Droid Vs Droid Eris

[andrewzpsu]

The only problem with the Eris is the crummy battery life. I tried to take advantage of the 30-day worry free exchange program to get the Droid, but my wife had thrown away the box...

Check out my Advanced Task Killer thread. That app was actually killing my battery - and the verizon people themselves installed it for me lol. With no task killer my battery life has trippled in the limited testing I've done.

 

[elchip]

Check out my Advanced Task Killer thread. That app was actually killing my battery - and the verizon people themselves installed it for me lol. With no task killer my battery life has trippled in the limited testing I've done.

Don't have it. I had Taskiller and now I have advanced task manager.

 

[enemkay]

I actually bought both. One for me and one for the wife. I played with both while picking which one to give to her and ended up keeping the Eris for myself.

this seems to imply the decision was entirely yours maybe your wife wouldn't LET you have the droid!

 

[enemkay]

htc has more experience with android phones and i think motorola's inexperience is reflected in a lot of the quality issues with the droid. but don't take my word for it, check out the droid forum.

 

[Caddyman]

im sure someone has mentioned it but, eventually htc will fine tune sense for android 2.0 and we (eris owners) will get 2.0 + the extra functionality sense has to offer.

 

[tsaunders]

im sure someone has mentioned it but, eventually htc will fine tune sense for android 2.0 and we (eris owners) will get 2.0 + the extra functionality sense has to offer.

That's what I heard, so I am thinking I am just going to get the Eris.

 

[michaelkahl]

I was at the VZW corporate store today in my area. I wanted to play around with the Eris again while I'm in my 30 day trial. Anyway, as I'm there playing with it an testing it's fast swapping capability a customer and rep come over.
The customer asked, " What's the difference between these two phones to justify $100 difference?"

The sales rep replied, "Motorola is a better brand than HTC and more proven. Also the Motorola has a physical keyboard."

I wanted to say, "Are you stupid?"

I know that most consumers won't understand the difference between Arm 11 and Cortex A8. You could simply say, this device has faster hardware, a physical keyboard, improved video capabilities, and that the current HTC phone is built on older hardware.
The sales rep actually sounded like he didn't know what the true difference was. The customer picked up on his ignorance and left.
Also, in my opinion HTC makes much better phones traditionally compared to Motorola. Granted most consumers know Motorola, but Motorola doesn't have a good name as of late. They make crap phones with one exception, the Droid.

Edit: The HTC Eris is a great phone, do don't think I'm not saying that. I'm only saying that the sales rep was ignorant, and it kills me that he wouldn't know his product. Especially when he works for commission.

 

[enemkay]

i think htc is wise to stick with the arm11 architecture for this very reason. the average person will see 528 mhz one one phone and 550 mhz on another and assume they are similar hardware-wise. the new cortex a8 is badly marketed. they should market it more along the lines of the way the athlon xp series of chips was marketed, with a model name that reflected the equivalent mhz clock rate in similarly performing intel chips.

 

[Needsdecaf]

I stopped in the Verizon store....er Verizon Experience tonight while in the mall. I just wanted to see my thoughts now that I've had the Eris for a week.

Man, am I super glad I didn't get the Droid.

 

[michaelkahl]

Needsdecaf,
I'm glad you're happy with your purchase. I can say that after playing with the Eris I felt the same way. The UI is definitely smoother when swiping between panels, but I feel that Droid handles multitasking and quick switching between apps much better.
That Sense UI is damn sexy, but Open Home is working well for me. I'm not using the Hero Open Home theme, just the default with an icon pack. The favorites drawer is awesome.

 

[Needsdecaf]

Needsdecaf,
I'm glad you're happy with your purchase. I can say that after playing with the Eris I felt the same way. The UI is definitely smoother when swiping between panels, but I feel that Droid handles multitasking and quick switching between apps much better.
That Sense UI is damn sexy, but Open Home is working well for me. I'm not using the Hero Open Home theme, just the default with an icon pack. The favorites drawer is awesome.

I do agree, that swapping between apps and screens, the Eris can be a bit laggy, and it can sometimes be frustrating.

However, the lack of good tactility in the Droid just ruins it for me. Poor ergonomics will kill a good product in my book every time. The Eris with the Droid's screen size and processor would be killer!

 

[michaelkahl]

I do agree, that swapping between apps and screens, the Eris can be a bit laggy, and it can sometimes be frustrating.

However, the lack of good tactility in the Droid just ruins it for me. Poor ergonomics will kill a good product in my book every time. The Eris with the Droid's screen size and processor would be killer!

How I wish we could be so lucky. Maybe news about Passion will be out soon. I can return the Droid and hold out for it.

Edit: HTC's People app is so amazing. I just wish there was a good alternative, because if there is I haven't heard of it.

 

[banjaloupe]

So I'm really leaning towards getting an Eris instead of the Motorola Droid, but I'm worried about one thing. Some people have mentioned that Android 2.0 is most likely coming to the Eris...but it doesn't yet seem like an entirely done deal. When would HTC make an official announcement on this subject? I heard they have for the Hero but not yet for the Eris (technically).

I'm mostly worried since I suspect future applications in the Market might stop being compatible with pre-2.0 Android (like how many iPhone apps required 3.0 when that came out). Is this as much of a risk with Android, or are the OS's similar enough that developers won't abandon 1.5?

Thanks for the help!

