Hi folks! I'm a complete newbie about this forum, the Android OS, and the Droid device. However, I lurked on this forum and searched around the topics for a couple days before finally posting. I know how annoying it can be for a completely ignorant newbie to start asking before making any attempt on his own. I've made some attempt!
Here's my newbie question. I've been shopping for years for a convergence device -- something that does it all fairly well. To date I haven't found one. I currently use my Garmin nuvi 880 GPS (GPS and Handsfree bluetooth wired into the AUX jack of my car), my Blackberry Curve 8330 (verizon), and my IPod Touch -- all of which I use heavily and with nearly all of their capabilities. I'm considering replacing ALL of them with a Droid. From what I've read about the Droid on this forum this should indeed be possible!
Of course it was (in theory) possible before on my Blackberry as well, I suppose. However the BB's screen, media handling, and horrible GPS (only accessible thru VZNavigator) just made having all three devices still the best way to go.
As avid Droid users, do you think I'll finally be able to converge to just one device when I buy a Droid? I've waited for so many years, tell me I'm finally just going to carry one device!? One thing of particular interest to me is whether or not I will be able to plug the Droid into my Aux jack of my car and hear navigation and music through my stereo as I currently can from my Garmin.
You have to try it out and see for yourself. For me, yes, it is my everything device. I use it for media, I use it for GPS, and of course I use it as a phone.
Some people disagree. I understand a lot of people don't like the media capabilities of the phone, but I find the music app (or third party media apps such as MixZing and TuneWiki) to be just fine. Others don't like the GPS, but I have yet to have a problem with Google Maps Navigation. Just took a road trip yesterday and it was perfect, has been so far.
I think it's about the best convergence device you can get right now, just give it a shot and give it some time to see what you think.
__________________ The following statement is true The previous statement is false
I use it for GPS, ............ Just took a road trip yesterday and it was perfect, has been so far.
Thanks for the reply, Vincentp. I really appreciate it.
May I ask, do you play music and navigate at the same time? Do you have your Droid wired from the headphone jack into your AUX jack of your car? Does the music pause while the navigation voice speaks? These things are important to me as I considering buying a Droid.
Thanks for the reply, Vincentp. I really appreciate it.
May I ask, do you play music and navigate at the same time? Do you have your Droid wired from the headphone jack into your AUX jack of your car? Does the music pause while the navigation voice speaks? These things are important to me as I considering buying a Droid.
Thanks again!
Brad.
The music fades off a bit when the directions are being spoken, then it fades back in. I don't think it actually pauses, so it might skip some lyrics.
But, I don't ever like dealing with making playlists or whatever, so I just stream Pandora when I'm on a trip. Not sure if the integrated music program behaves differently.
What I can tell you is that I haven't touched my iPod touch in 3 months, and my standalone GPS is pretty lonely in my glove compartment.
I don't think it actually pauses, so it might skip some lyrics.
Fabolous, thanks! That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I don't care if it pauses or turns the volume down. Either is good! I just don't want the two sounds to be in competition for my attention simultaneously. I don't care about skipped lyrics.
First of all, I started using the DROID from day 2 (I bought it online on 6 Nov, and received it on 7 Nov), but I have slowly but surely been making the transition to having it be my end-all be-all device.
I started with only one of my GMail accounts, and only used it for simple GPS - then I discovered that I can synch multiple GMail accounts without having all the contacts synchronized - a blessing for me who keeps separate emails with separate contact lists for separate purposes. I then started synchronizing my home ISP email account (which I use sparingly). I have since figured out how to get my Google Calendar synchronized with Facebook (which, actually, works out well - since the phone syncs FB, and the Calendar, it automatically imports my FB stuff into my calendar). Then I added Tasks, a feature of Google accounts that can be regulated via calendar, but also through GMail...
Now I am also integrating classwork, and hopefully very very soon I can do Google Docs as well - at which time I will be 95% on the phone. With the Multimedia Dock and the Car Dock, my phone is now my one stop shop for everything other than paying bills.
Hey Brad ... welcome to the forum. I guess I'm fairly qualified to answer you questions, as I was in the same place you are last Fall.
I'll go through each of your devices and one at a time, and try to tell you what to expect ... pros and cons.
