My First Windows Phone. Need Help/Suggestions Please

[mdelacoma]

I've been loyal to WebOS for a couple of years now, but my Veer just isn't cutting it anymore. Plus HP and WebOS are dead and I've decided Windows Phone is my platform of choice moving forward. My first WP (Focus) arrives tomorrow night. Coffee told me to go to Live.com and create an account. I set up a hotmail account. Is this all I needed to do? He also had recommendations for adding a SD card but I've decided to forego that option. I've done a little reading in these forums and they seem to be hit or miss. I don't need the storage enough to warrant the possible headaches. I didn't want to use my upgrade so I bought the Focus off Ebay and plan to get used to WP while waiting for better phones either later this year or early next year.

So that's my situation. What would be helpful is if the WP veterans could give me some advice as to what I should do when I get it. Is the Mango update now available for 1.4? Or do I need to remove the battery and see if I have 1.3 or 1.4? I know there are things I can sign up for if I WANT them (Zune pass) but is there anything I NEED to sign up for. Was that hotmail account all I needed to do? Are there any other suggestions?

Glad to be here. This site reminds me a lot of Precentral. Which is a good thing. I'm looking forward to using this Focus and who knows what else in the future. I appreciate any help anyone is willing to provide

 

[Coffee]

it's good to know if you have 1.3 or 1.4 anyway. I bought my Focus outright, too, so I could put it on t-mobile. It's likely you'll have some updates when you plug in, prob including Mango.

You don't NEED anything else other than a Live account. You can use your Live account for a Zune trial if you like.

some other things I did, that you don't have to:

forward other email accounts to your Hotmail (you can add other email accounts to your phone if you'd prefer, I just like them all in one place.)

Check out the online marketplace for apps that you want to install when you get the phone going. (windowsphone.com)

Install the Zune software on the PC you'd like to use to sync up. You'll need zune to sync media even if you don't have the pass or purchase anything.

 

[mdelacoma]

Thanks again, Coffee. The first thing I did when creating the hotmail account was to export all my yahoo contacts over to hotmail.

Do I download the Zune software from a website or will I have that option when I connect my phone to the computer? Or do I need the Zune software on my computer first so that the phone is recognized?

 

[Coffee]

You'll need the Zune software to connect the phone up, get updates, etc. After that you can set it up to wirelessly sync and not even use the PC that much.

software at: http://zune.net/en-US/

 

[mdelacoma]

You'll need the Zune software to connect the phone up, get updates, etc. After that you can set it up to wirelessly sync and not even use the PC that much.

software at: Zune Music + Video | Zune.net

Outstanding! Thank you very much

 

[Winterfang]

Man this boards are becoming so lively later =)

 

[mdelacoma]

I thought I read a reply in another thread that said something about running the power all the way down after the phone's very first charge.

Is this the right thing to do for the battery?

 

[Wiccan Lagar]

I thought I read a reply in another thread that said something about running the power all the way down after the phone's very first charge.

Is this the right thing to do for the battery?

I would recommend that. Either way, the battery is not charged very much out of the box so after your done playing with it for a little bit, setting it up, the battery is just as good as dead.

I would recharge it fully and have it drain again. You should be golden after that.

When I had my Pre 2 people complained about the battery life (including myself.) I tried that trick and my battery lasted me through the day. Def works.

 

[mdelacoma]

Thanks Steveg. I just got home about 30 min ago and the phone was on my porch! I have been trying to get started but have a question. Can I not set up my phone to sync with my Yahoo email? I got my Live account with hotmail set up but I only set up that email to have the Live account. I use Yahoo. Is there a way to do this?

 

[Coffee]

add another email account.

settings-email and accounts - yahoo

 

[Judge_Daniel]

Thanks Steveg. I just got home about 30 min ago and the phone was on my porch! I have been trying to get started but have a question. Can I not set up my phone to sync with my Yahoo email? I got my Live account with hotmail set up but I only set up that email to have the Live account. I use Yahoo. Is there a way to do this?

I have my Yahoo (@ymail.com) account synced to my Windows Phone. It may have been added in Mango, though. I don't recall when I added it. I received this phone after Mango's release. On my phone (Samsung Focus w/ Mango), you go to Settings>email+accounts>add an account>Yahoo! Mail. It is the third option on that page.

 

[jimski]

You should have no problem setting up a Yahoo account, or pretty much any other for that matter. Don't forget to visit XBox Live to setup your account (use the same ID as your Hotmail account) and create your avatar. And get your free SkyDrive setup (live.com>SkyDrive) so you can sync Office documents and OneNote files (with your desktop).

