Switching from WinMo to iPhone?

[Mafamaticks]

Backstory:

I've installed tons of customs roms from the Apache up to the Touch. I've tweaked these things inside and out. My 2 years are up on Sprint so I'm a free agent right now. I think I'm starting to get tired of WinMo's bugs and the lack of design. The Instinct doesn't do enough so it's gonna be an iPhone (it doesn't really do enough either, but it does more than the Instinct with the right touches) if I don't wind up sticking with WinMo and getting a Diamond.

Over the years of tweaking, my goal was to have a phone that replaced all my devices. That has since changed to having a phone that did certain things and did those things well since I had other devices that took over certain functions. I figure I can find iPhone replacements for some of the apps I use on my device and now that the iPhone supports Exchange (I use it heavily), I can probably switch. I'm just a little worried. If anything, the iPhone will probably hold me over until WinMo 7 drops on the new devices.

TL;DR:

Has anybody switched from WinMo to iPhone/iPhone to WinMo here? If so, what were your experiences if any?

[schettj]

Originally Posted by Mafamaticks

Has anybody switched from WinMo to iPhone/iPhone to WinMo here? If so, what were your experiences if any?

I use a touch and a winmo and an android phone. I have access to 1st and 2nd gen iphones as well.

You'll be fine. You'll hate a whole different set of things, and love a different set of things. Overall you should be pretty happy.

If you ever listen to the Mobility Today podcast (used to be "Dave's iPaq") you can hear 4 HEAVY users who all hate their iPhones, but would rather use them over the best HTC phone they can get (and they've had em all.)

Like you said, your PIM data and email sync will be there. Other then cut & paste, PAM, and WmWifiRouter everything is there. Appstore has tons of apps, many useful ones free. And as a phone it works. You know. for calling and whatnot!

[Mafamaticks]

thanks for that podcast. they feel exactly how i feel. It's funny hearing them vent my same frustrations.

[imneveral0ne]

i'd wait a lil while though, i hear they're gonna be releasing a 3rd gen iphone in a couple months. wouldnt wanna buy the 2nd gen and be stuck with that one then a new one comes out lol.

[nuzzle]

Lemme just say that the iphone might have a few better options, but the plan I have now no company can match. The Pro I have is amazing. Its like a laptop in my pocket. Sure it's a little bit bigger; but like i said its like a little laptop. It does everything. And if I wanted longer/better battery life I would just upgrade to the 3000mAh extended battery.

I have a few friends with the Iphone, not only is their monthly bill outrageous, but every app they need to pay for. Atleast with the WM interface I know the sky is the limit. I would hope you look at all aspects before you make the switch. I currently pay apx 40$ a month for unlimited EVERYTHING on my plan. My plan at ATT would cost me 3x that. F- THAT! lol

Good luck man.

[schettj]

Originally Posted by nuzzle

I have a few friends with the Iphone, not only is their monthly bill outrageous, but every app they need to pay for.

2nd time I've heard this incorrect statement here at PPCGeeks.

The app store has many (hundreds) free apps. I've got about 30 on my touch, all free.
The "pay" ones are $1-$10 dollars. Like buying a song.

No doubt about it though, the unlimited plan on AT&T for the iPhone is a lot more then a lot of the special Sprint plans that are slowly getting weeded out.

I have a minimal 300 minute/200sms plan with unlimited data on AT&T for development (not iPhone) and it runs $64/mo total after taxes. That's exactly $5 less then my Sprint three line plan with unlimited data on all three, 500/500/unlimited txt, and 550 shared min. Indeed, its not cheap to have service with AT&T!

[rudefyet]

$59.99 a month for my plan with AT&T, that only includes 200 texts though, but not an issue for me.

As for my experience, I personally made the switch back with the original iPhone, left Sprint and sold my Mogul. I think the appeal and growing popularity of the Apple ecosystem drew me in, I'd bought a MacBook, an Airport Extreme router, all I needed was the phone, and it just seemed like the hip thing to do as all my friends were all drooling over the iPhone. In reality, it was a step up from my Mogul, which I never liked it's form factor, but now, after I've gotten a iPhone 3G, had it replaced twice, and the replacements have the same annoying build quality issues (Google back light leak), I'm getting sick of it.

It's not that there isn't a huge selection of applications, there's some I going to have to make compromises to live without that simple have no WM equivilent. It's the build quality, the lack of multi-tasking, GSM interference, and the fact AT&T won't allow anything on the phone to use 3G like Qik or podcast downloads. Now I can have these features if I jailbreak the phone, but I find with the selection of stuff I require to make it bearable the phone slows to a crawl and requires reboots to speed it back up. It just really pains me that I can't have Pandora open, and then load up an IRC client and chat, even the Mogul could have done that. Also in the light of recent things like Live Mesh, SkyMarket, SkyBox, and the (hopefully) inevitable Zune for WM, I can make my life even easier by keeping things in sync between my phone/laptop over the air to a greater extent then MobileMe lets me, and instead I can pay $15 a month for a Zune Pass instead of making myself broke trying to buy music ala carte the iTunes way.

That being said the other my other big issue is AT&T's coverage, I recently moved from an area with spectacular 3G coverage to another part of the suburbs that barely gets EDGE, and it's just plan unbearable, especially when people come over on Sprint and get flawless EV-DO coverage.

While I don't expect everyone to agree with my issues with the iPhone, it's serious enough to me that I'm trying to de-Applefy my life (I sold my MacBook over a year ago, so that's been long gone), it just doesn't fit who I am, and well that Airport I mentioned is a pile of crap that crashes often and corrupts hard drives. Overall I'm looking for an ecosystem that works how I want it, oddly enough Microsoft's does, and will even more-so soon. So for now I've been using a T-Mobile Wing someone gave me to test out some newer applications that weren't around back when I had my Mogul, then once the Sprint Treo Pro finally is released, I'll go into 100% PocketPC fanboy mode.

[orionsbuckle]

after using a winmo phone i could never go to an iphone..first of all what you see is what you get...you cant run more then one app at a time...you cant take video...the phone looks cool but its boring...and gets old fast and then i wouldnt have anything to play with....
price wise...youre with sprint...att is so much more expensive...not only that youre going to sign a 2 year contract to switch to a phone that to me personally is inferior to the touch pro. sprints 3g is in four time more air ports then att and sprints 3g is the most reliable 3g network. gizmodo.com concluded...and when i want something on the net i want it fast...but its all opion...lol..

[sorge]

The one thing that draws me to the iphone is the full sized headphone jack....I know thats dumb and I wouldnt use it enough, but its a selling point...still just bought touch pro.

At least wait for the next iphone, no point in paying that much for the old model.

[bubbatex]

I have been dying for an iPhone for 6-8 months - been on Sprint for over 9 years and it was just hard to justify the price increase for the plan. But my eyes are growing weary and I wanted a bigger screen. The iPhone is just great, IMO, I love it and don't really miss WM. However, I actually need to use the phone part and ATT $UCKS! I live in Austin TX and 3G is in, then out. Go 2 miles and it is excellent, 2 more and EDGE - and not even good EDGE. I depend on my cell for my business and the call quality, IMO, even in 3G is not as good as Sprint. And everyone I talk to can tell the difference between my Sprint line and my ATT line.

Sadly, I have to stay with Sprint and give up this great piece of hardware. Hopefully the Pre or maybe the TP2 can help fill the void!