Hi Everyone
I really need some advice from the community because my doubts are really taking hold. It?s a long post but hopefully you guys will be able to set me straight. Is Windows Phone ready to take me back yet?
Let me explain. When WP7 was launched I was at the front of the queue. I bought a HTC HD7 the day it come out in the UK. I loved that phone. Nothing ever went wrong (apart from a little bit of screen tearing in the early days, some of you may remember, when the live titles flashed all different colours). I was bought into the whole refreshing new metro UI. I signed up for a developer account and wrote the London Boris Bikes app and a game called Spudgun Willie and published them both to the Windows Store. The updates slowly rolled along and the HD7 stood up well. Eventually, years later, it gave up the ghost and I used an iPhone 4 from work while I waited two months for Windows Phone 8.
The day it was released in the UK I bought a Lumia 920. What a great bit of kit. Fantastic camera, rock solid and best of all, back on Windows Phone again. However, trouble was afoot. Whenever I tried to connect it via bluetooth to anything, it rebooted itself. Every time, without fail. GDR1 come along which I hoped would resolve it, but no dice. Worse, whenever I ended a call, made or received, when I took the phone away from my ear the screen would stay off. Proximity sensor issues. The only way out was a soft reset (and set the time again). I sent my 920 back to Nokia who sent it back with no info on what they had done to it and it was still just as dysfunctional. Eventually I gave up, ditched to 920 and bought a Nexus 4 while I waited for Windows Phone to mature, hoping GDR2 and GDR3 would iron out these niggling issues.
Last week, cash flow in my favour, I decided it was time to return. I bought a Lumia 925 off of eBay. What a phone. Light, tough, incredible camera. It was so nice to have that Windows Phone keyboard back and wave goodbye to Android. It even worked with bluetooth in my car.
But my joy was short lived. On the second day of having my 925 I pushed the power button and the screen went off. Permanently off. All the buttons were alight, I could force it to take photos and people could ring the phone but the screen refused to come on. Soft resets, changing chargers and holding down buttons had no effect. My stomach drops as I?ve seen all this before
After about 8 hours and lots of Googling, the battery went flat and when I plugged it in, the screen come back. Ah, just a blip thinks I. To be on the safe side I?ll turn off all the glance screen features. Two days later, the same thing. It come back to life the next day (by now my sim card is back in the Nexus 4) and I performed a factory reset. I?m in touch with the seller to send it back and then last night, bam, no screen again. (I?m waiting for it to come back so I can remove my account then I?m sending it back).
My question then, to you guys in the know; is it always this bad? Does the Windows Phone community live with these kinds of bugs? Or am I just very unlucky? Should I try one more time (avoiding eBay) and buy one last Windows Phone or am I doomed to a life of uninspiring Android?
Thanks for your time chaps, I hope you can advise me one way or the other.
Chris Ripp
I really need some advice from the community because my doubts are really taking hold. It?s a long post but hopefully you guys will be able to set me straight. Is Windows Phone ready to take me back yet?
Let me explain. When WP7 was launched I was at the front of the queue. I bought a HTC HD7 the day it come out in the UK. I loved that phone. Nothing ever went wrong (apart from a little bit of screen tearing in the early days, some of you may remember, when the live titles flashed all different colours). I was bought into the whole refreshing new metro UI. I signed up for a developer account and wrote the London Boris Bikes app and a game called Spudgun Willie and published them both to the Windows Store. The updates slowly rolled along and the HD7 stood up well. Eventually, years later, it gave up the ghost and I used an iPhone 4 from work while I waited two months for Windows Phone 8.
The day it was released in the UK I bought a Lumia 920. What a great bit of kit. Fantastic camera, rock solid and best of all, back on Windows Phone again. However, trouble was afoot. Whenever I tried to connect it via bluetooth to anything, it rebooted itself. Every time, without fail. GDR1 come along which I hoped would resolve it, but no dice. Worse, whenever I ended a call, made or received, when I took the phone away from my ear the screen would stay off. Proximity sensor issues. The only way out was a soft reset (and set the time again). I sent my 920 back to Nokia who sent it back with no info on what they had done to it and it was still just as dysfunctional. Eventually I gave up, ditched to 920 and bought a Nexus 4 while I waited for Windows Phone to mature, hoping GDR2 and GDR3 would iron out these niggling issues.
Last week, cash flow in my favour, I decided it was time to return. I bought a Lumia 925 off of eBay. What a phone. Light, tough, incredible camera. It was so nice to have that Windows Phone keyboard back and wave goodbye to Android. It even worked with bluetooth in my car.
But my joy was short lived. On the second day of having my 925 I pushed the power button and the screen went off. Permanently off. All the buttons were alight, I could force it to take photos and people could ring the phone but the screen refused to come on. Soft resets, changing chargers and holding down buttons had no effect. My stomach drops as I?ve seen all this before
After about 8 hours and lots of Googling, the battery went flat and when I plugged it in, the screen come back. Ah, just a blip thinks I. To be on the safe side I?ll turn off all the glance screen features. Two days later, the same thing. It come back to life the next day (by now my sim card is back in the Nexus 4) and I performed a factory reset. I?m in touch with the seller to send it back and then last night, bam, no screen again. (I?m waiting for it to come back so I can remove my account then I?m sending it back).
My question then, to you guys in the know; is it always this bad? Does the Windows Phone community live with these kinds of bugs? Or am I just very unlucky? Should I try one more time (avoiding eBay) and buy one last Windows Phone or am I doomed to a life of uninspiring Android?
Thanks for your time chaps, I hope you can advise me one way or the other.
Chris Ripp
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