Another Undecided Consumer
February 18, 2010 12:53 PM Subscribe
I took a look at the Droid and am very tempted. Have a Blackberry Curve which is fine, but I'm due to upgrade anyway. My contract with AT&T (blech) runs out in October, cancellation fee isn't much. Droid should save me $50/month I'm currently spending to keep my Curve synced with my work Outlook.
What think you, hive mind? I know there are a lot of MeFi Droid owners. I trust you way more than Amazon reviewers.
Can I just say that I freakin' love my Motorola Droid? If you want more fangirl raving, feel free to memail me!
posted by Lynsey at 1:00 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by Lynsey at 1:00 PM on February 18, 2010
Verizon will tell you that you have to pay $45 a month for data if you want to sync with Outlook, instead of the usual $30. Word on the street is they are lying, Outlook sync works fine on the $30 plan.
Do buy from Amazon instead of Verizon directly, it saves $100 and they'll sell you a special 250 texts for $5 plan.
The Droid is awesome, my wife got one and now I'm jealous!
posted by miyabo at 1:02 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
Do buy from Amazon instead of Verizon directly, it saves $100 and they'll sell you a special 250 texts for $5 plan.
The Droid is awesome, my wife got one and now I'm jealous!
posted by miyabo at 1:02 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
I bought the Droid on the release date and cannot be happier. I was with Verizon, then dropped them for one month last year so I could get an iPhone. Though the iPhone was great, you know the story with AT&T. Went back to Verizon and stayed with my Blackberry until I was eligible to upgrade, got the Droid and haven't looked back. Cannot comment on syncing with Outlook (I use gmail for everything), but the phone itself is incredible.
posted by rtodd at 1:07 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by rtodd at 1:07 PM on February 18, 2010
Best answer: I've had nothing but "dumb" phones until about a month ago, when my wife got the Eris and I got the Moto Droid. We're both very happy with them. Eris has some very smooth built-in interface mods, and if you turn off WiFi, you'll boost the battery life significantly (at least in my wife's experience). We got both because we got a couple deals through Verizon.
I love the apps and the app marketpace is decent in terms of navigation, but Cyrket is better, and provides spiffy QR Codes (2D barcodes) for direct links to the marketplace pages, by way of barcode scanning apps.
I need to check the bill tonight, so I'll have more thoughts soon on the price of it all, but no experience syncing with anything.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:15 PM on February 18, 2010
I love the apps and the app marketpace is decent in terms of navigation, but Cyrket is better, and provides spiffy QR Codes (2D barcodes) for direct links to the marketplace pages, by way of barcode scanning apps.
I need to check the bill tonight, so I'll have more thoughts soon on the price of it all, but no experience syncing with anything.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:15 PM on February 18, 2010
"Droid should save me $50/month I'm currently spending to keep my Curve synced with my work Outlook."
If this is your BES data plan, be aware that the Droid will have its own plan, although it may not be $50.
posted by GJSchaller at 1:18 PM on February 18, 2010
If this is your BES data plan, be aware that the Droid will have its own plan, although it may not be $50.
posted by GJSchaller at 1:18 PM on February 18, 2010
I have a Droid, love it, just watch out for any text plan you're on. I inadvertantly drove up my bill by not having one.
posted by medea42 at 1:21 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by medea42 at 1:21 PM on February 18, 2010
I've got an Eris and I really like it a lot. My txt plan was $10 for unlimited, and my data plan is $30. YMMV. But it's a great phone.
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:49 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:49 PM on February 18, 2010
I tested the Droid for my company when it was first introduced, and it synched perfectly with my work Outlook. I can't speak to Verizon's pricing plans, as Verizon and I don't play well together.
