CrackBerry.com on Android - Round Robin

[Sunofabob]

Umm...

From the looks of it, a Droid would be a great improvement from my Curve. I would miss BBM, but guess my friends would have to switch to Google Talk. I did play with my friends Droid and think it is a very cool phone.

Which Curve may I ask?

 

[Sunofabob]

Question.

I'm a BB user but I've been acquainting myself with the Droid lately and here's what I think:

1. The hardware is great. Capacitive touchscreen navigation is so intuitive and easy; going back to the BB trackball feels like a marked devolution.
2. I don't own one but I've used one for a couple hours on end, and battery life is decent. From my experience, it's okay, not great, not terrible.
3. Android is so much more open and customizable. I love the widgets on the Hero. Not only is it pretty to look at it, everything's a lot more fluid and accessible than when I'm on my BB. It's also so well integrated that the device doesn't feel like a glorified app launcher, like the iPhone. A hard full QWERTY keyboard is pretty important to me, which is why the Droid is attractive to me (I just wish it was multi-touch enabled!), but soft keyboards have slowly started to grow on me.
4. Haven't tried it myself, but Beautiful Widgets for the Droid seems pretty awesome. You get the pretty widgets from the Hero on the Droid's beautiful screen.
5. Haven't gotten around to loading the device up with media yet.
6. I'm a freelancer that comes across most of my work through the internet and e-mail, so having that at my fingertips is pretty imperative. I've been using a Curve for the last two years and the BB's limitations in general have really started to become apparent as Android has gotten stronger.

Have you been using any of the more recent BB devices i.e. 8900/Tour/Bold 1 & 2?

 

[Roy Aguilera]

Howdy Android Users!

So the Smartphone Round Robin has officially kicked off, and Round 1 has me putting Android through it's paces.

Going back to last year's Round Robin, I was pretty happy about aspects of the T-Mobile G1 and especially the Android platform. I liked the Google homescreen user experience and overall found the device to be pretty stable, which was impressive for an operating system in early stages.

For devices, I'm using the Droid and the Hero. So I want to know from you all: Im using the Droid

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)? Its amazing (fast, dependable and sturdy). The keyboard takes some getting used to but is fairly usable. The slide (keyboard mechanism) feels like it will last a good while and the screen is top notch. Speaker unit is great also.2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)? Although some are experiencing decent battery life, I must say that it is great. Definitely better than the iPhones battery life IMHO.
3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it? You would probably dislike the mail (if not using G-mail), the battery pull withdrawals and the BBM.
4. what are the must have apps? Pandora, Astro File Manager, Google Voice, RockOn, FoxyRing, Pure Messenger, Beautiful Weather, dxTop, GDE and Home++.how does the device do with running them all? Runs like a champ. This phone is a true Multi Task unit.
5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.) Drag and Drop or Double Twist
6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc. I am a 28 Year old (male)Medical Director for the largest hospital chain in CA, Part time Firefighter, HS Basketball Coach and have a masters in Criminology.

and let me know anything else you think I need to know!
Okay, thanks for all the fun times we shared when I was part of the BB community.

Mucho thanks!!
De Nada!!

Hope that helps

 

[1414H77]

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?\

Great. Had the iphone, iphone 3G, and iphone 3Gs, and really like this. It is a little bulky with a case, but is easy to get used to. Without the case it is fantastic. I would ditch the hardware keyboard- I really don't use it. Have gotten totally used to the onscreen keyboard.

The only things it needs are software related: 1) better management of bookmarks (ability to sync with Safari or other browsers, ability to nest bookmarks in folders, ability to reorder bookmarks, etc.). 2) ability to have a signature on exchange 3) ability to move items between folders on exchange. You can get number two and three by buying either Moxier Mail or Touchdown inexpensively in the Android Market store with lots of other features, but it would be nice to have them native.

2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?

Really good and better than the iphone 3GS. The battery improved quite a bit after the 2.01 update. Also, conditioning the battery makes a huge difference. I get all day with very heavy usage, and with much to spare.

3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it? N/A. Switched from iPhone.

4. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?
a) Astro for file maintenance- it is free.
b) Better keyboard- really makes the onscreen keyboard great. It is highly customizable with lots of skins.
c) Dolphin Browser- adds multi-touch, custom swipes, very fast, etc. It is free
d) Double Twist- for syncing with iTunes- get the free version.

