24 Hours with the Droid (iPhone 3GS User)

[marcfogel]

My recent phones:

iPhone->iPhone 3G->iPhone 3Gs with a couple of BlackBerrys in there

I did not port my number over to Verizon yet. I was given a new number for testing, which I may end up keeping.

After two minutes of use, I realized why a lot of Blackberry users are getting the Droid.

My experience so far:

1. call to Verizon - Outstanding customer service, had me up an running in no time. was not a typical activation. I had to cancel the port and get a new number.

2. Set up Gmail - Google Apps Account, the integration is the best i have seen. The only thing just as good is Blackberry / Exchange integration.

3. Made a couple of calls and received one incoming. Two drops (a little concerned)

4. The Droid is outsanding, battery life seems a lot better than the iPhone 3GS. The email & calendar integration is a lot better.

5. I can hear the speaker and feel the vibration. No missed calls, txts or emails.

6. The bluetooth is usable. The quality on the iPhone was terrible.

7. Build quality seems better than the iPhone, except for the camera button.

8. The only advantage the iphone has is the iTunes integration. this makes it very simple to sync Music.

9. Call quality on the Droid smokes the iPhone, after 3 generations you think apple would have gotten it right.

10. More customization - More customization - More customization it is ridiculous that I can download an alternate Browser to the iPhone with Jailbreaking it. Apple should be ashamed of themselves.

I wish the Droid did not have a slide-out keyboard, my opinion on this may change.

My wife came home and saw the Droid and said to me "you wont keep it, the iPhone is prettier"

I think the Droid is a capable device and I am enjoying it very much. Bring on the Apps.

I will be happy to answer any other questions

 

[gonzoguy24]

Awesome. I love my droid

 

[Phone Guy]

Awesome. I love my droid

Same here.

Soon everyone will have either an Android or IPhone.

 

[blak guy that cant dance]

I came from a 3G and I have to say I really loved my Iphone but what the problem really is may be the apple is too into the muti-media part of the phone and not the phone itself. What's the point of having a phone that can do all this great stuff but i don't have to coverage to use it or even make a call for that matter. So I finally got fed up and when to verizon. I can't say enough how happy I am that I left at&t. I haven't dropped a call yet and I hardly miss my Iphone anymore.

 

[Encryptshun]

"My wife came home and saw the Droid and said to me "you wont keep it, the iPhone is prettier"

I hear you there, but (and I'm sure I'm not the first to use this analogy):

iPhone = Mon Calamari cruiser

Droid = Star Destroyer

Mon Cal is prettier, but Star Destroyer pwns.

 

[FlipDroid]

I bought my wife the Droid the day after I bought mine. Her first reaction was the phone was too fancy for her. Now everytime she's sitting on the couch she's IMing, facebooking, and web browsing. Its quite funny actually.

We both came from Helio phones. So this is a big upgrade from the ocean, although we own an iPod touch so the experience is similar to the iPhone

 

[KimMazz]

My recent phones:

iPhone->iPhone 3G->iPhone 3Gs with a couple of BlackBerrys in there


After two minutes of use, I realized why a lot of Blackberry users are getting the Droid.

I had the BB 8830 - my first bb then I went to the Curve 8330 and loved the email connection. I was very worried when I was considering getting the droid because my business uses email heavily and I was concerned about lag time and lost emails.

I have all my email through my business domain. I set that up to use gmail and this is hands down the best way to get email. All my accounts are synced and running through my phone, laptop, and desktop. It's so great to have access -- and the same access where ever I am. I've even stopped using outlook (which I thought I'd die without!)

I don't miss anything about my bb -- well, maybe the BBM with some people, but texting is fine.

I am still in my 30 day trial period, but I don't see me going back.

 

[Robert90262]

I came from a iPhone 3gs and the only thing I miss about it is the apps. Other then that I love my Droid.

 

[lemodular]

My recent phones:

3. Made a couple of calls and received one incoming. Two drops (a little concerned)

Were these calls to other iPhones or AT&T subscribers?


Thanks for the first hand and objective comparison.

 

[marcfogel]

Where these calls to other iPhones or AT&T subscribers?


Thanks for the first hand and objective comparison.

One was incoming from a land line. The other was from a VZW subscriber, me ex-wife. She could have hung up on me on purpose

 

[rhyno]

One was incoming from a land line. The other was from a VZW subscriber, me ex-wife. She could have hung up on me on purpose

Yeah, the dropped calls I wouldn't worry about, it may have been an anomoly. In my last maybe 8 years of service with Verizon, i've had probably 3 dropped calls and 2 of those were likely due to the other person's cell. This isn't just being in one are either. I've lived in Cali, Ny, and Florida..

 

[chrlswltrs]

I came from a iPhone 3gs and the only thing I miss about it is the apps. Other then that I love my Droid.

I feel exactly the same, other than that I don't like the keyboard being on the phone, but I just never open it.

But a big app advantage - Google navigation - still in Beta and still better than the nav apps that cost $80+ on the iPhone.

My previous phones: iPhone (launch day), iPhone 3GS, Droid Eris (2 weeks), Omnia II (2 days), then DROID- Love it!

 

[jer.lawrence]

Ditto (I'm sure I'm in a different area), I've had the Droid since release date and I havent' dropped a call on it yet.

Never owned an iPhone, so I can't really compare. I love my Droid though. I really wanted an iPhone, but I wanted Verizon more. I'm very glad I waited. I wouldn't switch now, given the opportunity.

 

[Icedemon]

I feel exactly the same, other than that I don't like the keyboard being on the phone, but I just never open it.

