Bionic or Galaxy S.. Either Way My Droid Dies.

[s1ckGhost]

I've come back to Android Forums because my contract was up and needed to see what all the hot fuss would be about. I was not surprised to learn that Motorola Droid Bionic and Samsung Galaxy S II would be the talk of choices between users looking to renew their contracts and take up on that juicy upgrade ability.


But I noticed one thing as I kept reading all the threads...

And it scares me and makes me think a silly thought..

But a thought that could be a reality..

It seems to me that all Motorola Droid (1) users are nursing terminally ill devices...Droids that are at the verge of moving towards the light.. it is as if they are meant to expire at a certain point after 2 years..

My Droid is completely useless unless I battery pull 2-3 times in a row.. and the very serious problem I have is that Dialer will foreclose on me before it can even connect or register my touch to dial a call.

Def. No Bueno.

Conspiracy Theory.. or Actual Government Cover-Up.

Whats your story? - Is your Droid telling you (in its own way) that it's time for you to let it go and choose a device that will make you happy like it once did?

Bionic... Galaxy?

 

[YankeeDudeL]

WB to AF s1ck.

Yeah, there's just an epidemic of OG Droids out there that are limping along to their upgrade dates (and see how many of us got them on Day 1, there's already a lot of us).

My OG was on it's last legs for quite some time. Then I dropped it, cracked teh screen, and though she worked, was it for her. Was surprised when I got another D1 replacement. Was so much nicer the first week or two, but now it's just as inconsistent as the previous one.

There def might be something to this conspiracy, cause there's an awful lot of us out there with similar issues.

 

[Jerm13]

Day 1 OG Droid user here- though I did get a warranty replacement 6 months in.

I had thought my little beast was dying- ridiculously slow, reboots, apps force closing - but it turns out it was just the inability to run Gingerbread.

I went back to a Froyo rom (Droid concepts) and the little puppy is running like new, so I have some renewed patience.

I had been tempted by the Droid 3, but my OG Droid GB woes have taught me not to settle for too little RAM. Sure, Droid 3 may run fine now, but what happens if we want Ice Cream Sandwich on it? ....

So now I just wait for Bionic/GSII info to make my final decision...

 

[HOTHEAD]

So what are you guys leaning towards?

The Bionic or the SG2?

 

[jroc]

Day 1 OG Droid user here- though I did get a warranty replacement 6 months in.

I had thought my little beast was dying- ridiculously slow, reboots, apps force closing - but it turns out it was just the inability to run Gingerbread.

I went back to a Froyo rom (Droid concepts) and the little puppy is running like new, so I have some renewed patience.

Even tho I have a Droid X1, same thing happened with my Droid 1. Went back to Froyo and all is well. I got my Droid in March 2010 and its still going strong.

I dont doubt folks that got it in 2009 are having major issues. But my phone was also manufactured in 2010. So I got one from the latest batches. I also didnt have the infamous mute issues some Droid 1 users were reporting.

 

[YankeeDudeL]

This thread inspired me to create a poll in the Droid forum to gauge just how many of us there are.

For the record, I've been leaning toward the Bionic, and is mostly likely to be my next device.

 

[MicroNix]

So what are you guys leaning towards?

The Bionic or the SG2?

At this point it may be whatever drops first. I really *want* the SG2 but if the Bionic somehow surprises me I'll be leaning toward it. All I know is this time I'm getting insurance after owning an OG Droid. In one way I want to tell Moto to eat it because of the OG Droid not even lasting 2 years for a LOT of people but on the other hand I'm paying a smart phone contract without having a smart phone anymore. I just want something good. The T-Bolt/Charge/Revolution just isn't cutting it for 2011 and the D3 has not had very flattering reviews so far not to mention the pics taken on it look like crap (I know surprise surprise its a Motorola phone). The SGS is perfect if they don't BING it, but I'm sick of waiting.

 

[BlueBiker]

It seems to me that all Motorola Droid (1) users are nursing terminally ill devices...Droids that are at the verge of moving towards the light.. it is as if they are meant to expire at a certain point after 2 years..

My Droid is completely useless unless I battery pull 2-3 times in a row..

Batteries don't last forever, they can cause weird symptoms when they fail, and they're very cheap & easy to replace (unless you have an iDevice). May not have to do w/your particular issues, but I bet it is for a lot of users.

 

[s1ckGhost]

Sorry I meant to say that I battery pull because of the forceclose on Dialer but my battery is still strong. Still lasts me an entire day with 40% left and im not using any battery saving apps.