5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.). It works great with itunes. Just download the free version of double twist and never look back. There is a paid (and inexpensive version of double twist which is a little faster or you can buy Salling Sync), but it really is just fine with free double twist.

6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.

-Age 52
-male
-using it in the mergers and acquisitions/investment banking business
-very happy

and let me know anything else you think I need to know!

-The two long term potential losers from a much better Android are Palm and RIM, but especially the former, which is going to get lost in the noise.

 

[1414H77]

One more thing needed to improve the Droid. Although I don't use the hardware keyboard, Motorola/Android needs to add autocorrection options for this as with the onscreen keyboard.

 

[hanano17]

Like hatch said, its very customizable. I watched your video Kevin, and one of the questions you asked was if the Droid could have custom themes. The guy with you didn't seem to know, but the answer is you can. The apps hatch listed all change the theme up. So the drawer can be different, you can have different buttons in its place, etc. Oh, did you notice when you loaded crackberry from it in the video, you were going to play with the hero/eris while it loaded, that it loaded it right as you set it down?

As far as demographics...im a 29 year old law student, I love my droid. Most recent thing I did on it that would have taken forever on my Storm, and wouldn't have been nearly as cool or smooth, was I asked it to tell me how to get to a bar I was meeting friends at that I hadn't been to. Took 15-20 secs and I had the gps going and on my way.

 

[redman213]

Howdy Android Users!

So the Smartphone Round Robin has officially kicked off, and Round 1 has me putting Android through it's paces.

Going back to last year's Round Robin, I was pretty happy about aspects of the T-Mobile G1 and especially the Android platform. I liked the Google homescreen user experience and overall found the device to be pretty stable, which was impressive for an operating system in early stages.

For devices, I'm using the Droid and the Hero. So I want to know from you all:

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?
2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?
3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it?
4. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?
5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.)
6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.

and let me know anything else you think I need to know!

Mucho thanks!!

So I had a Droid, I loved it but liked the Sense UI much better so I'm in the process of getting an Eris. The droid was a great phone the screen was prefect and it had very acute sensitivity. However the screen width was too samll somewhat like the Storm made me feel I wasn't getting the full potential out of the screen. Besides the screen width and keyboard the hardware was perfect.

Battery life is good on the droid I can use it for a full day with moderate web/app browsing and watching youtube vids.

I had a Storm before I got the droid and when i switched over I really missed the blackberry button but soon got used to the menu button on the droid. The blackberry OS is like a pick up and play device but doesn't do anything special beyond that. Android takes a small bit getting used to but its worth it.

When i got my android i download Abduction, Imeem Mobile, moto torch, metal detector(kinda buggy), Advanced task killer and shazam. All the apps ran quick and neatly. Switching in between them when i got txts was as simple as it is on a blackberry.

I copy and paste all my music and wallpapers straight to the memory card. Haven't had time to put any movies however.

I am 17, a Senior in high school and used the droid for mostly personal use.

I hope you're having fun using the Sense UI on the Hero I know i can't wait to get my Eris!!

 

[Bottlestopper]

Howdy Android Users!

has officially kicked off, and Round 1 has me putting Android through it's paces.

Going back to last year's Round Robin, I was pretty happy about aspects of the T-Mobile G1 and especially the Android platform. I liked the Google homescreen user experience and overall found the device to be pretty stable, which was impressive for an operating system in early stages.

For devices, I'm using the Droid and the Hero. So I want to know from you all:

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?
2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?
3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it?
4. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?
5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.)
6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.

and let me know anything else you think I need to know!

Mucho thanks!!

Loved crackberry when I needed it. Most useful website for a brand I have ever used.

Using the Droid coming from the Storm 1.

