Droid X = Redheaded stepchild

This is a rant. I'm sorry, but I need to get this off of my chest.. I bought this phone back in November. It was the best phone Verizon sold then. Everyone said, it was Verizon's posterchild for Android phones, yet 6 months later, it has become the redheaded stepchild. I read 9 different Android news feeds plus a few other tech feeds like Gizmodo, Techcrunch, and Endgadget DAILY hoping to see some kind of news about my phone. Whether it be an update to Gingerbread, Netflix, etc. Every time I read something, it gets my hopes up real high only to be shot down into disappointment. I have fought the severe urges to do the R devil word to my phone beause I've been trying to do the (other R word) RIGHT thing and do updates like they're supposed to. But every day it becomes harder and harder to fight the temptation. What happened to the Droid X? In 6 months, it was thrown to the side for it's bigger, better brother the DX2 and I'm still stuck in a contract for a year and a half. This makes people like me start to think evil,tempting thoughts about how to get rid of my phone to get a better one. Don't get me wrong, I love my phone. I've done several things to customize it within keeping it stock like using a Launcher, etc. I'm sure Verizon doesn't smile upon this, but at least I haven't R'd my phone. At least not yet. Honestly, I came VERY close to doing it earlier, but then I caught another glimpse of possible false hopes of my phone being updated around the 26th. I'm sure this is another rumor like the many other rumors that have been going around for the past 2 months of getting Gingerbread on my phone. Honestly, it really SUCKS to get my hopes up, then let down over and over again thinking that I'm going to get an update to my phone. This is a big flaw in Android. I hate Apple, but at least when they update iOS, EVERY phone gets the update. The fragmentation of Android has become a big problem, and will start to lead people like me away from it. I feel like I have been thrown aside for the next new gadget coming out, and I speak for 99% of Droid X owners, I assume when I say that. If buying the best phone there is at the time, only to be obsolete in 6 months means owning an Android, I think I might just go take the plunge like everyone and their mama and get an iphone with AT&T. And for the meantime, void my warranty to get my phone updated and have Verizon look down on me even though I spend over $100/mo for their service...

Accepted answers

Galaxy80

Tidbits wrote:
So uhm 2.3.4 is coming to the DroidX and it's officially from MOTOROLA.... So what about this stepchild??? I think people now-a-days jump the gun too much, and/or want everything now now now...

I will apologize for my rant. It was truly out of frustration, and I'm am VERY excited that we are finally getting Gingerbread. I feel that we are lucky to be getting this update, because with the X2 coming out, they could have just thrown the X to the side and forgotten about it. My frustration wasn't about wanting everything now, now, now. I just wanted some kind of answer. If you go back and read my posts, I've explained this already.

I think I had a valid reason to be frustrated from hearing the speculators saying it would be this date or that date over and over and over again. Being disappointed once or twice is one thing, but after you've gotten your hopes up 5 or 6 times, you tend to get quite frustrated. And then, we had no answer from Verizon or Motorola if we would be getting the update at all. I would have been totally satisfied to hear that I would be getting the update, but not be given a date. Just a yes or no answer would have been fine, but we couldn't even get that.

My other frustration was about my phone being phased out 6 months after I bought it. Like I've said before, I understand that electronics become obsolete over time, but 6 months is quite ridiuclous. Especially being in contract for a year and a half before I can upgrade. It would be one thing if I could sell the phone and buy a newer, upgraded phone, but I don't have that option since I'm stuck in this contract. Buying a computer that becomes quickly obsolete is ok because you can sell it to someone and at least get some of your money back to put towards a new one, but we don't have that option. I would totally get a X2 if I had the option to. Even if it's only for the screen and processor upgrades. The screen on this phone is pretty good, but sometimes I get envoius of people with AMOLED screens because they're so beautiful and make mine look like crap side by side. And the processor upgrade would be nice because of the new games coming out for dual core processors only.

I am glad though that the games market is finally starting to catch up and better games are coming out for Android. I just got Grave Defense HD and Modern Combat 2, both of which have amazing graphics and are both fun games to play. I remember when I first got this phone in November, and there was hardly any half decent games for Android but Angry Birds lol. I'm definitely excited to see what the future of games and applications for Android holds for us...

