yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Venue Pro General] sixsevenco:
Ordered. Was allotted $250 to upgrade my existing account. Total expense with tax = 269.30.

Fatwallet cash back: $10

Sale of current T-Mobile TP2: ~$170-$200 (What do you think it's worth?)

Net expense: ~$60-$90

I called T-Mobile retentions before ordering. They made a note on my account that I will be able to cancel the mandatory text plan and change the data plan to the $20/month loyality plan. Sucks losing t-zones at $5.99/month... But alas, it couldn't last forever...

Also, I tried to get the EPP support to honor the 10% discount that was advertised on Monday, but they wouldn't, the pd --> fs trick doesn't work there.

Also, also, when ordering be sure to upgrade your shipping from free 7-day shipping to free 2-day shipping.
[Venue Pro General] raimeiken:
or for $8 more you get it next day! LOL Im usually pretty patient with shipping but I can't wait anymore, so I got the next day shipping! :D
[Venue Pro General] dhafiz:
Just confirmed through some internal MSFT/TMo channels - the shipment date for the DVP to all sales is slated for Dec 10 - meaning shipment sometime in the days following that.

They are encouraging MSFT employees to switch their DVP pre-orders to HD7's. Dell will ship out a "very limited quantity" for those who pre-ordered on November 22, but they expect most pre-orders to be delayed until the Dec 10 date, at least.

Throw up on this pile of garbage. Worst product launch EVER.
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
Sorry, but so far all these "channels" have basically not been correct in any of their predictions, basically the only valid prediction is it'll be here when its here.
[Venue Pro General] Spankmeister:
Yea, with the issues this phone has, the bad camera and the 'meh' hardware platform, I think I am going to go Android.

If I spend $500, or even a couple hundred for a new phone, I want the newest hardware platform.

I learned when I bought my TP2 on the day it was released that I will never buy a new phone at the end of the hardware cycle again.

And like it or not, the 1Ghz Snapdragons are at the end of the hardware cycle, especially with the dual cores coming out early 2011.

Let me know how this phone is guys, I am holding off.
[Venue Pro General] digitalsmoke:
My phone is already "in production" and I can't cancel it. HAHAH. Looks like its going to take them a month the make it. No wonder why they only 5 at launch. ;-)
[Venue Pro General] solidstiles:
Looks like the activation discount doesn't apply when trying to add two lines through a family plan. Tried it with just one phone and was able to get approved with the discount.

Went back and tried to do it again after I closed out of the window and now Tmobile is declining me. I have four reference numbers in my email that show "APPROVED" as the status when checking through dell's website. I don't see any way to reference an approval reference number when purchasing a phone. I think I'm just going to give up for a while until something official comes through, this is incredibly frustrating.:mad:
[Venue Pro General] notebookgrail:
FInally, i was able to place the order for a upgrade (249+tax). Initially i activated it and then removed from my cart. Then went thru discover card site(10% cashback) and addded it to cart and activated again and then placed the order.

My question now is - what will happen to the first activation, since i didn't place the order and deleted it from cart?
[Venue Pro General] yipcanjo:
By all means, do what you want to do, but remember this: the hardware itself is really subject to the OS that's running on top of it. Having owned (3) Android devices already -- the latest being the T-Mobile Vibrant -- I can attest to the fact that screamin' hardware ain't no match for a poorly written OS. In this case, the Vibrant was an absolute dog from the get-go.

Why don't you ever hear about poor performance from an iPhone 3GS? It's running an old processor, and even unclocked (if I remember correctly). It runs well because the OS is written well to take advantage of the hardware to its fullest. From the looks of things, WP7 is able to capture the same feel. Android, on the other hand, has consistently let me down in this regard: always lagging somewhere. Android *is* getting better AND you can certainly throw the newest, dual-core Snapdragon at it, but ultimately the software is going to win out. A poorly written OS on the fastest hardware around isn't the solution.

Sorry to harp on Android so much, but I've been burned three times already. I'm going to stick with a well-written OS this time around.

</soapbox> :)
[Venue Pro General] Arcarsenal:
As a current owner of a DVP since the 8th, the issues so far and very little solid information about updates and stock have led to me start to regret buying the phone at all. It's almost as if Dell/Microsoft want this phone to just be a memory. Combined with Dell's mobile division closing soon after it's manager quits, I'm finding it hard to maintain my faith that this phone will ever see a proper launch to the mass market, let alone receive quality updates.

