Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I'm considering the Droid, but not looking forward to dropping $100+ a month on service. I have an unlocked original iPhone on T Mobile that I pay $50 /month. Granted, it's EDGE and slow, but I'm not sure if it's worth twice the monthly premium.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

$100+?

are you getting a family plan?

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

The Eris is a nice phone... I played around with it before I got a Droid, and if you don't care about the physical keyboard and don't need the extra power of the Droid, I'd go for it. However, I don't think I'd be comfortable saying it is closer to an iPhone. Maybe in the overall shape and the fact that it only has a virtual keyboard, but as far as power, speed, etc.... the droid has the Eris beat.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I was referring more to the fact that the Eris has a polished interface that will work just fine right out of the box, and the Droid will require some "tweaking". Sounds like for Mikey's wife, the out-of-the-box functionality might be a plus :)

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

"looking" no more for me! just picked up my new Droid! :D:D:D:D

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I'm sure there will be a software update in the near future....but I have been fairly lucky with not hitting very many bugs. But absolutely, the Eris is an nice phone, and if you like HTC and the sense UI, go for it!

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I love HTC and Sense UI.... but like you, I'm not willing to compromise the hardware! I got the Moto Droid because its got a beautiful screen, fast CPU, and SHOULD be working well a few years from now.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Keep us updated Francis and Jim. I can upgrade in March. I'm hoping by then all the bugs are fixed and a decent selection of apps are out.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

The camera sucks ass. They hyped up that it is 5 MP (although MP really don't matter after a certain extent and I hate that companies and best buy use this as the 1 major thing to look for) but I'm still hoping it is software related and not a problem with the camera itself....only time will tell.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I checked it out on Saturday, and found out I'm do for an upgrade on the 12th. I will be getting the Droid.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I think I can tackle this one, I used to be a photographer.

10% software, 90% hardware.

The somewhat random exposure results are caused by poorly designed metering software. HOWEVER the washed out look is due to the nature of the LED flashes. The color temperature of the flashes is off, they don't "spread" the light enough, and range is very limited, so you get a hotspot on anything close because the camera is overexposing trying to show the far away stuff too....

Other half of the hardware problem is the sensor - it just plain SUCKS. all that hideous shadow noise is due to that, and there's no updating or fixing that.

Long and short of it, don't expect any significant improvements to the camera from a software update... it's just not gonna happen.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

24hrs and I'm stoked. HUGE improvement for someone coming from windows mobile. A as far as apps go, the Android app store is a little crappy because the organization is terrible and it can be hard to find some things... BUT there are plenty of apps for nearly anything that you need it to do. My favorite feature so far? Multiple home screens!

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

God let's hope open source GUI becomes standard on smartphones thanks to some of the updates that the new DROID's bring.

Big ups for technology :tu

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

No love for the Pre? I'm probably going that route. I've had a Treo 650 and 755, and should be able to move to the Pre for just an activation charge with my upgrade credit.
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Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

no love from me. The pre has no apps, not as good of a display, and (I think) a worse physical keyboard (the droid keyboard has actually become pretty easy for me to use, although I still don't think it is a great keyboard)

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Give me a phone, PDA apps, browser, media player, and Office docs, and I'm good. Everything else is just gravy. I read (on Engadget, IIRC) that the Pre was about $1k cheaper per year based on service plans. Throw in GPS, and it's even more.
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Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

GPS is free on droid.... is that compared to if you buy iphone app?

and you can get a decent plan with texts and data for like $85 a month. So say after stupid fees and other BS that comes to $1200 a year (which is a high estimation). That means the Pre would have to have a plan of like $15 a month to be 1k cheaper... unless I'm missing something?

IIRC, first line data with Sprint is $25, additional lines are $15. The Simply Everything plan is $99 but not necessary. In the article I read, they compared equivalent plans between the carriers. I believe the article was called iPhone vs Pre vs Droid if you want to check it out.
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Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

ahhhh found it :tu

They compared the 2 year price and was around a $500 difference (could very somewhat depending on what plan you actually have) So $250-ish a year.