Thank you Verizon and Motorola for giving us this update! I am truly appreciative, and can't wait to get a taste of Gingerbread! Especially being able to group my applications for better organization. I have a couple hundred apps, so it will make things quite easier on me! lol

Garrette

All comments

Ann154

I wouldn't call the Droid X a redheaded stepchild. Maybe the Motorola Devour or HTC Droid Eris both of which will never officially see FroYo let alone Gingerbread, but never the Droid X.

Tidbits

Sorry I am going to have to chuckle at you....

Yes the DX will get 2.3... It's only a matter of time... Blogs and such are going off speculations and rumors... Speculation and rumors are not always correct especially when it comes to date and time. Just be patient and it will come... There's already been a few leaks of the update and are kinda rough... They are working on it and that's proof enough as without them working on it there would have NEVER been a leak at all.

These things takes time, and if someone mentions a rom cooker as reference... Unless they are working without source and they ended up writing their own code, ril, and ported AOSP over themselves I can't give them full credit for it as most of the "hard" work was done for them and all they really do is add a couple of apps, add a theme, and did some bug fixes.

last paragraph of this is my opinion and nothing will change that.

Galaxy80

I understand that those other phones haven't gotten Froyo yet, and my fustration and sympathy extends to the owners of those phones as well.
@tidbits I was mainly just letting out my frustration that people keep saying it will be updated on x date bit it never happens. Even the Netflix update was highly disappointing. Out of all of the news feeds I read on a daily basis, you don't ever see anything on the X anymore. It's been passed off and forgotten about, and that sucks!

hallcp1019

In reference to the leaks we have seen has anyone else had the thought it was gb for the x2 we were seeing in all likelihood it will get 2.3 before the x and be essentially the same phone could be why its compatible with the original. X

Wildman

hallcp1019 wrote:
In reference to the leaks we have seen has anyone else had the thought it was gb for the x2 we were seeing in all likelihood it will get 2.3 before the x and be essentially the same phone could be why its compatible with the original. X

Actually the DX2 has a modified version of 2.2 but I have wondered if the leak is infact that build modified by developers....

Hope for a system dump from DX2 soon for comparison..

Cody21

Sorry if I glossed over your problem, but what precisely is the ISSUE with your current phone? Maybe I fall into that 1% category - my DX is flawless. I run LPP as well. I don't run a Task Killer. I run LOOKOUT antivirus. Example: I recently took an 8 hour trip and had GPS running with Navaigation (traffic), Pandora, email, texting, and a game from time to time, took some pics along the way uploaded to FB, updated Gas Buddy along the route -- all at the same time for the entire 8 hours ... 8 down & 8 back a few days later. The phone NEVER slowed down, never rebooted on its own. I love this phone. I've had it since September and it's been the ONLY one I've had. Yes, the FROYO update back in December was very similar to the release strategy of Gingerbread, and many people were complaining. But frankly, I almost don't want GB as it *may* just introduce issues for me, personally.

So just what is it that is not working for you or you're upset about that you believe GB will fix? 9 out of 10 times it's usually a renegade APP that causes problems on these smartphones. (And don't get me started about the iPhone. That has been beaten to death if you do a search of this forum. IMHO, it is not the panacea that you might think it is.)

So what are the issues with your phone? Maybe, just maybe we can help.

Ann154

Galaxy80 wrote:
I understand that those other phones haven't gotten Froyo yet, and my fustration and sympathy extends to the owners of those phones as well.

You don't quite understand. The Droid Eris can't/won't ever receive an update from the manufacturer beyond Android 2.1. They aren't supporting it anymore. The Motorola Devour is stuck at Android 1.6. It was manufactured by the same company as the Motorola Droid X. There other phones on other carriers that will never have an official FroYo (Android 2.2) OS system built by the manufacturer of those phones. The Droid X at least based on the leaks is still supported and should see an official build of Gingerbread someday. Try to be patient. Remember it took eight months for the Samsung Fascinate to get the update from Eclair ( Android 2.1) to FroYo ( Android 2.2)

curtterp

Part of the OP problem is that they are reading all the online stuff about Android.... which is FULL of SPECULATION and REGURGITATION with each other. It is so funny how a lot of these sites are actually just rewording what each other is saying.

I am not saying that everything they post/say/speculate on is bad/wrong/off base. But the only 'official' word comes from the manufacturer/provider.

