Moto Droid Still Relevent

[corydunbar]

Think about it this way:
You can gain root access easily
the bootloader is unlocked so custom ROMs are available
you can overclock the CPU to the equivalent speed of todays top phones
the external graphics processor is greater than all the phones that have snapdragon processors
The physical keyboard on the Droid is the same physical concept as the yet to be released Droid 2,just a few button changes.
The droid is not as in demand, so you can get them at the ready and not have to wait weeks to receive your phone
it has a 5MP camera with dual LED flash that will do anyone looking to take photos with their phone justice
huge developer community, many of these devs use their droids as their personal phone, so they are likey on a two year contract. so you'll keep getting MODs for the next year and a half at least
its one of ony two dev phones on the market
It runs vanilla android (and their is a custom ROM for all of the skins either ported or in work)

 

[dragozoid]

The Droid will be relevant until the Droid 2 comes out next month. The hacking community only makes up like 5% of Android owners so for most people, an encrypted bootloader won't mean anything.

That said, I have both a Droid and an X. Even when my Droid is running 2.2 and overclocked at 1.25GHz, my X is still a lot smoother, more responsive, faster (except for the browser b/c of Froyo), etc. The browser on the X is also a lot smoother than the Droid's which is one of the things I really like.

I thought an encrypted bootloader would be a dealbreaker but now I don't even care much for root itself. The battery life on my X is already a lot better than on my Droid, there's over 6.3GB of space to store apps, the 4.3 inch screen makes everything a lot more enjoyable, and there's no annoying slider keyboard to get in the way.

The Droid is still a nice device but Motorola/Verizon have no reason to keep supporting it when its successor will arrive in a month.

The Droid will be around and supported unofficially for at least another year I bet, if not longer.

At the rate at which new phones are coming out this year, I wouldn't bank on it. The Droid won't even be able to get Gingerbread which will just make it outdated when other devices will be running it later this year.

 

[thebizz]

What makes you think the Droid wont be able to run gingerbread. If the g1 can run Froyo I'm pretty sure the Droid can rock gingerbread . And no matter how much better the specs are on the x the d2 is barely an upgrade especially when rooted. Locked bootloader is a huge minus against the x and d2. In the hacking community the Droid will stick around. Because their are those that like running custom roms etc.

 

[entwined82]

The Droid is still a nice device but Motorola/Verizon have no reason to keep supporting it when its successor will arrive in a month.

At the rate at which new phones are coming out this year, I wouldn't bank on it. The Droid won't even be able to get Gingerbread which will just make it outdated when other devices will be running it later this year.

Screw Motorola's support. I'd rather have Cyanogen and Koush keep it going.

As far as gingerbread goes: That was debunked. Those specs are "Recommended" not required. Besides, Froyo shouldn't be able to run on the G1 yet it is and like I said..unofficial support, not official. Official will be done soon I'm sure, but the developers like Pete, Cyanogen, Koush, Chevy, et al, will not let this device die just because its out of production. I'm almost 100% sure that we'll get Gingerbread on soon to be "outdated" devices like the Droid and Nexus One.

 

[impaler]

Just bought an original Droid today. They were indeed out of stock of the X and Incredible, and I actually prefer the stock Android UI, don't like all the skins. It's the way Google meant the phone to be. I think it's still a VERY relevant phone. Sure, I'm losing a bit in terms of processor MHz and camera stuff, but it just feels so solid and it's right up my alley. Love it.

 

[Brett]

Think about it this way:
You can gain root access easily
the bootloader is unlocked so custom ROMs are available
you can overclock the CPU to the equivalent speed of todays top phones
the external graphics processor is greater than all the phones that have snapdragon processors
The physical keyboard on the Droid is the same physical concept as the yet to be released Droid 2,just a few button changes.
The droid is not as in demand, so you can get them at the ready and not have to wait weeks to receive your phone
it has a 5MP camera with dual LED flash that will do anyone looking to take photos with their phone justice
huge developer community, many of these devs use their droids as their personal phone, so they are likey on a two year contract. so you'll keep getting MODs for the next year and a half at least
its one of ony two dev phones on the market
It runs vanilla android (and their is a custom ROM for all of the skins either ported or in work)

couldnt have said it better myself. overall the droid is still holding up even though bigger and better devices are coming out. it used to be a few months after i got a phone i would feel out of the loop. with this phone its been like 9-10 months and im still feeling that i can do just about everything that other phones can do. plus the droid and the n1 are the top 2 hackable and dev supported devices so that is def a bonus

 

[dagostin]

relevant to what?

it's still a solid phone, one that has a lot of development and custom roms behind it. there's a lot of resources behind it and historical threads with great info.

all that said, it's not even close to the most powerful or latest and greatest on the market. but that is to be expected. it will remain powerful enough for a long time for most people, it's really up to whether you buy into media hype and constant need for change. the super fast pace of technological improvement will only get faster it seems, some find the need to always have the latest and greatest, but to 95% of the world, a 9 month old device like the droid (or however many months old it is) is still a beast.

