[gsquared]

I provide excellent help service. Please send $24.95. I accept all forms of payment.

[Hydrated]

I've used BlackBerry, iPhone, and I was an Android user for several years before I switched to WP8 last January on a lark. I'm an engineer and quite a technical user... so I wring a phone out pretty well. I treat it as the pocket sized computer that it is. I did draw the line at flashing non-supported ROMs and stuff though... only used the AT&T released firmware.

I thought that I was happy with my Android phones until I got my 920 with WP8. What an eye opener! Every one of my Android platforms required frequent restarting... sometimes multiple times per day. And the apps often required squashing via task killers... if Android is so stable and all, why are task killers some of the most popular downloads from the Android market?

My WP however, just works. When I tap a button, it does what it's supposed to do.

What I find most glorious is this: I don't have to THINK about my phone anymore. With Android, I was constantly fussing and tweaking my phone... my phone ran me instead of the other way around. With my WP, I just do the things that I want to do.

...but that nonsense with taking out the battery cause it's draining I never had to do in 3 years of owning the 2.2.1 Android..

I don't believe this for a minute. Tapping that task killer button does the same thing as pulling the battery, bro.

[Boris Lozac]

I don't believe this for a minute. Tapping that task killer button does the same thing as pulling the battery, bro.

Sorry i've lost you here, what do you mean?

[crav4speed]

I'll make you a deal: if I'm proven wrong, I will literally eat my hat and I'll put it on Vimeo.

Fixed it for ya!

[Hydrated]

Sorry i've lost you here, what do you mean?

You said that you've never had to pull the battery in the three years that you've owned your Android. Pulling the battery essentially is the nuclear option for killing all running processes on the phone. Using a task killer app in Android does the same thing... it kills running processes on the phone.

So tapping the task killer on an Android phone is the same thing as pulling the battery on your WP. Do you mean that in three years you've never had to forcefully kill an app?

Doubtful.

[Boris Lozac]

Nope, never had a task killer on the phone, and i'm not luying about never pulling the battery out neither.. you can believe it or not.
But like i said, it's probably the case of the more advance and filled with options the OS is (for example newer versions of Android then i had), the more there's a chance something will go wrong, get stuck etc.. On my 'simple' Froyo Android it never happened.

[iamtim]

fixed it for ya!

hah!

[Fade_z]

I provide excellent help service. Please send $24.95. I accept all forms of payment.

Do you accept Pokemon cards?

[capcom303]

Just switched to a WP from Blackberry Z10. Just switched to the Z10 about 3 months ago from a 9900. Now I've only had this Nokia 1020 for 6 days and not liking it all that much. Will give it some more time but if you told me to make up my mind right this minute I would switch back to my 9900. Like I said I will give it more time because it could be I need to figure more things out. Like how to change all the black screen over to white, you can't read them in sun light for nothing. Got the email switched but nothing else. Contacts are useless if I can't read them outside. The other thing driving me nuts is the lack of being able to change to a custom tone for text or email. I can say here I'm on 3g service and the WP beats the Z10 in speed on these networks

[halcyonboy]

Just switched to a WP from Blackberry Z10. Just switched to the Z10 about 3 months ago from a 9900. Now I've only had this Nokia 1020 for 6 days and not liking it all that much. Will give it some more time but if you told me to make up my mind right this minute I would switch back to my 9900. Like I said I will give it more time because it could be I need to figure more things out. Like how to change all the black screen over to white, you can't read them in sun light for nothing. Got the email switched but nothing else. Contacts are useless if I can't read them outside. The other thing driving me nuts is the lack of being able to change to a custom tone for text or email. I can say here I'm on 3g service and the WP beats the Z10 in speed on these networks

If you want to switch to the white background theme, go to Settings, then pick Theme, then just switch the background from dark to light.

WP takes a bit to get used to when coming from other platforms, but once you do, you likely won't look back. Hope this helps, and that the rest of the experience goes awesomely.

[realwarder]

Buy it for the camera. Nothing comes close. The apps you list run fine. Some apps are worse, some better. But core phone functionality is there and solid. And the camera... Just read reviews.. Look at samples. Play with it in store.

[tgp]

In my situation going all in with WP8 was counterproductive. I ended up returning my first 925 because I was struggling with a few workarounds to get WP to run the way I wanted. I replaced my 925 with a 521 and carried it along side my Nexus 4. With no pressure to make the phone bend to my will within the 14 day return period I was able to research at my leisure and find suitable alternatives to the apps I use daily. The 521 did such a fantastic job of presenting WP8 that once I got it running well enough for me, I gave it to my son and got another 925.

Personally I feel that complimenting your current phone with a 521/520 and enjoying WP8 with no pressure makes a much more pleasurable experience. But this is strictly my opinion based on my experience.

