Moto Droid

I've seen their commercials slamming the iPhone.

Looks like a great phone, but I don't see them even making a dent in iPhone sales.

 

BGR Preview
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/23/motorola-droid-preview/

I've been following this for 5 or 6 months now. Been truly addicted to howardforums.com for the last month. My contract is up in November, so I will be ordering this through telesale on the 28th, which is when they begin taking orders. Available in stores Nov. 6th.

I've also gone as far as signing up on droiddoes.com. Something I NEVER do for anything.

 

Nice alternative to the iPhone. Do you think that Verizon will lock it down like the rest of their phones? My old Alltel is fully customizable and I like it that way; why pay Verizon for ringtones, wallpaper, etc when I can make my own?

 

No, it's going to be fully open! That's why so many people are excited about this phone. I believe all of Verizon's phones (smartphones at least) are going to be this way. Their smartphones have never been treated the same way as the dumbphones from what I've been told.

My contract is up, so I'm picking this thing up.

Check out howardforums.com if you're interested in learning more about it.

 

Back when MOT shares were about $5, now they're around eight. I'm guessing they'll be up to $12 by January.

I thought I had read something to that effect last month or so. I have a brand loyalty to Motorola products but haven't liked any of their phones since the 815m (which I still use). It’s an ALLTEL on Verizon.

Thanks for the info, Jason.

 

I've been contemplating throwing some money in too. Even if I can make a couple hundred it's something.

I'm the same way. I've owned 3 moto's, the last one being the v710 and it was a great phone. I've also owned LG's and as much as I liked them they never felt as solid as any of the motorola's. I'm happy to hear this phone has actual weight too it. My contract is up so I will be picking it up next week (or before if preordering becomes a option) and I will give you my opinions on it.

 

Thanks. I'm not too worried about it. I stopped by the local VZW store and they're opening up at 6am. I have a "appointment" with the manager at 6:15am on Friday. Works out perfect so I don't have to leave work to pick it up. Although it's going to be a highly unproductive day.

 

Maybe not this specific phone, but the Android platform in general has already been predicted to overtake the iPhone by 2012. It's easy to see why--one OS available on multiple carriers, from multiple manufacturers, in an open platform.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/08/multi_phone_android_platform_seen_to_overtake_iphone_by_2012.html

 

After reading several reviews over the weekend and them all mentioned about the Droid not be as "simple and intuitive" as the iphone, a bit of a learning curve, I'm really looking forward to this phone. I like having a learning curve.

 

Wow, that's a good looking phone. How much will the phone cost? Might have to switch from AT&T to Verizon if it will be cheaper.

 

Never mind saw the price on their site. $199.99

 

thanks for that link: I've been waiting for a viable alternative to Apples [dumb] configuration phone..that site will help. Hoping the Droid will allow removed chips..heard the VID recorder almost HD quality...finally, someone that doesn't want to hold captive a tool/application to their vision only.

 

Unclear on what you mean by removed chips?

I'm getting tired of all the bs talk on howardforums about the keyboard or the camera not being up to par when virtually none of the complainers have even held the phone. Or if they have for a short period of time. There's also already a Android update to 2.1, which I believe addresses the camera issue.

Which I could care less about because it's a phone, not a camera.

 

Same here, I need a phone first, messaging second and a media player third. Although I'm hearing that, as a media player, it's not as good as some. My current phone is excellent at the first two already.

Thoughts on this?

"As a game system, it's severely lacking. As a media player, it's even worse.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/11/droid-review.html

 

I found it for $149 through my sister's Blastoff page: http://my.blastoffnetwork.com/kristinmccoy Now if only the monthly plan was cheaper!

 

First of all you have to remember, Google OS is still relatively new, 2.0 is even newer and it has it's share of issues that time will correct with updates. The iphone had and still has it's own quirks. I don't understand in the article where it says "putting songs on the droid is a hassle." How?

You connect the phone (via usb) to your PC, create a folder called Music and drag and drop. 1 MILLION TIMES EASIER THAN USING ITUNES! I hate itunes with a passion and will never own a apple product (other than maybe a computer) because of this. It's the same with videos. I don't think this writer of the article knew this or not. But I also suspect iphone fanboyism. And sure the media player could be more indepth, but as more apps are available and Android is out longer things will get better.But it does the job, creates playlists, shuffle, etc.

Read the comments at the bottom of the page and they answer you questions as well. The author is a apple blowhard who can't admit that something is equal to the iphone.

I love my phone thus far. The only problem, I just noticed today, is that my ear speaker may be bad. I've only had the phone for 5 days, and i have 30 days to make my sure decision. I will probably go and get a new one just to see if the ear piece is bad on my phone. I'm also keeping an eye on my battery usage. I'm thinking it may be somewhat faulty. I started out the day at 100% and now i'm at 50%, although it's been moderate-heavy usage. That's ~7 hours.

Have any more questions let me know.

 

Your battery usage is normal. It just doesn't last that long with heavy usage and wifi, bluetooth enabled. Don't use any of the battery extender cases, as they block the signal and you will miss/drop calls even more.

Apple folks don't get the PC world, and vice versa. What's easy for us is hard for them, and what's easy for them is completely unintuitive to us. For the author, it's simple to use itunes for music, and when he attaches his iphone, it just syncs and the same music shows up on his phone. He doesn't understand any of the underlying options or processes and since it has worked for him, he does not understand why you would want to make it different or any more complicated.

For people who are happy with default settings, this is a good, working solution. For the rest of us, who want to control things to a finer degree, it makes no sense that the OS hides the options we are used to tweaking. We are used to drag and drop copy and sync procedures, and it's bizarre to be told "don't worry, it happens by magic".

I *can't stand* itunes, or the apple approach for a lot of things, and I just *hate* the fanboys crowing over what they think is superior, when it's so clearly lacking in so many areas. I definitely give Apple credit for reliability and virus immunity, but that's it.

 

Yea, I'm actually thinking the battery is fine. I used it very heavily yesterday, GPS, wifi, bluetooth, off. Had ~50% yesterday. Turned it off when I went to bed, battery was back up to ~75%. So I think I was just being OCD.

They say the batteries don't have to be "set" anymore. But I still let mine die on their own before recharging 3-5 times. I've noticed this helps my battery life immensely.

 

Batteries do have to be set. It's just that the capacity has increased enough that even when you don't condition the battery, at 70% performance, it's still adequate and close enough to manufacturer claims/specs. For optimum performance, you should condition the battery as you have done. I am sure one day it will be pointless, but that day is not here yet.

 

I'm interested in tech instead of toys so I enjoyed this review. Granted, it's based on the HTC Hero but the Droid is a better platform and the next step.

10 things Android phones do better than the iPhone

 

Batteries getting better it seems.

Thanks for the article. Nice little read.

I downloaded NES, SNES, Genisis emulators on the phone a few days ago. Can you play Mario, Starfox, or Mortal Kombat on an iphone? For free?

 

A highly recommended one is TaskKiller. There's a free and paid version. I have the free one.

I like the game WordUp. It's free.
Google Finance, free.
Google Sky Map, haven't messed with it though

As I mentioned above all the NES, SNES, Genesis emulators are pretty cool. There are free and paid ones. I think the only difference is the paid ones are a little less buggy.

It really just depends on how you use it. I don't use it for work so I don't use the email function.

Other than that create Ringtone, Notification, Wallpaper folders on the card (via PC) and drag over your favs. I know you're bound to have tons of wallpapers saved off of fchat.

Enjoy it, have any other questions?