Is Motorola droid worth it ?

[junuh]

When I saw the palm pre I wanted to go open a new line in sprint just to get the phone but I thought that it would be too much paying for two lines cuz I would still keep my storm. Well now I have my upgrade coming up on December 24th and I really can't decide whether to upgrade now and get the droid or just wait till mid Jan. 2010 when they bring the pre over to Verizon like I've read in many recent articles. I've played with the pre and the droid but not that much and from what I hear the droid is a great phone but my friend has a pre and when the phone gets SERVICE (LOL) it works great so I would think some how Verizon's pre would be a good phone to have so IM asking for help from people that would a lot from both what should I do? Please help ur info will be appreciated.                                                                                     

THANKS.

[Big_Red_Loyal]

your subject is "Is Motorola droid worth it?" my answer is absolutely! with it's stellar specs and preformance, you can't go wrong! Now, let me muddy the waters. The phone wasn't for me. I traded it back for the droid eris. Why, you ask! lol

Well, I didn't like the keyboard and couldn't justify having a phone I couldn't use all of its hardware, so I changed and absolutely love the Eris. I'm overly excited since a marketing person from VZW has said the eris will get 2.0 or 2.1 early next quarter.

So here's the skinny, the phone must fit YOU. You're the one living with and on it for the length of your contract. Everyone will go on and on with their opinions, as great as they are, but they aren't you.

There are 2 things I miss about the Droid. The screen and not having 2.0. The later will be resolved next month or early feb......

[Art010606]

if you dont need a keyboard, get the HTC Eris.  the Sense UI is so much better than the standard os that google pushes. eclair is alright, but 3 screens, lack of in depth widgets etc make it less entertaining. plus, the 2.1 hero update is going to be coming 1h 2010 as per htc, which means you will have eclair sense at that time.

basically, the eris has everything the droid has and more, it just lacks physical keyboard. imo the way to go. only problem is that vz didnt push the eris the way it did the "droid" which i HATE bec being a long time android user it gets old hearing, "ohh is that a droid phone?" no, its an ANDROID phone. and the "droid" is really the motorolla sholes........ not something i wanna go into now, sorry for getting off track, if you want the best phone experience, get the eris. if you NEED a keyboard, go with the droid. but i can tell you i used to be a sidekick user, the phone with the best keyboard out there hands down, and now have htc magic (my touch3g) and have no problems with using the virtual keyboard

[bkfist]

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Big_Red_Loyal wrote:

[snip]

There are 2 things I miss about the Droid. The screen and not having 2.0. The later will be resolved next month or early feb......

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Coming from 6 weeks of the Hero (with Sense UI, essentially an Eris for all respects) and 2 weeks of the Samsung Moment running a stock 1.5 android, I can't say there is *that* much of a difference to Android 2.0 on the Droid.

Only having had the Droid for 3 days now, I haven't found all the subtle differences, but I can say that the HTC Sense UI definitely has a few things going for it, and a few draw-backs as I see it.

Pro Sense UI:

1. Much nicer dialer, being able to search contacts by typing a few letters in a contact on the keypad - I know, there are alternative dialers in the Market that will run on the Droid and Moment.  Installing one of these is a *huge* improvement over the stock dialer, HTC's is just included and works very well.

2. 7 home screens is nice, especially if you are going to run some of nice HTC widgets included in Sense

3.  Bringing us to some useful widgets included by HTC (and *some* CPU/battery wasting, poorly designed widgets.) 

4.  I love the HTC calendar widget, look, feel, function over the stock calendar app. (Again, alternates are available)

5.  Lighter, smaller, way more convenient to turn the phone on with the physical button by your thumb, rather than having to reach up to to corner where the power/wake button is on the Droid.  I'm not sure I'll ever get completely used to the location of the button on the Droid, and I'll still prefer it on the Eris/Hero.  It' just a bad spot where Motorola decided to place the button, and it's "slightly under" the trim, plus you use it so often, it's just a big inconvenience that you will experience tens of thousands of times during your relation with the Droid.

6.  I personally prefer the charger location at the bottom of the phone, however I do realize the Droid was placed where it is to facilitate the car and home docking units.

7.  Mini USB port on the Hero just seems sturdier than the micro USB port on the Droid, plus I have half a dozen Mini's lying around, which of course, is just a personal thing, but it might also apply to someone else.  I also have a few car chargers with Mini, but not micro USB ends on them. (I'm assuming the same on the Eris - I haven't been able to get the Eris out of my daughter's hands for more than a few seconds yet, and Haven't really looked at that yet )

8.  The roundness just feels a bit nicer in the hand.

9.  "Pinch zoom" in the browser if that really matters to you.  Apparently to Apple fans, this is some critical piece of motion which is missing from most Android apps, possibly some sort of motion akin to bowing before their deity or something.  I don't know.  I used it on occasion, but more often I'd just double-tap the screen and the font would be perfect for my aging eyes.  I guess it's a personal preference.