There is a lot of pent-up frustration from not hearing anything from Motorola/Verizon on if/when the Droid X will get Gingerbread/Netflix etc. We do know that it will be coming out, but with all the backlash from the Froyo update not coming at the start of the stated 'quarter', I can see why they would go the route of not saying anything at all. I am not saying that is the best customer service route to take, but I can understand why they would.

If you always wait buy a phone because of the rumors of the 'next greatest phone' to come out, you will never buy anything. I bought my X when it first came out, and yes, it can be a 'little' frustrating to see the next generation Droid X to come out less than a year after the original came out, but I looked at the Droid X2. Sure the dual processor would be nice, the screen is a little better, and I don't use the HDMI out port, so the mirroring doesn't affect me. I do have another line that I could use to upgrade at the discount price, but to me, it isnt worth that effort. I have not seen where the X2 is 4g compatible, so I will wait until next year for my contract to expire to see what might be on the market at that point. I can wait.

I know that it would be nice to have GB on our phones, but I would rather wait until it has been tested and the bugs worked out before the OTA rollout happens. My phone works good now, I want to get the update, but I want my phone to work after the update too :smileyvery-happy:

Galaxy80

Well, for the most part, my phone works flawlessly at least 80% of the time, but I do have issues from time to time. I was having restart issues yesterday with Youtube restarting my phone after watching 2 or 3 videos. That happened about 3 or 4 times then I just quit messing with youtube. My phone will also freeze from time to time.

There have been tests with the DX w/ GB and the results are amazing when it comes to performance. Most of my frustration is not knowing. I wish someone would either give me a real date or just tell me I won't get the update at all. The phone is perfectly capable of running the software.

I don't run rogue apps. I get all of my apps from either the Android market or the Amazon market. I've used advance task killer since I've had the phone and it's never caused any issues.I also run Lookout.

Some people may not agree with my frustration and that's ok. You can't expect everyone to agree with you all of the time. As far as the DX2, it isn't much of an improvement, but the screen and processor are nice and it kind of sucks that I spent so much money on this phone for it to be obsolete in 6 months. I'm kind of hoping my phone gets stolen or broken in a few months just so I can get the upgrade. I shouldn't be thinking those kinds of thoughts.

@Ann, I really do sympathize with owners of those phones. That really does suck. I don't know the specs of them or how powerful they are, so I don't know if they could handle upgrades like GB or not. I do know that the DX is a very powerful and capable phone of handling things like GB and Netflix and I don't understand why they just pushed the DX to the side. It's ONE of the most powerful phones out there for a single core phone. I had to highlight ONE so people don't misunderstand me.I know that eventually technology becomes obsolete, but 6 months is ridiculous! The Iphone 3gs has been out for a couple of years, and even though the 4 came out, it still gets updated and isn't obsolete yet. It's frustrating being stuck in a contract for a year and a half with an obsolete phone that doesn't have to be.

I'm trying to be patient. I've been waiting for 2 months for this GB update, and have been waiting since last year for Netflix. I spoke to Netflix in December about an app for Android and they told me early 2011. The app finally came out in May and I can't even use it because my phone that's perfectly capable of doing so isn't supported. Even though many DX owners have installed it on their own and it has worked. The Iphone 3g can run it and this phone is WAY more powerful.

I didn't come on here to argue with anyone. Just to express my frustration hoping that other DX owners would understand...

Galaxy80

I agree with out curtterp. This speculation crap sucks and I wish people would quit doing it because it's frustration getting excited just to get let down over and over again. That's what started all of my frustration. I also agree that it's not really the best customer service to just leave us in the dark. Give us something. Take the safe route and tell us 6 months and give us a surprise if it only takes 3. If I would have.known that the DX would become obsolete in 6 months, I would have bought a cheaper phone. I probably would have gone with the Sanding amoled screen since the colors and quality are way better. When I buy something, I try to spend the extra money to get something that wont be obsolete in a few months. 6 months is just ridiculous! 4g hasn't even rolled out in my area yet, so I'm not even worried about that. I'm happy with the 3g speed.

droidsw

Cody21, you wrote my post. Can you read minds? As for the claim that the Droid X is obsolete, ANY, yes ANY phone you purchase will only be the "latest and greatest" for about 6 months. That is the way it is, so purchase wisely. As for buying an iphone like "everyone", more people are using Android based phones WORLD-WIDE and before long iOS will be fourth after Android, Symbian and even Windows (by 2015). http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Android-conquers-the-world-tough-luck-Apple/1305822497