1. Screen is wonderful, the keyboard is OK, super fast, all buttons function well, but i would like to have the camera button in a different location.
2. Battery life is a little worse than my storm. hour of calls, 45 mins of surfing, and 30 txt though 8 hrs and i am looking for a charger. seems it is better with the recent update, but have not used it much since i got the update.
3. i like the app store better on the droid. screen orientation is faster on droid. All i miss about my storm is that it is a world phone.
4. SportsTap, slacker,Jewels, Ringdroid, AP news, quick profiles
5.using usb cord and windows explorer
6.38, M, consumer

 

[j7469]

Hello Kevin,

I was a former Storm & iPhone user. I was a customer of Verizon for over 7 years and only ever used a cell phone to make and received phone calls. When my contract was up in January 08 I decided to give a smart phone a try and purchased a storm. For the most part I loved having a blackberry with one big exception and that was the poor web browsing experience. The lack of a decent web browser caused me to switch to the iPhone but that only lasted 4 months due to AT&T and my wife's inability to received service at her work. I had planned to stay with the iPhone until Verizon finally got a phone that I could browse the web similar to the iPhone. Now I have the Droid and couldn't be happier with my purchase.

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?
The phone feels good in my hand better than the storm but not as good as the iPhone. The software is easy enough to use where it not too trivial but advanced enough so that I feel like its not a kids phone.
2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?
I, as I'm sure most of us are, am still in the honeymoon period, so obviously the phone gets a lot of my attention. With all this use, the battery last the entire day but I have to charge it over night. There has been a slight improvement with 2.0.1.
3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it?
I like, the web browser, lower cost apps (docs to go, weatherbug, pop up SMS etc.. all are much cheaper on the droid), look of the OS, the fell of the OS, the speed of the device. What I don't like is the lack of a desktop manager and not having apps like Nobex, Poynt among others. Pus there is something about blackberry that makes you want to own them. I know you know what I mean. My hope is that with OpenGL and other recently announced improvements, blackberry will win me back.
4. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?
My "must have" list is way to long but the highlights are: Hancent SMS, Barcode scanner, pkt auctions ebay, printer share, twidroid, dolphin browser to name a few and all of my installed app work great. Only very rarely are there any forced closes and that only happens once then the app runs fine.
5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.)
This was my biggest issue since I'm a mac owner. I started off with DoubleTwist but ran into issues with that so I ended up just dragging and dropping on the phone and using a great app called Album art grabber to find my missing album art.
6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.
I am a mid 30's year old married male who uses the phone to keep in touch with family, shop, research, and stay connected. I work full time (well over 40 hours a week) plus a full time student so I'm not near a computer that often and having a great phone like this is truly life saver.

 

[Sayo]

I'm going to qualify things by stating that, while I don't personally own an Android device (Yet!), I have followed the development of the OS closely and have had extensive hands-on time with several units.

A. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?

Personally, I don't feel that any of the hardware quite feels golden at the moment. There as been much progression on that front (3.5mm audio, keyboard options, etc.), but nothing that is completely ideal. I don't particularly require a hardware keyboard, but the Droid showed us that it can be done well while maintaining the slim profile that consumers seek out. A software keyboard, to me, necessitates a screen with a relatively large footprint, perhaps that of the new Google phone, in order to accommodate adult sized digits! Of course, the feel of quality is there, and the progression is happening rapidly.​

B. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?

The downside of a fantastic, multipurpose smartphone--A useful gadget is a well-used gadget. The battery life is manageable, but it's really the limitation of battery technology at the moment more than anything else. We expect our phone to be our mobile entertainment and productivity connection to the world throughout the day, so we trade the week-long battery lives of past devices for day-long usability. In short, the battery life across the board is relatively similar and adequate.​

C. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it?

I have not used Blackberry devices extensively, so my opinion isn't ultimately useful... but, topically, I see a much more rapid development, progression and expansion of capabilities (hardware and software) on the Android front than that of Blackberry. The lack of legacy customers, partnered with the Ubuntu-esque release structure allows it to be much more nimble in the long-run.​

D. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?

Whatever your heart desires, my friend. Pandora, Google Voice, FoxyRing, Pure Messenger, Beautiful Weather, etc. As with the iPhone app store, whatever you want, you can likely find to expand the functionality of the device. Performance has been remarkably consistent despite the divergence of devices within the OS (a problem Windows Mobile dealt with poorly).​

E. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.)

Drag and Drop... DoubleTwist if you're enslaved within the iTunes ecosystem. heh.​

F. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.

I'm a (hopefully) well-informed and (relatively) young consumer / entrepreneur who requires his phone, whatever the OS, to be productive in both business and personal usage scenarios.​

 

[wpwoodjr]

Howdy Android Users!

