WP 7 and hope you enjoy your Arrive!

 

[snowmutt]

Glad you came into the WP camp. I loved the Arrive. I really wanted to go to Sprint. We ended up staying on AT&T and I have the Focus S, but I was blown away by the Arrive. I think that keyboard is very comparable to great BlackBerry devices and really outstanding options like the Droid 3. On top of that, I think the screen is one of the better efforts from HTC. Throw in how well it runs Mango, and it is the complete package. I really miss a physical keyboard. I hope you enjoy it and will let all of us know how much you like it!

 

[ben55124]

Thanks for all your welcomes. Now that I've had my Arrive for over a month, I concur that the Arrive is a great device and OS. Keyboard is good when I catch myself screen typing too much.

Physical buttons for back/home/search would be better. I over swipe something and end up with bing.

I drain the battery quick with wifi and bluetooth turned on all the time (toggling requires too much clicking). My workaround (for others with desk jobs) is a micro-usb cable attached to my work pc. I don't install zune, but it keeps the phone charged.