I'm really considering selling the DVP once my replacement arrives and going back to my Nexus One, especially with Gingerbread around the corner. The user experience is just so much more solid and integrated right now. I know Microsoft is trying to catch up but this DVP situation is really souring me.

It's not that I hate the phone - I still think it has the best hardware available for any current WP7 device. I also really love the WP7 OS and want to see it succeed just as much as Android. It's actually really easy to fire up Expression Blend or VS2010 and make an app, push it to your device and go wild. I just want to be reassured this phone will be supported for a while and not treated like a one-off that will be lost to time within a few months.
[Venue Pro General] dhafiz:
I'll be glad to take the DVP off your hands :D
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
Sounds a lot like WM, took the introduction of the Snapdragon to finallly get decent performance out of it. If you have to go dual core, 1Ghz+ to get decent, lag-free performance on android you can keep it. One thing also to note, WP7 is going to get better, not just with features but also speed as the OS is further optimised. If my "outdated" WP7 hardware runs just as well as the newest flash bang wiz tech around why would I complain since I dont play the "my GHz's are faster than your GHz's" game?
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
@Arcarsenal: one thing you can be sure of, any OS updates will come to the DVP. Stock may be limited and Dell completely clueless but as MS handles the updates you wont be left out. Heck, they brought back the Kin, cant see them abandoning the Dell Venue Pro!
[Venue Pro General] yipcanjo:
Are you referring to *actual* issues with the phone that you've experienced, or perceptual stuff? I read all of these reviews with a serious grain of salt.

Aside from a munged launch, though -- let's be honest, we're not even 2 weeks from the launch of WP7 -- the Venue Pro still looks like the best-of-breed phone out there!
[Venue Pro General] Spankmeister:
No worries my friend!

As I said, I have a TP2 at the moment so I am, in essence, a Windows guy.

Having lurked for many years here on XDA, I am spoiled with the development that happens here. So, my concern is not so much for whether the phone will be fast in a year, but how much development will still be happening in a year here.

Take my TP2 for example. Honestly, it still runs quite well for me. I get strong signal and great download speeds and with the custom ROMs here, I was pretty happy, even after a year.

Then, the development started to drop off. As the chefs got newer devices that were faster, there were less and less of them for the TP2.

I can totally understand that. I mean, it was basically a TP with a bigger screen.

So that is what I mean when I say I will never buy a phone at the end of the hardware cycle, as development falls off after a while.

A lot of what I base my phone purchases on now is how much development is happening here, and I need a physical keyboard. That's really it.

I have a bunch of buddies that have Android and really like it. I would like to get a WM7 phone, but I need one with a keyboard so the HD7 is not for me.

I may get a G2 just to try it out. It has a vibrant development area here at XDA (they are overclocking it to 1.9Ghz!, crazy, but overclocking to 1.2 sounds about right for me) and vanilla Android. I will have 30 days to check it to see if I really like it, if not, I will return it and wait for a good WM7 handset...:)
[Venue Pro General] Arcarsenal:
@dhafiz: if I do go that route I know plenty of people would love it :)

@efjay: I am happy that MS has committed to updating WP7 frequently, but as a wise man once said, the proof is in the pudding. I hope the first update blows me away. :) And I hope the MS store calls soon so I can finally get my replacement!
[Venue Pro General] Arcarsenal:
Actual issues I've experienced. My brothers DVP has the secure WiFi bug and his camera seems to be worse than mine. Lots of yellow lines on pictures when the flash is firing. My camera is still bad though. I think that is more of a WP7 issue, however. And yeah, of the phone available for the WP7 launch, the DVP is by far the best.
[Venue Pro General] domineus:
now THAT is sad

out of all the phones the venue pro is still the best launch device and dell is treating it like a step child! Aiya dell goes to hell yet again and screws people over...