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

 

[mdelacoma]

Thanks for all the help. I was up all night playing with the phone and running the battery down. After that happened I plugged it in to charge it up and found out that the charger that came with the phone will not charge the phone. It's kind of loose. Is that common with the Focus? I used my charger from my Veer and it started taking a charge. However, it's been charging now for about 10 hrs and is only at about 90%. Not sure what's going on here.

I was able to get my Yahoo Mail set up. Thanks for helping out there. I didn't see it at first. However, I am now getting an "Attention required" message under Yahoo in Settings>email +accounts. When I tap on it it says: Not updated. The server you are trying to connect to doesn't support Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. Error code 85030022. I don't know what this Yahoo is for. I have the Yahoo Mail. What's the difference? This error message was not there at first. I forced the Mango update after the battery drain and now I'm getting it. Not sure why.

I also have a question about the multitasking in Mango. I would like to compare the information from two different websites. I have one open out of the five available. It is all the way to the right. Everytime I try to open the other web page (by tapping on one of the other four open pages then the Internet Explorer icon) it replaces the original web page. It's so frustrating. Can I not have more than one internet page open at a time? If so, how do I do that?

 

[Coffee]

You can use the Internet Explorer 'tabs' option (in the menu) to see different web sites you've opened instead of multitasking.

not sure why you're getting an activesync error on yahoo.

I've noticed the same thing on a micro-usb charger I had - some of them just aren't as tight and don't charge. No idea why. I got an OEM one and all is good.

 

[mdelacoma]

I notified the Ebay seller and the response was that another would be sent to me. Awesome. Hopefully that fixes the problem. My old Palm USB charger works so I have to believe it's the charger not the phone. We'll see.

Still not sure what I'm doing wrong when it comes to having more than 1 open webpage in multitasking. Everytime I have 1 webpage open and try to open another, it simply replaces the other instead of opening a 2nd.

This phone is so much nicer than any other Palm phone I've ever had. But I gotta admit, even after only 1 day...WP is just not as user friendly as WebOS. Simple as that. But Palm, HP and WebOS are dead. I refuse to go Android or iOS, so I'll try to figure WP out.

 

[lumic]

Still not sure what I'm doing wrong when it comes to having more than 1 open webpage in multitasking. Everytime I have 1 webpage open and try to open another, it simply replaces the other instead of opening a 2nd.

Tap the three dots in the bottom right corner of IE, scroll to settings and change "Open links from open applications in" to "A new tab".

 

[mdelacoma]

Thank you so much, lumic. That's so much better now. Maybe you can help with another one? Is there a way to change the alert for the keys at the bottom? The back arrow, windows and search keys vibrate when I touch them. I would rather they make a sound or nothing at all.

 

[baseballbert]

Welcome to the WP tribe, enjoy your stay! I came from ios and haven't looked back.

 

[mdelacoma]

Thanks, Bert

However, I'm not so sure I like WP. I'm trying to give it a fair opportunity. But it's just so bass ackwards when it comes to navigating. Mango's multitasking is lame. I can never figure out whether to press the notification as it comes up or hold the back arrow to open all my pages. Sometimes I have multiple messaging pages open. Then I have to press the back arrow a bunch of times. I'll have an email page open then receive an email and it's the same deal. Just can't get used to it.

And what's up with the music staying open but paused? Why can't I just get rid of it when I'm not using it? I hear that it's not using battery while in the background, but I don't care. If I'm not using it, I don't want to see it on my screen.

Why does the url bar always appear on a web page at the bottom? I don't want it there taking up screen space.

In the last couple days I've begun wondering how I would feel if I sold my Focus and bought a Pre 3 off Ebay

I really like this Samsung phone, but I really love WebOS. What to do?

 

[1jaxstate1]

Sell the Focus and get the Pre 3. Not a hard choice. I, myself find WebOS the most overrated OS ever. But to each their own. thanks for trying WP7 OS.

Thanks, Bert

However, I'm not so sure I like WP. I'm trying to give it a fair opportunity. But it's just so bass ackwards when it comes to navigating. Mango's multitasking is lame. I can never figure out whether to press the notification as it comes up or hold the back arrow to open all my pages. Sometimes I have multiple messaging pages open. Then I have press the back arrow a bunch of times. I'll have an email page open then receive an email and it's the same deal. Just can't get used to it.

And what's up with the music staying open but paused? Why can't I just get rid of it when I'm not using it? I hear that it's not using battery while in the background, but I don't care. If I'm not using it, I don't want to see it on my screen.

Why does the url bar always appear on a web page at the bottom? I don't want it there taking up screen space.

In the last couple days I've begun wondering how I would feel if I sold my Focus and bought a Pre 3 off Ebay

I really like this Samsung phone, but I really love WebOS. What to do?