I got the Droid on D-Day, Nov 6, at 6am.

I was moving from a BB Pearl 8130. My Pearl has been great and did everything I asked it to, including streaming music, stereo Bluetooth, email, and keeping a charge from Fri evening to Mon morning (with light usage).

But the Droid is a real step up. Web browsing is fantastic, the screen is gorgeous, GMail has HTML support, there are lots of great applications available, and I've even started to like the hardware keyboard.

Its been great having wi-fi. Recently I've been abroad without data and I can still go online with wi-fi. The EVDO Rev A is lightning fast, I'm getting 1600Kbs. A good place to test the speed is at: iPhone speedtest - let us know what speed you get on your Storm 2, Droid, or Eris!

So I'm really enjoying the speed, screen, web browsing, and applications on the Droid. The battery isn't even so bad. What's not to like? There are two main things.

Firstly, the Droid does not play nicely with the MS Sync bluetooth in my Ford Fusion Hybrid. It usually doesn't automatically reconnect to both the phone and the stereo for media playback and I have to connect manually. Then, it acts very laggy so that commands that I initiate on the phone take 20 seconds or so to take effect. For example, pausing the media stream or adjusting the volume. Sometimes, it acts strangely when answering incoming calls and also disconnects intermittently.

Secondly, the lack of hardware buttons makes it frustrating to use. There are no dedicated phone buttons - the phone is just an app like everything else! Sometimes it can take up to 6 actions to get to the "Call log" screen which is where I often dial from. For those who are counting:

1. Turn Droid on
2. Swipe
3. Exit to home screen (if in an application)
4. Swipe or press "home" to get to center home screen (if not there already)
5. Press phone application icon
6. Press Call Log tab

This isn't a huge problem for me, as I don't use the phone a whole lot. However I do miss the dedicated Mute key on the BB.

Also, I listen to pod casts, the media player, Slacker, and Pandora a lot in the car and while working out and its a real problem for me not to have a dedicated pause button. Instead I must:

1. Turn Droid on
2. Swipe
3. Press pause button in application

This is a PIA and gets the screen all messy when I'm working out!

BlackBerries turn on/off when you remove/place it in the holster, there's none of this "swipe to unlock" every time you turn the phone on.

So I'm considering switching to the Storm 2. I'd consider getting an Eris but the battery life stories have scared me away. Problem is, I've played with Storm2 in the Verizon store and its slow and clunky compared to Droid. But, it does what I want (except decent web browsing) and has the dedicated buttons so I may just switch over to it. I like the click keyboard too - its much more accurate than Droid's various keyboards.

Other thoughts:
The lack of key rollover on the Droid software keyboards is a real limit to typing speed. Key rollover is when you press a key while lifting off another key. On the Droid I seem to miss a lot of characters because it doesn't support this. My understanding is that the Storm 2 has key rollover.

Battery life is pretty decent but I tend to use the Droid more than my Pearl because of the superior web browsing and bigger screen so it probably wouldn't last me the entire weekend like the Pearl does.

YouTube videos can be viewed in high def if you select this in the menu options. Its absolutely incredible.

The Droid has separate volume settings for notifications, media, etc but does not distinguish between Bluetooth volume, ear-piece, speaker, and headset volume the way BB does. On the BB I always leave the Bluetooth volume on max but on the Droid there is no concept of BT volume. The volume keys on the Droid are flimsy and hard to distinguish from each other.

I copied some music over to the Droid by mounting it on Windows. WMA albums do not play in track order (MP3 albums do); instead they play alphabetically by track. Go figure. (The files did have track info embedded)

I'm thinking I will not like the Storm 2 as much as the Droid (S2 is slower, clunkier) but that it will do everything I use every day better. I hope that webkit browser and 3d graphics support will arrive in early 2010 and make it much more enjoyable as a web device.

The Droid is like a small computer, I love using it at home or when I'm waiting at the Dr's office or something. For daily use in the car, phone calls, music, etc the BB is better. Its the little things that are driving me crazy on the Droid. I love the apps but I hate the usability on stuff I do all the time.

I decided to return my Droid and reverted to my Pearl 8130. Its a relief actually. The Pearl does better at Bluetooth, being a phone, and controlling music; plus its smaller. I may get a Storm 2, or wait and see what comes out over the next month or two. But even the Google phone has no mute/pause button, and does not unlock when you remove it from the holster.