Phone choice really comes down to the user though, so the pre may work out great for you just not for me..... and the fact I don't want to leave verizon so getting the pre isn't even an option

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Disclaimer: I have an iPhone, I love
my iPhone. Ihabe very good 3g service in my area so that not an issue for
me with AT&T

if this phone were an iPhone competitor, I'd be interested, but some things people need to consider when Loki g at the droid:

1) the data plan Verizon is
making you buy is billed as unlimited, in reality it's capped
at 5 gb a month. Google maps are not stored on the device, they're streamed
over the Net so a) you need a data connection to use the gps at all, and if you're using it
with any frequency you'll blow through 5 gbs quickly enough. You can also forget about streaming any music or video.

2) the Droid, from what I've read, makes you store any apps to it's internal
memory, which is only 256 mb. I've get several apps on my iPhone that are over 100 mb EACH. Limited apps storage means little opportunity for cool games, hiking maps, what have you.

It all depends on what you use for the phone is, but the latest things I've read is this is more akin to a BB than an iPhone. Which is not necessariy a bad thing, but apples and
oranges

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

never said verizon weren't a-holes...they just have the best network! lol
and the 256mb cap makes no sense to me, so at least i have an ipod touch for games n that. and I agree that the iphone is #1, I just can't deal with ATT in this area. apples and oranges.... nice touch, Vic :D And you know I am about as big of an apple fan as there is, so not knocking the iphone at all from my end.

Droid is best phone on Verizon though, and android is a nice platform, so I'm hoping for good things in the future

Hm, where did I get $1k? Business users maybe?

The Pre kb is actually very similar to the Centro. I've gotten pretty good with it even with my sausage fingers. :r PalmOS developers are starting to port their apps, and guys on the Pre forums have already figured out how to hack the OS to add stuff like a virtual kb.
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Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

No, not a family plan. The cheapest individual plan configuration I can find is $100 before taxes. 450 mins > $39.99, Unlimited Data > $44.99, Unlimited Text > $20 = $104.98 -OR- PDA/Smartphone Nationwide Email & Messaging, 450 minutes & unlimited text/web/pictures/data for $99.99.

For the first setup, there is an "PDA Email & Web" $29.99 option instead of $44.99, but it doesn't appear to be valid for the Droid.

It depends on how the phone implements "push" e-mail, I think. Some use IMAP, and some use a combo of POP and hidden texts that trigger the phone to check mail. The lower tier plans don't support texting.
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I have the $30 data on droid
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Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I would trade the Droid keyboard for that of a Pre any day. I come from a long line of portrait keyboard phones, and their just plain better!

With that said, no real love for the Pre from me, primarily because I'm gambling that Android will kill Web-OS. Android is not perfect and has lots of room to improve, but at least I KNOW that it will steadily improve. I waited for years for Winblows Mobile to improve, and it never did....

So as a platform of the future to use, I'm banking on the Android platform becoming steadily better and taking over.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Add me to the list of new Droid owners....

What apps have you installed?

Google Scoreboard was the first for me, it is also a widget.
Pandora, and a couple free games.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

:tpd: $29.99

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

WAAAAAAAAAAY to many (started to make it a little unstable).

I'm slowly going through and removing em. Here's a list tho of some of the ones I consider essential. I got the phone primarily for business - it HAD to keep my busy calendar and tasks in order. This, my top apps all are in that category.

www.androlib.com lets you browse on your COMPUTER.

"Barcode scanner" cause it kicks ass. And you can scan the 3d QR code on androlib for a quick jump to the page in your phone.

"pure calendar" (not the grid one) - lets me fill one of my home screens with a detailed calendar agenda for multiple days and multiple color coded calendars, all meshed into one view.

"remember the milk" - only works if you have a pro rmilk.com account. (or a 15 day trial). LOVE their service. Widgit is a little disappointing because the widgit is only one size (3x3), HOWEVER the app itself is GREAT nd gives me full control.

"TasKiller" is essential for KILLING running tasks. just open it up, and tap the task to kill it. HIGHLY recommended you do that from time to time to free up memory and if you have say, the maps and GPS running, you'll save some battery was well.

currently using "task manger 1.10.9" to switch between open apps. Not fully thrilled with it yet, still looking for better.

"Open Home" is a great home screen replacement app that will give you 7 home screens instead of just 3. To find it, you'll need to search for "open home -skins -skin" (YES, you can use search operators)

"google voice" app, cause I have and use gvoice for things like international calls. Really awesome, you can tell it to use google voice for all international calls. Then just dial your contact number like normal, and the phone will automatically connect you through your google voice account!!!