I was so happy with the Droid that I immediately got T-mobile's version, the Motorola Cliq, which does all the same things - that might be another option for you to consider. I'm paying a flat rate for all my data, there have not been any hidden or extra charges.
posted by chez shoes at 1:50 PM on February 18, 2010
I was so happy with the Droid that I immediately got T-mobile's version, the Motorola Cliq, which does all the same things - that might be another option for you to consider. I'm paying a flat rate for all my data, there have not been any hidden or extra charges.
posted by chez shoes at 1:50 PM on February 18, 2010
I just switched from a curve to the droid and I like it though the lack of spell check on email is maddening. I use it a lot to surf the net and I can kill the battery in ~7 hours so there is that. I also find it frustrating that there is no good way of working with google docs. Being able to gchat from anywhere is neat though.
posted by Uncle at 2:18 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by Uncle at 2:18 PM on February 18, 2010
I have the Google Nexus One. If you are new to T-Mobile you can get the phone for $200 and then pay $80 a month for 400 voice, unlimited text and unlimited data. And this phone fucking rocks.
posted by nestor_makhno at 2:56 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by nestor_makhno at 2:56 PM on February 18, 2010
I got a G1 last year, and love it. Although I'm getting a little envious of all the slick new android phones coming out. *sigh*
posted by delmoi at 3:00 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by delmoi at 3:00 PM on February 18, 2010
I love my Eris. It's sweet.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 3:44 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by solipsophistocracy at 3:44 PM on February 18, 2010
I'm also curious about the Droid. I have an iPhone, which I love, my contract is running out soon. Do any ex-iPhoners here prefer the Driod (or not)?
posted by prior at 4:26 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by prior at 4:26 PM on February 18, 2010
I am one of those Amazon reviewers (who gave the Droid a good review). Months later I'm still very happy with the device. I downloaded a bunch of apps at the beginning and have since winnowed down to the ones that are actually useful. As for the phone and the OS, I've had no problems.
posted by dervish at 4:43 PM on February 18, 2010
posted by dervish at 4:43 PM on February 18, 2010
Best answer: I have a Droid and it's amazing. I find new, awesome things it can do at least three times a week. Coming soon, it will likely support Adobe Flash and AIR applications which will take it to a whole new level.
We have it synced up with our Outlook at work. It took all of two minutes and works perfectly with the default email client. Any extra charges that Verizon have listed for Outlook sync is for Verizon-hosted email, so just ignore that.
I recommend this site often and am not affiliated with them (although I just signed up for a membership), but you really should look at droidforums.net. They have opened my eyes to all kinds of cool things that can be accomplished with this phone. Also happy to answer any questions you might have over MeMail!
posted by bristolcat at 4:47 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
We have it synced up with our Outlook at work. It took all of two minutes and works perfectly with the default email client. Any extra charges that Verizon have listed for Outlook sync is for Verizon-hosted email, so just ignore that.
I recommend this site often and am not affiliated with them (although I just signed up for a membership), but you really should look at droidforums.net. They have opened my eyes to all kinds of cool things that can be accomplished with this phone. Also happy to answer any questions you might have over MeMail!
posted by bristolcat at 4:47 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
I love my Droid - looks great, works great, love the Android OS and Google Voice makes it really invaluable to me. The only thing I will say is that I occasionally find myself handling it clumsily (the volume button is in a weird place) but I haven't got around to buying a silicone case that would give me the grip I'm looking for. I usually hate cellphones, but this one is a little star. Would buy again.
If you're wondering about Android apps in general, and how they compare to the iPhone Androinica has great coverage.
posted by saturnine at 10:05 PM on February 18, 2010
If you're wondering about Android apps in general, and how they compare to the iPhone Androinica has great coverage.
posted by saturnine at 10:05 PM on February 18, 2010
I have one and love it, synced with my company's Outlook email system with incredible ease.