Garmin GPS
I've been using Garmins for over a decade to tour the country on motorcycles. To call me addicted to my GPS would be putting it mildly. I still have my Garmin 2820 w/ XM radio, traffic and weather, and mp3. When I bought the DROID, I figured there was NO WAY that it could replace my precious Garmin. Umm ... I think I was wrong. While the DROID's Google Maps are still in beta, it does things that my Garmin can only dream about. There is somewhat of a learning curve because the interfaces are quite different. But I am starting to really LOVE (and prefer) using the DROID for my navigating needs. And yes, voice prompts play through my car's aux port, no problem. And muting is simple as well.
Another advantage to Google Maps is that you'll never pay a reoccurring charge again. Maps are downloaded real time, and are always as current as they can be.
Blackberry Curve 8330
I've never owned a Crackberry, but I personally know 3 people that have left one to buy a DROID, and they haven't looked back. There might be a few things (very few) that the Curve can do that the DROID doesn't. But I have a hunch that the DROID "DOES" a whole heck of a lot more.
iPod Touch
Due to Pandora and the DROID's sdcard, my DROID has completely replaced my iPod and I have cancelled my XM subscription. If you can deal with only 16GB (or 32GB) capacity for your music, photos, movies, and assorted files, than you'll be fine too.
Always keep in mind that separate components are always going to have some advantages. But I'm sure you're aware of that fact. I do know it sure is nice to get in my car, or my wife's car with my DROID, and I have everything I need to roll. Well ... except for my Valentine One detector.
Thanks! That was VERY helpful. Yeah... it's starting to look like I'm going to a verizon store tomorrow. Just about everything on my checklist seems at least possible!
Hey Brad ... welcome to the forum. I guess iPod Touch
Due to Pandora and the DROID's sdcard, my DROID has completely replaced my iPod and I have cancelled my XM subscription. If you can deal with only 16GB (or 32GB) capacity for your music, photos, movies, and assorted files, than you'll be fine too.
Not to mention TuneWiki, CherryRplayer (I love this app, I use the "popular channels" option), Slacker, Last.fm, iMusic, Music Online, and the "3" app which is an unbeleivable music player to replace the stock one (just search for RockOn to find it... but DON'T download RockOn,,, instead, download "3" which will be in the results listing... "3" will also find album art for all of your music and yes, it's free).
Last edited by slick; February 7th, 2010 at 06:07 PM.
Are you an iTunes user? As in, do you purchase music from iTunes?
Mercutio, I use iTunes, yes. I do buy most of my music from iTunes, but I understand the DRM problem of non-apple devices and either buy the non-protected version or use standard tricks to get around them. So don't worry about DRM issues with me... I have that under control. As long as the Droid can play .mp3 and .aac (non-protected), I'm happy.
Last edited by bprutzman; February 7th, 2010 at 06:12 PM.
Reason: fixed typos
Not to mention TuneWiki, CherryRplayer (I love this app, I use the "popular channels" option), Slacker, Last.fm, iMusic, Music Online, and the "3" app which is an unbeleivable music player to replace the stock one (just search for RockOn to find it... but DON'T download RockOn,,, instead, download "3" which will be in the results listing... "3" will also find album art for all of your music and yes, it's free).
Thanks for the tips Slick. If I do decide to buy a Droid (and I think it is going to happen now!), I will be sure to check out the apps you mention for my musical needs. "3" sounds pretty cool... love free, and love album art
I use the droid as my everything device as I felt it was the first one to actually do it all.
I love the nav, I use pandora and the stock 2.0 music player in the car all the time. I take phone calls thru the aux jack as well, and it works great...
However you might need to mute the nav when on a call, the 'Lady' will blurt things out while on a call and the folks I've called without muting her thought it annoying.
I also keep a micro-USB with me and use my 'droid as a portable HD to transfer files.
The Droid is the future of devices, I only hope that things get better from here, but I am loving my Droid for my all in one. I've sidelined my MP3 player, GPS, and XM radio and only use the droid.
The music fades off a bit when the directions are being spoken, then it fades back in. I don't think it actually pauses, so it might skip some lyrics.
But, I don't ever like dealing with making playlists or whatever, so I just stream Pandora when I'm on a trip. Not sure if the integrated music program behaves differently.
What I can tell you is that I haven't touched my iPod touch in 3 months, and my standalone GPS is pretty lonely in my glove compartment.
