New and have questions

[scottcraft]

I've got an HTC Trophy on the way from Verizon and I've got some questions about getting started. I created a hotmail account, downloaded zune to my computer and created a zune account. Will I have to sync the phone with zune as part of the activation? I have to use hotmail to sign in on the phone don't I? I have all my contacts in gmail so I'll get them to the phone that way. To buy stuff in zune you have to use points, can't use cash straight up? I was looking around at some of the movies and songs I am interested in and it seems that zune is more expensive than itunes. I thought it would be the other way around.

I'm coming from a motorola droid. I played with the latest android phones at Verizon but didn't really care for them. My wife has the iphone 4 and I like it, but I wanted to try something different. I read a lot of reviews and watched a lot of youtube videos and played with the trophy in the store for a while. I liked what a saw so I'm going to give it a try.

 

[hardrock1a]

Ok, lets take these one at time..
Zune- Yes, it uses points to buy music but not apps. Need a credit card on file to buy the apps and points. A Zune pass is highly recommended if you are a music-phile. Really good subscription service. $15 per month for all the music you can ingest, includes D/L and streaming, plus you get 10 songs per month to keep DRM-free (Song credits). The downloads you keep for as long as you have your subscription. You have to use your 10 song credits in that month, they don't roll over.

When you get your phone, you will set it up, the phone will walk you through it. First put in your Live ID (hotmail). Then like your google account, and then it will start downloading your contacts. Once you have those contacts, then you might want to put in your facebook.

Also might want to go create a Xbox gamer tag too.

Welcome to the World of WP7, and its just going to get better with Mango!

 

[scottcraft]

Thanks for the info. I'm excited about this phone but a bit nervous too. I'm very familiar with android and I play with my wife's iphone a lot, so a new os is going to be interesting. I figure I don't have anything to lose. If I don't like it I will return it.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[Duvi]

Welcome to WPC. I use all those operating systems you've mentioned and I do prefer my Focus + Mango a whole lot more.

 

[oldpueblo]

I'd setup an xbox gamertag first if you haven't already, you can't change it once it's locked in the phone without a reset. And the first time you launch the xbox app it will auto assign you one. So if you have one ahead of time associated with your LiveID then it'll just auto sync to the phone.

https://live.xbox.com/en-US/Flows/AccountCreation/EmailInformation.aspx

 

[selfcreation]

I'd setup an xbox gamertag first if you haven't already, you can't change it once it's locked in the phone without a reset. And the first time you launch the xbox app it will auto assign you one. So if you have one ahead of time associated with your LiveID then it'll just auto sync to the phone.

https://live.xbox.com/en-US/Flows/AccountCreation/EmailInformation.aspx

hmm you can change the gamer tag with out a reset. or your e-mail ( witch is linked to your gamer tag ) if you go in setting and e-mail theres is little HOW TO CHANGE LIVE ID Q&A link that sends you to the MS site to get it all changed.

and as for the actual gamer tag you can change if you PAY. like 5000 MS points. But it link to a specific E-mail that u can change.

 

[Winterfang]

Welcome to Windows Phone. First, I love you. Second, if you need any help feel free to ask, we are a helpful bunch.

 

[oldpueblo]

hmm you can change the gamer tag with out a reset. or your e-mail ( witch is linked to your gamer tag ) if you go in setting and e-mail theres is little HOW TO CHANGE LIVE ID Q&A link that sends you to the MS site to get it all changed.

and as for the actual gamer tag you can change if you PAY. like 5000 MS points. But it link to a specific E-mail that u can change.

Yes, but you can't change it on your PHONE without a hard reset. Sorry if I wasn't clear. As I said you get auto assigned a gamertag if you don't already have one associated with your LiveID, and then later if you change that it will still show your old info. Then if you open the xbox extras app it will show your current data, but there is no way yet to fix the original tile/app name and avatar. The extra step of opening the xbox app is gone in Mango of course so I'm guessing it's not an issue anymore. There are a couple threads around that detail this.

 

[scottcraft]

Well, I've done the xbox live thing and downloaded silverlight to my computer. I think that's all I need to do until the phone shows up. Thanks for all the input, can't wait to try the phone out.

 

[oldpueblo]

I came over from Android and am happy I switched. I still love Android and have it on my tablet, but I love the streamlined WP7 experience.

 

[starblade876]

A few time-savers I learned from accidentally resetting my phone:
First, if you know you're going to "always" want a certain app on your phone, I suggest getting the app through Zune on your desktop instead of through Marketplace on the phone. That way if you ever reset or switch your phone, Zune will reinstall those apps automatically on your first sync.

Additionally, with music, if you have a music collection, but only want a few songs synced to your device, make a playlist with those songs. If you sync the playlist file, I think Zune will sync all the songs in that playlist.

 

[scottcraft]

Fedex showed up with the phone this afternoon. So far I'm loving it. It's much smoother than the one in the store. I've got a few apps to download, but I'm very pleased with it right now.