I also found going all in with WP8 counterproductive. It's too immature and basic for my needs. I found WP8 much more complicated than both iOS & Android, simply because I had to figure out how to do workarounds for so many basic functions, or give them up completely. And I agree that the ideal use of a WP8 device is to use it alongside an Android or iOS device. I do that too. But, a lot of people can't or won't carry 2 phones.

The simplest way to put it, if your needs are basic, WP8 will work for you, if you need something with a bit more functionality you will be disappointed. It's that simple.

Yup, my thoughts exactly.

Buy it for the camera. Nothing comes close. The apps you list run fine. Some apps are worse, some better. But core phone functionality is there and solid. And the camera... Just read reviews.. Look at samples. Play with it in store.

Yes the core functionality is solid, but it's very basic. If that's all you need then go for it!

[Yeahha]

And the apps often required squashing via task killers... if Android is so stable and all, why are task killers some of the most popular downloads from the Android market?

Perhaps because the average user isn't all that intelligent and think they need to circumvent the OS that is designed to keep things alive in the background for multitasking...redraw is annoying and takes time...trying to multitask on a WP is quite annoying compared to the Android experience.

I love my 928. The current windows phone marketplace reminds me of the Android Market back when I got the original moto droid...except lots of big names have already made some commitment to WP unlike Android had at that time (everything was clones of iOS apps basically)

Other than the lack of multitasking on WP8 I have no other complaints. It looks much more professional than Android. Basic features work as well as Android or better. At one point I would have never changed from Android since I was deep into Roms and theming, being able to edit any .png file on the phone to make it how you want it is fun then tedious then just annoying after a bit. Can't get root access on WP...oh well...been there...done that...have better things to do...

I can't say that WP will fit everyone as well as I think it fits my current needs...for that matter I can't say that Android or iOS won't fit someone's needs...all in all regardless of the OS you will be able to do basic phone functions, and surf the web...for the average user that is probably enough, if someone has specific requirements then they should look into specifics...if you want control of everything get a non-motorola Android phone, if you want a phone that just works out of the box either WP or iOS, if you want any and every app ever iOS, if you are already partially invested in one system it might be easier to stay there. One of the most annoying things with switching is you lose all the apps you have previously purchased, you can likely move other media from one ecosystem to another.

[spyderzWPC]

Nope, never had a task killer on the phone, and i'm not luying about never pulling the battery out neither.. you can believe it or not.
But like i said, it's probably the case of the more advance and filled with options the OS is (for example newer versions of Android then i had), the more there's a chance something will go wrong, get stuck etc.. On my 'simple' Froyo Android it never happened.

I had multiple droid devices in my house draining battery problems were all over the place..random starting apps had to be killed constantly...I blame Verizon and Motorola for absolute filling every droid they could with so much bloatware the phone was throwing up on itself.

[Nataku4ca]

you can't read them in sun light for nothing. The other thing driving me nuts is the lack of being able to change to a custom tone for text or email.

halcyonboy answered your first Q so I won't repeat it, as for the Sun Light thing, have you tried changing the brightness to high then set it back to automatic? I had the same issue when I first got my Lumia 800 a year or two ago and later found out that if under brightness setting it's set to auto with low it will literally give you really low brightness, killing readability under the sun, but if you set it to auto+high it actually reads much better than anything else out there


as for custom tone, apparently they heard us a month or two ago and said they are looking into it, im betting on either 8.1 to include it or the service pack after it (could be marketting talk too though...)

[jdhooghe]

I got a 920 back in November when they first came out and during that time I found that Microsoft didn't do much of anything to change the OS for the better. I got rid of that in February and it sounds like the same issues that were plaguing the platform then are there now. I read up on the Amber update and well...lackluster to tell you the truth. I was with BlackBerry from February to just now and they did more for their OS than Microsoft...well, it isn't even a fair comparison. Microsoft hasn't done anything really. I mean, you can't even set a custom notification natively. With BlackBerry in dire straights, I had to leave and go to android(Got an HTC One) and am in love. I will go back to BlackBerry if they pull through.But I've never had a phone with this quality before. I was a bit apprehensive as HTC has not been great about phones(including the 8X) but they really outdid themselves with this one. Anyway, you have 14 days to take back the phone if you don't like it. I would say try it but just know that Microsoft still has not picked up the pace with WP8. You will get frustrated as I did. They will drag their feet. Apps are lackluster if you are into them. Anyway, just my two cents. If you have any questions, let me know.

[m3kk]

You didn't explain what problems you had ...maybe its less important to others etc, pls?