The GPS will mute all other sound to give you directions, as far as I know. It doesn't seem to actually pause the music. I was listening to music the whole time I was in the car. I have a Bluetooth deck in the car so I was playing it through that. Just had it sitting up in the car dock, car charger plugged in so I didn't have to worry about killing the battery. It was awesome to take a trip with this phone compared to what I'd been doing prior to owning it.
You guys have done a great job of answering most of my questions in this thread. Cudos.
How ever I still have one more. In my line of work I take a lot of digital photos and then need to email them.
My current aircard is up for renewal, my laptop needs replaced but money is tight, my current phone is up for renewal and VZ has $150 off the price of the Motorola droid until the end of this month.
By switching my data plan to a droid versus the aircard I can save $30 a month.
My question is.... is the downloading of in some cases up to 100 photos and emailing them to a client some thing that the droid can handle??? If its able to process photo resizing then thats all the better!!!! but not as much of a requirement as being able to get the photos from my digital cam to the device and then email them.
Thank you for your help, and I look forward to hearing the replies.
As for a media player, the Droid lacks here but should be fine for anyone who is just trying to just basically listen to music.
My music library is over 110 GB of music. With the Droid, capacity isn't the problem--I don't need 110 GB of music all on my device. But I do need the music I want on the device at the time when I want to listen to it. This is where the Droid fails for me. I need smart playlists like some people need religion. I don't manually manage any of my playlists, that is just too much work with this much music. Since there is no way to rate songs or track playcounts or play history with the built-in player, a lot of what I use my iPod for just can't be replaced by the Droid player or any of the after market apps either.
The Droid comes the closest to fully converged for me as any device ever has, and I've gone through iterations of pdas to smart phones. It's always been the case that nothing could replace my iPod, but at least with the Droid my gps can be left at home. I find even my laptop gets left at home more often now.
ETA: Just saw your post about pictures and processing. There are market apps that will allow for processing the pictures, although I don't which would allow batch processing if you are trying to resize all the photos at once.
It can certainly handle emailing the pictures, but not sure i have never found a way to do bulk attachments.
Last edited by crankerchick; February 8th, 2010 at 12:04 PM.
You guys have done a great job of answering most of my questions in this thread. Cudos.
How ever I still have one more. In my line of work I take a lot of digital photos and then need to email them.
My current aircard is up for renewal, my laptop needs replaced but money is tight, my current phone is up for renewal and VZ has $150 off the price of the Motorola droid until the end of this month.
By switching my data plan to a droid versus the aircard I can save $30 a month.
My question is.... is the downloading of in some cases up to 100 photos and emailing them to a client some thing that the droid can handle??? If its able to process photo resizing then thats all the better!!!! but not as much of a requirement as being able to get the photos from my digital cam to the device and then email them.
Thank you for your help, and I look forward to hearing the replies.
I don't know about sending hundreds of pictures, but I've been able to do everything tethering 3G to my laptop that I could with my broadband connection (download movies, send emails, stream media, etc). I don't think it would be a problem but you should at least try tethering to your laptop/PC before you go spend all of that monthly money for an air card.
BPWY, you should go into a VZ store, test the camera, maybe test the email with a dummy Gmail acct.
Whats your opinion of the camera?
I read an online report where its supposed to suck in general and doesn't take very good pics.
It wasn't from a forum like this one, it was CNET or a similar type of testing site.
A caution - if you're a power user of the BB PIM apps, you'll want to reset your expectations a bit. This is one area where the Droid has some catching up to do. True voice dial isn't built-in yet, either. The rest is pretty awesome, though!
I don't know about sending hundreds of pictures, but I've been able to do everything tethering 3G to my laptop that I could with my broadband connection (download movies, send emails, stream media, etc). I don't think it would be a problem but you should at least try tethering to your laptop/PC before you go spend all of that monthly money for an air card.
Its my understanding that if you tether your phone to the laptop then the cost for monthly service is the same as for an aircard. In order to save the $30 a month you can't tether.
Please bear with me, I'm new to smart phones. Up until now I've used a laptop and had a "regular" phone.
Its my understanding that if you tether your phone to the laptop then the cost for monthly service is the same as for an aircard. In order to save the $30 a month you can't tether.
Please bear with me, I'm new to smart phones. Up until now I've used a laptop and had a "regular" phone.