Leaning Towards Bionic myself.

 

[HotDawg]

Mine's really not too bad - it's getting increasingly slow, though. I had to take off launcher pro and really strip it down and it's still laggy.

I'm sure going to miss the screen, but not the keyboard (never use it).

But everything "works" fine. I wouldn't say it's dying, just out of date.

My husband's touch screen died last month so we got him a DX2. I was tempted....must....hold...out...two....weeekssssssss.........

 

[The_Chief]

So what are you guys leaning towards?

The Bionic or the SG2?

I KNOW this is the Bionic forum but the question was asked. FWIW, I'm forsaking the Bionic in favor of the Samsung Galaxy S II (Function on Verizon). And before I get flame-sprayed by the Bionic fans, let me preface this by saying they're BOTH gonna be kick-a$$ phones with great specs and a quantum leap upward from our beloved Droids.

That said, it all comes down to a matter of 2 words:

Unlocked bootloader.

Having been rooted & ROMmed for 19 of 20 months of Droid ownership, I have grown to rely heavily on nandroid backups. Anyone who follows my postings knows I preach them. Backups have saved my proverbial butt more than once. I want a phone I can root and backup - pretty much out of the box - without waiting on the manufacturer to come through with a "promise" to unlock the bootloader sometime near the end of the year.

Will the Bionic be a great phone? You bet it will... and I wish you guys well on your new purchase, since it looks like you'll be getting the Bionic before I get the Function. If the benefits of rooting (like backups) aren't important to you, the Bionic will serve your needs well for a long time. And maybe Moto WILL actually unlock it. Better for you!

But all said, all researched, all things considered... the SGS2 is THE phone for ME to get (considering it sold 3 Million units in 55 days worldwide and they even sent one to CyanogenMod for development ) and THAT'S the phone I'm getting. My 0.02

 

[DDave]

So what are you guys leaning towards?

The Bionic or the SG2?

Bionic

 

[jamor]

I'll actually feel guilty about upgrading.

I've had the HTC Incredible for 15 months now and it still works absolutely flawlessly.

 

[drdoom]

I'll actually feel guilty about upgrading.

I've had the HTC Incredible for 15 months now and it still works absolutely flawlessly.

My Incredible is starting to die, so I don't feel too bad. Even with switching out layouts and wallpapers often, I have very visible image burn and my phone is becoming less responsive to touch input.

 

[AntimonyER]

I got you beat, my incredible powers up to the bootloader screen and sits there frozen. This is after it went through the wash 3 weeks ago, was actually running decently since then. I got greedy and did a factory reset, since my wifi wasn't working. Big mistake.

 

[MarvinAndroid]

I still have and use my OG Droid 1. It's been a great phone. Physically the thing is fine, it just seems like both the OS and the apps have progressed beyond the abilities of this phone. It is just so slow lately that it fails to do simple every day tasks. It's so slow that even the OS gets sick of waiting for things to load and just force closes them.

I'm going for the Bionic the second it's available. That is my next phone and I have a feeling it will be a popular one for us original Droid owners. So my Android path so far is pretty clear:

G1 (day of release) -> Droid (day of release) -> Droid Bionic (day of release).

Three great (hopefully) phones. I can't wait.

 

[jamor]

So what are you guys leaning towards?

The Bionic or the SG2?

Bionic.

I don't want a phone (SGS2) that has been in production for 6 months already in Europe and decides to give us the left overs after it's dated. Especially since it isn't going to come out until earliest FALL.

 

[jinwons]

Bionic.

I don't want a phone (SGS2) that has been in production for 6 months already in Europe and decides to give us the left overs after it's dated. Especially since it isn't going to come out until earliest FALL.

SGS2 for me. There is still no phone touching its performance.
Been in production for 6 months? How so? It started in early May. I think you are confusing its press announcement in Feb as production.

 

[Rhystatic]

So what are you guys leaning towards?

The Bionic or the SG2?

I think it's pretty close to majority accepted that if the SG2 got 4G LTE, it would be like 80% (or MUCH higher) for everyone's number one I'm getting list. Really right now it mostly comes down to we will snag Bionic because we either are in a 4g area or are looking to lock in 4g for future use.

But I think most people would agree, SG2 almost completely hands down if it had 4G.

 

[jroc]

Unless the US version of the GS2 has Tegra 2. That and no LTE as rumored and it wouldnt get a 2nd look from me. Its a slick looking phone, and the newer Touchwiz looks nice with some nice features tho.

