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Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 518
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Our Last Windows Mobile Phone(s) - ?
Last Friday - just before the long Labor Day Weekend - we took delivery of 2 (two) new AT&T Tilt 2's (aka HTC Touch Pro 2), running Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional.
At the moment, these appear to be almost certainly the last Windows Mobile phones we are likely to own - or, at least, to purchase as "new" - and I have some regrets about that. 
Almost two years ago I moved from 2 devices (PDA + phone) to a single "smartphone" - the AT&T Fuze (HTC Touch Pro). Although this has not always been an unbridled success (my comment is often "As a smartphone, the Fuze makes a great PDA..."), all-in-all the Fuze has been an enjoyable device, and works well enough as a PDA that I had some thoughts about keeping it just for that purpose & simply adding a "real" phone...
Recently my wife - who does software development on a number of platforms - came up with a need to add a data plan to her mobile phone service. To make a long story short, we looked at different platforms (Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Win Phone 7), and carriers, and ended up deciding that a Windows Mobile 6.5 device made the most sense, and that there was no compelling reason to switch from AT&T.
A major decision point for us was SOFTWARE: we have multiple years invested in many of the WinMo apps we use, and not all of them are available (yet) on the other mobile platforms - and at least some of them may never be.
Admittedly, we may be only delaying the inevitable - but our hopes are a) that two or so years down the line the apps we want will be available on either Android and/or Win Phone 7; and b) the usable lives of the Tilt 2 devices will extend well beyond the two year range, allowing that much more time for acceptable alternatives to pop up....
.................
Part of the reason for our hopeful outlook as to likely Tilt 2 longevity is that my Fuze (just under 2 years old) continues to function quite well (even given its shortcomings as a Phone...), and my wife has been using a CINGULAR 8125 - aka HTC Wizard - which is, of course, even older, originally belonged to our No 1 Son, and has held up remarkably well considering that it bangs around without a case(!).
During our research, we discovered that WinMo 6.x devices are getting hard to find - in fact, once we decided upon the Tilt 2 we learned that NEITHER the AT&T Online Store NOR any of our local AT&T stores actually carried any stock (beyond the demo unit at our local store).
Fortunately, the HTC online store DID carry the Tilt 2 in stock, and - reflecting its status as an aging device running an obsolete OS  - was offering a great deal on them: $99.99 for my wife to upgrade her Wizard (with a contract extension, of course....). The clincher was discovering that, as the primary line owner, I could upgrade for the Grand Price of $0.00. Total Cost, for 2 Tilt 2's, including Shipping & Activation: $99.99.  A bargain we could not pass up, even though I had not yet given Serious thought to replacing the Fuze....
Holiday weekends tend to be very busy, so we've had only a bit of play time, but so far we are both very impressed with the new devices. Am not going to pretend that they are "Perfect" or "Better than anything else on the market," but can well understand the good reports that (many....) other owners have provided - and it seems a shame that MS is abandoning WinMo Pro at this time.
(Although, to be fair, the HTC "Sense" interface undoubtedly helps the overall impression this phone makes.)
Software loaded thus far: FITALY (first thing on, of course!); Resco Explorer; PhatNotes; eWallet - all carried over from the Fuze. The newest release of Pocket Informant (one on my Fuze is one generation old); Opera 10; and Bing.
Bing is the one truly new app of this group, and it seems most impressive: using the built-in GPS receiver on the Tilt 2 it manages a relatively quick fix, shows very legible maps, and provides a number of real time information options. We will, of course, have to watch Data Usage for a while to determine whether or not we are within the allowable limits, but even if only used "in emergencies" Bing seems well worth adding....
IF you like Windows Mobile Professional - and / or the software that runs on it - prefer a stylus-centric input (although "Sense" makes a lot of things "finger friendly" for those who don't mind GREASY BLOBS all over their screen... ), and are looking for a relative bargain, it might be worthwhile to check out one of the several Touch Pro 2 devices before they all disappear....
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