04-09-2010, 01:30 PM
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Executive Editor, Android Thoughts
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Android-ers Come Forward!
If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll tell you a secret: I use an Android phone. If you're wondering why this is a secret, perhaps if I expand it out, you'll see why: I am a Windows Mobile MVP, who used the platform exclusively for 7 years. I have written for a website focusing on Windows Mobile devices for over 5 years, and I own multiple Windows Mobile Devices. Yet still, I use a Nexus One as my daily driver. See, that's why it's a bit of a secret. And I'm sure you're wondering why I'm telling you this. 
Well, I'm not telling you this as a prelude to a "I'm leaving the site" post or a "I've used Android but it sucks compared to WinMo" fanboy post. I use an Android phone because the platform excites me, the same way that Windows Mobile and Windows Phone still excite me, and I believe that by using each platform I can write more informed posts on each side and contribute to both platforms (I also own an iPod Touch, for the same reason). In other words, Win Mo didn't "lose" me, we're just not "exclusive" anymore. And I'm wondering how many other Thoughts readers may be seeing Android devices on the side (or full time)! If you've gone to the Android side, what do you like or dislike? What do you miss about Windows Mobile? And does Windows Phone 7 tempt you back (as it does me)? Don't be afraid to admit it, android-ers, stand up and be counted!
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Dr. Jon Westfall, MCSE, MS-MVP
Executive Editor - Android Thoughts
News Editor - Windows Phone Thoughts
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04-09-2010, 01:49 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 740
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Personally I followed another route:
I tried Android and overall I like it, there is a lot of potential but at the end I went back to my HD2 with WM 6.5 and XDA; right now this is still my winning combination.
WP7: I think I like the GUI a lot but nothing else is interesting or exciting for me; actually I see it as a big step backwards. I do not bite the excuse about being a new platform; WIN95 was a new platform compared to WIN3.xxxx still they added features and functionalities and not the other way around.
So when my HD2 will be replaced by the end of the year I will go to Android; once there I will monitor the situation to see what WP7.xx or WP8 will offer and compare it to where Android will be at the same time.
As for the iPhone... it is as bad as WP7 but with, on top, Steve Jobs with his "High Priest" attitude that I cannot stand.
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04-09-2010, 02:17 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 497
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I'm using the Motorola Droid thru Verizon and love it. It's more user friendly for me, the app store is amazing but more important web browsing is much faster than any thing else I've tried
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HTC Thunderbolt
Last edited by ntractv; 04-09-2010 at 02:20 PM..
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04-09-2010, 02:24 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,053
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I was a Pocket PC user since back in 2001 with the Jornada 565. I loved the platform. Back in 2001, Pocket PC was exciting because of everything it was capable of. For 7 years I used a variety of different PPC devices.
But I abandoned it 18 months ago for the G1 and I haven't looked back. Pocket PC or whatever they wanted to call it at any given time got stale. The only reason Windows Phone 7 even remotely piqued my interest is because it will integrate the Zune experience.
Android is powerful and flexible. To me its what Pocket PCs used to represent in the category. WP7 will be another locked down platform like the iPhone and holds no interest for me. A few weeks ago I moved to the CLIQ XT and I really don't see myself moving off the Android platform any time in the near future. Its as exciting to me as Pocket PC used to be.
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04-09-2010, 02:36 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 10
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I too have been a recent convert. I have been using windows mobile for almost exclusively for nearly 10 years. I started with an apple newton and then the handspring visor (the functionality of the expansion slot never materialized). But the dell axim was the fastest, most tech advanced and stable device I have owned until the moto droid. I couldnt wait to turn in my verizon 6800 for the omnia II. When I tried it at the verizon store, it was a let down to see how sluggish the interface was. The Droid's interface is fast and stable, many good apps, but still waiting for the full version of epocrates.