Galaxy80

The reason why Android is overtaking Apple in sales is because companies come out with a new Android phone just about every **bleep** week or 2. It's ridiculous! The market is already watered down with Android phones. Imagine what it will be like in a year. When you have 5 or 6 companies each putting out 5-10 phones out a year, you will outsell Apple who only sells 1 or 2 different phones if you include the older and newer version of their phones. I wish companies would slow down a little with the flooding of Android phones.. One of my friends just got an Infuse. I might sell my DX and get one of those. Just pay out the ETF and go with AT&T. At least they have 4g in my city lol

curtterp

Galaxy80 wrote:
The reason why Android is overtaking Apple in sales is because companies come out with a new Android phone just about every **bleep** week or 2. It's ridiculous! The market is already watered down with Android phones. Imagine what it will be like in a year. When you have 5 or 6 companies each putting out 5-10 phones out a year, you will outsell Apple who only sells 1 or 2 different phones if you include the older and newer version of their phones. I wish companies would slow down a little with the flooding of Android phones.. One of my friends just got an Infuse. I might sell my DX and get one of those. Just pay out the ETF and go with AT&T. At least they have 4g in my city lol

The 'arms' race that you are seeing right now with smartphones is reminiscent of the PC race of the late 80's, early 90's. There were different races, which caused new releases, better stuff, and computers that seemed to go obsolete in less than 6 months because someone would come out with a better, faster, cheaper(price wise) computer or component. The industry became really hot, but the margins would fall to razor thin, because everyone and their brother were selling computers.

I also remember the race to 750mhz which industry 'experts' said that is was physically(electrically) impossible to go faster. Then Intel changed their processing and materials, and breached that level. AMD soon followed suit, and Motorola (makers of the PowerPC chip for Apple) never was in the speed race. Motorola used a reduced instruction set and achieved faster processing at comparable speeds, so they were always close in processing speeds, but never one to match the top speeds out there.

Eventually the race topped out, we no longer see speed bumps in processor speeds. we have also topped out on how many processing cores in a single chip. The races now is lower energy consumption and cooler operation, but we are not seeing things go obsolete as fast as we have in the past.

Right now, smartphone manufacturers are in an 'arms' race for faster smartphones. The life cycle of the 'top dog' phones are short. In time, we will see this market top out too(how fast can we go vs how long the battery will last), and we will see a slowdown in how many phones are put out there in a years time.

So while it is frustrating that our smartphones are 'obsolete' feature wise in less than a year, within 4 years, this cycle will slow down to a point where we can feel good about our purchase will be viable for years.

As a side note, the lack of features on the X2 (NO LTE), I will not be looking to upgrade one of my lines for it. While the dual core is enticing, the small bump in screen resolution, and I do not care for the HDMI mirroring, it does not contain enough upgrade in features to justify (at least for me) to get one. My X does what I want, and I am happy with it.

curtterp

Galaxy80 wrote:

I didn't come on here to argue with anyone. Just to express my frustration hoping that other DX owners would understand...

A lot of us understand the frustrations that come along. The reports of GB coming down the OTA pipeline every few weeks, and nothing from Verizon of when it really going to hit. It was also disappointing for Netflix to release only to a few devices when they finally released their Android version. That FRUSTRATED me too.

and

I never felt like you were arguing, just stating your feelings/opinions/venting etc. :smileyvery-happy:

Cody21

droidsw wrote: "Cody21, you wrote my post. Can you read minds? "

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I knew you were going to ask that droidsw .. :smileytongue:

Galaxy80

Speaking of problems with the phone, I just plugged it into USB to put some music on it, and right after I chose mass storage, my phone crashed and restarted.. Like I said, it runs great about 90% of the time, but it does crash quite often..

Galaxy80

Holy crap.. I just installed Netflix and it works. Stock Droid... I'm in shock...

curtterp

Galaxy80 wrote:
Speaking of problems with the phone, I just plugged it into USB to put some music on it, and right after I chose mass storage, my phone crashed and restarted.. Like I said, it runs great about 90% of the time, but it does crash quite often..

I see this issue about 50% of the time when I do USB Data Storage. Not sure why it started to happen, but I chalk it up to something running from the SD Card, and the OS is not able to stop it, so it restarts to quit the app so it can make the SD card available to the computer.