But a big app advantage - Google navigation - still in Beta and still better than the nav apps that cost $80+ on the iPhone.

My previous phones: iPhone (launch day), iPhone 3GS, Droid Eris (2 weeks), Omnia II (2 days), then DROID- Love it!

Sorry, Navigon is the best one out so far. Google has some catching up to do.

 

[mihalich]

She could have hung up on me on purpose

That was my morning laugh for the day...Thanks.

Joe

 

[alostpacket]

FWIW there are a few ways to make music syncing on the droid easy if you're on a PC

1) Winamp - easy as pie but throws all your music into the root of the SD card (not really a problem though because most apps work off of the same principle and use auto searchs to find things). Free.


2) Microsoft SyncToy 2.0 - this is a great little tool, you just set up folders you want to sync and have multiple options for types of syncing. Have yet to try it on the droid but I'm 99% sure it would work without a problem. Can be scheduled. I also use this like a ghetto Raid array for my main computer and the program is rock solid. Free.

There are probably a few decent Sync apps for the Mac but I'm not as up on my Macs these days as I used to be.



.

 

[SirVilhelm]

For syncing music regular old Windows Media Player will do a fine job. It will sync your music to /SDCard/Music/Artist/Album which is the way I like it. It also sends over album art which the built in media player on the Droid supports.

 

[ItalianScallion]

FWIW there are a few ways to make music syncing on the droid easy if you're on a PC


There are probably a few decent Sync apps for the Mac but I'm not as up on my Macs these days as I used to be.



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doubleTwist works well

 

[Deleted User]

I think the Droid is a capable device and I am enjoying it very much. Bring on the Apps.

I have found the app selection on the Droid to be very satisfying. Yes, the iPhone has more than 100,000, but many thousands of them haven't ever been downloaded or used by anyone.

If you look in the Market, you'll find a pretty good selection of apps in there.

 

[Legacystar]

Mon Calamari cruiser

Droid = Star Destroyer

Mon Cal is prettier, but Star Destroyer pwns

best thing i have ever read!!

 

[chrlswltrs]

Sorry, Navigon is the best one out so far. Google has some catching up to do.

I had Navigon, TomTom, CoPilot, and AT&T navigator for my iPhone 3GS, I liked Navigon the best of those but I like some of the features (layers) on google better, plus I can actually read the road names I need to turn on with google (I had to lean towards my phone and strain to read navigon which is not good while driving). Both are just as accurate from my experience. The voice is better on Navigon, but I guess it all just matters what is important to you.

 

[chrlswltrs]

I have found the app selection on the Droid to be very satisfying. Yes, the iPhone has more than 100,000, but many thousands of them haven't ever been downloaded or used by anyone.

If you look in the Market, you'll find a pretty good selection of apps in there.

I have found a lot of apps, and they are adequate for now. The kind of apps I am missing from the iPhone are:
USAA
A real eBay app, not the pkt auctions on android
Directv (not just nfl superfan)
Fandango
Redbox
Chipotle ordering

It's just a matter of time though, there are definitly enough apps to keep me happy until the market catches up to the app store.

 

[d1pham]

I came from a iPhone 3gs and the only thing I miss about it is the apps. Other then that I love my Droid.

Really the apps? Here are my random thoughts on the app situation. In the last month, Google has release two "game-breaking/changing" apps: Google Maps Navigation and Google Goggles. Once Google Maps Navigation was announced pretty much all other navigation apps on the market became obsolete. A quick search of the iTunes market reveals that there are hundreds of navigation apps for the iPhone. Moving forward if Google continues to aggressively promote/develop for Android you will only see more and more game-breaking/changing apps. Then the question of quality vs quantity comes into play. I don't mind if the ratio of Android to Apple apps is 1 to 10, especially if that one Android app is vastly superior to the the other 10 Apple apps.

On the developer side it is much easier to work with Android's SDK than Apple's SDK (personal experience) so you can expect the number of apps to increase on the Android market in the near future.

All in all, I'm trying to say that the future potential of the Android market is bright...scrap that...VERY BRIGHT. Fun loving apps you've seen on the iPhone will sure enough be ported to Android in the near future, so don't worry about the apps for now.

 

[phobic]

I have found a lot of apps, and they are adequate for now. The kind of apps I am missing from the iPhone are:
USAA
A real eBay app, not the pkt auctions on android
Directv (not just nfl superfan)
Fandango
Redbox
Chipotle ordering

It's just a matter of time though, there are definitly enough apps to keep me happy until the market catches up to the app store.

Yeah I definitely miss the USAA one. The iPhone does have the edge in specified apps but that's obviously because it's so popular. I do miss some of the games as well but I had no trouble selling my iPhone today. I don't miss it at all.

I will agree with the OP that I wished the Droid didn't have a sliding keyboard. I've opened it maybe twice and haven't used it at all. I had the Eris but it was just too slow (loved everything else about it though).

 

[hard2say]

FWIW there are a few ways to make music syncing on the droid easy if you're on a PC

1) Winamp - easy as pie but throws all your music into the root of the SD card (not really a problem though because most apps work off of the same principle and use auto searchs to find things). Free.


2) Microsoft SyncToy 2.0 - this is a great little tool, you just set up folders you want to sync and have multiple options for types of syncing. Have yet to try it on the droid but I'm 99% sure it would work without a problem. Can be scheduled. I also use this like a ghetto Raid array for my main computer and the program is rock solid. Free.

There are probably a few decent Sync apps for the Mac but I'm not as up on my Macs these days as I used to be.



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Thanks for this info alostpacket. I really don't want to use Media Player for syncing my goodies.