Planning to buy a WP, help needed!

[lilb1190]

Yeah, the only thing about the torture test is that the guy never really turns the phone so that the screen is facing the camera. Its always at an angle. That doesnt mean there are dents and scratches in it, but it could.

I am totally on board with the idea that the Lumia will have better support. That is a big deal to me. If the Titan II never has any major issues and the marketplace stays pretty well updated, I probably wont miss too many of the Nokia apps. Some of them seem pretty useful, but HTC isnt without its perks, either.

Does the Lumia have pocket detection (phone rings more loudly in the pocket), face-down speaker phone (if the phone is face down it will automatically be on speaker, then it goes back to normal mode when you pick it up), and all of the other HTC goodies?

 

[ninjaap]

Yeah, the only thing about the torture test is that the guy never really turns the phone so that the screen is facing the camera. Its always at an angle. That doesnt mean there are dents and scratches in it, but it could.

I am totally on board with the idea that the Lumia will have better support. That is a big deal to me. If the Titan II never has any major issues and the marketplace stays pretty well updated, I probably wont miss too many of the Nokia apps. Some of them seem pretty useful, but HTC isnt without its perks, either.

Does the Lumia have pocket detection (phone rings more loudly in the pocket), face-down speaker phone (if the phone is face down it will automatically be on speaker, then it goes back to normal mode when you pick it up), and all of the other HTC goodies?

True about the it might have scratches. But he used the Lumia as a hammer, glass down, and pounded the nail into a 2x4! Now that's tough.

No Nokia does not have those features you've talked about from HTC. I am familiar with those features as I have owned HTC phones before. I missed them at first, but have moved on.

It's true that Titan 2 has a better camera, but that's all it has over the Lumia. At least that's what I thought when I was trying to choose between the 900 and T2. And speaking of camera, you will undoudtedly be disappointed with the 900's auto camera settings. I found that you need to play with the settings to get a good pic. But once you master the settings, I believe you will get pics that rival the T2's camera. Check out the link in my signature for pics taken using my 900. No post app processing, just playing around with the camera settings.

 

[dameon_03]

True about the it might have scratches. But he used the Lumia as a hammer, glass down, and pounded the nail into a 2x4! Now that's tough.

No Nokia does not have those features you've talked about from HTC. I am familiar with those features as I have owned HTC phones before. I missed them at first, but have moved on.

It's true that Titan 2 has a better camera, but that's all it has over the Lumia. At least that's what I thought when I was trying to choose between the 900 and T2. And speaking of camera, you will undoudtedly be disappointed with the 900's auto camera settings. I found that you need to play with the settings to get a good pic. But once you master the settings, I believe you will get pics that rival the T2's camera. Check out the link in my signature for pics taken using my 900. No post app processing, just playing around with the camera settings.

those are some really nice pics you took there

 

[Squatting Hen]

The Titan II is now $150 on contract at AT&T.

 

[socialcarpet]

@socialcarpet, the L900 has much more issues than the Titan II. The L900 has too many hardware issues it isn't funny. The purple Hue is a Hardware issue, not software. the camera takes horrible pictures in low light situations. You don't need Nokia Drive when you have Bing Maps which does directions, you just need to click the screen to get the voice to work. The Attentive phone, and camera additional make the Titan II worth the $100 more than L900.

About having a camera on a phone. Most people don't like carrying a 2nd or 3rd device. It is like carrying around an ipod touch, a flipphone and camera just because each device is better than a standalone device. I would rather carry around one device that can take good pics, be a smartphone and make good phone calls.

the titan II is worth not having to deal with the headache that the L900, it doesn't matter if Nokia supports the phone if the phone is crap. These hardware issues are widespread, it isn't a small problem like with what the Titan has had. I haven't experience any of the problems you mentioned above. Sure if the number you state about the L900 selling 10-1 is correct, make the titan II $100 and see what the number would be then.

Interesting. I didn't realize the purple hue was a hardware problem. I'm sure you have some hard evidence to back that up.

The L900 isn't a "headache" if like me, and like the vast majority of L900 owners, you don't have any problems at all.

I'm glad that you think an app that silences the ring when you flip the phone over and a slightly better camera are worth a the extra $100.

If that helped make your decision easier, more power to you. I try not to take silly stuff like phones personally, but when someone spreads some misinformation and FUD, I feel a responsibility to step in and set the record straight.

Running your factory 24/7 to crank out about 1,000,000+ copies of a brand new model hitting the market is likely to result in 25-30 people posting on a forum that their keyboard is tinted slightly purplish gray. It happens.

Why don't we wait until HTC has at least 1/2 as many Titan II's out in the hands of consumers before we decide if it's the holy grail of product reliability and bug-free nirvana though, shall we?

