I won a Nokia Lumia 900 (Windows Phone) – what to do with it?

Posted Sep 10, 2012 at 7:29 pm in Threads > Smartphones & Tablets

I won this device from the local gdgt live event. Obviously, I’m an Android fan, but when I used the phone briefly at the expo, it’s not a bad experience at all. I doubt I’ll be switching to Windows Phone any time soon, but I’m curious if the community here has any suggestions as to what I should do with the device. Is it worth playing around with, developing for, or just flat-out selling unopened?

11 Comments Join the discussion!

JarrettGuest 09/10/12 8:39 PM

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You could sell it to me. What would you want for it? I’m actually looking to make that switch

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99 jaxidian 09/11/12 2:10 AM

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I’d say you have a few obvious options:

1) Sell it and go buy something fun
2) Use it as a toy although it would most likely be wasted
3) Donate it to a good cause whether that’s somebody who is unfortunate enough to not be able to afford such a device (but could afford a cheap pre-paid plan w/data)
4) Donate it to a good cause if you know somebody looking to get into Windows Phone development
5) Sell it and donate the money towards a good non-profit that is sustainable and helps impoverished people get back on their feet

I personally have a buddy who does WP7 (and now WP8) development. I went to a Microsoft convention in 2010 and they gave me a free WP7 device. I ended up just giving it to my buddy because I knew he could put it to good use and it would have been totally wasted on me.

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69 nivekkev 09/11/12 9:28 AM

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You could see if you could get it to boot up Android, make it a dual boot phone if possible…

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- 95 Bpear96 09/11/12 2:18 PM
  
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  Nope not possibly, the bootloader is tightly locked down, and even if it wasn’t, it would take SO much work to get the linux kernel (needed to get android running) to work on the lumias hardware. And in the end, if someone did get it booting, it will very likely be unstable.
  
  But you may be thinking, “but the hd2 can run WP7, android and shipped with Windows mobile.” the reason all those OS’s work on the HD2 is because the HD2 was based on the same platform (code name passion) as the nexus one, so it was somewhat easier to port android over. And im pretty sure windows mobile devices didnt have locked down bootloaders like WP7/8 have
  
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  - 96 Homncruse 09/13/12 12:48 AM
    
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    I’m sure more skilled hackers than I have tried to do something interesting with it, but the information you provided is good to know going in!
    
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Heru MuharrarGuest 09/11/12 12:13 PM

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You could sell it to me since I’m looking for one.

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96 Homncruse 09/11/12 12:43 PM

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I wasn’t necessarily looking for purchase offers, but it’s nice to know there are options. Looking around, it seems that $300 is the going full-retail price these days. If there are any well-known devs who are genuinely interested in moving from one platform to the other, I’d consider a heavy discount (or even a donation, depending on the developer).

I keep telling myself I’ll get into mobile development, but it’s been a few years since I got involved in Android’s underbelly, and although I have several years of software development experience and I’m gainfully employed as a software engineer, I have yet to get into Android development, so telling myself I’ll do WP7 development is just a flat-out lie.

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99 BetterWithRoot 09/11/12 4:10 PM

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Lucky. Congrats on your prize. I am in need of a windows phone for website testing. I am however holding out for the Nokia 920. I am only going to purchase a windows phone if it’s Nokia.

How is the device? I am sure you played around with it for a bit. What are your initial impressions of the OS from a first glance?

Obvious Android Junkie here, not planing on switching either, but I love me some gadgets

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96 Homncruse 09/13/12 12:46 AM

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I haven’t received it yet (it’s likely to be a few weeks out, knowing how these contest things work). When I do though, I’ll try to post another thread about it.

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96 DroidPower 09/13/12 2:09 PM

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if you use windows for computing and have an xbox, i say hold on to it and wait until windows 8 comes out and play around with the integration between the devices.

other than that, i think people have suggested some nice ideas above already.

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- 96 Homncruse 09/13/12 7:11 PM
  
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  From what I’ve heard, the Nokia 900 won’t support Windows 8.
  
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I won a Nokia Lumia 900 (Windows Phone) – what to do with it?