Droid 2 Global - First Impressions

[cgull]

It looks like I am going to pull the trigger on a D2G assuming VZ will give me an early upgrade. I have not been able to get much info on the D2G yet so thought I would see if anyone could share their experience so far here. BTW - I am coming from a Storm2 so have high hopes.

I will post my experience once I have the phone in a few days.

 

[alleycat58]

It looks like I am going to pull the trigger on a D2G assuming VZ will give me an early upgrade. I have not been able to get much info on the D2G yet so thought I would see if anyone could share their experience so far here. BTW - I am coming from a Storm2 so have high hopes.

I will post my experience once I have the phone in a few days.

Good luck, I'm planning on getting one at the end of the month. Call me crazy, but I want to play around with it in-store and make sure it's really what I want before I order it.

I'm coming from an original Storm, so just about anything will be an upgrade.

 

[cgull]

Good luck, I'm planning on getting one at the end of the month. Call me crazy, but I want to play around with it in-store and make sure it's really what I want before I order it.

I'm coming from an original Storm, so just about anything will be an upgrade.

I would normally wait also but have reached tipping point with Storm. There is always the 30 day grace to fall back on.

 

[marckatz]

Had the Storm 9530 and upgraded to the Droid 2 Global. Got it last Wednesday. It is a major improvement over the Storm. Interface much swifter, don't have to worry about memory or rebooting every night. Did some tweaks for the battery and it is lasting me about a day with moderate use (also got the extended battery. Doesn't add much thickness and of course improves battery life). Apps sync with my Mac without a problem (use Google Calendar and gTasks. Still have everything pushed to my Mobile Me address and this syncs great with the Droid 2). Camera and video work great. Other apps like Google Maps (with voice), Dropbox,and Evernote make me more productive. I have learned the difference between a widget and shortcut and how to use them. Yes it was a little of a learning curve but I am 1000% satisfied that I made the move.

 

[fdnj48]

I got mine last Thursday and I would say I definitely like it but its not as fast and smooth as I had hoped. Its a little slow scrolling through screens and whatnot but its not too bad. I had the Droid X when it came out and I will way that it was much faster and smoother then the D2G. Overall id say its a good phone

 

[w53cig]

I got mine last Thursday and I would say I definitely like it but its not as fast and smooth as I had hoped. Its a little slow scrolling through screens and whatnot but its not too bad.

The default MotoBLUR launcher/homescreens are incredibly laggy, I agree. However I use LauncherPro instead which takes care of the lag...it's super fast. I'd recommend using that, if you aren't already familiar with it. Free in the market and lots of customization options.

 

[colnago]

I got my Droid 2 Global last week and my only qualm is that Motorola and Verizon have essentially engaged in false advertising with respect to global roaming capabilities. The tech specs on both websites list the device as quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS...but VZW has restricted use of the 850/1900 bands, effectively making the phone dual-band GSM (900/1800) and single-band UMTS (2100).

Basically what this means in practice is that for any country in the Americas, from Canada on down to the southernmost tip of South America, use of foreign SIM cards (and consequently, cheap local rates) will not work. And of course it also means the device will not work on AT&T or T-Mobile here in the US. We have to wait until someone hacks the radio firmware to unrestrict the 850/1900 MHz bands...

Meh, I think its just an issue of the phone being setup to use VZ/CDMA as the "preferred" network. I have yet to see someone post that they have a D2G, no Verizon account, and installed an AT&T SIM, to verify North American GSM capability. I'll try to attempt this scenario as soon as they are in my local stores.

 

[w53cig]

Meh, I think its just an issue of the phone being setup to use VZ/CDMA as the "preferred" network.

Do you still connect to VZ when you switch the phone to GSM mode only?

I have yet to see someone post that they have a D2G, no Verizon account, and installed an AT&T SIM, to verify North American GSM capability.

From http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=838259

I was at at&t and we where unable to activate the phone even though the phone is capable. At&t said everything was good on there end but the phone just wont get a signal but it says it is on at&t.
Does anybody have any ideas how to fix this?