Cons for Eris/Pros for Droid:

1.  Android 2.0 does give you Google Navigation, and there are a growing number of apps in the Market that are simply not available for 1.5

2.  Faster processor coupled with not having the "overhead" of the Sense UI definitely makes the Droid more responsive.  I noticed this with the Samsung Moment also.  Where the Hero would sometimes get a bit (or a LOT) laggy from time to time, especially things like waking up, alarm not responsive to touching the "snooze" button for 10 seconds, often not answering the phone by sliding the finger down the first time (or first 5 times).  I just got in the habit of always pressing the physical answer button on the Hero.  I have yet to experience a single lag on the Droid.

3.  By *not* having the Sense UI running on top of Android, it seems like updates to newer versions of Android should be much easier (and faster) to port to the Droid than it will be to the Eris/Hero or any other "highly customized" interface.  I know it's possible HTC is delaying releasing a 2.x version of Android for the Eris at the request of Verizon for marketing purposes, but Sprint doesn't really have a good reason to delay the upgrade to Android 2.0 on the Hero, which would put it on a better footing competing with Verizon, and Sprint will not commit to anything other than 1st half of 2010.  I suspect the reason is not that it hasn't been requested, but that HTC is either having problems porting the "proper" CMDA stack in Android 2.0 to the hardware, the Sense UI to 2.x, or they are just taking their own sweet time and not dedicating enough resources to the project, or a combination of all 3 factors.  I think we'll see the same with the Moto Cliq, Sony custome interface Androids, and Samsung units with their touchwiz interfaces... Although my understanding with Samsung in the past is that they aren't particularly reliable wen it comes to software updates on any of their products.

4.  The Droid has a "flash" for the camera which could be a big plus for some.

5.  Physical keyboard for those who use it.  I have certain things I like a physical keyboard for - Passwords, SSH client into Linux systems etc.  I tend to use the virtual keyboard about 90% of the time.

6.  Because the Droid is getting all the attention, I think you'll see a lot more work in the area of custom ROM implementations for the Droid, although xda-developers are not slouches either, and only develop for HTC products. (Of course this is only a factor if rooting/heavily customizing is your thing.)  Along the same lines, we might find, in time, that there are more cases/accessories for the Droid, but at the same time manufacturers of stuff for the Eris also will be co-developing for the Hero, and the combined numbers should make either market attractive.

Really, choose which ever suits your personal preferences.  Both are great devices and I don't think you will be unhappy with either product.

[Art010606]

i mean, theres more to astetics of the ui as well. now sure you can get home replacement options with 2.0 and stock android updates. but the thing is these programs give you force closes, arent compatable with all apps and slow down your phone, bc essientally your running your desktop, then a desktop over that, with all your widgets, if you decide to go this way you have GDE (google desktop enviroment), Freshface, DXtop, Sweeterhom, Ahome, Openhome and i think there might be one more. sense comes with 7 stock, and to top it off, you once again have all the widgets and apps from the regular google roms, plus more. ex:

the bookmark widget/twitter widget (also peep app which imo is the best out of the ones ive tried) isnt avail on reg 2.0, people widget, weather and music. so basically the only thing i have there that you can have on standard is the facebook widget.

but like i said, its not just the look, 1. it will have 2.1    2. it supports multi touch where as droid doesnt  3. it supports flash which droid supposedly will, but when has been going back and forth for quite some time now.

just a few more pts.

and as for above, as the lag goes, 1.5 was just laggy in general, idk if you have seen the tattoo dumps or not, but theres a 1.6 hero out there and let me tell you what, its worlds better, and ive been helping test thre new 2.1 hero dump we got not too long ago and its CRAZY smoothe, REDICULOUS how much faster, and remember, i have a my touch so only 192mb ram instead of the 288 the 32a magic has (grrrr) and it still flies.

but at the same turn, if your going to go into what you said on your last point, why not have hero on droid and have physical keyboard (if someone makes a port which would have to be a moto dev bc the only phones w.hero are htc and i highly doubt anyone on xda wants to waste time porting and get no use)

[willanaya]

the droid is a superb phone. i love the large screen, both keyboards, standard 16gb sd card and the apps that allow you to have more than the standard 3 home screens and more widget icons that came with the droid (oh yes, theres an app for that  ). 

but as mentioned above, this will be your phone. not mine, not theirs, yours. after 30 days thats it. you will have to pay the full price for your pre so make sure the droid is what you want.

but it sounds that you might have your mind made up with the pre.  i would suggest you wait a month or two, see if the itch for the droid is still there or if that hunger died knowing that not too long you will be able to get the pre.