no shock btw

and I paid all that money for a device that won't be here for another 3 weeks...that's like wrong
[Venue Pro General] ratchetjaw:
I got mine ordered but got a bad feeling all these orders will be cancelled :( if that happens I may also just say screw Dell and be happy with my Hd7. But boy I sure wanted that vertical slider
[Venue Pro General] yipcanjo:
Why do you think they'll be cancelled? Dell has already (and PUBLICLY) offered to 25,000 of their employees the ability to receive a Dell Venue Pro in exchange for their Blackberry phones. I truly don't think that Dell is going to do away with this device. Honestly... I think they've just run into some manufacturing issues.
[Venue Pro General] sixsevenco:
The delay could be related a number of things not related to manufacturing. My money is the ordering process/integration points with T-Mobile.
[Venue Pro General] domineus:
yes and out of that they have asked employees to return the VP for the hd7 which I will say again Dell blows. Even their good hw is full of problems...never had this problem with hp which I wish had a windows phone 7 device
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
Are you saying that Dell has asked its employees to return their DVP's for an HD7? Do you have a source for this?
[Venue Pro General] notebookgrail:
Now the Venue pro site is back to normal:D (Not available to order message).
[Venue Pro General] Arcarsenal:
Found this one on the Twitter: http://yfrog.com/caaaymj ; it's a T-Mobile branded Venue Pro from the Microsoft Store in Bellevue, Washington. The store got 5 in stock and promptly sold them out.

Interesting to note that the Venue Pros purchased on the 8th had no T-Mobile branding at all. Maybe this delay was Dell locking the SIM and screening the logos on... :-P
[Venue Pro General] yipcanjo:
Nice!

Well, it appears that most (if not all) of the early models shipped to Microsoft Stores were engineering units, so the lack of T-Mo branding makes sense.
[Venue Pro General] dhafiz:
MSFT employees are being encouraged to take the HD7 in order to mitigate the delays. This has nothing to do with Dell - who I have heard from corporate sources is implementing the DVP rollout mid-Dec.

I agree with sixsevenco - this is much more of an integration/distribution issue than manufacturing problem.
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
The person I quoted seemed to be implying that it was Dell employees that were being advised to actually return their DVP's in favour of the HD7, not MS's employees. Maybe he was confused but that was what I wanted clarifying.
[Venue Pro General] sixsevenco:
Maybe it will have problems. Time will tell. I am hoping that any problems will present themselves within the 1 year warranty period. Dell has to stand by the phone for at least a year, right?
[Venue Pro General] hvbelton:
This is absolutely NOT true. i do hope you do it tho so you move the that forum and take your lies with you
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
Sorry, did you read what I posted? I was LOOKING for clarification of another posters comments, where in the world are you getting lies from?
[Venue Pro General] zaijian:
Estimated delivery date is Dec 14th :(

How about everybody else?
[Venue Pro General] digitalsmoke:
I got the same date. Too think that I may just hate the phone and return it, but I have to wait almost a month to make that decision ;-)
[Venue Pro General] digitalsmoke:
Speak of the Devil my Order was just Cancelled. They just tried to call it seems and then I got an email with the cancellation notification.
[Venue Pro General] ratchetjaw:
Well as expected. Got my order cancelled email :(
[Venue Pro General] zaijian:
!!! Was yours "In Production" or did it just go straight to cancelled? Did they give a reason?
[Venue Pro General] digitalsmoke:
Mine was in production.
[Venue Pro General] zaijian:
Those bastards! Mine's In Production, hoping it stays that way... <fingersCrossed>
[Venue Pro General] Finges:
My Order was also cancelled. :|

Looks like I'll be picking up a focus!
[Venue Pro General] ajftl:
lol this is ridiculous...... maybe in 2011
[Venue Pro General] digitalsmoke:
I'd do the same, but I'm on T-Mobile :-/
[Venue Pro General] djca:
Mine is still "In Production". I won't be surprised if they cancel it.

I ordered it contract-free.
[Venue Pro General] ericc191:
Nexus S comes in Dec. It may not be WP7, but it will be dual core!
[Venue Pro General] DarkAlkamist:
So for the people that orders got canceled, did you do a upgrade or did you pay full retail price?
[Venue Pro General] ratchetjaw:
Full retail, but i dont think it matters. They are eventually going to cancel all those that were placed today
[Venue Pro General] domineus:
sorry about the ruckus from before...anger and dell stupidity talking led me to harshly conclude some things ....

I just got a call from dell they wanted to verify if I made a phone purchase. I gave them my information and they said alright we will begin production and expect the product in 3-5 business days. The girl sounded cute

...

