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New Droid X Owner with questions

I was able to upgrade early, so I dumped the Storm and got the Droid X on Saturday. Honestly, I wasn't very happy at first, and I'm still not 100% satisfied, but it's getting much better. Although the Storm was frustrating, there were a few things I really liked, and missed not having on the X. One thing was the ability to simply tap the screen to "wake up" the phone. With the X, it's a bit troublesome to press a hard key, then have to slide to open. Is there some way to "wake up" the X with just a tap, or at least get rid of the "slide to open" thing? I heard Launcher Pro might do that, but I cannot open that app (nor the other one that was recommended).

Secondly, I tried to use a pic as the wallpaper on the home screen, but it stretched over all seven home screens. Is there some way to use one of my pictures as the wallpaper?

On the Storm, I needed to "Force Close" each app, webpage, or anything else, by going to the menu and scrolling to "Close". Otherwise, they would keep running in the background. On the X, I've been using the "Back" key. Does this 'close" the application or browser?

Is there some way to save apps on to the SD card? Or is this necessary? On the Storm, I added only about five apps and the device memory was pretty much full.

What are some good productivity apps?

What are some ideas about what to put on the other six home screens? I'm a little overwhelmed with the possibilities!

I have corporate email and calendar on the X, but I can't get my corporate calendar to sync with my personal calendar. I have to check two calendars. Is there any way to have business appts and personal appts show on one calendar?

Some other issues I'm having:

1. I've had the phone for three days, and it has suddenly powered off and automatically came back on four times. I'm thinking it was maybe because I was doing too much with it on the first day or two. It hasn't done it today.

2. Battery life is the worst on any phone I have ever had. Again, maybe because I've been using it and trying out all the features so much lately.

Some great things:

1. Love the screen size. It's like having a mini "iPad"

2. SWYPE!!! I thought I would use the Voice to Text more often, but Swype is fantastic. My boss and co-workers were amazed. (My boss immediately looked for an app to do this on his iPhone. He couldn't find one.)

3. Caller ID as 'ringtone'. I didn't know it was set for this, so imagine my surprise when I heard this computerized, feminine voice saying "Phone call from RB".

4. The speed! Downloading and installing apps on the Storm would take several minutes (if at all). Now, it takes only seconds! Webpages load fast and clear!

5. A camera that actually works when I press the button!

Sorry for all the questions y'all, but I haven't been able to find any answers in my online searches. Thanks in advance for your help!

Comments

crb79

LoydroidX wrote:
........
On the Storm, I needed to "Force Close" each app, webpage, or anything else, by going to the menu and scrolling to "Close". Otherwise, they would keep running in the background. On the X, I've been using the "Back" key. Does this 'close" the application or browser?

Is there some way to save apps on to the SD card? Or is this necessary? On the Storm, I added only about five apps and the device memory was pretty much full.

Some other issues I'm having:
1. I've had the phone for three days, and it has suddenly powered off and automatically came back on four times. I'm thinking it was maybe because I was doing too much with it on the first day or two. It hasn't done it today.

2. Battery life is the worst on any phone I have ever had. Again, maybe because I've been using it and trying out all the features so much lately.
......

Some people don't find a need for a Task killer program, I however use a lot of different apps so I like to use Advanced Task Killer. The Back Key does not close apps. Some apps have exit options, but most do not.
As for your SD card question, don't worry about it. The Droid X has 8GB of internal memory for storing your apps, most apps are under 10mb so it would take a lot of apps to fill it up.
As for your phone powering off, that's normal in the first few days, especially if you haven't given it a good charge. Once you give it a solid overnight charge you shouldn't run into this problem anymore. And yes the battery life isn't as good as older phones. That's the thing with today's smartphones, you have to charge them nightly and if you use a them as a media center/internet access point it's best that you plug them in while doing so.

mortb

Waking up the Droid can only be done in one of two ways, tapping the home button or tapping the power button. As far as the lock, you can set up your own locking system.

Most of your questions can be answered by glancing through the manual. Unfortunately, there is no hard copy manual, but you can download an Emanual by going to the Motorola site.

As for setting your own picture and having it spread over the seven screens...that's the nature of the beast. If you notice, as you go from screen to screen, the area of the picture you view is slightly different.

As far as productivity apps, there are so many. All depends upon what you need. If you are looking for an apps to keep Microsoft Excel/Word on your Droid, they have two or three. I like Quickoffice myself. I also use financial apps.

One apps I can recommend is "Battery Booster." It really keeps an eye on your battery.

The learning curve is enormous, I know, but you'll get there. Good luck.

Wildman

LoydroidX wrote:
I was able to upgrade early, so I dumped the Storm and got the Droid X on Saturday. Honestly, I wasn't very happy at first, and I'm still not 100% satisfied, but it's getting much better. Although the Storm was frustrating, there were a few things I really liked, and missed not having on the X. One thing was the ability to simply tap the screen to "wake up" the phone. With the X, it's a bit troublesome to press a hard key, then have to slide to open. Is there some way to "wake up" the X with just a tap, or at least get rid of the "slide to open" thing?    I heard Launcher Pro might do that, but I cannot open that app (nor the other one that was recommended).

You can use NoLock, it does well to disable lockscreen on device wakeup but usually wont bypass lock screen at startup. The wake up by screen touch is a bad ideal anyway, if in pocket what would stop accidental program run and accidental calls.
LauncherPro does not bypass the lock screen in any way but it is a nice screen replacement.
If LauncherPro does not run I suggest a restart of device, it should auto run after restart.
Secondly, I tried to use a pic as the wallpaper on the home screen, but it stretched over all seven home screens. Is there some way to use one of my pictures as the wallpaper?

