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Switch from Eris to Driod?

-=Jeff=-

Android Expert
Jan 2, 2010
986
31
Bartlett, IL
Tomorrow is my last day to switch my Eris out if I so desire. I do know that after tomorrow I am stuck with a device for 2 years.

I have been happy with the Eris, but wonder if the Motorola Droid is a better choice. With the Eris I have not complaints other then not being 2.0 and not having the Higher resolution Screen..

So tell me what other benefits would I get from switching to the Moto Droid.

Keep in mind, I don't have my email push, it is my first smart phone and it needs to be a good phone as well as the extras
 
I have both...I have my Droid on Verizon and I picked up a Eris on Craigslist cheap and have it on Pageplus trying it out to see if I want to switch services to save money but the bottom line is the biggest difference I see is the lack of Android 2.0 on the Eris...and thats supposedly coming to Eris. The cameras are both ok compared to the Blackberry storm I had they stink ( but that was the only thing good about the storm). All in all, i kinda like the Eris but wish it had 2.0. If your wanting a physical keyboard, I think the Droid keyboard stinks...I never use it ( of course I had a HTC Touch Pro 2 before and its keyboard was nice...can you tell I'm a cell phone junkie!). You have a good phone now but to each his own.
 
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I went through this dilemma myself. Initially picked Eris based on price, looks and feel. After using it for a week, I was disappointed in lags here and there.

Back to VZ I went and test drove a Droid for a while. My first impression was clunky ugliness, especially anchored to the wall. I got one unboxed to test and was surprised that it fits my hands better than Eris, and without the wall anchor attached, it is surprisingly slim for a slider. It's rubber-backed, similar to Eris, which keeps it from sliding around on the car seat or out of a shirt pocket. The physical keyboard does come in handy when you want to type and view the full screen - though I've noticed some text-entry screens transition to a partially blank view anyway, and it does take a little getting used to the nearly smooth physical keys.

I missed Sense UI for about a day, and got used to stock android. It's not as flashy, but just as functional, if not more so in that the hardware is not laden with the extra fluff. Similar Sense keyboard is in app store and worthwhile from what I hear - but I haven't had issue with the stock android version. Oh and the extra screen acreage is nice for reading long emails, not to mention I could use the extra 8 GB that came with the Droid.

I'm really liking the Droid, and unless something cooler shows its face with VZ before my 30 days, I'll stick with it. It's definitely a bit quicker, but if the Eris lag hasn't bothered you after 30 days you might not notice the difference (it's not a huge speed difference). They are both cool phones, so really you can't go wrong either way. Shortcomings on Droid that I missed from Eris seem to have workarounds, so bottom line for me - bigger screen, +8GB, snappier response was worth extra $$$.

Sorry for the novel... ran off at the mouth a little because I was in a very similar situation. Hope it helps.
 
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Love both phones, but they both have there bad points too. I refer to the Eris as "Droid Lite", and the Motorola as its big brother.

Really liked the Eris feel... it was light in hand w/ comfortable rubberized casing. The HTC widgets are MUCH better than the default Motorola ones, but you can download Beautiful Home and Pandahome to make the Motorola more like the HTC. You can even download HTC ringtones which are also much better than the Motorola , IMO.

The high resolution screen on the Motorola and running the Android 2.0 were my main reasons I switched over. Looking at the Google map (including the turn-by-turn voice) is far superior on the Motorola, as are watching movies and streaming videos. As for cons, I really don't care for the extra weight and the sliding keyboard.

I think the best of both worlds will be in the Google Nexus phone, if you can wait for it. It has an awesome screen, Android 2.5, and is made by HTC. Good luck.
 
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Love both phones, but they both have there bad points too. I refer to the Eris as "Droid Lite", and the Motorola as its big brother.

Really liked the Eris feel... it was light in hand w/ comfortable rubberized casing. The HTC widgets are MUCH better than the default Motorola ones, but you can download Beautiful Home and Pandahome to make the Motorola more like the HTC. You can even download HTC ringtones which are also much better than the Motorola , IMO.

