Advice for someone thinking about switching from BB to WP?

[bpgui]

I've been a Blackberry user for several years, but I have am thinking about switching lately. Actually, I've been thinking about switching away from BB for quite some time, but Android and IOS don't interest me, and I have been afraid to give up the great physical keyboards of BB (I email a lot).

Windows Phone has been intriguing me lately, and I think I am ready to release my dependency on physical keyboards. I'm thinking about the upcoming Focus S. So if I make the switch, what should I expect?

Anyone else here switch from from BB to WP? What are the advantages and disadvantages. How much of a learning curve will it take to get used to a new OS?

Thanks.

 

[Bballbenb]

Well it depends on what carrier your on. If you can pick any carrier, you will have plenty of options. You may want to check out the Dell Venue Pro if you love keyboards. As far as other Window Phones, the new Focus S looks great. If you crave a large screen then the HTC Titan will be the way to go. You also may want to look into buying a phone off ebay or craigslist right now because new Nokia phones will be available in early 2012.

The learning curve will be very easy. It is not a complicated OS like Android, but a little more complicated than iOS. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there to learn about how to use mango. If you use a lot of microsoft products like xbox, word, skydrive, etc, then you will really like a windows phone. That is one of microsofts main goals is to unify all of their products when windows 8 comes out.

The only disadvantage is just the lack of phones right now for certain carriers aka verizon and sprint. ATT has new phones confirmed that look great. Only other negative I can think of is the apps are not there yet and the games are kinda pricey compared to Android and the iPhone.

Hope that helps!

 

[red grenadine]

Do it and don't look back.

This is coming from a former blackberry user. The only thing I missed was BBM, and there are apps now that replicate that (Kik, whatsapp, etc)

 

[cckgz4]

For anybody switching to a new OS, think about the features you need in a phone, see if WP has it, and make your decision there. Because a lot of times, people switch and get upset because certain features aren't present

 

[Mike-Mike]

I was a longtime Blackberry user. I had the Bold 9000 on AT&T and I loved it. After my 2 year contact was up, I switched to Sprint for the Blackberry Style 9670.

I really loved their physical keyboards and thought I could never switch, but I was drawn to WP. I got the HTC Arrive on Sprint, and the keyboard took some getting used to, but I really like it now.

I thought I would really miss BBM, but it's really not that big of a deal. I miss the password feature, but I bought Sky Wallet and it's not bad. I really liked the memo pad on BB, but I'm using One Note on Office, it seems to do the trick. I really like the Sky Drive integration, even though i never used it prior to my WP7.

I thought I could never leave BB, but iOS and Android just did not appeal to me, but once I tried that WP7 I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed it.

 

[bpgui]

Thanks everyone!

Well it depends on what carrier your on. If you can pick any carrier, you will have plenty of options.

I'll most likely be using AT&T. My contract is up with them, and I am hesitant to re-up for 2 years (so I'll be buying any phone off of contract), but they seem to be the best in my area followed closely by Verizon. T-Mobile and Sprint are extremely spotty here, so those two aren't an option.

You may want to check out the Dell Venue Pro if you love keyboards.

I had seen that one, but had thought I couldn't get it on AT&T. Just did a search though, and found I could buy one with the AT&T bands directly from Dell, and the price isn't bad. I will certainly be looking into that one. Do you know of any stores that carry them, so I could get a hands on feel?

As far as other Window Phones, the new Focus S looks great. If you crave a large screen then the HTC Titan will be the way to go. You also may want to look into buying a phone off ebay or craigslist right now because new Nokia phones will be available in early 2012.

The Titan's screen might be a bit too large for me. I still am going to check it out when it is released though.

The learning curve will be very easy. It is not a complicated OS like Android, but a little more complicated than iOS. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there to learn about how to use mango. If you use a lot of microsoft products like xbox, word, skydrive, etc, then you will really like a windows phone. That is one of microsofts main goals is to unify all of their products when windows 8 comes out.

This is what's been pulling me to WP. I mostly use my phone for email, document editing (word and excel) and then of course web browsing when I am away from my regular computer. I had been reading about the upcoming Windows 8 (late next year?) and the idea of having one unified ecosystem would be great. After reading about it, I was sure I'd be coming to WP when 8 was released, but why not try it out now?

The only disadvantage is just the lack of phones right now for certain carriers aka verizon and sprint. ATT has new phones confirmed that look great. Only other negative I can think of is the apps are not there yet and the games are kinda pricey compared to Android and the iPhone.

I'll check out the app marketplace, but I don't think this is going to be an issue for me. I come from BB which has a notoriously sparse app world, and I haven't had an issue getting apps that I want. I don't download a lot of games.

Hope that helps!

Yes! Thank you.

Do it and don't look back.