"Astro" is a file manager that will let you browse the SD card and poke around different places.

"sound grenade" because, well... because yes.

"Shazam" so you can find that song you're looking for. just play a few seconds of it into the mic and it will find the name for you... with frightening accuracy.

"Nimbuzz" for chatting on IM (nice interface, supports damned near anything). Just a tad buggy on the Droid, but it doesnt inhibit the program functionality.

"Mother TED" app for viewing TED videos. BRILLIANT minds and stuff in there, great if you want to kill some time and actually learn something :tg

"bubble" turn your phone into an instant bubble leveler.

"twidgit lite" for putting a twitter feed on my desktop

"aTrackDog" will scan your apps, then scan the marketplace and match version numbers to alert you if there is an update available for your app.

"Amazon" app for quick price checks

"pandora" for tunes

"better keyboard" (again, search using -skin to find it). I picked it up because I wanted a keyboard with QW ER TY UI OP functionality for one handed portrait typing, and the droid does not come with one. It's also got better predictive behavior. I would prefer "TouchPal" from CooTek, but it's not released yet, probably be another month.

There's some other misc. apps on there that I have had time to flush out and test yet... but that should get you started :)

here's some more info:

web access to the android marketplace
http://www.androlib.com

calendar widgits
http://androidforums.com/motorola-dr...ar-widget.html

keyboard replacement
http://androidforums.com/android-app...l-release.html
http://www.cootek.com/

big ass list of apps
http://phandroid.com/2009/11/06/50-a...-droid-owners/

screen protector discussion
http://androidforums.com/motorola-dr...rotectors.html


PS: don't be afraid to buy an app -- if you don't like it and take it off within a short time frame (24 or 48 hours) you get a refund, automatically :)

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

So far so good, I havent had any problems with my new phone. I used the Navigation today, much better than VZNav...but when you lose your GPS and regain it...you dont resume Nav...you have to backout then go back in. Minor bug I assume will get fixed soon

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Just got mine... now I know how Carlos felt when he got his iPhone.... I can't put this thing down!

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I am on Sprint. i cant decide if I should go ahead and get the Sprint Moment or wait after the 1st of the year and see if another new Droid phone comes out?

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

too true! I use ANY friggin excuse to pull out the phone. Need to send out an email? I'll do it from the phone.... WHEN I'm SITTING IN FRONT OF MY COMPUTER! walking down a flight of stairs? GREAT excuse to pull out the phone for 7.8 seconds.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I love it more and more every day

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I thought I would hate the keyboard... I really really thought I would hate it... but I don't, I've become quite proficient with it already! It's not perfect, It could be a lot better... but its quite usable!

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

How's the call clarity? Speakerphone quality? Battery life with heavy usage?

Got my upgrade notice in the mail yesterday. Verizon is pushing the Blackberry Storm 2. I'm waiting still to see how you guys like the droid. I do love having a BB tho.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Call clarity to me isnt great but it isnt bad. I was in an area yesterday with poor reception and it sound like degraded digital is the best way I can describe it, but it wasnt 'bad'. It isnt as good call clarity as my old Blackberry World Edition.

Havent used Speakerphone yet

Battery has been pretty good. If you dont close your apps it will drain your battery (same as with my old Blackberry) it doesnt have as good of battery life as my Blackberry but you will need the wifi widget and taskiller widget. As long as you turn your wifi off when your not using it and kill background tasks the battery will be fine. I was at the gym yesterday for over an hour listening to my music, plus I was playing some graphics intensive games during the day and browsing the web..and I still had at least 30% of my battery when I went to bed. Not bad for 15 hours.

A lot of people like HDOS game, i am not too keen on it yet. But RoboDefense is awesome! I cant wait till they get some good games using the accelerometer.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

The GPS is great and very accurate. There is also an app called Tracks that will create a Google map for you showing your exact route, highest speed, lowest speed, altitude, averages, etc.
Its neat.
I've found call clarity to be very good. Battery OK, but I've been using a lot of apps and its still new so I am on it alot burning the battery up.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I think the GPS is not as accurate as VZ Navigator. I think VZNav gets your location closer, I have noticed that I will have already turned and the Google maps thinks I am still on the other road.

Also if you lose your GPS connection the Navigation will not continue till you back out and re-nav. VZ Navigator did a great job with this.

