what to do with an old droid?

[AaronT]

i just replaced my droid 1 with the nexus so im looking for ideas of what to do with my old droid. i can sell it on craigslist for $70, or use it for something else. i have a cradle and wifi available in my house.

any ideas?

 

[alostpacket]

I use mine as a VOIP line (and testing apps of course). Got a separate gmail account for it and bought GroovIP or whatever that app is called, and it just sits on WiFi as a free VOIP phone/business line.

 

[jennay22]

Awesome idea!

 

[Lomallin]

Going to be testing this soon...
NavFree app downloads maps of where you're going to be. If OG Droid can lock GPS without cell phone signal being active, I'm hoping it'll work as a portable navigator for specific trips. Mainly for my wife since she can get lost reasonably well every once in a while.

Really hoping that works, else I'll probably try to sell it if I can find a good buyer...else it'll be a backup phone

 

[alostpacket]

Going to be testing this soon...
NavFree app downloads maps of where you're going to be. If OG Droid can lock GPS without cell phone signal being active, I'm hoping it'll work as a portable navigator for specific trips. Mainly for my wife since she can get lost reasonably well every once in a while.

Really hoping that works, else I'll probably try to sell it if I can find a good buyer...else it'll be a backup phone

It probably can lock GPS but the cell towers do certainly help it lock faster. As does whatever WiFi you are near.

This too would need a data connection in order to send the WiFi SSIDs to google. Then google servers can respond to the Droid "you're near location X because that's where those WiFi routers are." This really helps the GPS lock.

 

[johnlgalt]

DROID can do GPS solo as well as assisted GPS - one of the great (and relatively untouted) features of the phone.

 

[AaronT]

i dont get the reasoning for taking something simple and complicating it while spending more money on it.

using an old droid as a stand alone gps in nuts. if you sell it and use that money to buy a dedicated gps unit you will be better off. the dedicated unit will lock faster, have all the us street maps pre-loaded, have street addresses and POIs searchable, come with a car mount, etc.... and you may even have some $$$ left in your pocket

 

[Lomallin]

i dont get the reasoning for taking something simple and complicating it while spending more money on it.

using an old droid as a stand alone gps in nuts. if you sell it and use that money to buy a dedicated gps unit you will be better off. the dedicated unit will lock faster, have all the us street maps pre-loaded, have street addresses and POIs searchable, come with a car mount, etc.... and you may even have some $$$ left in your pocket

At this point, most OG Droids appear to be around $60-70. I checked and the cheapest unit I can find is "Sylvania SGPD432 4.3" Touchscreen Portable GPS Navigation System w/US" at $45. I could do what you suggest, but I'm not sure I like the Sylvania GPS, I know the Droid.

Converting the Droid into a mobile GPS item is not only fun, but it also is more versatile. It can surf the web at wifi spots, and has multiple games so if you're a passenger stuck in a traffic clog, you've got something to do

And worst case scenario, it's a backup phone where you don't have to drop your data plan and risk losing a grandfathered unlimited. Yes, I may be trying to get a pen-knife and only using it for it's knife, but in this case, it's after the pen has run out of ink. Maybe I could sell it and get a regular knife, but if it is working, why lose the option of buying another ink cartridge later and being able to write with it?

 

[johnlgalt]

And worst case scenario, it's a backup phone where you don't have to drop your data plan and risk losing a grandfathered unlimited. Yes, I may be trying to get a pen-knife and only using it for it's knife, but in this case, it's after the pen has run out of ink. Maybe I could sell it and get a regular knife, but if it is working, why lose the option of buying another ink cartridge later and being able to write with it?

^ this. I'm reluctant to sell my DROID, even with all the friggin' accessories I have for it, b/c I could brick my BIONIC any day - I seem to be trying every week, it seems

having a backup I could resort to is ... nice. having the device in the meantime perform some other functionality for me is priceless.

 

[cookiemonster79]

Offline GPS navigation

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.USA

This just recently hit the market, I plan to test it out on my old Droid now that it is no longer on the network.

I think this was mentioned earlier in the thread.

 

[Deltahawk]

^ this. I'm reluctant to sell my DROID, even with all the friggin' accessories I have for it, b/c I could brick my BIONIC any day - I seem to be trying every week, it seems

having a backup I could resort to is ... nice. having the device in the meantime perform some other functionality for me is priceless.

For sure... as a backup.
I dropped my original Droid and broke the screen after having it only 8 months. I didn't have insurance, so I used my crappy old LG (non-Droid) as a backup and waited until my 2 year re-up came around.
What you'd have to pay in insurance would be more than the value of your old Droid, so DON'T pay for the insurance and keep your original Droid as backup.
You probably won't need it, but it's a good thing to have just in case.

I can promise that when my next re-up time comes around, I'll keep my "old" Bionic as a backup "just in case".

 

[Clementine_3]

Yup, if nothing else a back up is the way to go. My son cracked his OG Droid screen a long while ago and it's been fine (close to 6 months), fine until he dropped it for the thousandth time yesterday. Poor little screen splintered and was instantly unusable. Good thing I had my old one sitting in a drawer, 5 minutes later he was up and running again. He is holding out for the D4 and my old Droid should certainly get him there, then it will become a back up again.

 

[johnlgalt]

Since we've now worked out how to revert our phones to stock (full stock), pretty much eliminating any bricking, and sine I just bought myself a nice little after Christmas gift (eVGA 560 Ti 448 Core Classified) I'm gonna put my phone up for sale.

I have another upgrade, so if I really need to, if my BIONIC goes South I an buy a Nexus

 

[x026092]

I use mine as a music bridge to get mp3 to my stereo.

 

[Bithawk]

Hey x026092, I have a similar situation and would like to know how long you have been able to use your Old Droid for music applications. I heard that eventually without service, the apps internal to the droid time out...what do you think?

 

[johnlgalt]

Hi, Bithawk, and welcome to the forums.

No, the apps do not time out, however, without some sort of connection and a Google account to log into you will not be able to access the Play Store to update them.

however, if you have a WiFi connection, you can still update them but only when on WiFi.

 

[Droidheadache]

Mine just died and I'm going to use is for a boat anchor! Always been a pain in the neck.