The motorola Droid

[shepardG]

So i got my droid on Friday, after work.
I was originally going to just check it out, see what all the hype was, see if it could "compare" to the iPhone, and basically even be worth all this stupid hype.

So i get to playing with it, and right off, i like the way it feels, the heft of it is nice, it's not super heavy (i'm 6'1'', 234, military) and the buttons feel stable, aswell as the slide mechanism to access the keyboard. In fact, the slide felt real nice.

so i'm playing with all the doo dads and crap on the phone and the OS is very very smooth. iPhone smooth, i won't lie.

So i purchase it.

1st thing any potential buyers need to know, is verizon is retarded with their ability to transfer contacts from alot of phones using their cellbrite machine.
They couldn't do mine, but fortunately I found a work around, using Office 2007, active sync, and my gmail account.

So I go over to my buddies house to watch the fight, cause my girls having her bachlerotte party that night *this is now saturday*, and i get a chance to compare it to the iphone. the screen is .2 inches bigger than the iphone, but the crazy thing is the screen resolution. it blew my mind how crappy the iphone looked next to the droid. I fully feel apple will be pushing out a updated iphone with a better screen resolution within 6 months.

If you have verizon, or just are upset with AT&T's coverage but love the iphone, then you have an option now. (oh and multimedia functions are astounding on the droid, load speaker, easy to use options, amazonMP3, stored in an easy to access location with no drm, instant upload of youtube videos ((requires a wi-fi connection to upload)))

On screen keyboard is ridiculous, like it better than the iphones, but the voice recognition works amazingly. I mean "ardvark farmers in montana" isn't something the average person says but it google searches that exact statement with 2 button presses, and just say it. pretty crazy honestly.

Definetly not over hyped for verizon. just crazy that they couldn't get something like this going a year sooner ><

[Spekkio]

what's the price to upgrade to this if you're not up for a new phone yet? is it convulsion caliber or something a sane man could afford? i think i could probably get the "promotional price" for a second line on an account, but the main line on my account is not due up for a while i know. i got a storm about a year ago, but all this droid lovin has me interested.

[octopus]

I read that the physical keyboard is not very good... any opinion about this?

I tried to go to a verizon store to play with it and there were only one unit in the whole store and there were a few people waiting to get their hands on it. Compared to the iphone where you can just go to an apple store and there are like 10 of them to play around. Gonna try again another day...

[QuePsiXI]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Most of the Droids are still in the capsules that were dropped from space. They'll make their way to stores very soon.

[The Blackrose]

I read that the physical keyboard is not very good... any opinion about this?

I tried to go to a verizon store to play with it and there were only one unit in the whole store and there were a few people waiting to get their hands on it. Compared to the iphone where you can just go to an apple store and there are like 10 of them to play around. Gonna try again another day...

I'm actually typing this out on the keyboard at the moment, so I'm getting a kick out of your replies.

I picked mine up Friday. The decision hinged around the keyboard, actually. I like it so far, but it depends mostly on how it feels to yourself. The keys may be too small for some people.

[Headspace]

I like the keyboard when correcting errors. Don't use it a whole lot though (even though it was a big factor in my purchase decision), but the touch screen keyboard is so god damn responsive and accurate.

This thing is fast, real fast.

[Brien]

how much is the full data plan + texting? and has anyone gotten outlook to work, and does it work well?

[Talus]

I got the Droid on Saturday. So far I'm very impressed. I've never had an iPhone or a smartphone to compare it with - went straight from the MotoRIZR z6tv to the Droid.

The slide-out keyboard is nice. Some people complain about the lack of tactile response from the keys - there is not a lot of travel/give in them, and they are kind of small but what do you expect? Still, I have had no issues and I'm more of a big-fingered person than most (I'm around 6'2 180). I mean, I don't have Vienna sausage fingers but you get the point.

I think most Verizon customers have NE2 (new every 2) with their contracts, meaning you get a break on a new phone every two years. To answer your question Spekk, my NE2 was due for June '10, but I saw the Droid, read up on it and was interested in getting it. The phone is still $299 the day you get it without any NE2 breaks (which is $50 or $100, depending on when your contract is dated), but there is a $100 mail-in rebate for a debit card you can use (or so I've heard). Due to my NE2 not being up, I opted to extend my contract two years from Saturday, which was fine, and I'm still getting the $100 debit card rebate, you just have to mail in the proof of purchase for the Droid.

The standard rules apply, you get a certain amount of days to try the phone, see how you like it, and if you bring it back to VZ there's a restocking fee.

I'm very impressed so far. Some caveats:
1) You must have a Gmail account for the Droid. They're free anyway, and it's better than most e-mail clients I've used, so if you don't have one before you go to pick up the Droid, set one up.
2) The data plan is $29.99/month, which is in addition to your voice plan. Messaging is extra (but most voice plans, starting with select include unlimited message). The cheapest rate you can probably get for the Droid barring any discounts is $39.99 for voice (450 anytime minutes) and $29.99 for unlimited data (yes, it is unlimited, not 5 GB limit like you may read online, which is misguided and misinformation), bringing it to a grand total of $69.98/month before the applicable taxes/etc. So still under $80/month, most likely.

You may be eligible for service discounts though, if you are a federal/state employee, student, etc, so check when you go to pick it up.

[Khamsin]

How well does it handle flash and other plugins? Both normal interactive flash website content, and embedded flash videos.

[Pikarya]

AT&T contract finally is over with at the end of the month. Due to Verizon's uphill growth over the past year vs. AT&T. Really tempted to switch for this.