I'm sure there are many great winmo devices out there, but when the best verizon has to offer doesnt come close to a device that was discontinued 5 years earlier it is time to jump ship. Unfortunately, Verizon has the best coverage where i live in CT, so I am stuck with their offerings.
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04-09-2010, 02:41 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 86
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About six weeks ago I purchased an unlocked Nexus One coming from an iPhone 2G, and an iPAQ 3975 prior to that (yes I know the iPAQ was not a phone). My quick summary is that this phone is probably the most amazing thing I've ever owned or held in one hand. The physical device itself is a sight to behold when playing back 720p h.264 encoded video. The Android OS on the other hand brings me back to the day of the PocketPC and HandheldPC. It brings me back to those days in the sense that I can do what I want with them. I've rooted my Nexus and it allows me to Cisco VPN into work and SSH in any device I need to tend to - that's just plain crazy to me.
The whole mentality of preventing users from doing anything not specifically anointed holy by Apple or Microsoft is anathema to virtually anyone who self-identifies as a geek or technology professional. I've spent a bloody good amount of money on "traditional" media in the form of CD's and DVD's and if someone thinks their going to tell me which device I can consume that media or when I can, or charge me per consumption.. well they're sadly mistaken. The same goes for these singular "app stores" with no other way to install software. Google got this part right. I appreciate some aspects of the app store, but at the same time they allow you to install software from outside those boundaries.
It's really too bad. All of the reasons that I felt like I was completing a self-imposed incarceration on Apple Island are the exact same reasons that I view WM7 as an epic fail.
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04-09-2010, 02:48 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 15
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I've switched to Android also. And probably not ever going back to Windows Mobile. I need an open system that lets me tinker with it. Windows Mobile let me do that, let me do everything I wanted with it. But 6.5 has grown stale, and 7 will probably not be open in the same way. But I still follow this site, mostly out of loyalty.
I've been using a CE device since the Casio Cassiopeia clam shell device. I feel I'll be following Windows Mobile news for the rest of my life.
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04-09-2010, 03:04 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 41
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I went from a BlackJack to a Nexus One a few weeks ago. I'm a software developer, and while I just dabble in mobile development, I don't like the iPhone lockdown and I don't like that WP7 is going in that direction.
I like the Nexus One/Android combo, even though it definitely isn't as polished as the iPhone. I miss my hardware keyboard (and Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard), but that will come eventually, even if I have to compile my own version of android and add the necessary drivers. Which is something you can't really do in a completely legal fashion with the other options.
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04-09-2010, 03:07 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 19
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Canadians?
Are any of you writing from Canada? There is a very real possibility that work will transfer me to Canada by the end of the year. I've heard that the data plans in Canada make it almost prohibitive for smartphone users  I've been on the PPC platform since my first ebay acquisition of the iPaq with its expansion sleeve and slender 1" profile 
I'm currently on the now-dead Sprint employee referral plan with unlimited everything using a *gasp* HTC Mogul. I've been in upgrade paralysis for months - first wanting an HD2, but now seriously considering Android.
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04-09-2010, 03:10 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 984
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I switched to an Android phone in December and I love it. There is only one thing that my WM phone did better: when I started typing a phone number or contact name, it would initiate the process to start a phone call. Perhaps there is a home screen replacement that does this for Android, but otherwise this takes more steps on Android.
Otherwise, everything that I need is more solid. All of my PIM stuff are on Google anyway - gmail, Google Calendar, and gmail contacts - so Android is a no-brainer. I was using NuevaSync with WM, but there were times that NuevaSync would update their Exchange Server end and you wouldn't know that ActiveSync needed you to confirm until you looked at the phone. A few weeks ago I needed to search for an e-mail message from sometime last year based on a search term, and I could search from within the gmail app and get a result in seconds. I simply could not do that with WM before.
There are many other reasons why I prefer Android, including a fast and accurate web browsing engine, and a rich set of third party apps (including MLB At Bat). For what I need and want, Android is much better.
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