 

[corydunbar]

Honestly everybody should get a droid 1 and just sit tight and start saving their pennies for when a a 4G LTE version with these specs: Motorola Droid Pro - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum is released.

 

[thebizz]

Ill take the HTC version but yeah specs look nice don't expect to see a snappy in their look for a tegra2 or 4430/40. If tegra 2 with full 1080p record I may have to give it a second look

 

[PGHammer]

The Relevance of Older Phones

The Droid will be relevant until the Droid 2 comes out next month. The hacking community only makes up like 5% of Android owners so for most people, an encrypted bootloader won't mean anything.

That said, I have both a Droid and an X. Even when my Droid is running 2.2 and overclocked at 1.25GHz, my X is still a lot smoother, more responsive, faster (except for the browser b/c of Froyo), etc. The browser on the X is also a lot smoother than the Droid's which is one of the things I really like.

I thought an encrypted bootloader would be a dealbreaker but now I don't even care much for root itself. The battery life on my X is already a lot better than on my Droid, there's over 6.3GB of space to store apps, the 4.3 inch screen makes everything a lot more enjoyable, and there's no annoying slider keyboard to get in the way.

The Droid is still a nice device but Motorola/Verizon have no reason to keep supporting it when its successor will arrive in a month.


At the rate at which new phones are coming out this year, I wouldn't bank on it. The Droid won't even be able to get Gingerbread which will just make it outdated when other devices will be running it later this year.

The Droid will remain relevant after the Droid 2 launches, just as the original Storm remained relevant after the Storm 2 launched; in fact, the only reason the Storm is not relevant today is because VZW first heavily discounted it, then EOL'd it (you can't even get a CLN/CPO original Storm any more).

After all, why would VZW kill the resale/refurb market for the wildly successful original Droid?

1. What is the killer feature the Droid 2 offers over the original Droid? In order to drive upgrade sales, the Droid 2 needs a killer feature that is not available on the original; Froyo capability isn't it. (Rooted Droids can run Froyo today; an official Froyo update will launch before Droid 2 does.)

2. VZW still needs a lower-cost Android entry-level smartphone; while the Droid ERIS is in that niche now, CPO original Droids are better suited.

3. Even leaving Android out of it, VZW needs an entry-level *smart/multimedia phone* (replacing not just the original Storm, but the Kin Two and original Kin). Again, CPO/CLN Droids and even Droid ERIS phones fit that niche practically to a T. (In fact, they fit the niche better than the original Storm did.)

 

[Menno]

1. I think they'll push the 8gb of ROM with this.. maybe improved camera?

2. LG ally, that wierd slider we see, both fit this.

 

[neubanks89]

I'm sticking with the droid 1 until they release a new "Google experience" phone with pure stock android. I refuse to buy one with a custom ui

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[quest7]

Did anyone read this story about the Droid being discontinued?Original Droid To Be Discontinued Soon? Asurion Says Its “no longer manufactured” | The Droid Sector

 

[Mr.Miagi]

I think I will be able to hold onto my Droid for quite some time. At least until verizon and moto release a Droid with a processor faster then what I can OC mine to.

I played with the DX the other day, as much of a nice phone as it is and quick and snappy, I dont think I would trade in my Droid for it. The screen is beautiful BUT its still a 4x4 grid and it makes all the widget text so big I felt I was holding a phone for the visually impaired. Dont get me wrong, beautiful phone, I would take it if I didnt love my Droid so much.

 

[Lurch81#AC]

i'm waiting for the 2ghz phone at the end of the year i've heard about because there is no phone out yet that has taken my attention away from my droid 1. i like the droid x's screen but not enough to give up my droid 1.

 

[impaler]

For me, I liked the fact that it is an original Google experience phone, which I have been hoping means we get the carrier updates sooner than the UI-"enhanced" phones from HTC and others. It seems to take forever to get carrier updates. My girlfriend's Sprint Hero is sluggish too, and I wonder how much of that is due to bloat from the HTC UI. Like the look and feel of the vanilla Android.

 

[PGHammer]

LG Ally vs. original Droid?

1. I think they'll push the 8gb of ROM with this.. maybe improved camera?

2. LG ally, that wierd slider we see, both fit this.

The Ally has a smaller display than the Droid (that small display size makes using the Ally as a touchscreen phone problematical); in fact, the Ally has a smaller screen than the Storm (the original one).

With the ERIS and original Droid now priced identically, a touchscreen (and still Android) needs to come in below that marker; until Droid 2 launches, the original (in CPO/CLN form) makes a great stand-in.