The great hardware debate -- is better actually better?

[thebizz]

But what's to say that when Apollo launches or a few months down the line nokia can't release an 900 with a bsi 12mp camera and 32 gigs of memory at that price point. We don't know. Nokia nor att plans so what I say is sit back and enjoy the dang phone if something comes out around Christmas time that has the specs you want get it

 

[tekhna]

Here's an example of how hardware limits your user experience--multitasking on WP7 pseudo-multitasking. There's no other way to describe it. It's so limited it's hardly worth calling it multitasking. Why is multitasking so limited? Because the hardware can't handle it.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

Here's an example of how hardware limits your user experience--multitasking on WP7 pseudo-multitasking. There's no other way to describe it. It's so limited it's hardly worth calling it multitasking. Why is multitasking so limited? Because the hardware can't handle it.

Actually NO. The multi tasking limitations are software due to battery drain thats why pre mango it was only 5 apps now with mango its up to 8. So try again!

PS Rumour That Makes Sense: ‘Subset’ of Apollo Coming To All Windows Phones | The Handheld Blog

 

[apoc527]

Here's an example of how hardware limits your user experience--multitasking on WP7 pseudo-multitasking. There's no other way to describe it. It's so limited it's hardly worth calling it multitasking. Why is multitasking so limited? Because the hardware can't handle it.

iOS works approximately the same way. It's not "true" multitasking. True multitasking on phones is silly, it's, at most, a 5" screen! Quick app resume on my iPhone 4 works fine for me.

 

[tekhna]

Actually NO. The multi tasking limitations are software due to battery drain thats why pre mango it was only 5 apps now with mango its up to 8. So try again!

PS Rumour That Makes Sense: ?Subset? of Apollo Coming To All Windows Phones | The Handheld Blog

And another core like the Tegra 3 provides couldn't solve that problem?

 

[AndreaCristiano]

And another core like the Tegra 3 provides couldn't solve that problem?

Not necessarily. The reason Microsoft is taking these steps with the software/hardware combos is to optimize WP as an OS to the point to when the dual/quad cores etc etc arrive these minor issues will be ironed out

 

[tekhna]

Not necessarily. The reason Microsoft is taking these steps with the software/hardware combos is to optimize WP as an OS to the point to when the dual/quad cores etc etc arrive these minor issues will be ironed out

Your homerism is showing. I'm not particularly beholden to any one platform (I have a Palm Pre, an HTC Thunderbolt, an iPhone 4, and I use an HTC Rezound as my primary phone at the moment. And I guess my WinMo 6.5 phone is in a drawer somewhere) and I'll be buying a Lumia 900 if/when it hits Verizon--but not being beholden to any platform has allowed me to see specs matter, they matter a lot in some circumstances and less in others. I find this partisan defense of one platform over the other very bizarre. The fact is, specs-wise the Lumia is not competitive with mid-to-low-end phones offered by Apple and Android OEMs. That might not matter immediately, but it will, perhaps sooner than we'd all like. What Microsoft has done is (cleverly) crippled their product on the software end, which has allowed for them to build a range of phones, which is great, but now it needs to catch up. It's awesome that the Lumia has LTE, otherwise there's not a chance in **** I'd think about buying it. Iphone sales are lagging at Verizon because it doesn't have LTE, it would suck if the Lumia was caught in the same position.

User experience matters, but you are probably going to own this product for two years. I can tell you my year on my Palm Pre was miserable, and I can't even imagine what another year would have been like.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

Your homerism is showing. I'm not particularly beholden to any one platform (I have a Palm Pre, an HTC Thunderbolt, an iPhone 4, and I use an HTC Rezound as my primary phone at the moment. And I guess my WinMo 6.5 phone is in a drawer somewhere) and I'll be buying a Lumia 900 if/when it hits Verizon--but not being beholden to any platform has allowed me to see specs matter, they matter a lot in some circumstances and less in others. I find this partisan defense of one platform over the other very bizarre. The fact is, specs-wise the Lumia is not competitive with mid-to-low-end phones offered by Apple and Android OEMs. That might not matter immediately, but it will, perhaps sooner than we'd all like. What Microsoft has done is (cleverly) crippled their product on the software end, which has allowed for them to build a range of phones, which is great, but now it needs to catch up. It's awesome that the Lumia has LTE, otherwise there's not a chance in **** I'd think about buying it. Iphone sales are lagging at Verizon because it doesn't have LTE, it would suck if the Lumia was caught in the same position.