I bought it the week it was released and don't use a case or screen protector. The finish is still flawless except for scuffs on the corners from when I dropped it 4 feet onto rough asphalt. Aside from the light cosmetic damage it survived the fall just fine. Really well built and the OS/app ecosystem are good and getting better at a rapid pace.
posted by contraption at 10:43 PM on February 18, 2010
I bought it the week it was released and don't use a case or screen protector. The finish is still flawless except for scuffs on the corners from when I dropped it 4 feet onto rough asphalt. Aside from the light cosmetic damage it survived the fall just fine. Really well built and the OS/app ecosystem are good and getting better at a rapid pace.
posted by contraption at 10:43 PM on February 18, 2010
I have the Motorola Droid and I love it. My prior phone was the LG Dare which was near perfect. But the Droid beats it. (FYI it syncs with my company's Exchange servers no problem). Also talks to Live messenger, google talk, google mail.. among others
posted by jockc at 11:06 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jockc at 11:06 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: It's absolutely perfect hardware-wise except that the microphone won't pick up my voice and worse, gets all garbly at random times. Exchanged it, and the replacement had the same problem and just is generally glitchy besides. Now they refuse to send me anything but a refurb even though I'm within my "worry-free" 30 day period.
The OS seems great. PIM-wise the basic apps (contacts, calendar) are really weak. I'm coming from PalmOS + Datebk6. Be aware that as soon as you add a Google account (which you have to do to use the Market, etc) you can only add Google contacts and can't add any to just the phone any more. You also can only use a Google account that has GMail attached to it, even if you don't want to use GMail.
Speaker quality on the first unit was great. I could play music at full volume with no distortion. It even had a little bass. The second unit gets all distorted and clippy if I turn the volume up. Battery life seems okay if you condition it.
I'll update with how the refurb turns out. I'm promised it will arrive before 15:00 ET tomorrow. The rest of my sad saga here. Unfortunately it seems to be a common problem.
posted by vsync at 12:06 AM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
The OS seems great. PIM-wise the basic apps (contacts, calendar) are really weak. I'm coming from PalmOS + Datebk6. Be aware that as soon as you add a Google account (which you have to do to use the Market, etc) you can only add Google contacts and can't add any to just the phone any more. You also can only use a Google account that has GMail attached to it, even if you don't want to use GMail.
Speaker quality on the first unit was great. I could play music at full volume with no distortion. It even had a little bass. The second unit gets all distorted and clippy if I turn the volume up. Battery life seems okay if you condition it.
I'll update with how the refurb turns out. I'm promised it will arrive before 15:00 ET tomorrow. The rest of my sad saga here. Unfortunately it seems to be a common problem.
posted by vsync at 12:06 AM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've had a Droid since November and love it more than any other physical object that I own. I use it pretty constantly and have have very few problems with it and have only had to reboot it a couple of times.
Google Maps is really the killer app and they keep improving it constantly. They just gave it multi-touch zooming a few weeks ago and there's been some great stuff from the labs recently. The search nearby facility, search suggestions and navigation features are wonderful. And the integrated bus/trolley/rail schedules are pretty amazingly useful when you're trying to get around the city.
posted by octothorpe at 9:20 AM on February 19, 2010
Google Maps is really the killer app and they keep improving it constantly. They just gave it multi-touch zooming a few weeks ago and there's been some great stuff from the labs recently. The search nearby facility, search suggestions and navigation features are wonderful. And the integrated bus/trolley/rail schedules are pretty amazingly useful when you're trying to get around the city.
posted by octothorpe at 9:20 AM on February 19, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you all, for the responses and especially for the site links many provided.
Yes, I think a Droid is coming to my house soon.
posted by bearwife at 10:48 AM on February 19, 2010
Yes, I think a Droid is coming to my house soon.
posted by bearwife at 10:48 AM on February 19, 2010
Just one other thing to think about:
Word on the street is that the Nexus One will be coming to Verizon very soon; so if that's a phone that appeals to you, you might just want to wait a few weeks and see what the details are.
posted by AngerBoy at 9:35 PM on February 19, 2010
Word on the street is that the Nexus One will be coming to Verizon very soon; so if that's a phone that appeals to you, you might just want to wait a few weeks and see what the details are.
posted by AngerBoy at 9:35 PM on February 19, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
So far, he adores the phone, had it about 3 months.
posted by HopperFan at 1:00 PM on February 18, 2010