It shouldn't take them more than a year or two to get there.

Or we can just look at the record of the Titan I's issues and how good a job HTC did at resolving those if we want another example.

Let's just agree to disagree. We're both on the same team. I just get a little irritated when people portray the L900 as some horrendous bug-ridden disaster. That's a load of horsesh** Between a few unfortunate people on forums (and 100 crybabies) and the ridiculous spin of the anti-WP bloggers it's really blown quite out of proportion.

Everyone who cars about Windows Phone should be supporting Nokia and hoping for their success right now, even if you don't use one of their phones. Because if it comes down to it, HTC is not going to save Windows Phone. They could pick up and walk away from Windows Phone tomorrow and not feel a thing. They have plenty of plastic loaded up with that crappy green robot OS to push and they are way more invested in them. Whereas if Nokia fails, it's very likely Windows Phone will fail along with it. Think about it.

 

[lilb1190]

Wow, $150? Im glad it went down, but it also annoys me. They had to lower the price? The device is fantastic. It has its drawbacks, but it should not have been difficult to sell as far as Windows Phones go. But HTC and AT&T didnt spend a dime marketing this product. They essentially trusted techies and phone geeks to spread the word about it. Instead of marketing, they dropped the price down $50 a month after it is released?

 

[socialcarpet]

Wow, $150? Im glad it went down, but it also annoys me. They had to lower the price? The device is fantastic. It has its drawbacks, but it should not have been difficult to sell as far as Windows Phones go. But HTC and AT&T didnt spend a dime marketing this product. They essentially trusted techies and phone geeks to spread the word about it. Instead of marketing, they dropped the price down $50 a month after it is released?

It's probably cheaper to lower the price than it would be to spend money on commercials or developing exclusive apps etc.

But hey, it's $50 cheaper. That can only be a good thing.

 

[Squatting Hen]

HTC from what I read, actually had a couple of price drops, not just the Titan II and not just for WP. The Titan I is now .01 on contract.
http://www.windowscentral.com/att-titan-ii-gets-price-drop-150-contract

 

[trivor]

Sounds like you should get the Titan II. As for your points:

1. Better in dark settings, that's for sure. I'd imagine it's better overall.
2. On my second, first had the data bug (which was patched, but I wanted a white one).
3. Seamless. Don't understand how you'd be fighting with it, but trust me, Zune is everything people don't know about, and then some.
4. Lumia's gets LOUD. Sure they're too close in terms of clarity to really tell a difference.
5. If you login with that stuff, it'll show up there, but that doesn't mean you have to use them.
6. Get the phone that appeals to you. Windows Phone will take off regardless.
8. Processor speed is irrelevant to Windows Phone. Smooth, through and through.

By requiring Zune MS is no better than Apple with iTunes. I use the Zune interface to manage my XBox content and I really hate going into it. Plus, podcast support is iffy at best. Tell me why you shouldn't be able (especially with MS cloud push) to do everything without a PC (even the iPhone has that now). Falling behind in any area is not going to help MS and WP7.

 

[sentimentGX4]

Yeah, the only thing about the torture test is that the guy never really turns the phone so that the screen is facing the camera.

I'm unimpressed by the "torture" test. Compared to the guy who drove over the Nokia C7/Astound with his car, that was nothing.

 

[Verkunder]

By requiring Zune MS is no better than Apple with iTunes. I use the Zune interface to manage my XBox content and I really hate going into it. Plus, podcast support is iffy at best. Tell me why you shouldn't be able (especially with MS cloud push) to do everything without a PC (even the iPhone has that now). Falling behind in any area is not going to help MS and WP7.

Nobody saying you shouldn't be able to. Xbox content how, your videos?

 

[lilb1190]

So yeah, there I was in the AT&T store.

I had made my decision and was ready to get... the HTC Titan II!

So I walk up to the counter, and Im all like "yo, whats up baby? Im here to pick up a Titan II."

And she's all "thats a good choice, and might I add, your swagger is both manly and appealing!"

So then she asks me for my Verizon Account number, which I dont know off hand, so I called up Verizon and its like im breaking up with them.

The Verizon guy was like "What do you need your account number for"? And I told him "look here, brah. I want a 16 mp camera and WP running on a big-*** screen. You dont have it".

He got all defensive and was like "yeah we dont have anything like that, yet, but you know, we have phones that record 1080p HD video, so if cameras are important you sh...."

I cut him off "b**tch, did I say I wanted 1080p HD video? I didnt think so. Give me my account number, then go make me a sandwich!"

So I got my number and I started answering all of the AT&T lady's questions. She wanted my phone number, you know, cuz im smooth (it was also required to transfer my number from one carrier to another). Then we started talking about money.

