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No High End Windows 8 Phone?

I'm sitting here with a phone that's basically unusable, due to a malfunctioning touch screen, waiting for a high end Windows 8 phone. I have an upgrade available but why should I have to lock myself into another two year contract for a phone that I don't even want?

I could get a temporary used replacement phone to get me through until a real phone is offered, but it has to be a smart phone on the data plan or I lose my unlimited data. That'll run me $100 or more.

Just saw the specs for the Samsung Ativ Odyssey that I was hoping would be Verizon's version of the Ativ S. How disappointing! It's even lower end than the mid range Windows 8 phones that Verizon is currently offering.

I love Verizon's network but am sick and tired of having to select from Verizon's measly phone offerings and ever changing plans. It might be time to switch carriers.

Comments

rdevall

Agreed. I was so hoping for the ATIV S specs originally mentioned.....but guess not....I guess it seems like VZW WANTS Win8 Phone to fail......

primortal

With the recent announcement from Nokia on the successor to the 922; using an aluminum body instead and Nokia saying they are planning exciting things for VZW (The Verge) we're going to have to wait till the Mobile World Congress in Feb (25-28) to see if VZW is getting a flagship Nokia device. Hopefully leaked info will be out before hand.

SKEEJ760

Gotta tell you Verizon, you are letting us new smartphone customers down on the Samsung Ativ Odyssey.
After reading reviews and all the hype on how Win8 phones will help you connect your business, I took the plunge. I would have preferred a Galaxy s3 or s4 in Win8, as that hardware platform is MUCH more widely adopted, and presumeably would generate community support and app dev, but UNFORTUNATELY- Verizon must not be able to swing a deal with Samsung or MS, to get it.

So, I take the plunge, and forget about the $50 or $200 savings up front for contract in mid- range vs high-range Win8- the real cost is your own time and effort as a small business person having to be your own IT person, to set up the phone, verizon service, and MS Office Live connections to sync Exchange and/or outlook connector. Thats finally working- but heres the problem-

This phone SUX! Voicemail notifications, unlike my old bulletproof convoy, are too soft to hear, and you cant set the reminders to repeat, so you might get them again and again, if you happen to be driving or in a noisy place and you didnt hear the first one. So, that voice mail from your boss- or client, that you REALLY want to get- you will have to train yourself to go thru four menus to get to the windows tile to see if something came in.

Oh, yeah- it doesnt actually work unless you sign up for VERIZONS VISUAL MAIL- just what I need- another charge on my bill, that I HAVE to buy, if I want my SMART PHONE to display the messages!!!

And what do I get for that fancy new VISUAL VOICE MAIL APP - a list of messages- that makes it VERY easy with a couple of wrong button pushes on the infinitely tiny ... options field in the phone, that PERMANENTLY DELETE voice mail.

AND STILL NO WAY TO SET REMINDERS...

but, hey, is an APP! It has an ARCHIVE....woo-whoo! That I need because VERIZON reduced the amount of storage on the original Voice Mail, to the point of not being useful over the course of a couple busy business days...

HOW DO YOU like it when your boss or client calls- Hey, I tried to call you and leave message but your voice mail inbox says its FULL.

And lets not forget- just to get to this sad excuse for a community forum, I had to download and install CHROME because the error page said JIVE DOESNT SUPPORT IE6... well, excuse me VERIZON IT WEENIES- IE10 is here and has been for awhile...get your JIVE together, pls.

PS: Mods- feel free to send this along- not that it matters. I dont see a lot of community support for the Ativ online either. I would like a refund, and my two year contract back, so I can go back to using my old Convoy, that worked, at least...

jroeder

It does suck that VzW doesn't have high end W8 phones however after some research more than 85% of VZW customers don't have w8 phones. Even the top W8 phones out do not carry the specs of a S4, HTC ONE or LG G2. So Verizon is not willing to sign a multi-million dollar deal to bring a "high end" w8 phone that isn't much better than the currently offered ones, which makes perfect sense. And guys keep in mind VzW is the network, not the phone. You wouldn't call DirecTV and tell them your Sony tv doesn't do what the new LG tv does. So if you have a problem with what the phone can and can't do, call the company that makes it. Or better yet, do some research on what is important for you in a phone before you buy.

