Changing My Phones with questions on my head!

[Desdemona]

Hello
Been sometime since I posted in the forums. Well the fact of the matter is that I am planning to change from my (oh so loved) Samsung Omnia 7 to a Nokia lumia 800 ( Thumbs up if you came to this post thinking I am giving up on WP7 and moving to fruits and green robots)!
Jokes aside, I am sort of lacking knowledge about a few things, and therefore have a few questions on my mind, namely -

1) How do I transfer all the paid apps from the older phone to the newer one. Do I have to pay for them again? ( I guess not, but how do I go about it?) How about some of the apps which were free when I got them, or on specials, and now cost money?

2) How about my Xbox live achievements and leaderboards and game progress?

3) Other random phone details ( cant pull anything out of my head now, but let me know if you can think of something which might need some attention)

Also, finally, and on a whole different viewpoint, what does the community think of making this move? Is it a smart one? For the record, I stay in Australia, and however much I would like to go for the Lumia 900, I know that right now, there is no availability scenario, and also, seemingly, it wont be supported by Telstra's nextG network.

I will buy my Lumia 800 outright, because I hate going on plans, and gives me a bit more freedom. I was in love with the 4.3" screen on my Omnia 7, which according to my humble opinion was one of the best 1st gen handsets. Would the move to the 3.7" screen be a smooth one? I love big phone, I am big, I have big hands, and phone is (was?) big!

Would be glad to have some opinions

Thanks guys!

 

[speedtouch]

I would hope that when you sign into your Live account on your new phone that all your apps would re-download and install automatically. Can anyone confirm this?

You say you're a big fella, why not wait for the insanely huge Titan II? It's coming out in about 45 days or so. I know you're in Australia, but you never know, it might work on a carrier there. You said you were not on a contract, so you have the freedom to move to a new carrier if the Titan II doesn't work on your current one.

 

[xKophsx]

You dont have to pay for any App again... you can use then if my brain doesn't fail in 5 devices with YOUR live id. so you buy it and you can use it upto 5 of your devices.

and it wont download automatically your apps and install them like speedtouch said... can you imagine that? people complaining about their data and stuff like that?... but you can go to https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/account and see your history of installed apps. you cant rebuy apps persay, you install it through your phone or reinstall it through this history.

when i reset my phone i used the windowsphone site and history. but im not sure about apps that wre free and now are paid, but i guess it should be like if you have bought them even if it costs money now but i cant confirm that since i never got an App like that,, before reseting my phone.

about games im not sure about it, but i didn't have any progress in any game, and achivements were tied to my Xbox tag like Xbox or gfwl, so you would have to start your game over againbut you dont have to re-do an achievement, well thats what happened to me and the few Xbox live titles i have got.

 

[freestaterocker]

1 Apps are tied to your Live ID. As long as you use the same Live ID you'll be able to redownload all of your paid apps.
2 Achievements are tied to your Xbox Live ID. Game progress will not be saved.
3 I have an HD7 and am considering an 800 also. My theory is that the superior software keyboard on WP7 will keep the phone useable for my large hands. I'm also considering the HTC Radar. I want a front camera for Skype, and it's supposed to have great battery life, which is less than stellar on my HD7.

 

[Desdemona]

1 Apps are tied to your Live ID. As long as you use the same Live ID you'll be able to redownload all of your paid apps.
2 Achievements are tied to your Xbox Live ID. Game progress will not be saved.
3 I have an HD7 and am considering an 800 also. My theory is that the superior software keyboard on WP7 will keep the phone useable for my large hands. I'm also considering the HTC Radar. I want a front camera for Skype, and it's supposed to have great battery life, which is less than stellar on my HD7.

Oh yeah, totally forgot about the front facing cam, especially with skype almost through the door now. Not that I use it often, but future proofing was never a dumb idea. Who knows, maybe someday I will have a Latin american GF, with a wild amazonian accent, bronze skin and black hair, then I might need one to keep in touch, just do skyping all over the place, who knows..maybe one day

Also, I am not that big a fan of HTC's. The lumia is just, how do I put it, way to sexy!

 

[speedtouch]

You dont have to pay for any App again... you can use then if my brain doesn't fail in 5 devices with YOUR live id. so you buy it and you can use it upto 5 of your devices.

and it wont download automatically your apps and install them like speedtouch said... can you imagine that? people complaining about their data and stuff like that?... but you can go to https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/account and see your history of installed apps. you cant rebuy apps persay, you install it through your phone or reinstall it through this history.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Face2000]

The question asked here is a good one. My wife received her replacement HTC surround 2 weeks ago (that I just shattered the screen on last nite) and all apps can be downloaded again once the phone is signed in with your live id using your history. Xbox live is the same with achievements. IT is a bit of work but she had back to where she likes it in a few days to bad she is going to have to do it again soon. I will pay attention this next time to the apps she got free and are now payed and report back.