From BlackBerry to WP7...Perhaps

[daknarr]

Hey guys. I'm trying to get the general feel of the WP users with regards to how they feel about the OS, and hardware offerings.

I am currently a BlackBerry user, Storm2 to be exact, and I am thinking of jumping to WP. Now before you go beating up the Storm2, I have had the same phone for a year and a half, and is has been a solid device...for me. It hasn't been the nightmare to me it's been for some. That being said, I REALLY like what I've seen from Windows Phone. I have gone and played with the HD7, the Focus, and the Surround, and from those devices, I would have a hard time deciding. Thing is I'm on Big Red, and I don't want to change that. I don't necessarily like their opinion of WP, and I do NOT like Android. The Trophy looks like a very nice device, but there is no word yet if even Verizon wants it. I AM excited about the Nokia announcement as I know they make very good hardware, but again, Verizon has to abandon their arrogant stance.

What I would like to know is how has the transition been for the ex-BlackBerry users out there to WP? I have become accustomed to my email (Yahoo) being pushed quite efficiently to the Storm. I know there is no BBM (oooo that's going to suck), but are there any alternatives you've found in WP? Are your Twitter notifications pushed? I guess what I'm getting at is what it is you miss about the BlackBerry in the switch. There are so many things I DO like about WP7, I just don't know what I would miss not having used it as an everyday driver.

 

[Averry]

You'll get everything pushed to your likings.

That, along with real apps and games....and a legitimate OS for touch and speed...you'll be set.

What is the appeal for BBM anyways? I don't get it......I mean like....I literally don't get what it does...the advertisements are vague and just make it sound like instant messages...so I'm seriously in the dark about it.

 

[chnkfc]

i came from using BB and only thing i miss is the indicator light for every notification you get. i never really used BBM that much,so i dont miss it at all. Im very happy with my purchase of the HD7 and not even thinking about going back to RIM.

 

[cdook]

I came from a BlackBerry Tour on Verizon and there are a few things I miss, but I'm glad I switched. There is no notification light, so you'll have to tap the screen to check emails, texts, missed calls, etc. I haven't seen any notification support for the official Twitter and Facebook apps. I just enabled email alerts for FB and I just have to remember to look at my @mentions from time to time.

My phone checks email every 30 minutes instead of using push. You can enable push, but I heard it's a battery drain. Battery life seemed better on my Tour.

That being said. The web browser on WP7 is amazing. It's way better than the BB browser. It's pretty cool having a decent game selection. BB games were nothing great for the most part. The WP7 phone is super smooth, my BB would get laggy and I'd have to do a battery pull time to time. The email viewer on WP7 is a lot better than BB's. It properly formats HTML emails. It used to annoy me on BB that emails with images would have the images all over the place, making it hard to read. Last, the People Hub is great for managing contacts and seeing FB updates.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I thought I'd miss BBM, but I just have people text me instead.

 

[Exomondo]

I came from a BB Bold - well a while ago - and I miss the indicator light, I guess the physical keyboard too but I figured I should get used to a soft keyboard. I wasn't a BBM fan but I really did a lot of emails and the gmail integration and push notifications in WP7 are very good. The browser is a lot better than the BB browser (well I used up to OS5) and the email client is really good.

 

[cdub66]

I miss the notification light and the battery life. Well, up to the Torch..its battery is/was about the same as my Surround.

No push for twitter yet, but t4bb *just* implimented it..maybe it's not too far away for WP7.

My Torch is on the dresser, I could put my sim back in it any time I want...but I don't.

 

[daknarr]

Thanks for all the replies. It really is the little things...like the message indicater. I think I can live without it though...I'm just not that important. I really like what I've experienced in my limited exposure to WP. Now that a Verizon Trophy announcment seems imminent, perhaps WP here I come!

@Averry: I can't speak for anyone else, but for me the appeal was the communiction. BlackBerry handles communication extremely well. Everything is pushed to the phone...including podcasts. That was its appeal for me.

 

[nrfitchett4]

Hey guys. I'm trying to get the general feel of the WP users with regards to how they feel about the OS, and hardware offerings.

I am currently a BlackBerry user, Storm2 to be exact, and I am thinking of jumping to WP. Now before you go beating up the Storm2, I have had the same phone for a year and a half, and is has been a solid device...for me. It hasn't been the nightmare to me it's been for some. That being said, I REALLY like what I've seen from Windows Phone. I have gone and played with the HD7, the Focus, and the Surround, and from those devices, I would have a hard time deciding. Thing is I'm on Big Red, and I don't want to change that. I don't necessarily like their opinion of WP, and I do NOT like Android. The Trophy looks like a very nice device, but there is no word yet if even Verizon wants it. I AM excited about the Nokia announcement as I know they make very good hardware, but again, Verizon has to abandon their arrogant stance.