Oh; I am male, in my 50's, and use the phone for business and personal use.

- Bill

 

[largeselection]

Howdy Android Users!

So the Smartphone Round Robin has officially kicked off, and Round 1 has me putting Android through it's paces.

Going back to last year's Round Robin, I was pretty happy about aspects of the T-Mobile G1 and especially the Android platform. I liked the Google homescreen user experience and overall found the device to be pretty stable, which was impressive for an operating system in early stages.

For devices, I'm using the Droid and the Hero. So I want to know from you all:

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?
2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?
3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it?
4. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?
5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.)
6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.

and let me know anything else you think I need to know!

Mucho thanks!!

To answer your questions:
1) I like the hardware. I know some don't like the industrial design or the heft, but I like both. You already know how ridiculously good the screen is. You also know that sometimes the battery door can pop off if you pull the droid out of your pocket probably. At first I didn't like the keyboard. However, I've definitely gotten used to it and I do enjoy typing on it. Haven't quite gotten up to the level of being able to type on it without looking (as I could on my tour), but I'm sure I'll get there.

2)Battery life is good. I find it comparable to my tour. I can easily make it through an entire day on pretty heavy usage (web browsing, phone calls, emails, messages, etc). The only difference I see is that my droid does a lot more than the tour did in terms of active services. I have a lot of actively updating widgets and simultaneous running apps on my droid. I had the same battery on my tour, but on my tour I had to always be sure to menu->close programs, whereas on my droid, I don't need to worry about that.

3) I'm obviously a droid convert (though I didn't sell my tour...just in case). Droid wins in the following ways: Best screen, multiple home screens which are highly customizable, widgets, tons more apps, much better app store (as in lots more apps/quicker/easier to navigate/easier to install apps/uninstall apps), rooting and the fun that might bring, much better browser, more fun, transitions are more pleasing to the eye, faster program loads, don't have to menu->close apps, in general better memory management, no need to do battery pulls, much better integration with gmail (labels, starts, read/unread, everything syncs with the desktop version)

Blackberry wins in the following ways: Still the BEST for email. On the droid can't have gmail in a unified inbox AND push. You can only have push gmail in the gmail app or polling gmail in a unified inbox in the "email" app. Also currently no way to quickly select a large group of emails and mark as read/delete/etc. Even when I've selected a lot of emails via clicking each one, marking as read is slow and almost seems like one by one the emails go through and mark as read. Super annoying is that if I select a lot of emails, then click mark as read, I have to hit menu then "deselect all selected", then I can select the button to go to a different gmail account. Often, I try and go to the gmail account selector, but forget to "deselect all" and I end up marking all those selected emails as "spam" and then have to undo that action. Also no way to choose an account to send from in the "gmail" app. Once you start an email in the gmail app you can't select a different one if you have multiple gmail accounts. Email is just faster/simpler on blackberry. With that said, emails look much much better on the droid and they do load quickly enough (unlike my experience with the Pre). I do miss blackberry messenger. I have tried to replace it with gtalk and for the most part that works well, but I still don't feel it is as reliable. In general, I don't get that rock solid reliability that I had with my tour/curve. However, all the extras/fun that droid has was enough to keep me at least for now.

4) I have a lot of apps on my phone now: AK notepad, Pageonce, Backgrounds, beautiful widgets, bedside, bubbles, buka, bump, docs to go, DxTop, FeedR, finance, GDE, Goggles, Google Voice, Gube, Jetflicks, Keeper, key ring, labyrinth, layar, maps, mototorch, mybackup pro, nyc bus/subway map, oregon trail, pandora, slacker, pure calendar widget, pure messenger, robo defense, scan2pdf, shazam, slimeball speedway, snesoid, speed forge, sportstap, steamy, sticky memo, trap, tv.com, twidgit, wikimobile, wordwrench, youmail, etc... They all run super well with no lag, almost no freezing or force closes. I have run a bunch of apps at the same time and can say that this multitasks pretty well. Holding down the home button to switch between apps is just as useful on the droid as it was on the tour.