These are small issues that can be fixed fairly easily.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Call clarity has been GREAT for me, on par or better than my last two windows mobile phones. I talk on the phone to Venezuela a lot and TRY to speak spanish (note the TRY part), so clarity is a pretty important feature if I wanta rats ass chance in hell of understanding a word. No complaints so far.

Speakerphone I have not tried, except when I'm waiting on hold. Volume is nice and loud (sometimes I have to turn it down), just never tried the microphone.

Battery life with heavy usage "might" get you through the day, depending on your heavy usage. The biggest drain on your battery is the screen, followed distantly by wifi and gps. So if you have the gps off or not in use, you have the wifi off, and you kill apps that use em, you should be fine. Mine has not been making it through the day... but I've been like a kid in the candy store who can't keep his hand out of the cookie jar. I've been taking the phone out of my pocket and turning on the screen just to look at it, and answering all my emails from it, even when i'm sitting in front of a computer! So I have definitely been using it A LOT.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Thanks you guys :tu Keep giving updates on apps and how the battery usage goes. I'm very interested in one of these, and you guys will for sure help make my decision!

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I've been EXTREMELY happy with my purchase.

When you get one, send me a message and I'll give you the lowdown on the apps I've settled in to using (and which ones didnt last). Not all the ones on that list above survived trial by fire :)

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Apps of the day:

"Advanced Task Killer" makes me happy. Lists almost all the running processes, lets you customize what happens on a short or long tap, and lets you setup an "ignore" list for processes (like widgets and email) that you DONT want to ever see or have the option of killing.

("taskiller" will list them all, but has poor features)

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Looked at one of these today. Trying to decide if I'll go for one of these or an iPhone when I upgrade my phone. :)

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

My first post from the Droid...only fitting I post it here.
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I haven't had these problems. On mine I've seen such accurate position that it is kind of scary. Like military grade accuracy, well, almost.
Make sure you have the GPS feature turned on. I guess you would have to to go into navigation mode, but there is an option to turn it off and then I suppose it used the cell tower you are hitting off of to determine your location.

I use an app called Tracks (just for fun that) will track where you've been and speed, altitude, etc. Then you can upload the track to Google Maps and view it online.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Ok..... You have had your Droid for awhile now. Still happy? recommend now or wait for second generation? Costs? are you getting hit with a lot of data charges after whats included?

I have one renewable now and 2 in feb....

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

Jim,
I have personally had both Verizon and AT&T. In fact, at one time, my personal phone was with Verizon while my business was with AT&T, so at all times, I had both networks with me. I currently have AT&T only since haven gotten my iPhone. My wife has Verizon (kept her on it as so is my daughter so they can chat away for free).
I find absolutely no difference in service in Florida between one company and the other. I also travel quite a bit countrywide and frankly have never had a dead zone with AT&T.
I wish I knew what the reason for me to be loyal to one or the other would be based on the concept of "the best network". I personally don't see it.

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

LOVE IT! I did have to bring it back for a different unit due to some manufacturing defects, but new one is performing flawlessly so far.

Key part about the droid FOR ME is that it has the specific things I care about - physical keyboard, stunningly crisp and detailed screen. I'm less likely to notice OS bugs because I'm coming from windows mobile, the worst touchscreen OS in existence!

My list of things I wish it would do is pretty small really. So small I can't think of most of them right now. A few glitches syncing contacts between outlook-->google-->phone. No contacts lost... just a few that for some reasons didn't make the xfer. all in all I've been THRILLED with the Android OS, it has a lot of potential and I expect good things from it. First major update for the phone was released already, and another one coming in January, so they are LISTENING and RESPONDING to problems, which I think is CRITICAL.

The stock UI is a bit plain, but there's LOTS of customization options available to you if you look around. As for now or later.... VZW is rumored to be getting a third droid option coming 1Q '10, so you can always wait and look at that. Most likely it will be a Moto Droid styled device with 2.0 and beefy specs, but minus the keyboard. Pure guesswork at this time.

all in all, yes, still in love with my droid. But I fully recognize that its the first generation of droids for verizon and android 2.0..... So there's probably a few bugs I'm simply forgetting about because I just naturally assume they belong there in a 1st gen device. You're always better off waiting as long as you can....

Re: Anyone seriosuly looking at the new DROID?
 

I would like to add.....
Anyone that has had an iPhone that now has a Droid?
Would really be interested in what you think.