Cody21

There is definitely a bug/flaw with the whole "USB File Xfer" thing. I've given up on even trying to use any of the multi-media software that either Verizon or Moto provides. They either cause a crash of my phone or just plain don't work at all. (Do a search to see those issues documented.) That being said, I turned on the USB DEBUGGING MODE - and just left it on now. That setting seems to have fixed a lot of my USB connection issues. And when I connect, I NOW always connect using "USB MASS STORAGE" - and then just use FILE EXPLORER on my PC to manage/copy files to/fr the phone. Try setting that option ON and connect again ... let us know if that fixes your "crashes".

SETTINGS / APPLICATION SETTINGS / DEVELOPMENT / USB DEBUGGING

dirkbonn

Galaxy80 wrote:
I agree with out curtterp. This speculation crap sucks and I wish people would quit doing it because it's frustration getting excited just to get let down over and over again. That's what started all of my frustration. I also agree that it's not really the best customer service to just leave us in the dark. Give us something. Take the safe route and tell us 6 months and give us a surprise if it only takes 3. If I would have.known that the DX would become obsolete in 6 months, I would have bought a cheaper phone. I probably would have gone with the Sanding amoled screen since the colors and quality are way better. When I buy something, I try to spend the extra money to get something that wont be obsolete in a few months. 6 months is just ridiculous! 4g hasn't even rolled out in my area yet, so I'm not even worried about that. I'm happy with the 3g speed.

Smartphones today are where computers were 10-12 years ago. I remember the first tower I bought was the baddest/fastest computer available. It had a 450 mHz processor. and then 8-10 weeks later along came the 750 mHz. Then 4 months after that the 1gHx processor. In a scant period of about 6-7 months they had processors that were 2-1/2 times faster than the "state of the art" (at the time) one I bought.

Right now, it's impossible to buy a smartphone that will be the "top" phone available for more than about 6 months (Obsolete is a little to strong of a word for me.) I bought the "X" on launch day and I'm sure it will serve me very well until I can upgrade in march of 2012. I'm sure it won't be the baddest boy on the block but it won't be obsolete either.

Today if you want a top smartphone all the time, be prepared to spend a significant amount of cash. In drag racing there's a saying that goes "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?" Today it very similar with smartphones....

I'll be enjoying my X until 3/12 at which time I'll be looking for a new top of the line LTE phone. 4G isn't scheduled to be available here in Hawaii until late this year, so with a 3-5 month cushion I'll be ready to jump in. Actually they do have 4G now at the Honolulu Airport but I'm about 15-17 miles away so I'm not end the extended 4G area.

I really like my "X". (I say like because a wise man once said, "Don't love anything that can't love you back."

Galaxy80

I understand that buying electronics, they will be obsolete. Look at hddvd. That didn't last long lol. It's just frustrating to buy something to be stuck in a contract for 2 years. Obsolete doesn't necessarily mean that I can't use my phone. Look at all the obsolete technology some of use today because we love it like Nintendo and typewriters (lol). It would be one thing if I weren't stuck in a contract because I could sell the phone and buy a new one like you might do with a tv. I do have to say that I am a little bit happier since I got Netflix on my X. If it got updated on a semi-regular basis I would be a lot happier with it. I agree with the previous comment that I would be totally satisfied if Verizon would at least give us some kind of time frame instead of if it happens, it'll happen when it happens. I feel like as customers we really should get a little more information. I pay over $100/mo for my plan and I'm never late. I think $2,400 of service should deserve an answer. If I wanted to buy a phone that wouldn't get updated, I wouldn't have spent the money on the phone or the plan..

Tidbits

So uhm 2.3.4 is coming to the DroidX and it's officially from MOTOROLA.... So what about this stepchild??? I think people now-a-days jump the gun too much, and/or want everything now now now...

Ann154

Well said, Tidbits, well said!

Galaxy80

Or maybe, this post has convinced Verizon that we all want the update lol

Galaxy80

Tidbits wrote:
So uhm 2.3.4 is coming to the DroidX and it's officially from MOTOROLA.... So what about this stepchild??? I think people now-a-days jump the gun too much, and/or want everything now now now...

Garrette

this_is_nascar

To lessen your frustration, take a look at some of the reviews of the new X2. Some of them are not favorable when it comes to the new screen and faster processor.