Just Bought the "Droid"........

asphaltgambler · 02-08-2010, 04:44 AM

I am a Verizon customer and have been looking at this for a while. My old phone (not IE enabled) finally died.

Not really into bells/whistles - but this thing rocks!! Dead nuts simple to use. No complicated interface. HTML - based/open platform. The entire manual is only 10 pages of large print and pictures. Even I don't need to read it !!

Makes the wife's Blackberry look rediculously complicated and outdated.

They got this right !! Better IMO than the I-phone

Joeaksa · 02-08-2010, 05:14 AM

Let us know how you feel after a couple of weeks. Have been a die hard blackberry user for years but the Droid looks interesting...

masraum · 02-08-2010, 05:19 AM

I love my G1, and wouldn't want to be without it.

Scuba Steve · 02-08-2010, 06:10 AM

My brother got one a couple of months ago and it's got about the most solid feel of any mobile I've played around with since my old analog Motorola. I like the iPhone but have to say this is a good choice too.

gr8fl4porsche · gr8fl4porsche's Garage

I am an iPhone junkie but get to play with a Droid quite often.

My impressions:
Slide out keyboard is not necessary.
The device is way too heavy - most likely due to the unneeded keyboard.
Browser is fast and very nice.
Verizon's network is no better than ATT's. My friends Droid drops calls just like my iPhone.
It is a nice competitive product to the iPhone.
A jailbroken iPhone has all the same features as the Droid - time to wake up Apple.

HHI944 · 02-08-2010, 06:32 AM

I got a droid back when they came out. I switched from an iPhone and ATT solely for the coverage. Verizon coverage here is 10x better than ATT. I still miss my iPhone, but once rooted, the Droid does 99.9% of what the iPhone did and a few other really neat things. Setting the CPU to 800mhz gives you a blazingly fast phone also.

If you decide to root, the easiest way is to visit sholes.info from you phone. They'll walk you through every step and it can all be done on the phone, no attaching to a computer.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Glad to see MOT fighting back. I've heard good things about the Droid too. I agree that the iPhone's advantage is shrinking. The Pre is a hell of a nice phone too.

asphaltgambler · 02-08-2010, 10:07 AM

As they say down in 'ol Mexico.........................Much-as / Grab-as

island911 · 02-08-2010, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

I am an iPhone junkie but get to play with a Droid quite often.

My impressions:
Slide out keyboard is not necessary.
The device is way too heavy - most likely due to the unneeded keyboard.
Browser is fast and very nice.
Verizon's network is no better than ATT's. My friends Droid drops calls just like my iPhone.
It is a nice competitive product to the iPhone.
A jailbroken iPhone has all the same features as the Droid - time to wake up Apple.

-Yep
-I can see that (tho the keys can be a plus at times )
-eh, yeah
-yep
-WHAT? no way. If you travel around, you want Verizon. Just last week I was all over Molokai (little island out in the middle of the pacific ocean) and was getting 3G coverage.
-Yep
-the droids, or any of the HTC higher-end phones, all have 800x480 screens ... 2.5 times more pixels than an iPhone. Maps and images are Much nicer on the WVGA phones.

enzo1 · 02-08-2010, 11:05 AM

I'll wait for the iphone 4g due in may-june

Hugh R · 02-08-2010, 11:48 AM

I quit reading the review when it said it won't work overseas.

ruf-porsche · ruf-porsche's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

My brother got one a couple of months ago and it's got about the most solid feel of any mobile I've played around with since my old analog Motorola. I like the iPhone but have to say this is a good choice too.

Ah yes nuthing like the hefty solid feel of a Motorola phone. LOL

gtc · gtc's Garage

I bought the droid when it first came out. My impressions after 3 months:

-I like the keyboard, but the buttons are a little stiff.
-I use it as an mp3 player more often than my ipod now. Adding music is easy - no synching or itunes DRM nonsense. Just plug into a usb port and drag and drop mp3s into the music directory. Last.fm and pandora work great but the data connection kills the battery really quickly.
-I miss having real buttons for the phone. I wish I could just dial and hit send like the old days. Now I have to unlock the screen, open the phone app, and then dial. Not so much of a droid rant as a general touchscreen rant.
-google maps and the gps works great.
-there are more apps than I know what to do with.
-high res screen can make text very tiny.

One really cool thing: get the barcode scanner app, then make your own barcodes for sharing hyperlinks etc. Other droid (or BB or iphone) users scan the code and are automatically taken to your webpage, download, email, etc...

Big Ed · 02-08-2010, 03:47 PM

I've had the Droid for about 6 weeks. For email, messaging, web browsing, maps, apps -- it is just great. iPhone was not an option for me because ATT network sucks in my location.

As a phone, when I'm not using a Bluetooth, I get a lot of complaints from the distant party that they can't hear/understand me. With the earpiece, it works perfectly -- and since I am "Annoying Bluetooth Headset Guy" the limitation when not using it is not a huge deal to me.

Happy with the choice. Love the slick interface with Google -- I even went to Google Voice for voicemail to maximize this.

Rufblackbird · 02-08-2010, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

The Pre is a hell of a nice phone too.

don't bother. the Pre is a piece of crap. Bought mines and the g/f's when it first came out (last June/July?) and since then the speaker on mine has died 3x...as in, no volume through external speaker, phone doesn't ring, no audible notifications, nothing. I'm on my fourth one, and the refurbished one I just got in exchange has a really loose (sideways) sliding keyboard.

my g/f's Pre's clock stopped working. It'd stay at one time for hours, then hurry to catch up. Also it would just shut down by itself...only way to get it back on would be to take out the battery, reinsert, and turn back on.

As soon as my one year is up (Sprint Premier) we're most likely getting the HTC Hero Droid phone...

Scuba Steve · 02-08-2010, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruf-porsche

Ah yes nuthing like the hefty solid feel of a Motorola phone. LOL

Not quite that old... I was thinking MicroTAC because the one I had put up with a lot of abuse.

I say it feels solid in that it won't break at the first possible opportunity like so many cheap flip phones I've used.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I became a believer in AT&T when I got a flat tire in the 993 in the middle of the desert on July 4th in 110 deg. heat. My Verizon cell phone had no signal. Fortunately, I had my work Blackberry with me, which is AT&T. Got me a tow to Bullhead City, AZ.

gtc · gtc's Garage

Ok... one thing I forgot about my droid. It freezes every once in a while. Once every two weeks maybe. I'll have to reset it or pull the battery out. A phone shouldn't do that.

krystar · 02-08-2010, 08:04 PM

thank you for supporting my paycheck

yea droid's real piece of work. def better than the slew of razr variants we've been milking.

graham, has the phone been updated? another one is supposedly coming this week

david914 · 02-09-2010, 03:47 AM

Had a StarTac back in the day. Best phone I've EVER owned. Owned a RAZR II a couple of years. What a major disappointment that was. Keys would stick or not work, horrible speakerphone, and the metal frame cracked near the hinge in the first year. It's since been replaced with an LG EnV Touch. Decent phone, but I don't like the resistive touch screen. No where NEAR as easy to use as my iPod Touch. If Verizon doesn't get the iPhone next year as many have predicted, I'll try the Droid.