The high resolution screen on the Motorola and running the Android 2.0 were my main reasons I switched over. Looking at the Google map (including the turn-by-turn voice) is far superior on the Motorola, as are watching movies and streaming videos. As for cons, I really don't care for the extra weight and the sliding keyboard.

I think the best of both worlds will be in the Google Nexus phone, if you can wait for it. It has an awesome screen, Android 2.5, and is made by HTC. Good luck.
Android 2.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gimmie!!!!!!

Edit: Get the Motorola DROID!!!
If not for the faster processor, for the twice as big screen. I don't know about the Eris but I can easily read websites tiny little text w/o having to zoom in. I also have 20/20 vision though so that might be an issue if you don't.

Like Rox44 said HTC Sense UI is nice, I loved the similar widgets I had on the TouchPro2 I had for 3 days. But I quickly got over it. And like Alnova1 said the keyboard stinks compared to the TP2, but I came from having the Motorola Q9m for 2 years and I really don't see the big deal everyone's having. I type fine. I actually typed (what seemed like) twice as fast on my Q than the TP2 due to the keyboard being much smaller and more compact, way less finger movement need. I'd say the Droid size is in between the two and my typing speed is in between the two. I also had a Blackberry Tour for 25 days. I really really don't get what's so special about Blackberry Bold/Tour keyboards. I'd take the Q9m keyboard over the BB one any day. Even the Droid keyboard over the Tour's.
 
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I say switch!

I had the Droid on launch day used it for 2 weeks. I loved it. Went to the store and was lured in by the Sense UI, so I swapped out for the Eris. I used that phone for 29 days and decided it wasn't for me. One of the main points of the Eris for me was the T9 pad. I was very fast on the Eris, however over time I became faster than the phone. That along with mulit-tasking it just was way slower. I did a little research and found the Cootek Touchpal keypad, which gave me the T9 on the Droid. I went back to VZW and switched out. Haven't been happier since.

Other point for me was build quality. The Moto is built like a tank. I have no problem just putting it my pocket and going. After 2 weeks with the Eris the paint was coming off the earpiece and I had a hairline scratch on the glass that drove me nuts. The Gorilla glass on the Moto is almost impossible to scratch.

Overall I think that the Droid will be better in the long run. Lets face it, the Eris is last years Hero for VZW. Meaning the hardware isn't as advanced as the Droid.

The other option is to return it all together and wait for the Nexus One which will be coming by spring (I know, I know, there will always be "something coming" - but this is confirmed). However, if you have to have it now, go for the Droid. It will serve you better in the long run...
 
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I feel the call quality is slightly better on Droid than Eris, and the speaker phone seems also slightly better. No scientific basis, just my side by side comparison in the store. Not to say Eris wasn't great - I was actually impressed with how well it sounded for how small it is.

There are way more people who have complained that the Droid sounds "muffled" than on the Eris.
 
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I went through this dilemma myself. Initially picked Eris based on price, looks and feel. After using it for a week, I was disappointed in lags here and there..........

Quote edited for brevity.

This sounds very similar to my experience, although I had my Eris for two months.

I loved the Eris. The form factor was great. The screen was adequate, and it was lovely to use.

But the lag. Oh, the lag (horror!).

No matter what I did, I could NOT get my phone to stay speedy. Task killers, uninstalling apps, etc. Nothing could make it stay out of the box fresh. I waited for the first OTA update, then got another one. Nothing.

I did not want the Droid. Every time I used it in the store, I hated the way it felt. It was awkward and felt heavy compared to the Eris. Not to mention that it was $100 more. Not a deal breaker, but not inconsequential.

But as the Jan 15th deadline came up I decided....screw form factor, I need a phone that works. The lag was SO bad that my wife was able to discern the difference between running stock Android and Sense UI. It was SLOW.

So I got went to a store and an employee had a personal Droid. Man, it felt a lot better not stuck to the wall. Not as good as the Eris, but a lot better nonetheless. So I swapped.

Smartest move ever.

The screen, the processor speed, Root (the Eris is still not rooted, right?). Just blows the other phone away. The ONLY thing I miss is the People app of Sense UI. That was very slick, and not something that any other app has replicated.

Do it.
 
