Potential new droid user

[Ascotthowe]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here at androidforums.com

I have been a verizon wireless customer for 7-8 years, and most recently I have been using a blackberry curve. (My first smartphone) However I haven't been happy with the phone for these reasons:

-Lack of apps
-Very slow
-Poor browser application

I have been looking into the droid ALOT, I just bought my blackberry 3-4 months ago and have already had to return it once (Couldnt get it to recognize any key presses, customer service told me it was a software issue). I am wondering as the droid has just recently came out, is it worth the $360.00 to upgrade? I know with new smartphones there are a ton of potential problems that could be deal breakers, that's why I'm hoping some experienced users can let me know about the main problems with the droid. After reading tons of reviews the only issues I've seen have dealt with the slide out keyboard...but is there anything else, hardware or software wise? Thanks again in advance, I hope to be a droid owner very soon!

 

[The_Chief]

I hope you become a Droid owner soon! I came from an LG Dare and would not consider another phone. The App Market is great, the browser (Dolphin) is a wonderful portable version of Firefox (Flash 10 coming 2010), and it looks and sounds great. The turn-by-turn free Navigation has shown me roads and shortcuts in my area that I didn't even know existed!

My ONLY complaint is that my music is stored in alphabetical order vice CD order. But if you can live with that, then you will find no better device. I would pay that money again in a heartbeat.

Hope this helps!

 

[alostpacket]

My suggestion would just be to try out the hardware keyboard and decide how you feel about it or if you need it. If there is one really subjective experience on thee Droid, it's the hardware keyboard. Some love it, some hate it. The rest of the phone you will love.

 

[The_Chief]

Yeah the hardware keyboard leaves a bit to be desired but the predictive text on the virtual keyboard is SO GOOD that I rarely ever use the physical keyboard. It's a non-issue to me. I only use it occasionally because it's there and I paid for it LOL

 

[Hegemony]

the browser (Dolphin) is a wonderful portable version of Firefox (Flash 10 coming 2010)

Dolphin is what now? Are you just saying it is LIKE Firefox? Mozilla's mobile version of Firefox should be out soon. I think they're calling it PocketFox.

The only issue I really hear people talking about is the keyboard and the OP should definitely try before buying. Don't use a dummy phone for this. Make sure it is a real running model. I looked at a dummy Droid and the keyboard felt awful, nothing like the real thing.

After using the Droid for over a month, I really like the keyboard. I'd say I'm as fast on it as I was on the iPhone's virtual keyboard. It really makes me wonder if I can ever go back to a touchscreen only phone.

 

[xmr405o]

Welcome to the forums!

First off, $360 to upgrade?!? I suggest you shop around.

Anyways, I've been a smartphone user for awhile and I've had blackberry's, Palm, Winmo phones and now a Droid. I've never used my smartphones for business use but more for leisure. I've haven't really seen anyone on these forums say that they use their Moto Droid for work. So, I'm not sure about business use but for leisure and for fun, this Droid rocks. Multimedia is not where it's supposed to be but with the Android OS the sky's the limit. The phone is fast and I haven't had issues with reliability. Now, would I pay that much money for it??? I wouldn't for any phone.

 

[xmr405o]

I forgot one thing, I was reminded that Android phones can't save apps and run them on the SD card. I'm not sure if that's what you would call a "dealbreaker". Though i think the internal memory is sufficient.

 

[thrifty]

The Droid is my first "smart" phone also and overall I really like it. I tested out the iphone and all the others I could get my hands on during the month before my contract expired with Nextel... the Droid won out due to it's customization ability and the option of the physical keyboard. (I only use it for the d-pad) I really enjoy what I can do with the Droid to make it my own, not just a cookie cutter phone that the bandwagon is using...

 

[Ascotthowe]

Welcome to the forums!

First off, $360 to upgrade?!? I suggest you shop around.

I forgot to mention the $100.00 mail in rebate, making the actual cost $260. Which is $100 more than the 2 year contract renewal, right?

Well this is through verizon, it's by using an early upgrade on one of the secondary lines. (Extending the contract on that phone for 1 year.)

I just recently upgraded to the Blackberry curve in august and have hated it since, sucks I used my new every two on this phone! Is there a way to get it cheaper than the $360.00? That's what the Cust. Service Rep from verizon told me.

The hardware keyboard will by no means be a deal breaker for me, I played with it in the store and like all phones I can imagine it takes some getting used to...and if not that, you always have the touch screen.

 

[alostpacket]

The hardware keyboard will by no means be a deal breaker for me, I played with it in the store and like all phones I can imagine it takes some getting used to...and if not that, you always have the touch screen.

Cool This is exactly how I felt about it and even though I struggle with the hardware keyboard, I love the software one. So I'm certainly more than content with my Droid.

 

[taz55]

Cool This is exactly how I felt about it and even though I struggle with the hardware keyboard, I love the software one. So I'm certainly more than content with my Droid.

biggest tip for the HW keyboard is use the tips of your thumbs not the pads and it becomes easier.

 

[zandroid]

biggest tip for the HW keyboard is use the tips of your thumbs not the pads and it becomes easier.

Agreed. Much easier this way.

 

[craigrn16]

The Droid is the best phone on Verizon right now and is the best smartphone competitor to the iPhone right now. After the last update everything is real fast and I love the fact that the phone is fully custimizable. Ten times better than any blackberry I've seen. and the app count last time I checked was about 15000 apps now. Not counting the ones you can get off the market.
The only negative which I dont really like is the fact there is no really good IM app for android yet and no really good radio app to get local radio which blackberry and iPhone both have. Other than that its great. The hardware keyboard is great unless you have really huge fingers and the touch sreen keyboard is easy once you get use to it.

 

[johflo88]

@Thrifty:good for you and it's your money.Spoken like wiseman.

 

[johflo88]

@ craigrn16: the apps will come,the iphone had a 2-3 years headstart.When I brought my Iphone 3g there were only a measly 32 apps. You know what, nobody dare to bitch about it and they still don't.