[The Blackrose]

How well does it handle flash and other plugins? Both normal interactive flash website content, and embedded flash videos.

Flash for Android was announced in February with a supposed release date of October, but I have to do some digging. Have not heard anything.

[Seanr]

not trollin, but i wonder if i can get it to work on sprint. the way they tooled around with the Pre to work on Verizon.

[Obiron]

I got the Droid on Saturday. So far I'm very impressed. I've never had an iPhone or a smartphone to compare it with - went straight from the MotoRIZR z6tv to the Droid.

The slide-out keyboard is nice. Some people complain about the lack of tactile response from the keys - there is not a lot of travel/give in them, and they are kind of small but what do you expect? Still, I have had no issues and I'm more of a big-fingered person than most (I'm around 6'2 180). I mean, I don't have Vienna sausage fingers but you get the point.

I think most Verizon customers have NE2 (new every 2) with their contracts, meaning you get a break on a new phone every two years. To answer your question Spekk, my NE2 was due for June '10, but I saw the Droid, read up on it and was interested in getting it. The phone is still $299 the day you get it without any NE2 breaks (which is $50 or $100, depending on when your contract is dated), but there is a $100 mail-in rebate for a debit card you can use (or so I've heard). Due to my NE2 not being up, I opted to extend my contract two years from Saturday, which was fine, and I'm still getting the $100 debit card rebate, you just have to mail in the proof of purchase for the Droid.

The standard rules apply, you get a certain amount of days to try the phone, see how you like it, and if you bring it back to VZ there's a restocking fee.

I'm very impressed so far. Some caveats:
1) You must have a Gmail account for the Droid. They're free anyway, and it's better than most e-mail clients I've used, so if you don't have one before you go to pick up the Droid, set one up.
2) The data plan is $29.99/month, which is in addition to your voice plan. Messaging is extra (but most voice plans, starting with select include unlimited message). The cheapest rate you can probably get for the Droid barring any discounts is $39.99 for voice (450 anytime minutes) and $29.99 for unlimited data (yes, it is unlimited, not 5 GB limit like you may read online, which is misguided and misinformation), bringing it to a grand total of $69.98/month before the applicable taxes/etc. So still under $80/month, most likely.

You may be eligible for service discounts though, if you are a federal/state employee, student, etc, so check when you go to pick it up.

Thanks for the confirmation. I've been researching online to see if I could do the annual upgrade for the Droid. I also bought the Storm a year ago and it has overstayed its welcome. I think I need to wait a couple more weeks to be eligible (I'll have to check with Verizon for an exact date). Now I just need to spend a little time in the store playing with it to make sure it's what I want. Everything I'm reading though leads me to believe it will be a smart move.

[Tempyst]

2) The data plan is $29.99/month, which is in addition to your voice plan. Messaging is extra (but most voice plans, starting with select include unlimited message). The cheapest rate you can probably get for the Droid barring any discounts is $39.99 for voice (450 anytime minutes) and $29.99 for unlimited data (yes, it is unlimited, not 5 GB limit like you may read online, which is misguided and misinformation), bringing it to a grand total of $69.98/month before the applicable taxes/etc. So still under $80/month, most likely.

I take it this means full unlimited 3G network access? Thanks for clearing this up, I'm finally at a financial point where I can upgrade to a phone and plan that isn't a shitty Virgin Mobile pay as you go deal, and trying to find a straight answer on the internet for what their data plan includes is impossible with iPhone fanboys doing everything they can to muddy the waters.

[Purrrfect]

This sounds like it is not a Windows Mobile phone, is that right?

[Talus]

Droid is sort of a giveaway. It's an Android-based phone, therefore very strong ties to Google on the device - Google Voice (if you have GV), Gmail, there's Google Maps with turn-by-turn navigation - so yes, it acts as a GPS, and it goes all the way down to street view photos where available, which can come in handy if you're going somewhere you haven't been to previously.

I think it handles flash fine. YouTube is one of the apps on it - you can connect and watch videos from YouTube (again, another Google property). So embedded videos haven't been a problem, but I have yet to spend any extended amount of time trying it out.

Yes, the data plan includes/is 3G. This sucker is fast, like someone else has said. YMMV, and like I said I've never had an iPhone, but I have heard from iPhone owners that AT&T 3G can be spotty at times. Verizon's 3G is solid in my experience (all few days of it).

I don't know if I would call it an iPhone killer - it has a lot of things going for it though, like multitasking - I can run Pandora internet radio and switch to a different app seamlessly with no lag.

That's pretty impressive to me.

[Tempyst]

there's Google Maps with turn-by-turn navigation - so yes, it acts as a GPS, and it goes all the way down to street view photos where available, which can come in handy if you're going somewhere you haven't been to previously.

Yikes, that is incredibly slick. Definitely looking forward to picking up one of these suckers and hocking my Garmin GPS.

[The Blackrose]

I'd say my biggest gripe with the phone is the Market needs more filtering and obviously some QA. But once the support starts coming down the line, it's going to be a beauty.

[Spekkio]

Yikes, that is incredibly slick. Definitely looking forward to picking up one of these suckers and hocking my Garmin GPS.

Google’s New Mobile App Cuts GPS Nav Companies At The Knees
lots of investors thought the same thing as you.

[Jedimasta]

Has anyone had some serious hands on time with the Droid and the HTC Hero on Sprint? I'm about a month off from being out of contract with Sprint and I'm looking to get an Android phone with a relatively cheap data plan.