SKEEJ760

JR, I get your point- and I know you are responding to someone else- but I want to take issue with one or two things you said, as a point of reference for anyone else reading this- who might be as frustrated as me- and hopefully theres a mod with the cojones to send it higher at Verizon-

(after all you MOD VERIZON have my real name here- vs the screen name I THOUGHT I entered in for partial confidentiality to sign into this forum- could your webdesign/support be any more pathetic, jeez.)

JR, pls dont excuse Verizons obvious lack of support for the Samsung ATIV by saying only 15% of the customers use it- thats blaming the customer for the faulty service.

And if someone took the time to find their way to the "community support" forum, they are looking for answeres and are high teck enough to use the innertubes and probably did some homework on the new device, too.

I know I did, including why Win8, vs Win7 on phones vs IOS and Android. I realize that there are fewer apps in dev than Android. And MS sandboxes the cert process for new Apps. Thats a feature, not a bug, for a business person. If I want to play XBOX, I will do so after work with my son on his XBOX, not download COD to my Win8 phones itty bitty screen, fer chrissakes. I dont really CARE if AngryBirdsVer3.obeta is offered in Win8, either. And most of all, I dont want some open source hack pushed to my phone and business connections by way of Android. So no disrespect to all those users, I wanted Win8 for business, and I figured Verizon had the tech savvy to make it work, if anyone did, and a partner big enough, and stable enough to last for a couple years in the turnovers and acquisitions side of things, like we are seeing with Nokia. Thats what presumeably translates into client support for the inevitable glitches and software updates that happen in ANY new teck, including smart phones.

But sadly, based on the few notes here, and non-existent answers with facts, both within the Community, and online forums on Win8 ATIV, is not what I hoped for-

So, to anyone reading who cares, its not just the cool new stuff- its the basics that arent working-

What I DO need to work is any APPS that Verizon offers thru the Samsung, and both VZ Navigator and Voice Mail are broken, compared to what worked well before, on dumb phones, like my old Convoy, that I can buy over and over again on Ebay for peanuts if I drop it in the toilet while taking a dump in O'Hare on a busy business trip (been there done that)

Worse- the beauty of a smartphone for business is syching email and calls and voice mails- this Samsung doesnt cut it and much of the problem is Verizons apps. Going to this phone manual or that microsoft website or the Samsung overseas phone and chat lines, which are a parody, btw- to parse the problem of the interconnected pieces is not cutting it.

Forget the network- we get that. I bot Verizon again for that (it was a close call vs ATT for service coverage and reliability ratings actually ATT got better in a couple areas where I live in So Cal). So I expect a bit more from Verizon, rather than a fanboy response on basic due diligence.

Let me repeat- I bot this phone despite close call on network, platform reviews and software comparisons, in the end, primarily for customer loyalty to Verizon, and taking a bet on a new platform by Samsung because of past streng ithn the S3. Lesson leared- wont get out on the bleeding edge again for awhile.

But now I have to unwind two months of integration, to shift to a new OS, or ATT, or better- simply go back to my old bulletproof Convoy, while in the meantime sending the Samsung to their remote service site, after four trips to various clunky websites and chats to get a response on service problem, so they can investigate if its water damage or a problem with the phone thats covered under warranty.

If I wanted a new phone I would just call Asurion and tell them its broke- they are good about taking it, but then I gotta get a new ATIV- and its not the phone or the network thats broke- its the apps and software links. And thats on Verizon.

Understand?

PS: sorry for length and edit- got kicked off while typing while Verizon unlogged me with the stupid timer.

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