[TheGreatOne]

I've got the HTC G1 which is like the Motorola Droid.  I think that the Android phones are pretty awesome. You can just about do anything with the Droid phone. Many apps to download straight to your phone from the market. I would recommend it for sure. I think right now Android phones on Verizon are the best to get.

[nedaroth]

If you ask me is the Droid worth it, well for me yes it is and i love it.  Will it be worth it to you? Thats hard to say as it realy becomes a personal thing with phones.  If you already know you like the pre that your friend has and its comming to the big red then wait for it,   

[junuh]

i think ur right ill wait to see if i still have the itch for the droid once the pre comes out and ur maybe right about having my mind set on the pre but one thing i have o ask is what do you think about many people complaining about the gps on the droid? Many people ay that is of by several streets is that righ?t and how is the battery?

[Big_Red_Loyal]

I had no problem with the Droid gps! i played with and played with it. I live in a small central PA town an it worked lovely!  I used it to go to a smaller Pa town and it was spot on!  More than I can say for the Garmin my daughter got me for last year's xmas!

I've also used the VZ Navigator. The Google Navigator blows it away, and it's FREE! for 3.99, you can download an app called Open Home Full. That app will give you 7 home pages like the Eris.  Plus, Dolphin Internet Browser (also free) gives you the pinch to zoom.

Other free apps to get are: Shop Savy (saved me $52 at Best Buy) and WHERE.....

You need to give yourself more time to play with each of the phones.

Read what we have to say and chuck all advise out the window and spend YOUR money on want YOU want. Let us know what you get.

[willanaya]

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junuh wrote:

i think ur right ill wait to see if i still have the itch for the droid once the pre comes out and ur maybe right about having my mind set on the pre but one thing i have o ask is what do you think about many people complaining about the gps on the droid? Many people ay that is of by several streets is that righ?t and how is the battery?

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i am in the same boat with Big_Red_Loyal.  i have had the pleasure of using both, google maps and VZ Navigator.  i too have a Garmin and this is what all three did for me:

1.  Garmin placed my residence six houses down the street.  any business i looked for was always off by at least a block.

2.  VZ Navigator placed my residence four houses down the street. any business i looke for was either spot on or a couple football fields away.

3.  Google Maps.  this app is not only spot on 99.9% of the time but when i zoomed in on my residence location, it was as if it knew what room i was in.  i even moved around and my position changed (now unfortunately when i moved back, my position did not change, but it freaked me out).  and that .1% that google maps was off? google maps gives you the option of seeing an actual picture of your final destination.  so if the map is a little off, hit the final destination and it will show you the actual pic, you cant go wrong that way.

the only reason why people complained about the accuracy of the gps is because they failed to use both the "Use GPS Satellites" and "Use Wireless Networks" options, both located in the settings>location & security.  when both are activated, yes, your position is dead on accurate. with "Use GPS Satellites" alone, my location is off by at least a mile.  When informed of this, they would say we were wrong, that we dont need both options to use the GPS.  they are right, you dont. but if you want dead on accuracy, you do.

the battery issue is a hit or miss thing.  people have said they have had terrible battery life after the update and, like me, there are some of us who say the battery life is better.  it is all dependent on what you are running when not using some of the important features of the Droid.

you are sleeping? at the movies? at work? in a conference? eating?  well if you are doing this, you dont need your "Use GPS Satellites" and "Use Wireless Networks" options. you dont need your "Use My Location" option (under "Privacy" in settings) and you dont need "Background Data" (under "Accounts & sync settings" in settings) all of these will drain your battery life probably (and this is a guess) twice as fast.

junuh, i will say it again. make sure that it is a phone you want. too many post here calling the Droid a piece of you know what.  all they can do is talk trash about it and try to sway new people into not buying it.  the Droid is a device not for everyone. dont be one of those people and telling by how you posted i believe you arent. just decide wisely because it is an investment, not just some phone.

[junuh]

Big__red_loyal, and willanaya you're insights are really good and I appreciate all the comments. I will think about this really good cuz I really don't lie to get phones and then return them for another I like  to pick one and stick with it as for the gps answers those were great and again thanks and I will post my decision later on .