LauncherPro gives you the option to disable scrolling wallpaper, but also you will have to modify the image to the screen size to make sure image is center the way you want it.

On the Storm, I needed to "Force Close" each app, webpage, or anything else, by going to the menu and scrolling to "Close". Otherwise, they would keep running in the background. On the X, I've been using the "Back" key. Does this 'close" the application or browser?

Download Advance Task Manager...   Make sure to exclude OS files from auto close and set to close on sleep state.

Is there some way to save apps on to the SD card?   Or is this necessary? On the Storm, I added only about five apps and the device memory was pretty much full.

If the application supports saving to SD there will be a option under Setting > Application > Manage Applications ? App Name..

What are some good productivity apps?

I don't think this can be a easy question this question because there is so many helpful apps but each on ia a user preference.

What are some ideas about what to put on the other six home screens?    I'm a little overwhelmed with the possibilities!

I'm not using 6 pages but here some examples of my test unit ....
+ + +

I have corporate email and calendar on the X, but I can't get my corporate calendar to sync with my personal calendar. I have to check two calendars. Is there any way to have business appts and personal appts show on one calendar?

Messaging > Corp Email Account Name > Left Menu Button > Email Settings > Email Delivery > Check Data Push

Some other issues I'm having:
1. I've had the phone for three days, and it has suddenly powered off and automatically came back on four times. I'm thinking it was maybe because I was doing too much with it on the first day or two. It hasn't done it today.

Sounds like you have a incompatible app maybe and is getting a force closed situation that is making device restart... Check all your apps by uninstalling them one by one and see if issue resolves itself, you may want to watch the habit of installing to many apps... The more apps you have, means the better chance on incompatiblites.

2. Battery life is the worst on any phone I have ever had. Again, maybe because I've been using it and trying out all the features so much lately.

Battery life on a smart-phone will always be different than a BB because the device is a more powerful device, its like comparing a pda to a desktop... Task Killer and setting email to not to have all accounts to instant push because that requires the device to waste a large amount of power retrieving email and staying connected to web.

Some great things:
1. Love the screen size. It's like having a mini "iPad"
2. SWYPE!!! I thought I would use the Voice to Text more often, but Swype is fantastic. My boss and co-workers were amazed. (My boss immediately looked for an app to do this on his iPhone. He couldn't find one.)
3. Caller ID as 'ringtone'. I didn't know it was set for this, so imagine my surprise when I heard this computerized, feminine voice saying "Phone call from RB".
4. The speed! Downloading and installing apps on the Storm would take several minutes (if at all). Now, it takes only seconds! Webpages load fast and clear!
5. A camera that actually works when I press the button!

Sorry for all the questions y'all, but I haven't been able to find any answers in my online searches. Thanks in advance for your help!

LoydroidX

crb79 wrote:

Some people don't find a need for a Task killer program, I however use a lot of different apps so I like to use Advanced Task Killer. The Back Key does not close apps. Some apps have exit options, but most do not.
As for your SD card question, don't worry about it. The Droid X has 8GB of internal memory for storing your apps, most apps are under 10mb so it would take a lot of apps to fill it up.
As for your phone powering off, that's normal in the first few days, especially if you haven't given it a good charge. Once you give it a solid overnight charge you shouldn't run into this problem anymore. And yes the battery life isn't as good as older phones. That's the thing with today's smartphones, you have to charge them nightly and if you use a them as a media center/internet access point it's best that you plug them in while doing so.
Thanks crb79! I've added ATK, and so far, so good.

I currently have about 12 apps on the phone, and my internal memory is 6.28GB. (Still living with a BB mind, so I've been cautious about loading up on apps...now I feel free to go wild! LOL

With my BB, I would charge it every night, and it usually had about 50% power at the end of the day. With my Droid X, I've been at about 30% by noon. And today, it suddenly powered off four times before 9am - after a full night's charge. So far, not a deal breaker. Frustrating, but other aspects of the Droid X are currently outweighing the power issues.

LoydroidX

Wildman wrote:

You can use NoLock, it does well to disable lockscreen on device wakeup but usually wont bypass lock screen at startup. The wake up by screen touch is a bad ideal anyway, if in pocket what would stop accidental program run and accidental calls.
LauncherPro does not bypass the lock screen in any way but it is a nice screen replacement.
If LauncherPro does not run I suggest a restart of device, it should auto run after restart.
Wow! Thanks Wildman!! "NoLock" is exactly what I was looking for! Just a press of the Home 'hard' key, and I can take a quick glance at my home screen. (Better than touching the screen which would lead to various unwanted things opening.)
I got LauncherPro to open, but it completely changed my home screens. Freaked me out, so I uninstalled, but might reinstall later when I understand this OS better.

I'm not using 6 pages but here some examples of my test unit ....
I guess the tabs at the bottom, and the screen with all the other screens on it is done with LauncherPro? That's something that I'm looking for.

Messaging > Corp Email Account Name > Left Menu Button > Email Settings > Email Delivery > Check Data Push
Apparently, I can't get my Corp Email to the Messaging screen. I work in health care and we're hyper vigilant regarding security. Looks like the "Good Enterprise Server" is quite restricted.

Thanks for all your help Wildman!! Hopefully, you won't mind answering any other questions I might have.

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