5) I load a lot of stuff onto the memory card either via a memory card reader or by mounting the droid as a harddrive. Works very well. I have a bunch of videos, music, files on the card and haven't had a problem with them. The sound quality is really good I find (though not currently with slacker's bass issue). Have a bunch of pics on it which look great in the "picture frame" widget and all.

6) I use it for business primarily. I have found the fun stuff worth the downsides, but I can't say that I haven't at least thought about going back to BB. Enterprise is not super yet, but it is useable. I don't love the corporate calendar support yet. The inbuilt calendar widget is not good and corporate calendars are not supported by all of the other calendar widget apps in the market. I also have great faith that updates/support will come rapidly for any outstanding issues with the droid. In general the fun stuff brings this phone above the tour in my opinion and its downsides (while annoying) are totally livable for the time being (until apps/fixes are rolled out). Even without any fixes (hopefully not the case) I haven't found anything just outright missing, just maybe not as simple/reliable as it was on the tour.

Hope that helps. I'm sure you'll do the droid justice in your review.

 

[foghorn67]

Kevin, glad to see you post here. I will miss Crackberry for now.
I was a long time BB user. First at work with Nextel/Sprint branded BB's. I loved the idea of having a message centric phone, so I got a VZ branded 8130 Pearl. I followed it up by buying a slightly used Curve 8330.
It's a shame Crackberry forum accounts don't share forum credentials and visa versa, so this is my first Android Central Forum post.


1.The hardware on the Moto Droid is fantastic. I have little to complain about. The keyboard isn't symmetrical with the big D-pad, so my right thumb is having a rough time so far. But to tell you the truth, I have been using the on-screen keyboard and love it. The fit and finish are great. Think on par with the Tour and Bold. It feels expensive. The screen is sharp. Again, it reminded me the first time I saw the Bold. Amazing pixel density.
2. I haven't been out of the house much, (out of work), but the battery seems on par with the rest of the smartphones. Light to moderate usage. Managed to watch two movies in a row during a trip, and I still had 50% battery left.
3. I love the slick interface, actually easier to manage everything with the status bar, home screen, widgets and app page. Contacts/dial pad/and phone log work flawlessly. Web browsing is a joy now, and wasn't great at all, even with Opera mini installed on when I was on my Curve.
The BB is a workhorse when it comes to messaging. Not that the Droid falls short here, but I like the message centric philosophy on BB. I miss BB pin to pin IM's.
4.Google apps are outstanding. Anything branded by them is golden. Goggles, Sky, Maps, Listen, Voice. Third party stuff, I got dictionaries, copies of the American Constitution, The Bible, many games, and soundboards. Of course a good Twitter app/widget is a must, and there are several available.
5. I pair it up with the computer via USB. Windows has no issues with drag and drop. The "Gallery" will read your folders you created on the computer. Easy. Windows Media Player treats this like a regular media player. So syncing playlists is a breeze for music listening. I found the BB Desktop Manager frustrating with syncing music. It was a chore even after doing lengthy OS and Desktop updates. BB isn't great about updating the Desktop software. It seems like I have to download the whole program to update it. Instead downloading update files only. (Like an anti-virus engine). With the Droid, there is no installed app to worry about. And, OS upgrades are pushed out. I had Android 2.01 pushed over the network like a lot of folks here. It just chimed in, and all I had to do was click the button. OS on the BB means connecting it, downloading it, backing it up, and whole bunch hoops. I was ready to except that as a geek. I love seeing that stuff work. But I have to admit, the singular experience I had with upgrading with the Droid was awesome.
6. Typically I am working professional sidetracked with un-employment. I was a BES Admin for a couple of places I worked at since I am usually in IT support. Or at least a business BB user at some places. The good thing about my Curve was it was a workhorse that knew how to play.

I'll miss your Blog and forums posts Kevin, but I'll stop by CB once in a while.
Keep up with the great work, reviews, etc.

 

[tyrran]

Hello all! Currently running an HT-03A (A Docomo Japan Sapphire) and learning tricks of the trade as I go.

