Windows 8 Windows Phone 8/8.1 help needed

[brkkab]

Sometime next Friday or Saturday, I'm going to be getting a Nokia Lumia 521. I was wondering if someone could point me to any Windows Phone 8 guides, as I'm a newb. to Windows Phone or any smartphone, in general. I already know how to upgrade it to the Windows Phone 8.1 Preview. Which I plan on doing. I'm also curious on if I can use a regular 64 gb. sd card with it or if it has to be a special sort of sd card ?

 

[brkkab]

A few site's for Windows Phone. WMPower User http:www.wmpoweruser.com , WP Central http://www.wpcentral.com Microsoft's Windows Phone blog Link Removed

 

[badrobot]

Thanks for sharing those links.

 

[brkkab]

I forgot the newest Nokia firmware is now called Cyan. The newer phones will more than likely get it first. The Black was needed to install the Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview.

 

[brkkab]

From that Nokia link I posted earlier for North America, the Cyan firmware is available for all U.S. carrier's. Most, but not all Canada carrier's have it, so far.

 

[brkkab]

Apparently Windows Phone 8.1 will be available by the 2nd week of July. Probably on Patch Tuesday, as it happen's the 2nd Tuesday of July. Here's a link to a article about it. http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/windows-phone-8-1-phone-update-list/#!6uIwq

 

[badrobot]

Thank you for the update.
I hope network sharing and NAS connectivity capabilities will be addressed. It's one basic but big thing missing with windows phone. Apps in the store for that purpose are not working well.

 

[brkkab]

I noticed while my Lumia 521 was still working, that the Microsoft Office tab in Windows Phone 8.1 would never sign into my Office 365 Home Premium account. The login failed constantly. I really hope that issue was fixed.I also had a sort of disk cleanup app I got through the Windows Phone Store. It worked good (don't remember it's name now), but it was really, really slow. I hope the maker fixes it and speeds it up. It took over a hour to run. It did a good job, though. It just need's to work faster. The rest of it, I'm kind of still a newb. at. The Lumia 521, is my 1st smartphone. Later on, after I'm not a newb. anymore, I'll get a better Lumia. I know the Lumia 6**'s have more ram, but, really not enough to warrant a upgrade to me. I may see what Newegg has around Christmas or New Year's. Maybe, I'll be able to find a unlocked Lumia 9** for under $300.00 then.

 

[badrobot]

Most 920s and 925s are around that price range right now at amazon where I also got my 1520.

But you might want to look at the newly released 635 for only $250 which comes with 8.1 out of the box. Storage expansion is up to 128GB.

 

[brkkab]

Actually the old Lumia's will all work now with a 128 GB. microSD card. I read a article on that before I got my 521. The 128 GB. microSD card's are still over $100.00 as only 2 or 3 companie's make them now. To me the 635 doesn't justify switching from the 521. Both have the 5.0 mp camera. The 521 has 512 mb.ram. The 635 has 1.0 GB. That's the only diffrernce and a newer chipset/cpu. Same weak battery life. 4-5 hour's with use on both. Doesn't justify a price increased from $99. to over $200 to me. I'll wait til Decmember/January and get a older Lumia 9** series, that still has better feature's than what I have.Yes my 521 ran $30. mor than the regular T-Mobile one, but it's the Walmart Family Mobile one. The plan is $10. cheaper a month and the plan is actually through T-Mobile still.As I'm on disability for life, $29.** a month, is better than $49.**, for the same unlimited plan. Once, I have more ink for my printer and send the form into my state government, I'll get $10.00 off my bill for good.

 

[brkkab]

I still need to get a 2nd bigger ssd for my desktop pc out of the way. Then I'll think about the Lumia 9**. My 2nd ssd is too small for my games. It's only 128GB. I'm getting a 2nd Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB. The games from Steam will all fit on it, once I have it.