This is coming from a former blackberry user. The only thing I missed was BBM, and there are apps now that replicate that (Kik, whatsapp, etc)

Honestly, BBM is great, but I didn't use it too much. Most of the people I message are on iphone or android, so I used BBM almost exclusively for messaging with my wife.

For anybody switching to a new OS, think about the features you need in a phone, see if WP has it, and make your decision there. Because a lot of times, people switch and get upset because certain features aren't present

I think I'm good there. I mostly do document editing, emailing, and web browsing. I also use the kindle app, which is available, and manage my calendar.

I am also a ZuneHD user, and like the idea of combining my music and audiobooks onto one device.

I was a longtime Blackberry user. I had the Bold 9000 on AT&T and I loved it. After my 2 year contact was up, I switched to Sprint for the Blackberry Style 9670.

I really loved their physical keyboards and thought I could never switch, but I was drawn to WP. I got the HTC Arrive on Sprint, and the keyboard took some getting used to, but I really like it now.

I thought I would really miss BBM, but it's really not that big of a deal. I miss the password feature, but I bought Sky Wallet and it's not bad. I really liked the memo pad on BB, but I'm using One Note on Office, it seems to do the trick. I really like the Sky Drive integration, even though i never used it prior to my WP7.

I thought I could never leave BB, but iOS and Android just did not appeal to me, but once I tried that WP7 I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed it.

Memopad is one that I will miss. Is One Note a good replacement?

 

[jimski]

Not a former BB user, but from reading a bunch of former BB threads, you have to avoid getting hung up on little things that you enjoyed having on your current device. That will kill the WP experience for you.

I came from WinMo 6.5, and honestly WP7 was a downgrade of sorts. No BT file transfer, no on-device backups, no interchangable/expandable memory options, not file explorer, no custom ringtones (initially), no Outlook sync, and so on. But it only took me a few hours to appreciate what WP offered as an alternative. A smooth, stable, trouble free OS. I had to embrace the Cloud for file transfer, backups and contact/appt syncing.

Just look at WP with an open mind and you won't be disappointed.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

 

[jfa1]

As far as the physical keyboard I had treos starting with the 600 through the treo pro and thought it would be hard to give up the physical keyboard but the pro dies and I needed a phone I got the pure because they did not have the tilt 2 the pure was too small so I bought the tilt2 on ebay it was nice but if they could have taken it off sidin keboard and still functioned it would have been prefect weight and size for me I adapted to the virtual keyboard and dont miss the physical kb at all.

 

[swimmer160]

I'm in the same boat here. Both me and my wife have been on BB's since the Curve 8300 back in 2007. WP7 is probably the most appealing switch to me right now.

I just have a couple other questions that I haven't seen answered:

1) How are the notifications with WP?
2) Are custom ringtones supported? If so, is it a pain in the *** to do so or is it native?
3) Battery life! I'm a pretty heavy user and can safely get through a day on my 9800 battery, how do the WP7 devices compare.
4) Data consumption...RIM's NOC does a fantastic job of making data transfer extremely efficient, for a heavy user of WP7 how much bandwidth is being used? I am on WiFi a bit throughout the day, but still hit about 1.5GB/month with my BB.

 

[Mike-Mike]

my HTC Arrive battery is pretty solid, comprable to my BB or maybe even better, certainly better than the Bold, on par with the Style

 

[desmonium]

I'm in the same boat here. Both me and my wife have been on BB's since the Curve 8300 back in 2007. WP7 is probably the most appealing switch to me right now.

I just have a couple other questions that I haven't seen answered:

1) How are the notifications with WP?
2) Are custom ringtones supported? If so, is it a pain in the *** to do so or is it native?
3) Battery life! I'm a pretty heavy user and can safely get through a day on my 9800 battery, how do the WP7 devices compare.
4) Data consumption...RIM's NOC does a fantastic job of making data transfer extremely efficient, for a heavy user of WP7 how much bandwidth is being used? I am on WiFi a bit throughout the day, but still hit about 1.5GB/month with my BB.

1. Notification not bad (with tiles), but I miss the LED indicator with BB.
2. Yes, but it's a pain in the rear because it has to be a very small file.
3. Battery life on certain handsets are good. Don't get a screen that's too large.
4. 1.5GB/month with BB? You are insane... WP7 does consume a lot of data more than BB because the data on BB is compressed.


Also, BB's profile management is the best ever. Pity is that BB's OS is kinda glitched, though with many awesome features. And BB apps are dated/sluggish.

 

[swimmer160]

Can you elaborate a little more on the custom tones? Or point me to somewhere that can break it out a little more?

Also, yes, I average between 1 and 1.5 GB of data, I'm quite a heavy user. That was more of a question for my own curiosity, as I'm grandfathered into AT&T's unlimited data.

 

[desmonium]

Can you elaborate a little more on the custom tones? Or point me to somewhere that can break it out a little more?