 

[shante1012]

hero and eris are essentially the same make up of hardware and software

 

[Grimster]

hero and eris are essentially the same make up of hardware and software

Stop posting. The Eris and Hero are almost completely difference phones. The Eris was designed with added features and extra software and hardware all in a much more compact and slimmer design. The two phone are VERY different. The Hero was basically a prototype/BETA device. The Eris is a completely refined and improved phone.

 

[shante1012]

same phone

 

[mcbtrain929]

quick newbie question.

i know the droid has the gps voice navigation, but while testing out the eris at a VZW store the other day, i noticed it had google maps on it, and it was able to look up directions, etc, just no voice nav. is this a free service on the eris, or do you have to pay for that?

 

[Caddyman]

google maps is free as long as you have unlimited data plan from your carrier

 

[dmodert66]

I am stuck...I really, really love my Eris. I thought I would miss they physical keyboard too much, but I don't. I don't type half bad on the software keyboards and am getting better. That said, I have some concerns (as I can trade in my Eris for a Droid if need be)...

1) The Screen - While the Eris screen is clear and crisp, my brother just got the Droid, and damn, that screen is impressive (size/res)...

2) Future Proof - The Droid seems to be more future proof (IE...Faster processor, dedicated graphics, etc)...

What do you all think?

 

[Slugdoc]

I was incredibly excited to get the Droid on Nov 6, after tolerating the Pearl for 20 months. I loved the small size of the pearl, easy pocketability, etc, but I type tons of emails per day, and the Pearl "SureType" keyboard was wrong too many times. And doing any kind of web research was a chore.

So when 20 months were up, I picked up the Droid. (Coincidentally my New every Two fell on Nov 6). Very happy with it for a while. Then I started to realize that I was simply not fluid with it. It got in the way. It was cumbersome to hold, use one handed, and especially to type.
The on screen keyboard was OK, but the physical keyboard was almost useless to me. It was OK if I typed really slowly. If it had the text-correction feature that the on screen keyboard had, it might be worthwhile.

So, I figured if I would rather use the on screen keyboard instead of the Droid;s physical one, may as well look at the Eris.
Once I held it in my hand (singular) it was clear. It just fit. Typing was a pleasure. Done deal.

Now 3 days later, it is not perfect -- Battery life IS poor. It IS slower to open apps, switch apps -- especially activating the browser (what the heck is with this 4 second delay then "retrieving sign in details"), some major issues with the contacts list -- all to be detailed in a later post.
But despite that I am more than happy to be with the Eris. It just does what I want, at does it far less obtrusively.

But that's just me.

 

[Grimster]

2) Future Proof - The Droid seems to be more future proof (IE...Faster processor, dedicated graphics, etc)...

What do you all think?

errrr. Eris has dedicated graphics as well. Its part of the qualcomm platform. Moto droid simply has a cpu and gpu made by two different Mfrs and this confuses people to think it is special and that its the only one with a GPU. ALL android units have dedicated GPUs

 

[dmodert66]

errrr. Eris has dedicated graphics as well. Its part of the qualcomm platform. Moto droid simply has a cpu and gpu made by two different Mfrs and this confuses people to think it is special and that its the only one with a GPU. ALL android units have dedicated GPUs

Thanks! Appreciate the info...

 

[GPLarge]

I am very happy with my Eris so far. Battery life is OK I tend to hit 15% warning after about 12 hours of use ( I don't mind charging it every night as I did that with my BB anyway ) As far as the Android 2.0 debate, I would rater wait for HTC to port it over with the sense UI anyway as ther are ALOT of apps that are not ready for 2.0 yet as it is so new. A few things I would like to see for the Eris though
1. a send button in the landscape keyboard for texting to make use a bit more fluid
2. some other icon sets and a way to choose them could be cool for an even more custom look
3. auto resize of pictures for MMS so I don't have to shoot a pic in normal quality and just leave the camera set to high
4. Some way to change the banner message and bar style on the lock screen. ( hey I like to customize the look of my phone alot )
more to follow as I use it more but all in all verry happy with it.

 

[Jhr8974]

im sure someone has mentioned it but, eventually htc will fine tune sense for android 2.0 and we (eris owners) will get 2.0 + the extra functionality sense has to offer.

Since HTC layered their UI 2.0 is not a slam dunk, kinda narrows the open platform. The UI has to be written to be compatible, also not sure if a UI can be flashed OTA.

 

[Jhr8974]

I was at the VZW corporate store today in my area. I wanted to play around with the Eris again while I'm in my 30 day trial. Anyway, as I'm there playing with it an testing it's fast swapping capability a customer and rep come over.
The customer asked, " What's the difference between these two phones to justify $100 difference?"

The sales rep replied, "Motorola is a better brand than HTC and more proven. Also the Motorola has a physical keyboard."

I wanted to say, "Are you stupid?"

I know that most consumers won't understand the difference between Arm 11 and Cortex A8. You could simply say, this device has faster hardware, a physical keyboard, improved video capabilities, and that the current HTC phone is built on older hardware.
The sales rep actually sounded like he didn't know what the true difference was. The customer picked up on his ignorance and left.
Also, in my opinion HTC makes much better phones traditionally compared to Motorola. Granted most consumers know Motorola, but Motorola doesn't have a good name as of late. They make crap phones with one exception, the Droid.

Edit: The HTC Eris is a great phone, do don't think I'm not saying that. I'm only saying that the sales rep was ignorant, and it kills me that he wouldn't know his product. Especially when he works for commission.

I had LG Samsung and Motorola, nothing beat my V60I, Moto e815 or Razr V9m. Onlly bad one was 720. I have a droid; it's all a matter of preference.