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From HTC 8525 (Windows Moblie 6) to iPhone 2.0 ... will I be happy?

Chodite

Chodite

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 23, 2007
586
0
Baltimore, MD
I ordered my iPhone 2.0 today from AT&T Wireless and am thinking I might not have made the best decision.

I currently own an HTC 8525 with Windows Mobile 6. For the most part, it works great (it is a Windows product and does freeze every few days). But the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Great slide out keyboard, MMS, nice camera, video, WiFi, 3G, etc.

But I'm now a Mac guy and I got suckered into the hype for the new iPhone.

Should I expect to be impressed or disappointed? Anyone in the same boat now or previously?
 
Last year I had a Blackjack. All my friends that are mac owners got iPhones but I decided to skip out because of the lack of 3g service. I later got the AT&T Tilt. It had 3g, GPS, all the stuff I liked. I decided to get the iPhone 3G this time. It is a great phone. I love it. The OS is great to work with. The camera is alright for 2 megapixel. The 3G network is a little slow but I think it will improve greatly. GPS is also wonderful. My contacts and email are pushed through my phone instantly through my schools exchange server. I miss the MMS slightly. However most of my friends I would usually send MMS pictures to have email on their phone so it isn't a big deal. On screen keyboard took a day to get use to. I find it to be nice. Makes the phone smaller not to have a real one and the on screen is very easy to use. I never used the video function of the HTC.

Anyways I say go for it! :D
 
I know what it is to sucumb to hype. I owned a Verizon Samsung SCH i760 smartphone and loved it. I loved the qwerty keypad, and the features of the phone. However, I got caught up in the Blackberry hype, and gave in. Also, my company did not support non-Blackberry devices. I like my Blackberry Curve, but miss my Samsung SCH i760.

If you're used to your AT&T phone, you'll probably miss using it on a daily basis. But, they say the IPhone is really cool, and I think you'll transition fine. Go for it, and let us know what you think when you get it.
 
Chodite said:
Should I expect to be impressed or disappointed? Anyone in the same boat now or previously?
Click to expand...

I have the 8925 (AT&T Tilt) and would like to get the new iPhone 3G. I never use MMS or video but I do make extensive use of Microsoft Office Mobile. I understand Microsoft will release a version for the iPhone sometime next year.

I preferred my Blackberry keyboard to the stiff, inconsistent version on my Tilt. I assume there is learning curve to get used to the the touch screen keyboard of the iPhone. I've played with my co-worker's new iPhone 3G and it appears to be very easy to use. I love my MBP and really want to get an iPhone but some of the work constraints are holding me back.

If you can do everything you need on the iPhone 3G why would you be disappointed?

Cheers,
 
panzer06 said:
I have the 8925 (AT&T Tilt) and would like to get the new iPhone 3G. I never use MMS or video but I do make extensive use of Microsoft Office Mobile. I understand Microsoft will release a version for the iPhone sometime next year.

I preferred my Blackberry keyboard to the stiff, inconsistent version on my Tilt. I assume there is learning curve to get used to the the touch screen keyboard of the iPhone. I've played with my co-worker's new iPhone 3G and it appears to be very easy to use. I love my MBP and really want to get an iPhone but some of the work constraints are holding me back.

If you can do everything you need on the iPhone 3G why would you be disappointed?

Cheers,
Click to expand...

I will be getting the Microsoft Office Mobile when it comes out for sure. If I could do that on the iPhone it would be PERFECT. The learning curve on the iPhone typing wise is very small. I am perfect with the iPhone now and it has only been a week. I like it more than the Tilt for typing.
 
My #1 concern right now is Xpress Mail. I use it now to retrieve my work/Outlook email, snce my company will not set me up on a non-work issued device (Blackberry), Xpress Mail has worked perfectly on my 8525. I'm hoping this service is available with the iPhone.
 
Chodite said:
My #1 concern right now is Xpress Mail. I use it now to retrieve my work/Outlook email, snce my company will not set me up on a non-work issued device (Blackberry), Xpress Mail has worked perfectly on my 8525. I'm hoping this service is available with the iPhone.
Click to expand...

For people that want real push email and don't have exchange service through their school or business MobileMe can be had through Apple. Not sure on the cost but my friend has it and it works great!
 