 

[badrobot]

I am actually on prepaid plan right now. I figured I don't need to continue subscribing on expensive data plans as we have wifi in the office. I only get a $10 credit each month which I dont normally use all up at the end of the month. The left over amount carries over to the following month and as of last month I have a $50+ total accumulated left over credit. I just have to make sure to add $10 each month so the leftover credit will not be forfeited (auto load via credit card). As for data, I can just buy it on demand when I am outside a wifi coverage. Usually, a $1 data is enough for an entire day. I rarely buy data anyway.

 

[brkkab]

My plan has everything. Internet, etc. Once my paperwork get's sent to Florida state, it'll only cost me $29.** monthly. That's better than all the carrier's charge. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.. It's a shame only 1 Windows Phone, currently work's on that plan. Walmart need's to add more.

 

[badrobot]

Just wanna show you my Lumia 1520 and it's Win 8 family..

A Family Portrait:

 

[brkkab]

Cool. I should have my replacement Lumia 521 either late next week or early the following week. I ordered it on the 3rd. I should probably check the tracking info I got from Walmart. This time I've got it coming direct to me, instead of the store. Hopefully, I can transfer my number, etc. on my own.If not, the store is only a mile from me.

 

[brkkab]

Cool, I'll have it Tuesday. Much faster than the site to store option. The site to store took over a week, when I got the first 521. That work's out good, I receive it on Patch Tuesday, so I should be able to get Windows Phone 8.1 on it out the gate, without doing the Developer Preview option. Next month, I'm going to get a 128GB. microSD card for it and pull out the current 64GB. one I have. I already found out the 128GB. microSD cards work on all the Windows Phone based Lumia's. It doesn't have to be one of the 2013-2014 models.

 

[badrobot]

Cool, I'll have it Tuesday. Much faster than the site to store option. The site to store took over a week, when I got the first 521. That work's out good, I receive it on Patch Tuesday, so I should be able to get Windows Phone 8.1 on it out the gate, without doing the Developer Preview option. Next month, I'm going to get a 128GB. microSD card for it and pull out the current 64GB. one I have. I already found out the 128GB. microSD cards work on all the Windows Phone based Lumia's. It doesn't have to be one of the 2013-2014 models.

I came from a 32GB HTC One X without an expansion option. I even didn't use up the entire 32GB storage as I don't store and watch videos on my phone. So for me, a 32GB Lumia 1520 with a 64GB microSD is already plenty. I got a Samsung Evo 48MB/s 64GB microSDXC. It's very snappy!

 

[brkkab]

There's a neat feature in Windows Phone 8.1. You can set it up to install the app's on the microSD card, instead of the 8 GB. storage that's on most of the phone's. I'm kind of a storage freak. I like having more room, just in case.My desktop's a perfect example. I originally had Windows and Programs on my OCZ Vertex 3 128GB. MaxIOPs ssd. Then after 2 years, the 128GB. wasn't enough, so I got a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB. I now use the Vertex 3 for my Steam games only. It's been too small for month's now. Next month or September the Vertex 3 is coming out and a 2nd Samsung 840 Pro 256GB. or EVO 250GB. is going in for Steam. My 3.0TB. Seagate is just for Downloads, Documents, Music and Videos. It'll be years before all that get's used up.

 

[brkkab]

I've got all my music from my pc copied onto the microSD card that goes in the 521. I just upgraded my AI RoboForm Desktop version, as now they have a Windows Phone version. I'll now have to copy all my passwords from my pc onto the phone, too.

 

[brkkab]

The 128GB microSD card's that are compatible with phone's are still over $100.00, as they're new (space wise).http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=microsd 128gb&N=-1&isNodeId=1 There are one's listed for $6*.**, but they're compatible with camera's, not smartphone's. Your better off getting the model number off Newegg or Amazon and then going to the manufacture's site to double-check first, before purchasing.

 

[brkkab]

P.S. When you get Windows Phone 8.1, you're going to like Cortana.You can speak or type commands and Cortana does whatever you asked.Just to try, I heard it could cover off the wall stuff. I asked it, "Who is your father?". The answer I got was funny. Technically speaking, that would be Bill Gates. You tell it call someone in your contacts list and it does it for you. It also does web searches, opens apps, etc.. Really cool feature.