[_Emi_]

I got a 920 back in November when they first came out and during that time I found that Microsoft didn't do much of anything to change the OS for the better. I got rid of that in February and it sounds like the same issues that were plaguing the platform then are there now. I read up on the Amber update and well...lackluster to tell you the truth. I was with BlackBerry from February to just now and they did more for their OS than Microsoft...well, it isn't even a fair comparison. Microsoft hasn't done anything really. I mean, you can't even set a custom notification natively. With BlackBerry in dire straights, I had to leave and go to android(Got an HTC One) and am in love. I will go back to BlackBerry if they pull through.But I've never had a phone with this quality before. I was a bit apprehensive as HTC has not been great about phones(including the 8X) but they really outdid themselves with this one. Anyway, you have 14 days to take back the phone if you don't like it. I would say try it but just know that Microsoft still has not picked up the pace with WP8. You will get frustrated as I did. They will drag their feet. Apps are lackluster if you are into them. Anyway, just my two cents. If you have any questions, let me know.

sure, lets ask to someone like you who used the OS for what? 3 months? lol... please... and apparently all you know its "Microsoft here, Microsoft there" again, please... go back to your android phone and don't try to sound like you know what you talking about.

[lippidp]

I'm an Android user and I'm debating whether to switch to WP, the main reason is I want the Lumia 1020 because of it's stunning camera and Xenon Flash BUT i'm worried because reading online it seems top apps like Plentyoffish, Ebay, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter etc are poor and nowhere near the Android or iOS Standard.

Plus reading news about HTC's Windows Phone market share dipping below 5% makes me feel like Windows might die sometime in the next year or two? Will the apps get better? will more and more apps be made for this platform? that's one of my biggest worries and i'm not sure what to do.

Thanks.

Don't listen to us. IDC predicts WP will be kicking *** by 2015.

[broar94]

sure, lets ask to someone like you who used the OS for what? 3 months? lol... please... and apparently all you know its "Microsoft here, Microsoft there" again, please... go back to your android phone and don't try to sound like you know what you talking about.

You know that MS has been very slow in updating right? We're still waiting for notification center, rotation lock, better music features, etc. Its in infant stage is what the jdhooghe says and apps are still not as good as the IOS/Android counterpart. He can share his opinion you dont have to stomp it just because you have a bias for windows phone. Admit it and walk away lol

[N_LaRUE]

You know that MS has been very slow in updating right? We're still waiting for notification center, rotation lock, better music features, etc. Its in infant stage is what the jdhooghe says and apps are still not as good as the IOS/Android counterpart. He can share his opinion you dont have to stomp it just because you have a bias for windows phone. Admit it and walk away lol

You're going to find generally two types of people on this forum. One type is a person who feels WP suits their needs 100% as is and is happy with whateve MS puts into WP. They find WP uncluttered, uncomplicated and it 'just works' for them as is. The other type is someone who came from another platform, likes WP, hates it's lack of features and apps but really wants to keep WP because they like the look of it and see it's potential, as long as it eventually gives them what they want.

What MS will bring out in the future is anyone's guess. WP8 was a big shift from WP7.8 in the terms of the OS kernnel. The only thing now is sorting it out to be competitive to other platforms and satisfying both types of people. If they fail at either one I'm expecting and exodus of some sort.

[WanderingTraveler]

You're going to find generally two types of people on this forum. One type is a person who feels WP suits their needs 100% as is and is happy with whateve MS puts into WP. They find WP uncluttered, uncomplicated and it 'just works' for them as is. The other type is someone who came from another platform, likes WP, hates it's lack of features and apps but really wants to keep WP because they like the look of it and see it's potential, as long as it eventually gives them what they want.

What MS will bring out in the future is anyone's guess. WP8 was a big shift from WP7.8 in the terms of the OS kernnel. The only thing now is sorting it out to be competitive to other platforms and satisfying both types of people. If they fail at either one I'm expecting and exodus of some sort.

There's a third type. Haters.

Don't let the haters cloud your judgment. Unless, of course, they have the exact same use case as you do and WP didn't fit the bill.

[N_LaRUE]

There's a third type. Haters.

Don't let the haters cloud your judgment. Unless, of course, they have the exact same use case as you do and WP didn't fit the bill.

I don't see many haters on here mostly those 'frustrated' by lack of features/apps. I normally see the haters on articles on news sites. But then you see haters for all platforms there.

[iamtim]

You know that MS has been very slow in updating right?

*blink, blink*

Let's see... Portico, Amber, GDR2, and GDR3 and 8.1 on the horizon. And WP8 hasn't even been out a full year. Slow in updating? Huh. Ok.

[spyderzWPC]

I don't see many haters on here mostly those 'frustrated' by lack of features/apps. I normally see the haters on articles on news sites. But then you see haters for all platforms there.

For features I only believe a couple are missing. The big one for me is custom notifications, that drives me nuts but I have learned to live without it. I work in a cube farm and all the custom notification I here around me drive me nuts. I leave my phone on vibrate simply because I think its rude for the whole office to hear your phone.

as in apps I believe more and more are coming out day by day the phone just keeps getting stronger. A lot of issues that people had with wp7 were fixed in wp8.