I just checked my order info and its still on from the looks of it and has changed to in production so hopefully I am not cancelled because I am returning the hd7 this weekend
[Venue Pro General] DarkAlkamist:
I placed my order yesterday and it's still in production. If they cancel it I will walk right into T-Mobile and buy the HD7. Dell please don't force my hand!
[Venue Pro General] vikramdhani:
how is everyone able to place their orders when there is no phone to add it on the cart on dell website. Am i missing something here ?
[Venue Pro General] DarkAlkamist:
By changing the web link ending from pd to fs
[Venue Pro General] gibbyhome:
I was in the same boat, waiting on Sprint so I had to move to ATT for now but really wanted teh dell venue pro but the focus is awsome and I would never go back to android, my problem is ATT is so EXPENSIVE....
[Venue Pro General] Razorfold:
I never got a phone call, but my order still says "in production" and the money was taken from my account. Soo.

I really hope dell doesn't cancel it lol...I was about to leave and buy the HD7 when I decided to give the link one more shot...and it worked. So if the order does get canceled...HD7 it is.
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
I wont be too annoyed if my order gets cancelled seeing as it wasn't actually supposed to be available for purchase. Just no way I can get the HD7 especially after having found out the speaker grilles on the front are just for decoration! What a waste, and just typical HTC craptacular practice. I'll wait for the Dell, as long as its not cancelled altogether!
[Venue Pro General] vikramdhani:
Is this the link you are talking about http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...1&dgc=CJ&lid=566643&oc=mscovy2&fb=1&c=us&l=en
[Venue Pro General] Pedmart:
Why you said you don't want to go back to android? I'm on sprint too, wanted the dvp, and I had the chance to "purchase" it this morning, but the December date is just dumb. I had to cancel and just wait for the dvp to be really available or ready to ship.

I've seen the focus is a very good phone and takes great pictures (it feel a little cheap and too wide though) but AT&T is very expensive compare to sprint plus I'll be stuck on a 2 yr contract and a more expensive ETF.

Still confused on what to do.. Should I get an epic and wait until next year?, get the focus? Or wait for dvp? .... :confused:
[Venue Pro General] notebookgrail:
That's the right link. But around 2-3PM EST, it was removed. Try your luck tmrow AM. May be they are testing their website with us.
[Venue Pro General] ajftl:
I agreed on the cheap feeling on the focus. But pic quality is good and that's one of first thing I check on a phone. The dell I don't think camera would be as good as the focus. Anyway I'm gonna wait effort it. I returned the hd7 today. It was a sad moment lol. Camera button on hd7 is pathetic and pics are always with a bluish tint. I'm back with my N1 running cyanogen 226 which flies ..for real. Till DVP comes out in 2015

Lol
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
We'll be telling the tale of the Dell Venue Pro launch for years :)
[Venue Pro General] Pedmart:
Yes, the camera is great, but seeing that the first Dell devices were sold way before they had them available for everyone and there were not they right consumer version. Maybe, "maybe" the new dvp will have a better camera or their software will have an updated software... I'm just hoping that if I wait for it, at least it will have a decent camera or it will be really disappointed to wait all this time for a bad phone.
[Venue Pro General] ratchetjaw:
I wouldn't hold your breathe on that

Sent from my one of many
[Venue Pro General] ajftl:
me too....
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
How many people are still "in production"? Seems we waited so long to order now we are waiting to see if our orders wlll be cancelled :D
[Venue Pro General] notebookgrail:
Mine is still 'in production'. Placed 18th noon.
[Venue Pro General] DarkAlkamist:
I place my order 11/17/10 at 8:24am pst in production
[Venue Pro General] nat45928:
ordered at about 9:30 am cst with no contract and i am still in production.
[Venue Pro General] djca:
I don't know if this has been posted before but I've found the PDF manuals for the Venue Pro here (posted 11/08/2010):

support.ap.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/venue_pro/

The troubleshooting guide has a posting date of 11/17/2010 on the Dell site.

support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&dl=false&l=en&s=gen&docid=921F3F02185FB560E040AC0A64E912A1&doclang=en
[Venue Pro General] sixsevenco:
I ordered at about 9:00 am MST on 11/18. At this point my order status is still in production. I upgraded an existing off contract line, and during the "activation" process t-mobile kicked in a $250 credit toward the purchase. I see an authorization on my card.