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The ONLY thing I miss is the People app of Sense UI. That was very slick, and not something that any other app has replicated.

Do it.

So how are the contacts set-up on the Droid.. I use this first as a phone and a time killer (games) I have web surfed a little bit, the pinch zoom is nice, but how many 'steps' for zooming on the Droid.

At the VZW store I bought the phone from and went to yesterday again, the sale guy I had originally has the Eris and was pushing hard on that.. probably cause they did not want to do a swap.. Maybe I need to go to a different store, but this guy was pretty good to deal with

anyway, his manager has the Droid, and both are happy with what they have. I will be able to get there until this evening, so I have most the day to think it over
 
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Okay, next question is when will the Moto Droid get flash support?

I need to decide to today is it is my last day of my 30 day exchange..

They are so similar.. maybe I need to go there after work and have them get one out for me..

When adobe decides to release Flash for Android any device that has the version of android supported will be able to get it.

I, for one, don't miss flash on my Droid.
 
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So how are the contacts set-up on the Droid.. I use this first as a phone and a time killer (games) I have web surfed a little bit, the pinch zoom is nice, but how many 'steps' for zooming on the Droid.

At the VZW store I bought the phone from and went to yesterday again, the sale guy I had originally has the Eris and was pushing hard on that.. probably cause they did not want to do a swap.. Maybe I need to go to a different store, but this guy was pretty good to deal with

anyway, his manager has the Droid, and both are happy with what they have. I will be able to get there until this evening, so I have most the day to think it over

The contacts are very similar. You won't notice a huge difference. However, I liked the fact that you could go to the keypad and start typing, and it would pull up contacts based on T9 text or phone number combinations of what you have pushed.

The Droid also doesn't do speed dials.

But you get used to that. It's not a biggie. Just a little "nicety" that I miss.
 
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The contacts are very similar. You won't notice a huge difference. However, I liked the fact that you could go to the keypad and start typing, and it would pull up contacts based on T9 text or phone number combinations of what you have pushed.

The Droid also doesn't do speed dials.

But you get used to that. It's not a biggie. Just a little "nicety" that I miss.

yeah that is a nice feature of the Eris, I don't do speed Dial either I usually search in contact for the #, is there any type of contact search in Droid?

My main thing is which one is truly a better Phone for Phone calls?
 
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yeah that is a nice feature of the Eris, I don't do speed Dial either I usually search in contact for the #, is there any type of contact search in Droid?

My main thing is which one is truly a better Phone for Phone calls?

Yes, there's contact search. There's a million ways to skin a cat with the Droid. For instance:

Shortcut to contacts, then search.
Open phone, hit contacts tab, then search.
Create direct dials for your speed dials. Place in a folder on your desktop.
Place direct dials (or direct texts or whatever) directly on your desktop
Place shortcuts to a contact (no action besides opening contact page) in a folder, on desktop.
Download Ultimate favorites and have a rotating carousel of your frequent contacts.
Mark your favorite contacts with a star. Keep a live folder displaying starred contacts on your desktop.

Really, the permutations are endless. I don't think either is "better" than the other as pretty much all the same tricks apply. It just looks slightly different.

Look in the droid screens thread and look for my screens (close to the last page, if not still there). I used moreicons to put a bunch of speed dials on one of my home pages.

Or you could use voice dial.

You get the idea.
 
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We own both phones. The Motorola obv is faster and has higher resolution, and has some apps that are 2.0 specific, and obv comes with free navigation, and the battery lasts longer. It has a flash on the camera, but to be honest..... the camera I think stinks on both phones anyway.

However the Eris has it's own selling points. It's light, has sure type as a keyboard option built in, as well as T9. Has more widgets out of the box.

Honestly, if you enjoy your Eris, keep it. Or, try the Motorola for the trial, and then switch back if you want. If you are a heavy user, get the Moto for sure, Eris battery isn't for heavy users.

The only thing I hate about my Moto is the slide out keyboard which adds weight and isn't necessary. I'd love to see the Moto have the same interface as the Eris, then we'd be talking perfect IMO.

But I still will keep my Moto for the speed and battery life. My wife uses the Eris.
 
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