1. Hardware is pretty excellent. The presence of external buttons makes certain basic functions (like calling) lightning fast and extra activites enjoyable. Wish the processor was faster, however, as it seems to lag before any form of overclocking takes place. Overall, love it.
2. Battery life? Not a problem. I charge it every couple of days and that is with INTENSE daily use.
3. Not applicable.
4. TasKiller, Quick Settings, Google Voice, GUAVA and iMusic Tao. I never have any problems with them all piled on, though I need to occasionally force GUAVA to quit so I can make a proper phone call.
5. Drag and drop, baby. Anything I have formatted for iTunes works on the phone, so I just choose what I want and go. Organization? Never needed it.
6. I'm currently an ESL teacher entrenched in Japan, and this isn't my first smartphone rodeo. I've been pretty hands on with the iPhone in the past, and I'm in my upper 20s, male, and enjoying every moment of everything.

 

[D-LuX]

Using the Droid

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?

Fits in my hand better than my Storm 1,2. Little heavier, but feels much more solid

2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?

I use mine fairly heavy. Several hundred texts per day, constant updating calendar, and weather app. I use max brightness always, instead of auto dim... I usually take it off the charger at 11am and have to charge it around 2 am or so... If I go out, I need to charge it on the way out in the car etc...

3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it?

I miss the excellent push email... Thats it... I'll never buy another Blackberry again. Android is sooooo much faster and reliable

4. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?

Advanced App Killer, Beautiful Widgets, Picsay, Pandora of course

5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.)

On my mac, i just plug it in, create a music file, and drop items in... it was simple..

6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.

I'm a med student, but really dont use it for anything, other than sometimes looking up meds, or something online...

 

[ripcity00]

1. how do you find the hardware (comfort of use, ease of use)?
I've been surprised by how easy the droid is to learn and use even though there is much more to learn.
2. how do you find the battery life (everyday light/normal use, heavy use)?
Batter life is about a day with average use.
3. if you we're a BB user and switched up to give Android a test, what do you like and not like about it?
Blackberry was great for messaging. Web browsing is no comparison with the big screen, etc. I'm getting more comfortable with the keyboard, so it's not that big of a deal to switch for me.
4. what are the must have apps? how does the device do with running them all?
I'm loving the voice search and google navigation.
5. how do you go about loading up the device with media (music, movies, etc.)
6. with all that, i want to know your background - are you in business (using it for professional use), a consumer, a student, young, old, male, female, etc.

 

[zmeflyby]

1. I think the hardware feels great. It doesnt feel cheap, but it is on the heavy side though. I would recommend something else if someone is looking for a light weight phone.
2. I wanted a better battery life since I talk to my GF a lot. I also use bluetooth as well, which adds more abuse to the battery life. Without bluetooth the phone can probably last for 20+ hours with lots of text messaging/ marketing/ some emailing. For me, since I use it heavily, I can hit 15% within 15-18 hours.
3. Being someone who had been around BB for some time. I can really say that the UI is really something else on the droid. I do miss the push email for BB. I receive tons of important emails a day. Sadly, I have to forward all the emails to my Gmail account.
4. I use skyscape a lot to look up drug information. They really need to hurry up with epocrates. Other apps that I use alot is yelp, google map, and pandora. The droid does feel somewhat laggy with pandora, but it doesnt bother me that much because it has never froze when I am on it.
5. I am a graduate health student.

 

[robertw0925]

keyboard

Kevin
I too was a storm 1 owner.
All I can say is play around with it and find that it has much more to offer than the storm ever did.
I watched the round Robin video and seemed a little misleading to the abilities of what this thing can do.
The software keyboard in landscape is the best. You will have to close the hardware keyboard to use it. I think you will find this very useful

 

[sjunkie#AC]

i'm very intrigued by this phone..

 

[jankyhanky#WP]

1. The hardware works fine on the Motorola Droid. The screen is amazing. The phone is fast and responsive but the slide out is unnecessary. The slide mechanism is stiff, keyboard uncomfortable and the direction pad unnecessary as well. Motorola could have made an even thinner profile had they not made the droid a slider.
2. I have only demo'ed the droid but I have heard it lasts more than a day with moderate use.
3. I have tried Blackberry, Symbian, and Windows. Compared to blackberry, the Droid pails in usability and convenience. I really want to like Android but it does feel cumbersome. Blackberry simply works.
4. Google Navigation is great, and adds a $100 value over all other smartphones.
5. Isn't drag and drop really the only way? There's no desktop manager.
6. I am a student and also a sales agent at a cell phone retailer.