I went from the HTC TyTn (8525) to the 1st gen iPhone and never looked back. Now I have the 3G.
The HTC has more features, but the web browsing on the iPhone is far superior to the HTC, The elegant interface blows away the HTC. If you can do without the great apps available on the HTC, you will be happy. The Apple Apps pale in comparison, and the lack of desktop management and a simple TODAY screen is agrivating at times I still prefer the iPhone.
 
There are a few major shortcomings in Apple's implementation of Exchange support for example:

- When you schedule a meeting on the iPhone you cannot invite others.
- When a meeting request arrives, you can accept/decline/maybe but there is no way to suggest an alternative day/time.
- The iPhone does not know you accepted or declined a meeting, it always shows the accept/decline/maybe buttons on meetings even though you may have already accepted.
- You cannot edit a meeting you previously scheduled (there is NO edit button). i.e. you cannot add another attendee, remove an attendee, change the date, start time, etc. Come on Apple!

In short the calendar/meetings/invite implementation on the iPhone is minimal and not even close to the full functionality offered by Windows Mobile. A co-worker was livid that he was on the road with an upcoming meeting that he organized and had no way to send out a reschedule using his iPhone. Since he lives for meetings (a salesman) he is going back to Windows Mobile until Apple upgrades their calendar functionality.

Many business users live by their calendars and the limitations on the iPhone make it unacceptable. For me I am suffering with it and hoping that this is on Apple's short list of things that need work on the iPhone Exchange implementation. I already submitted feedback to them explaining the lack of functionality.
 
I just made this transition--from an At&T Tilt to an iPhone 3G. I had had the two previous models of the HTC unit as well. I use MS exchange for push email, calendar and contacts--not so much for task management. I had a chance to try out the 2.5G iPhone (pre 2.0) for a while and held off transitioning until they fixed the enterprise issue.

Works seamlessly with Exchange and the interface is a far better experience than Windows Mobile. I use macs, PCs tablets etc in my work-I have neither the time nor the interest to cultivate religeous affiliations with one technology or another, I just use what works.

That's what is going on here-the interface just works.

cheers.
 
Almost forgot another issue with the iPhone Exchange implementation. You cannot read your mail without a data connection (Edge/3G/WiFi). The iPhone does NOT pull down the message until you click on it to read it. So if you don't have a connection you cannot read the email.

On Windows Mobile you can set the option to download entire messages, this happens when the email is pushed to your phone - not when you click to read. So if you are in an area with no cell coverage you can still read all the emails on your phone since they are stored locally.

This iPhone limitation can be a real pain if you are on a road trip and in an area with no coverage - you cannot read any of your emails!
 
w4rmk said:
There are a few major shortcomings in Apple's implementation of Exchange support for example:

- When you schedule a meeting on the iPhone you cannot invite others.
- When a meeting request arrives, you can accept/decline/maybe but there is no way to suggest an alternative day/time.
- The iPhone does not know you accepted or declined a meeting, it always shows the accept/decline/maybe buttons on meetings even though you may have already accepted.
- You cannot edit a meeting you previously scheduled (there is NO edit button). i.e. you cannot add another attendee, remove an attendee, change the date, start time, etc. Come on Apple!

In short the calendar/meetings/invite implementation on the iPhone is minimal and not even close to the full functionality offered by Windows Mobile. A co-worker was livid that he was on the road with an upcoming meeting that he organized and had no way to send out a reschedule using his iPhone. Since he lives for meetings (a salesman) he is going back to Windows Mobile until Apple upgrades their calendar functionality.

Many business users live by their calendars and the limitations on the iPhone make it unacceptable. For me I am suffering with it and hoping that this is on Apple's short list of things that need work on the iPhone Exchange implementation. I already submitted feedback to them explaining the lack of functionality.
Click to expand...

If this is true it's a deal killer for me. I must have full calendar functionality. This little gotcha and the lack of Office Mobile makes an iPhone transition impossible for now (for me).

Thanks for the heads up.

Cheers,
 
I've been an ardent WinCE/Windows Mobile user for years, and have just switched to an iPhone 3G. In short, the WM platform is much more versatile if you like to "tinker", but the iPhone more than makes up for this in the execution of its user interface and its reliability.

I don't think you'll really miss Windows Mobile - I like no longer suddenly realizing that I've missed several calls because my phone's been crashed for several hours without me noticing...
 