What I would like to know is how has the transition been for the ex-BlackBerry users out there to WP? I have become accustomed to my email (Yahoo) being pushed quite efficiently to the Storm. I know there is no BBM (oooo that's going to suck), but are there any alternatives you've found in WP? Are your Twitter notifications pushed? I guess what I'm getting at is what it is you miss about the BlackBerry in the switch. There are so many things I DO like about WP7, I just don't know what I would miss not having used it as an everyday driver.

Push email works fine on my hd7. You can have push notifications of replies and pm's via twitter using beezz twitter app.
Never had a BB so I can't comment on missing it.

 

[Soaked]

I came from a BB Pearl, but I've also always been a Zune (device) user. I went to Blackbery before since it was Canadian (like me), many friends were using BBM, and it looked like a nice phone. Oh and because there was no Zune phone at the time.

It's a decision you won't regret, especially if you're coming over from the BB side. It's great for messaging(texting, emailing, etc.) with, and includes mobile Office which is a strong feature for business people. WP7 really does out-shine BB OS's in every way.

 

[ethylove]

as everyone mentioned the indicator light is something I miss. My bf has a blackberry so we used to BBM all the time. On the focus I used Flory and we google chat instead. not quite the same but it gets the job done.

 

[spitothec]

What I would like to know is how has the transition been for the ex-BlackBerry users out there to WP? I have become accustomed to my email (Yahoo) being pushed quite efficiently to the Storm. I know there is no BBM (oooo that's going to suck), but are there any alternatives you've found in WP? Are your Twitter notifications pushed? I guess what I'm getting at is what it is you miss about the BlackBerry in the switch. There are so many things I DO like about WP7, I just don't know what I would miss not having used it as an everyday driver.

Yahoo on WP7 is broken and will eat through your data plan. Until a fix is found, it's unusable. I haven't heard an update from Yahoo of MS on when this will be handled.

There are no good Push IM clients on WP7. If you want something like BBM, you won't find on here.. IM+ might be coming out soon, but even that's not even close to BBM's quality.

There's currently one (or two?) Twitter apps that use push notifications on the tile, and they're both broken and buggy.

I love my WP7, but it's young and broken. I'll be back on a Blackberry if this NoDo update doesn't start fixing some of the major problems I'm having.. but then again, you're a Storm user and lover so maybe you're a glutton for the abuse and will fit right in on this side.. LOOOOL

The Pushed, always on, always instant feel and ability of the BBOS is something you won't find on any other phone, so if you like that as much as you say you do, you'll probably want to rethink your gameplan here.. right now, the only thing that is Pushed PROPERLY on WP7 is Hotmail..

 

[Pete C]

right now, the only thing that is Pushed PROPERLY on WP7 is Hotmail..

When you say pushed are you talking about when new emails come in that you are notified? Seems like Gmail works perfectly for me.

 

[red grenadine]

I'm pretty sure there was an article out about how the Yahoo bug has been silently fixed and taken care of. Gmail push works perfectly fine on my Samsung Focus as well

Sent from my Windows Phone using Board Express

 

[lucazzo]

I had a Bold 9700 since the day it came out and I *mostly* liked it. I switched to WP7 (Focus) right away.

The main differences I can point:

- No indicator light: both good and bad. I do have to manually check the phone to see if there are new messages (it'll show on the screen), but I actually feel relieved. Does it ever happen to you that your BB is sitting on your desk and your *convinced* there's a red light on when there isn't!? Yep. Sanity is better now.

- I do miss the BBs physical keyboard. I type faster on the Focus, but much more prone to mistakes and have to spell check before sending anything important.

- Hotmail and Gmail push work great. Yahoo has had massive issues, but nothing an update shouldn't fix.

- The OS is much friendlier. Doing what I need to do doesn't feel like a chore.

- Camera OS needs an update. The Bold 9700 put my Nikon Coolpix in retirement, and I've still to take pictures on the Focus that are nearly as good.

- WP7 devices are several times faster. If you ever need to do a hard reset (uncommon), it takes the phone less than a minute to load. What I hated the most about BB was that a hard reset seemed obligatory to every single update, and the solution to every minor bug. Not anymore!