User experience matters, but you are probably going to own this product for two years. I can tell you my year on my Palm Pre was miserable, and I can't even imagine what another year would have been like.

I never own a phone over a year. Ever. I didn't offend you why did you offend me?

 

[apoc527]

I never own a phone over a year. Ever. I didn't offend you why did you offend me?

And this is an amusing, yet fundamental difference you and most consumers (including me). I NEVER pay anything but the upgrade price for a phone. With 2 kids, one in daycare, a mortgage and two car payments, buying devices off contract for hundreds of dollars simply isn't possible. I suppose I could sell the old device to pay for the new, but that would still be an outlay of up to a couple hundred.

This is why the $99 price point of the Lumia is so appealing. People can afford it!

 

[tekhna]

And this is an amusing, yet fundamental difference you and most consumers (including me). I NEVER pay anything but the upgrade price for a phone. With 2 kids, one in daycare, a mortgage and two car payments, buying devices off contract for hundreds of dollars simply isn't possible. I suppose I could sell the old device to pay for the new, but that would still be an outlay of up to a couple hundred.

This is why the $99 price point of the Lumia is so appealing. People can afford it!

This is why the death of one-year contracts sucks so much. If you're going to be using a phone for two years, you want the very best hardware you can in the desperate hope it's not a bogged-down mess in two years. The Galaxy SII has been enormously successful, and a year later it's still amongst the best Android hardware out there, because it was a total monster when it came out. If you signed a two-year contract with a SGSII, you're probably pretty happy with your decision. If you signed a two-year contract with a lesser phone, you're probably regretting it.

 

[theefman]

Here's an example of how hardware limits your user experience--multitasking on WP7 pseudo-multitasking. There's no other way to describe it. It's so limited it's hardly worth calling it multitasking. Why is multitasking so limited? Because the hardware can't handle it.

Funny, I'm having a convo over Kik with my phone off yet I'm still getting notifications of new messages. I guess if you want to have things running constantly in the background WP's implementation is not for you but it works.

And as a former owner of WM I think you know that multitasking is perfectly possible on the specs WP runs on today, but it was a conscious decision not to implement multitasking like it was in WM.

Its funny, the MT implementation is similar to on the iphone but only WP's is always called out as being "inferior". Wonder why.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

And this is an amusing, yet fundamental difference you and most consumers (including me). I NEVER pay anything but the upgrade price for a phone. With 2 kids, one in daycare, a mortgage and two car payments, buying devices off contract for hundreds of dollars simply isn't possible. I suppose I could sell the old device to pay for the new, but that would still be an outlay of up to a couple hundred.

This is why the $99 price point of the Lumia is so appealing. People can afford it!

I sold my galaxy nexus for 350 and im buying the lumia for 450 so im in the same boat as you. Next year if the Lumia 1000 arrives I will do the same. I never pay more than 200 for a phone. So in essence I get the 2 year price but I buy every year

 

[AndreaCristiano]

This is why the death of one-year contracts sucks so much. If you're going to be using a phone for two years, you want the very best hardware you can in the desperate hope it's not a bogged-down mess in two years. The Galaxy SII has been enormously successful, and a year later it's still amongst the best Android hardware out there, because it was a total monster when it came out. If you signed a two-year contract with a SGSII, you're probably pretty happy with your decision. If you signed a two-year contract with a lesser phone, you're probably regretting it.

people regret their phone purchases no matter if its inferior or not because something better is always around the corner

 

[thebizz]

Funny we speak about multitasking and specs who hear has owned a good galaxy nexus I have and I got it because it was a nexus and that big high res screen. Who here has noticed that that dualcore processor and GPU couldn't push the launcher at an acceptable framerate (ie no lag or stutters). Who hear has dealt with androids full multitasking and have an app run rampant in the background and drain your battery. Or dealt with apps slowing down the whole system while open or just running. Let's talk about future proofing who here has used the Motorola droid 3 its running an omap 4430 the ics reference chip buy who here has seen one running ics butter yet who has seen one not lagging just scrolling around the homescreen. Software is the key the specs should work with it and be optimized for it of not you deal with Android crap were you have high powered phones that are still slow

 

[AndreaCristiano]