I went to WM about 18 months ago via a pair of Blackjacks, a Blackjack II, and then a Moto Q9h. The reason for all the phones was each of the Blackjacks eventually quit holding calls and full resets did nothing to fix them. Luckily, all the replacements were under warranty. All of these phones had 3G, but the browsers were impossibly slow or they didn't render pages well at all. The first Blackjacks couldn't hold enough battery charge to make it through a single day with 3G enabled so it took a hack to disable it. I'd charge it all night, pull it off the charger around 7:30 AM, and by 3:00 PM the low battery warning was sounding though I'd made no calls. The BJ2 and the Q had GPS built in, but it only turned on when an app, such as Google Maps, called for it. Then it took several minutes to acquire the satellites and you could almost watch the battery meter dwindling down once it was enabled. The whole WM interface is so cumbersome and inconsistent it frustrated me to no end. I was counting the seconds until I could get the new iPhone.

Now that I've punted WM to the curb, here are a few things I wish my iPhone did that my WM devices could do:

- Allow more options for the calendar and email. In the calendar, I'd like to be able to specify some defaults, such as 15 minute reminder, all events are one hour, etc. In the email, I'd like to return to the inbox after deleting or reading a message. I DO NOT want to automatically go to the next message.

- Allow me to customize the sounds for any event that makes a sound. It's great that I can choose my own ringtone, but I want to choose different sounds for everything and I don't want to jailbreak my phone to do it.

- Video recording will be nice. I occasionally did this on my WM phones, though the qualty was crappy. I'm betting a video app will show up eventually, though.

- Allow me to create a custom home screen with whatever info I want displayed. I kind of miss seeing all my upcoming appointments, unread emails, and pics of my kids just with a quick glance at the phone without having to unlock it. I'd love to be able to hit the home button and have it show me all sorts of stuff before I swipe the unlock slider.

In spite of these minor issues, I'm never going back to WM. The pros far outweigh the cons with my iPhone. I'm also glad to not have to scour all the various shareware sites looking for cool software as the App store makes it all so elegant and simple. Granted, there aren't as many apps, but those that are there are keeping me satisfied for now.

I thought I was going to miss the physical keyboard because that's what many reviews said would happen. With the iPhone's autocorrection, I can type faster on my iPhone than I ever could on my WM devices with far more accuracy. I've had the phone less than a week, too.
 
Chodite said:
I ordered my iPhone 2.0 today from AT&T Wireless and am thinking I might not have made the best decision.

I currently own an HTC 8525 with Windows Mobile 6. For the most part, it works great (it is a Windows product and does freeze every few days). But the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Great slide out keyboard, MMS, nice camera, video, WiFi, 3G, etc.

But I'm now a Mac guy and I got suckered into the hype for the new iPhone.

Should I expect to be impressed or disappointed? Anyone in the same boat now or previously?
Click to expand...

I use a G900 Tosh with 6.1 on it at the moment for work and have an iPhone 3g for personal.

The iPhone beats the WM in ease of use, and (up till firmware 2) reliability. (it still does, but some way to go I think).

Browsing, media playback and email are great on the iPhone, but don't get suckered by exchange support, as I'm having a nightmare getting ssl and self certified exchange email working on the iPhone, and of course if I set that working, my (crashing Mobile Me) email does not get pushed.

Maps is great and so is picture browsing, and some of the new apps work well (but can fail).

The down side of the iPhone (for me) and what WM6 can do.

No terminate and stay resident apps. (I know it helps the battery life, but renders some apps less useful)

No MMS ?!?!?!

Copy and paste is essential when dealing with a lot of email, why they can't do it, not sure.

Bluetooth PAN... A BIG deal for me. Allowing me to run my MBA with my mobiles 3G connection is a must.

Customize the home screen, which can be done with jailbroken iPhones, but this should not be the case IMHO. People like to be individual, and the changing of some icons and fonts should not be difficult. (as of course it is not as lost of Jailbreak themes prove).

Better exchange support with WM. You of course would expect that, but its still to me the option of choice if you need to roll out exchange clients to a mobile network.

Removable storage. Ok the iPhone has vast storage, but being able to pop out an SD card and quickly move files from one place to another is very handy when you need quick results.

Cheers
 
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