Also, yes, I average between 1 and 1.5 GB of data, I'm quite a heavy user. That was more of a question for my own curiosity, as I'm grandfathered into AT&T's unlimited data.

I see you after leaving Torch 9800. Good choice, any WP7 device will be better than that, cuz 9800 sucks big time - one of my worst decision ever. 9000 Bold however, is one of my best decisions.

"The ringtone file must be in MP3 or WMA format, less then 40 seconds in length, less than 1mb in size and not protected with digital rights management (DRM)."

Here: Custom Ringtones Mango

 

[bpgui]

Question about email. If I link my gmail account to the phone and delete messages within gmail on my computer, will it also delete on my phone?

 

[jimski]

Can you elaborate a little more on the custom tones? Or point me to somewhere that can break it out a little more?.

What desmonium said. Those are the specs for crating your own ringtones. But there are also several apps popping up to download ringtones for you. A good one is easyRing that links to all those Amazon 30sec song snippets, actually millions of them. The app costs .99, bit all the downloads are free. The files are kept small to improve performance. I haven't found any problems with it, for not custom and downloaded tones.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

 

[desmonium]

Question about email. If I link my gmail account to the phone and delete messages within gmail on my computer, will it also delete on my phone?

I guess not.

What desmonium said. Those are the specs for crating your own ringtones. But there are also several apps popping up to download ringtones for you. A good one is easyRing that links to all those Amazon 30sec song snippets, actually millions of them. The app costs .99, bit all the downloads are free. The files are kept small to improve performance. I haven't found any problems with it, for not custom and downloaded tones.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

Whatever you do (create your own or use others), still got the 40 sec or 1mb limit, meaning you cannot use a whole song as the ringtone, unlike on my Blackberry =).

 

[FriendOrDafoe]

I think OneNote is one of the best features on WP7 especially if you have it on your computer as well. It integrates seamlessly. I use it every day.

 

[red grenadine]

Question about email. If I link my gmail account to the phone and delete messages within gmail on my computer, will it also delete on my phone?

It does for me. IMAP through Outlook or via the website. Sometimes it takes a couple minutes, but it'll sync

 

[swimmer160]

I see you after leaving Torch 9800. Good choice, any WP7 device will be better than that, cuz 9800 sucks big time - one of my worst decision ever. 9000 Bold however, is one of my best decisions.

"The ringtone file must be in MP3 or WMA format, less then 40 seconds in length, less than 1mb in size and not protected with digital rights management (DRM)."

Here: Custom Ringtones Mango

Yeah, I went from the 9000 to the 9800, and now the beginning of November is going to be my testing phase. I'm gonna check out the Focus S, then the Titan, and if for some reason I don't fall in love with the OS, I'll drop back to the 9900...I'm all about giving something new a shot, but we'll see how it falls in my "Hierarchy of Smartphone Needs".

Question about email. If I link my gmail account to the phone and delete messages within gmail on my computer, will it also delete on my phone?

This is relevant to my interests...BlackBerry has a big issue with this and it can get rather annoying.

What desmonium said. Those are the specs for crating your own ringtones. But there are also several apps popping up to download ringtones for you. A good one is easyRing that links to all those Amazon 30sec song snippets, actually millions of them. The app costs .99, bit all the downloads are free. The files are kept small to improve performance. I haven't found any problems with it, for not custom and downloaded tones.

Sent from my HTC Surround using Board Express

Shouldn't be too big of an issue for me. I've heard issues with WP7 devices and how they accept microSD cards, is this still a problem? I currently have a class 2 16GB in my BB and would want to switch it over, will that be an issue?

I think OneNote is one of the best features on WP7 especially if you have it on your computer as well. It integrates seamlessly. I use it every day.

I'm a big fan of Evernote personally.

 

[bpgui]

It does for me. IMAP through Outlook or via the website. Sometimes it takes a couple minutes, but it'll sync

Excellent. My BB does it sometimes, but mostly not. I've never quite figured out why, but I'm always annoyed when I have to delete a bunch of emails on my phone that I already deleted from the website or Outlook.

Yeah, I went from the 9000 to the 9800, and now the beginning of November is going to be my testing phase. I'm gonna check out the Focus S, then the Titan, and if for some reason I don't fall in love with the OS, I'll drop back to the 9900...I'm all about giving something new a shot, but we'll see how it falls in my "Hierarchy of Smartphone Needs".

The same for me, even the phone progression. Back in August, I was positive I was going to get the 9900, but with AT&T's delay in releasing it, I've been looking into other phones and have been intrigued.

Shouldn't be too big of an issue for me. I've heard issues with WP7 devices and how they accept microSD cards, is this still a problem? I currently have a class 2 16GB in my BB and would want to switch it over, will that be an issue?

I've heard that many don't have SD slots. That's somewhat disappointing as I have a class 10 32 gb card I'd like to use, but as long as the phone has enough on-board storage, I'll be fine. I can use the SD card in other places.