All the dual core cpu's are nice n all, but I think the Exynos and OMAP are probably at the top with the Tegra 2 and Snapdragon coming after...in no particular.

 

[MicroNix]

That said, it all comes down to a matter of 2 words:

Unlocked bootloader.

Having been rooted & ROMmed for 19 of 20 months of Droid ownership, I have grown to rely heavily on nandroid backups. Anyone who follows my postings knows I preach them. Backups have saved my proverbial butt more than once.

My 0.02

Ok, I have to interject here because you are the type of person I'm trying to understand. Unlocked bootloader is nice, agreed. However, on the backup side, how many times would your proverbial butt not have needed a restore if you had not been rooted? When your phone is wiped out, all of your apps come back automatically from Google and many like Locale now save their settings to the Google cloud so what is the value of that Nandroid backup? Please don't take this as a negative post! I'm just trying to understand why purchases by so many are centered around if it has an unlocked bootloader or not.

 

[The_Chief]

MicroNix, I'm not hurt. After 20 years in the Navy, it takes a lot more than that to get under my skin LOL

Let's put a quick scenario together: Let's say we get identical phones, I'm rooted, you're not. You find a brand new app: say, a live wallpaper, that is simply drop-dead gorgeous and you tell me about it. I agree and download it too. Now we're both rockin' the most beautiful LWP on the Market. Turns out it's malware

It writes stuff into the phone's system folder, all our apps start force-closing all over the place, and the phone starts sending out "adult" spam to our contacts. We both immediately uninstall the app, but the damage is done. What's the fix?

Yours is to do a complete data wipe/factory reset. Yes, your contacts will come back, as will your Market apps. Your homescreen and all your device settings have to be re-done all over again.

I made a nandroid backup before I installed the app - I make at least one every week, in fact. All I have to do is data wipe/factory reset, and RESTORE to the last known good state BEFORE I downloaded the LWP and I'm rocking like nothing ever happened. Sure, maybe I lost a week or so of updates and messaging, but it's a small price to pay for not having to slick the phone and set the whole thing up again.

That's just ONE reason I want an unlocked bootloader. Or maybe I just want to get rid of all the bloatware that came with the phone. Or install a custom ROM because I like stock vanilla Android without the fancy UI.

Yes, maybe I'm making too much out of being rooted. Maybe you'll never be in that situation... I hope that's the case. But after nearly 2 years, it's simply difficult for me to imagine owning an Android phone that I can't backup, customize, overclock/underclock, modify and personalize to my heart's content. Like I said: if rooting isn't that big a deal for you, either phone will do well. Rooting has just become an integral part of Android ownership... for ME.

 

[drdoom]

I'm playing devil's advocate with this post, but your example is flawed. What if the malicious wallpaper was able to take advantage of your root access and totally brick your phone? A stock phone wouldn't have access and a simple restore would fix it; good luck doing that with a brick.

Having said that, I'd rather have root than be forced to use what the carrier gives me. Smart decisions about applications and their use go a long way to making sure nothing gets screwed up; with or without root.

 

[The_Chief]

What if the malicious wallpaper was able to take advantage of your root access and totally brick your phone?

Dude, you're nuking it. My example (and that's all it was) was limited to the app writing into the System folder. If it can brick a rooted phone, it will likely brick a non-rooted phone just as easily. I didn't come here to hijack the thread into a "root or not root" argument.

When the OP asked "Bionic or Galaxy S II" - even in a Bionic forum - no one should get all gobsmacked when someone actually shows up and says "Galaxy S II" and gives their reasons for the choice. That's all I did. Sorry, didn't mean to ruffle any Motorola fan feathers here. Got 5 Motorola products myself. They make great products. I'll let you guys get BACK ON TOPIC and I'll go back to the Function forum

 

[drdoom]

Dude, you're nuking it. My example (and that's all it was) was limited to the app writing into the System folder. If it can brick a rooted phone, it will likely brick a non-rooted phone just as easily. I didn't come here to hijack the thread into a "root or not root" argument.

When the OP asked "Bionic or Galaxy S II" - even in a Bionic forum - no one should get all gobsmacked when someone actually shows up and says "Galaxy S II" and gives their reasons for the choice. That's all I did. Sorry, didn't mean to ruffle any Motorola fan feathers here. Got 5 Motorola products myself. They make great products. I'll let you guys get BACK ON TOPIC and I'll go back to the Function forum

I wasn't attacking you or defending Motorola. Like I said, I was playing devil's advocate to show that both have advantages and disadvantages.