- I do miss BBM. I only used it to chat to a few people, but there's no IM client anywhere as good on any platform. That said, I'm no longer the idiot at bars chatting the night away.

- The browser comparison is like comparing IE4 to Chrome or IE9. Whenever I had to load a website on BB, it was cringeworthy. Now it's a pleasure.

- Zune is one hell of a media player and sync software once you get used to it.

What is the appeal for BBM anyways? I don't get it......I mean like....I literally don't get what it does...the advertisements are vague and just make it sound like instant messages...so I'm seriously in the dark about it.

It's hard to translate into ads the full experience of BBM. It uses your data plan (and very little of it), message delivery and receipt are nearly instantaneous, you can group chat with people from work if need be, send every file imaginable, and there's no maximum length per message. I know it doesn't sound all that special, but you'd understand how amazing it is after trying it. And this comes from someone who used it to chat with only 4-6 people regularly. That said... your boss will have you by the balls. Every time you read a message, the sender gets notified that you actually READ the message.

 

[1jaxstate1]

I tell you one thing. Your going to miss your blinking LED, I mean REALLY miss it. But other than that, you're going to love the smooth interface. Good thing your use to battery pulls, cause you may have to do that with you new WP7 too.

 

[MrJoshua#WP]

IMHO the answer really depends on what you used your BB for. If you're a heavy phone / text / email user in an office environment, then the WP7 might not be a good choice for you. It's just not ready for heavy business users who rely upon custom ring tones, text messages and alerts for critical business operations. There's no profiles for changing the phone's behavior during meetings, etc. Maybe one day it will catch up to the BB but its not ready today.

If you're a casual phone user who enjoys apps, playing games, surfing the web, texting with friends and so on, it's a good choice.

 

[lepermime]

I wouldn't switch

I had a WP7 phone issued to replace a Blackberry torch and here's a list of things I miss.

Status light
Unique notification profiles
iCal support
consolidated inbox
mark all as read
decent camera
resizable fonts
ability to change theme to my liking
ability to lock top status bar
push email that doesn't drain the battery rediculously quickly(have to charge multiple times a day if this is enabled in WP7).
Integrated messaging client BBM
Good battery life
Ability to resize fonts
Ability to install apps outside of marketplace
Ability to resize fonts


I mentioned ability to resize fonts a couple times because that is hands down the biggest complaint I have about the new device. It makes using it for any sort of corporate email difficult since there's no way to get a view of the full subject without opening the message itself. Also means that sender names constantly go off the side of the screen with no way at all to view the whole name.

 

[Spoonieluv]

BB Tour to DVP WP7

I am 2 weeks into my transition from a BB Tour to a Dell Venue Pro WP7

First off, to those who want a physical keyboard, the DVP is a great fit - the keyboard orientation is even vertical so it is similar to using a blackberry keyboard.

As far as what I miss?


-no notification light is a minor annoyance.

-re-sizable fonts would be fantastic, the standard font is a little large - I prefer much smaller fonts.

-different notification profiles (I want to specify if I don't want a notification for new gmail, but I DO want a new notification of Exchange email)

- google maps

- 'standard' tones... why does everything in WP7 have to be a melody??!!! I just want options for a simple beep or ring.

I am sure there are a few other things I miss but can't think of. Do I regret switching? Not in the least -- as long as the OS and the Apps keep evolving at a moderate pace then I should continue to be happy until I get bored.

--- I haven't traveled through different timezones with this new phone yet but I really hope it recognizes timezones and changes calendars etc appropriately. If anyone knows, please post!

 

[daknarr]

Thanks for all of the responses, guys! Fact is, for WP7 to be only a few months in release, and to be received so well speaks volumes. It is obvious it is only going to bet better. NoDO might cool, but it seems Mango will be fantastic! I'm almost 100% sure of the Trophy for my next device (and it's a world phone!!!) as my NE2 is up in June. I hate Verizon's arrogance sometimes, but I love their service, so I'll not switch. Android ain't for me, and that's their baby right now. My better half got the iP4 at Big Red's launch, and it is a fantastic device (although it too has no indicator light), but I REALLY like the WP experience.

 

[Villain]

I work for RIM in nova scotia and my device is a wp7 and wouldn't go back to a bb... you may go through bbm withdrawals though.

still blows my mind ms didn't release a real instant messenger... they could have updated windows live messenger with pin technology (pin im, include wlm, fb chat and what reason would anyone one have for blackberry? also rim relay encryption)