 

[fdnj48]

I got my Droid 2 Global last week and my only qualm is that Motorola and Verizon have essentially engaged in false advertising with respect to global roaming capabilities. The tech specs on both websites list the device as quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS...but VZW has restricted use of the 850/1900 bands, effectively making the phone dual-band GSM (900/1800) and single-band UMTS (2100).

Basically what this means in practice is that for any country in the Americas, from Canada on down to the southernmost tip of South America, use of foreign SIM cards (and consequently, cheap local rates) will not work. And of course it also means the device will not work on AT&T or T-Mobile here in the US. We have to wait until someone hacks the radio firmware to unrestrict the 850/1900 MHz bands.


The default MotoBLUR launcher/homescreens are incredibly laggy, I agree. However I use LauncherPro instead which takes care of the lag...it's super fast. I'd recommend using that, if you aren't already familiar with it. Free in the market and lots of customization options.

Is Launcher Pro easy to set up? Im still not very Android savvy so this is all new to me. Im very proficient with Blackberry this is just very different to me. Im also having so major battery life problems. I set up the battery manager and the other stuff I've read that people recommend but im not having much luck. My phone has been off the charger for 5.5 hrs and its already at 20%. And pointers?

 

[colnago]

Do you still connect to VZ when you switch the phone to GSM mode only?

From http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=838259

I don't have a D2G...yet. I'm still celebrating getting my T-Mo Defy working on AT&T 3G.

I saw that thread this weekend, but did anyone say that they "do not have a Verizon account"? I just wonder if the phone registering with VZ towers can be ruled out, such that "CDMA Network down" is a valid enough trigger to activate/register on GSM.

 

[w53cig]

Is Launcher Pro easy to set up? Im still not very Android savvy so this is all new to me.

Super easy. Just go to the Market, search for "LauncherPro", download, and it installs automatically. Some of the things you can customize (once installed, press the hard Menu button -> Preferences):
- anywhere from 1 to 7 home screens
- up to 5 custom apps in the dock
- customize the dock background
- hide unwanted apps from your app drawer
- change what pressing "Home" does (i.e. open/close screen previews, open/close app drawer, open/close notifications, or do nothing)
- and of course it is MUCH smoother and faster.

Here's what my homescreens looks like with LauncherPro (I just use 2):

Im also having so major battery life problems. I set up the battery manager and the other stuff I've read that people recommend but im not having much luck. My phone has been off the charger for 5.5 hrs and its already at 20%. Any pointers?

In this situation it is almost always caused by one or more of your apps having very frequent refresh/sync settings. Lots of apps have less than optimal default sync settings; make sure if you've downloaded any apps that they don't refresh/sync too frequently. Can you think of any apps you have that might be the culprit? It could be email, Facebook, news/weather, or anything like that.

 

[pdth]

I also dumped my Storm2 for the D2G. Oh wow, what a difference! Every day I discover a cool new capability that would not even have been possible on the Storm2. The lagginess is gone, the browser is light years faster, in fact everything is faster. Battery life is about the same. All of the buttons work! When you're a former Storm owner you have low expectations, but I think you will be extremely pleased.

 

[cgull]

Got my D2G last night. Promptly rooted (removed bloat) and loving it. Never owned a slider (or any Android) before but the physical KB is great. Also, I thought the D2G was a bit more friendly for X-BB folks with LED notification, KB and Quickoffice.

I have 30 days to trade up for any other VZ phone but this device feels very good. Probably going to stay with it. Now just just need a custom ROM, although blur isn't bad once bloatware removed.

 

[talvi]

Got my D2G last night. Promptly rooted (removed bloat) and loving it.

I read on another thread that rooting the MS2 was ... tricky, or even impossible? Would you share how you managed it?

I have some technical knowledge, would love to strip out bloat and programs etc there to control rather than facilitate, but am aware of the dangers of unfamiliar paths.

Any advice?