"What kind of data plan do you want"?

"Oh, you know, bout 3 gigs should be good".

"Do you text?"

"You know it"

"We only have one plan for texting. $20 a month for unlimited texts".

"uhhh...oh. Err, can you repeat that? I couldnt hear you over the sound if me s***ting myself..."

And so I backed slowly out of the store, my swagger totally gone and my heart crushed. I got to hold the phone for a few minutes, but that was about it. $20 a month and no other option? Thats crazy. Oh Verizon I spent $5 a month for 250 texts, and I maybe went over twice in 2 years.

I am going to get on my girlfriend's family plan. $95 a month for unlimited texts and 3 gigs of data is not worth it.

But yeah, Titan II it is. I got to mess with both phones for a few minutes and I really just liked the feel of the Titan better. I was surprised how big it WASN'T. I was expecting it to be HUGE, but its pretty light.

Guess I will have to post about how I feel about it in a week or so. I wont be able to get the phone until tomorrow =(

 

[Squatting Hen]

I too like the Titan II.

 

[scottcraft]

I don't think you can go wrong with either phone. I will admit I've been disappointed with some of the issues I've read about people having with the Nokia. I'm hoping when Verizon gets a Nokia some of these kinks will be worked out. I really want a cyan Nokia with a 4.7 inch screen with a pure view camera running Windows 8. Right now though both the Lumia and the Titan 2 make my Trophy look like a joke.

 

[socialcarpet]

I don't think you can go wrong with either phone. I will admit I've been disappointed with some of the issues I've read about people having with the Nokia. I'm hoping when Verizon gets a Nokia some of these kinks will be worked out. I really want a cyan Nokia with a 4.7 inch screen with a pure view camera running Windows 8. Right now though both the Lumia and the Titan 2 make my Trophy look like a joke.

Both the Titan II and the Lumia 900 are great and I agree you can't go wrong either way.

That said, if you already have a Windows Phone and you're on contract, I would hang in there. Your Trophy might not have the same lustre of the Titan and Lumia, but there are really wonderful things on the horizon. You can count on an amazing Lumia with a high res screen and WP 8 and other great features we all want coming before too long. I'd say by Christmas time, maybe January or February at the latest.

 

[scottcraft]

Both the Titan II and the Lumia 900 are great and I agree you can't go wrong either way.

That said, if you already have a Windows Phone and you're on contract, I would hang in there. Your Trophy might not have the same lustre of the Titan and Lumia, but there are really wonderful things on the horizon. You can count on an amazing Lumia with a high res screen and WP 8 and other great features we all want coming before too long. I'd say by Christmas time, maybe January or February at the latest.

My wife has an upgrade in November and I've got one in March. If Verizon has WP 8 in November it's going to be mine! To be honest I couldn't see upgrading to a Lumia or Titan at this point with WP 8 just around the corner. The Trophy will do for me until then. Now if I could convince my wife to ditch the iphone.....

 

[lilb1190]

Finally got my actual Titan II. Took forever at AT&T. Once the guy was almost done entering all of the info in to the computer, some other guy walked up and unplugged his machine. I dont know why, but it basically reset the entire process.

I love the phone. Without the case it isnt all that heavy, but the case adds a lot of weight. Its also interesting that the case covers the hardware buttons, so you have to press extra hard for some things. Its especially a pain in the butt for the camera button. Its really hard to tell when you have it half way down.

I am really enjoying messing with the phone. I tried using last.fm for radio last night and it couldnt seem to connect to any stations.

Sky Drive worked. Apparently I have like 3 different Windows Live accounts, so it took me awhile to remember any of them or what the password was. Photos upload to Sky Drive very quickly and look decent. I have the Sky Drive app, so its not that important that I have files stored on the phone.

The speakers are loud, but I would have liked the clarity of the sound to be better. I notice when I am listening to a song or even on speaker phone it can get pretty noisy.

I havent messed with the camera settings much, but the auto settings are about what I expected. It looks great out doors, but only decent in doors. I am sure I can resolve that with more time and experience with it.

Overall I really like the phone and I am glad I got it. Thanks for the help!

 

[Squatting Hen]

Congratulations and welcome to the club. Now you can edit your profile to show the Titan II as your phone.

*if you use your phone as an alarm...be prepared for a loud awakening.

 

[lilb1190]

Aww, I might have a bug. When I have last.fm playing and I try to control it from the shortcuts on the home screen, all it does is lift the lock panel a little. I can't control the radio from there. Has anyone else had this problem?

Sent from my PI86100 using Board Express

 

[socialcarpet]

Nice man, congrats and welcome to the tribe.