30 days with Droid

[PantherWreck]

I've been lurking a while and find this to be the best forum for Droid, so I decided to register and do my own comparison between my old rig and the new.

I can call myself a smartphone vet at this point having used an iphone 1st gen for 25 months.

I never purchased phone apps for fear of being locked into a platform by software purchases, even though they are really sunk costs. Also, never will purchase DRM or crippled mp3 quality music.

Most missed on the old phone: 'free visual voicemail' (but you do need it more when you miss approximately 1/6 of your calls ); Podcast management via itunes; Lost it! app to track exercise and calories; hotel rooms have lots of iphone 1st gen compatible docks

Least missed: calls dropped ALL the time (east Atlanta suburbs / Chapel Hill, NC); email for multiple accounts is tedious; Apple's app store nightmare; connecting to a machine and itunes sorry windows implementation

Most loved: Having the keyboard, but it took me 3 weeks to start getting used to it; LED notification light; notification bar; place for apps not on pages; voice search; navigation; cheap multimedia dock; OurGroceries app (also available on iphone)

Least loved: Screen slides open in pocket; $30 a month data; Forced closed on email a lot, but nothing lost so far; Google listen stinks; Calendar needs work

Really annoyed that 2.1 still hasn't been released, but if it has taken this long, testing must have been a disaster and more trouble that it is worth. 2.1 must kick tail on nexus one for that phone to have gotten so much good pub. Overall, happy to have made the switch and my wife is very happy with the droid. We have a family plan with corporate discount and unlimited texts and data - do have a minutes cap, but the 10 freebies keep us under. I did my last unpaid survey for a company when AT&T called to find out why we switched. Almost every answer had to do with call quality, home, work, and traveling.

Greets to all -

pw

 

[3devious]

If you're still missing your visual voicemail, I can give you a google voice invite (though you might not be interested given your opinion of the calendar.)

I must ask... what are you doing to make your droid open in your pocket? I will stay my dirty mind until you answer.

I don't even know what Google Listen is to be able to suggest some workarounds for you. What would you change about Google Calendar? (My husband doesn't like it either, but I was thinking of naming our first born Google Calendar...) I don't use exchange anymore, but what does it do badly or is it just that it looks incredibly bland?

 

[waremaster]

Also for visual voicemail you can try youmail. It is free.

 

[AndroidsOfTara]

I must ask... what are you doing to make your droid open in your pocket?

I think Droids slide open fairly easily as the sliders loosen up over time.

Mine does while in the interior pockets of my jacket. I just bought one of those $3.95 "G1" slipcases from eBay to prevent this. It even opens up with a Seido Innocase on the phone.

 

[PantherWreck]

If you're still missing your visual voicemail, I can give you a google voice invite (though you might not be interested given your opinion of the calendar.)

I must ask... what are you doing to make your droid open in your pocket? I will stay my dirty mind until you answer.

I don't even know what Google Listen is to be able to suggest some workarounds for you. What would you change about Google Calendar? (My husband doesn't like it either, but I was thinking of naming our first born Google Calendar...) I don't use exchange anymore, but what does it do badly or is it just that it looks incredibly bland?

Thanks for the offer 3devious. I do have a gv number, but went with the new number option and still need to tell friends to use the new number to try it out for real. It is a good suggestion though.

Droid goes in the front jeans pocket with no other items screen towards the leg and power switch end pointed down. Maybe I will try the top side up and see if it makes a difference? I don't think I have the opening problem with slacks, maybe the Levis are droid unfriendly? No way I am running around with a sidearm phone (not that you suggested it). If I am going to have something on the hip sticking out, it will be the .38 I have a desk job, but could imagine that droid slide opening might be a problem for dance instructors.

Google listen is Google's podcast client. It has just been difficult to find podcasts that I have found easily in itunes.

I actually use google calendar and like it, but the droid implementation looks like crap on the phone. No adjustment in settings for the phone for the hours range makes the day's range of hours too long. The agenda view is actually good. The week is ok. The month view is just strange and ugly. Why are the numbers for date at the bottom of the cells? We share calendars and the month view shows the 'thermometer' type bars to show 'closed' times, but mixes my calendar with other shared calendars. Also, why do I care that my time is available from midnight to 7am? I should be able to specify what is shown as a 'day' to me. I never used exchange, so can't compare, but the iphone calendar does look better and provides similar functionality when synced with google.

 

[PantherWreck]

Also for visual voicemail you can try youmail. It is free.

Thanks for the suggestion waremaster, I will give that one a shot.

pw

 

[meekrab]

Thanks for the offer 3devious. I do have a gv number, but went with the new number option and still need to tell friends to use the new number to try it out for real. It is a good suggestion though.

Droid goes in the front jeans pocket with no other items screen towards the leg and power switch end pointed down. Maybe I will try the top side up and see if it makes a difference? I don't think I have the opening problem with slacks, maybe the Levis are droid unfriendly? No way I am running around with a sidearm phone (not that you suggested it). If I am going to have something on the hip sticking out, it will be the .38 I have a desk job, but could imagine that droid slide opening might be a problem for dance instructors.

Just so you are aware, you aren't required to use your GV number for visual voicemail. I have mine setup so my voicemail is forwarded from my verizon number to my GV mailbox, works without a hitch. You can set it up in GV settings.

As far as the screen sliding goes, my first question would be did you remove the plastic from the back of the screen? Check this thread out

http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...o-droids-screen.html?highlight=customize+back

These vinyl stickers are a pretty good way to add some friction to the screen, or you can always use electrical tape (I find that a bit hard to justify on such a nice phone, though).

 

[Gunner]

Yeah you don't have to use the Google Voice # to get Visual Voicemail. I use my GV acct for voicemail only. Still use my regular VZ # for calls. I believe you have to choose that option when you first install the app.

 

[shadowdude777]

When you download GV on your phone for the first time, it'll give you a setup wizard. One screen involves setting up voicemail to work with GV. It'll have a link that says dial (confusing number). Hit that link, hit send when you get to the dialer, and you'll get taken into a call that will involve three mysterious beeps and that's it. Your phone is now set up. You'll notice nothing different, but when you get a voicemail, it'll appear in your GV inbox with your SMS messages, transcribed into text (not very well, but it's a start!).

 

[PantherWreck]

When you download GV on your phone for the first time, it'll give you a setup wizard. One screen involves setting up voicemail to work with GV. It'll have a link that says dial (confusing number). Hit that link, hit send when you get to the dialer, and you'll get taken into a call that will involve three mysterious beeps and that's it. Your phone is now set up. You'll notice nothing different, but when you get a voicemail, it'll appear in your GV inbox with your SMS messages, transcribed into text (not very well, but it's a start!).

I did get the GV working correctly. I had failed to go to the Phone tab under Setting in GV to 'activate Google voicemail on this phone.' The transcripts are a bit off so far, but it beats the heck out of calling in to retrieve messages.

pw