Funny we speak about multitasking and specs who hear has owned a good galaxy nexus I have and I got it because it was a nexus and that big high res screen. Who here has noticed that that dualcore processor and GPU couldn't push the launcher at an acceptable framerate (ie no lag or stutters). Who hear has dealt with androids full multitasking and have an app run rampant in the background and drain your battery. Or dealt with apps slowing down the whole system while open or just running. Let's talk about future proofing who here has used the Motorola droid 3 its running an omap 4430 the ics reference chip buy who here has seen one running ics butter yet who has seen one not lagging just scrolling around the homescreen. Software is the key the specs should work with it and be optimized for it of not you deal with Android crap were you have high powered phones that are still slow

ME have a Gnex right now and since I returned it to stock for the resale to buy this Lumia its unbelievable all those issues

 

[pdagal]

I've owned the HTC HD7S since it came out in June 2011. 1GHz now running Mango. When it came out running WP7, it seemed so fast, but with Mango, not as amazingly fast. It's still quite usable though. The Lumia 900 is noticeably faster (I have review unit). In fact, I just sold the HD7S today and will be buying my own Lumia 900 when it ships. Of course, I want the front camera and LTE, those were important features the OS didn't support with WP7. Personally I don't feel dual core CPUs and microSD card slots are nearly as important to the everyday user, and if they're added in later Windows Phones it won't be nearly as important beyond marketing hype.

But then, I wrong a detailed review saying the Lumia 900 is extremely fast and smooth, and it shouldn't really matter if the phone has 1 or 7 cores Phone reviews sometimes go the way of computer reviews-- too specs focused. Smartphones are (or should be) more about the experience delivered and the joy of use. They're entirely more personal as devices and more streamlined toward quick, expedient use (or should be!) compared to PCs.

MobileTechReview Nokia Lumia 900 Review

Can anyone using a 1st Gen wp7 phone chime in? I don't see why the specs matter at all in this environment. Its is very controlled and designed to work excellently with the specs provided. So where's the problem?

 

[anon(5335877)]

And another core like the Tegra 3 provides couldn't solve that problem?

How does that solve the problem? Leaving tasks running in the background drains the battery. The point of multicore processors is to get work done faster so it can go back to be idle, because when it's idling, it uses less power.

 

[freestaterocker]

Can anyone using a 1st Gen wp7 phone chime in? I don't see why the specs matter at all in this environment. Its is very controlled and designed to work excellently with the specs provided. So where's the problem?

I used android for a long time and I will say they no matter what specs you threw at it it eventually turned to a unstable affair. They keep ramping up the specs and the software stays the same. But it still finds ways to feel like you are not giving the OS enough juice.

Even with iOS, they continue to forcefully make the older hardware obsolete on purpose. A jail broken 3g was capable of doing many things that is wasn't "powerful" enough to do. If MS stays on the path of a streamlined OS I think that hardware makes no difference. I can lower up my device in about 20 seconds compared the the 1.5 minutes it takes my friends Galaxy Nexus. Where are the break neck speeds there?

I think MS and the OEMs should do what Apple originally did with the iPhone, keep the specs to themselves. Back then nobody cared. They just loved that everything worked great. Just my 2 cents.

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

I have an HD7. It runs faster with Mango. It never has any problems handling what I throw at it.

 

[mcjama76]

Because Words with Friends, Pandora and Angry Birds Space need dual core processors...

Aren't those the main apps people refer to when they compare the Windows Marketplace with Android and iOS?

What exactly does a faster processor or additional cores do for an end user in real world situations? It will take me 1.2 seconds to open email instead of 1.6 seconds? We are talking the difference of a few seconds between faster hardware and these so called "behind the times" devices...

I am migrating from the original Droid Incredible. By today's standards and the way people talk about hardware specs, it must take me hours to accomplish ANYTHING on my antique phone. My phone is completely useable and works just fine for everything I need it to do. I am sure I will see an improvement moving to slightly better hardware, but will I be blown away? Probably not.

Performance is relative. It really depends on what you are upgrading from.

 

[jawesome]

Actually NO. The multi tasking limitations are software due to battery drain thats why pre mango it was only 5 apps now with mango its up to 8. So try again!

PS Rumour That Makes Sense: ?Subset? of Apollo Coming To All Windows Phones | The Handheld Blog

I think you mean Tango not Mango? But it's not up to 8 anyway. There were headlines that this was true based on a Tango ROM that was released but the ROM cooker made that tweak himself.