No worries, I thought the same thing at first. I got my Droid (my first smart phone) in Dec. and I was tethering within the week. Thus far, it has not shown up on my bill and as far as I know, Verizon either doesn't know or doesn't care that we tether, just as long as we have the unlimited data plan.
Which just reminds me of how awesome this phone is. I'm using it is a highly capable 100% free GPS with real time updating, an MP3 player, air card, internet browser, book reader, movie viewer, gaming device, camera, video recorder, organizer, sleeping aid, document creater, and much much more. Makes me wonder why anyone would buy an Ipad when the Droid does 30 times as much and fits in my pocket. I love this thing.
Well great big balls of fiar..... if they don't know then I should get all over it. lol
it uses the 3g through your phone, so there is not really a way for them to know. There is only one tethering app on the market that I know of, PDAnet. There is a free version that does not expire and only blocks secure websites. You will have to root your phone for full free tethering, and countless other things you can unlock.
As avid Droid users, do you think I'll finally be able to converge to just one device when I buy a Droid?
As far as GPS is concerned, if you use it a lot in areas without data coverage you'll want to look for apps that store maps on the device. The Droid can certainly replace all your devices. Whether you're happy or not with it is another matter that you'll have to determine for yourself. Try it out and decide before the 30 days are up.
My BB 8310 was my first convergence device and I was very happy with it. That said, I'm much happier with the Droid.
Last edited by takeshi; February 8th, 2010 at 04:13 PM.
Incorrect. It's not hard for them to tell who is tethering. Enforcement is non-existent at the moment though.
OK, it is technically not hard for them to monitor their network, trying to catch thieving tetherers! But you have to start asking other questions. Just how many of Verizon's smart phone users are even going to try to tether? The percentage is VERY low. Most that want to tether are going to go through legitimate means to do it. In other words, pay for the service. So is Verizon going to spend the cash to have network admins sniff the bad guys out ... for a few measly bucks? I say, "No.".
Besides ... the fact is I very rarely tether. Really only when I have to. My main reason is when I go on vacation for two weeks, on the beach of Carolina, and I don't have any broadband at the condo. Last year, I USB tethered my RAZR ... worked "ok". But this year? YES!!! Full 3G wireless tether baby!
OK, it is technically not hard for them to monitor their network, trying to catch thieving tetherers! But you have to start asking other questions. Just how many of Verizon's smart phone users are even going to try to tether? The percentage is VERY low. Most that want to tether are going to go through legitimate means to do it. In other words, pay for the service. So is Verizon going to spend the cash to have network admins sniff the bad guys out ... for a few measly bucks? I say, "No.".
Besides ... the fact is I very rarely tether. Really only when I have to. My main reason is when I go on vacation for two weeks, on the beach of Carolina, and I don't have any broadband at the condo. Last year, I USB tethered my RAZR ... worked "ok". But this year? YES!!! Full 3G wireless tether baby!
Yeah I agree, I don't think they see profit in monitoring yet. Look at how long AT&T has been threatening iPhone thetherererers (ererers) and done nothing to back up their threat. I just don't want people to fool themselves thinking that the are safe from a technical standpoint. It is for sure possible to do packet inspection, heck Comcast has already done it.
The OP should know that while it is easy to tether and vzw doesn't monitor it, it is breaking the ToS to tether. It's true you likely won't "get caught" because they have no way of knowing and they don't monitor like that. But if you blow through the 5 GB allotment, I've seen on other forums people get warnings, get their data shut off, get ridiculous data charges, etc if they do suspect you of tethering. Plowing through the 5 GB of "unlimited data" is a way for them to suspect you of tethering and they can and will charge you for the data overage.
Not saying don't do it, just saying be aware that if you tether, you are in violation and you probably want to keep an eye on that 5 GB limit if you are tethering or not.
Last edited by crankerchick; February 9th, 2010 at 10:23 AM.
I use my droid for navigation, music and video, phone, web browsing, and email. I'm really looking forward to the 2.1 update and the adobe flash 10 update.
I haven't used my tom-tom or mp3 player since buying my droid.
The Motorola Droid - the first ever Verizon Android Phone - exploded onto the mobile market with an incredibly successful ad campaign that brough Android to the masses. With a huge and vibrant touchscreen, solid metal body, full QWERTY keyboard, 5M... Read More
Is Droid my ultimate convergence device?
From what I've read about the Droid on this forum this should indeed be possible! 