I don't mean to be internet tough guy, but if Dell cancels my order, we are going to have a major problem. I am assuming that getting my $250 credit back to tmo so I can apply it to another handset will be difficult. They will need to make it right... Or just fulfill my order... Seems like an easy choice.

Anyone that upgraded have their order cancelled?
[Venue Pro General] Arcarsenal:
Nice find. That manual is not the one received in the box I got on the 8th from the Microsoft Store. Mine was just the overview foldout.
[Venue Pro General] ANonymous627:
I ordered at about 10:15am CST 11/18/10 and my order is still in production. Purchased outright with 2 day delivery expected delivery date is 12/15/10.
[Venue Pro General] raimeiken:
so you're saying that you're getting the phone within 3-5 days?

how come everyone else that ordered got a delivery date on dec 13-15?

I upgraded and mine is still in production by the way
[Venue Pro General] carlb007:
Those that think the delay is because of t-mobile integration or whatever just cant be correct.

the DVP was meant to be released in the UK on the 8th originally, but over here was due to be sim free only. No providers have been announced the device yet still its not here.

Everyone knows of the AMOLED shortages globally, so its not really a suprise its delayed. Even HTC themselves states they opted for standard LCD because they didnt want the shortages to impact on production didnt they??

for those interested ive had mine pre-ordered from mobilefun.co.uk since late october - currently theyre telling me to expect it early jan - pretty much in line with all other retailers over here.

Carl.
[Venue Pro General] ericc191:
Here's my problem with this.. I agree with you. I think they have component shortages. But they aren't giving us ANYTHING to go on. If Dell were to release a statement acknowledging shortages or whatever reason they have, I would have been satisfied and continued to wait. Instead, they give us the run around over and over.
[Venue Pro General] Peew971:
I agree, it's not so much the delay but rather the total lack of information. Dell are really doing themselves a disservice. At least I hope that gives Engadget time to review it if they manage to get one.
[Venue Pro General] quinstar:
Instead of posting it here, tell it to the dell-rep's, they are low-level, but multiple reports will eventually get through...
[Venue Pro General] ericc191:
Oh I most definitely have been. Told the most recent Dell rep I spoke to that they lost my money due to the delays and that she should tell her supervisor what I said. She simply replied with "Noted." and promptly exited the chat box without so much as a "have a nice day."
[Venue Pro General] zazierx:
Lets see..

-T-mobile document leaks showing 'release' dates

-Dell sends a small number of Venue pros to microsoft stores on launch days, not even engadget could get a hold of one

-Claims batteries are mislabeled as engineering models

-Camera is apparently terrible

-Unable to connect to protected wifi bug

-The leaked release date for VPs comes on the 15th, site updates and a few purchases are made

-Site reverts to 'coming soon'

-Dell reps either giving no statement on the release date, while others are giving differentiated dates.

-Dell reps prove to be completely useless.

-UK release delay to January

-Dell's VP of mobile quits

-Amoled shortages(?)

-Turns out dell actaully did send out engineering models, microsoft stores offers non-vp replacements

-Manuals are leaked and removed from the site..

Anything i miss? Correct me if im wrong but I think the Venue pro is the only phone that was announced on 10/11 that still hasnt been released. If i were Steve Ballmer, i'd be calling Dell asking 'where the hell is my phone?', I mean its on the windows phone 7 website. This makes microsoft look bad...

maybe someone can throw together a time line? :D
[Venue Pro General] ratchetjaw:
Every time I talk to a rep I am told Dell never officially gave a date They say it was all tech blog speculation. Claim they officially said Holiday this year
[Venue Pro General] Peew971:
You forgot renamed from the awesome "Lightning" to the bland "Venue Pro" :D
[Venue Pro General] efjay:
Apart from the leaked T-Mobile slide showing the 8th and 15th November dates they actually have never mentioned any other date than "holiday 2010". It was Clove UK that originally posted 8th Nov on their site then moved it so yes, they are actually right when they say this. Still doesnt change the fact that its still a shambolic launch though, with URL's appearing and disappearing and the complete lack of informaiton.
[Venue Pro General] 937dytboi:
If its not released today, im giving up and sticking with Sprint and see what they come out with besides the 7pro. This is pathetic i swear. this is not a good start for WP7
[Venue Pro General] Peew971:
That's not a WP7 issue, that's a Dell issue. All the other phones are out.