CrackBerry.com on Android - Round Robin

[jankyhanky#WP]

Blackberry is the reliable beast. I never tried the Storms so I cannot comment on those.

App compatibility across androids is terrible. There needs to be more vertical integration like BB or Nokia, or else android will be next decade's WinMo.

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

After owning many (and I must stress Many) BB devices including most recently the storm 9530 and the 8900, what finnaly dragged me away from my long relationship with the crack is the integration with all things google and the "fresh" feeling of android itself.

No doubt BB has the track record that screams "I'm reliable", but I gotta say, I don't miss the daily battery pulls. Truth is, if a BB addict is not ready to embrace the monster that is google, they will take the device back and the crackberry addiction will continue.

Kevin, hope you use gmail!
Also, could you put in a good word to RIM for me:

allPhone killer = Blackberry Device
+ Physical Keyboard and Touch screen
+ Blackberry Email
+ Android w/ google integration

I could die a happy man.............honestly!

 

[ushneb]

Hmmm, I just need an Android device now.

 

[tallbruva]

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!!

Everyone else pretty much addressed everything except point #5.

I use DVD43 (for decoding) and Handbrake (HandBrake) to do the ripping. For video playback you "could" use the built-in video player. But that experience isn't aesthetically appealing. So go to the Market and download PlaysVideo. Copy your converted video onto the sd card by pulling down the shade, select "USB connected" and choose "Mount". Then drag and drop like a USB drive.

Do the same thing for music. And most apps including the built-in music player will find EVERY audio file on your sd card. But I suggest putting it in a Music folder. Oh, and if you download music from Amazon, it puts it in a folder off the root called AmazonMP3. And you won't have to copy it to your Music folder; Android will find it.

The settings you'll need to convert video are pretty standard. 320x240, a max sampling frequency of 44100 (Handbrake's default should work fine).

I do suggest running TasKiller and killing all unnecessary processes before playing video so that you're resources don't slow you down. But since you're not using a G1 (and I'm running on a rooted Cyanogen G1) you probably won't have to do this.

My bio (point 6): I use it for personal use. Mostly to listen to music, surf the web, play games (RoboDefense, XGalaxy2, Speed Forge, Pac-Man), check email. I guess I do use it for business since I'm an Android developer (although I still have a regular IT salt mine gig), male, late 30's.

Check out theme replacements. I'm using GDE with the Windows 7 theme (quite hot if I say so myself). I also use Dolphin Browser. It supports multi-touch on DROID (and a rooted G1

For email, you can connect to your Hotmail and Live accounts. Yahoo wants to be difficult. For Hotmail access:

Incoming settings: port 995
POP3 server: pop3.live.com
Security type: SSL(if available)

Outgoing settings: port 25
SMTP server: smtp.live.com
Security type TLS(if available)

I think that's it for now


Oh, and I'm using a Samsung SBH600 bluetooth stero headset.

 

[wpwoodjr]

I am a mobile developer (by profession) and have a Strom 2, Droid and iPhone. I develop on all three platforms.
...
I really like the Droid. I think it is an extreamly cool phone and I really, really, really want to love this phone. But....I can't. I like it a lot. I also like the Storm 2 a lot and the Storm 2 is more dependable. The dependable audio bluetooth is a big deal to me because i have a bluetooth stereo in my car. A dependable cell phone is important to me. Dependable mail is important to me.

Ditto for me - stereo audio Bluetooth is terrible on the Moto Droid with Ford Sync - in addition to connection and random disconnect problems it has lag issues with controls - volume, pause, ff, rewind. It can take up to 20 seconds for a volume change or pause to take effect!

I wonder if the HTC phones have Bluetooth audio issues?

 

[moosc]

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!!

1- comfort of use is great for typing and browser. but as a phone i feel it is uncomfortable to next to my ear. im motorola droid
2- battery is better then bb storm1. i get around 7 hours of good use email text twitter videos calls gps.
3-former bb storm1 user. start up time on storm around 3-4 mins moto droid less then a min. no battery pull you can power of droid fully. i dont miss bb mail im a aol user and with bb mail u needed to log into the browser to look at your folders. android has this allready. not being tied to bis. no more lost service.
4-weatherbug elite, seesmic twitter, batterytime plus gives you the time left in different categories, handcent sms mms more options, usa tvguide it adjust to your location love it, goggles rocks. avoid task killers no need for those, astro file reader great app even backs up apps, and where.
5- movies and music just plug in my usb to laptop copy over to droid seems to be the fastest way.
6- truck driver up 30s. oh i love the google navigator..

 

[soccernamlak]

After owning many (and I must stress Many) BB devices including most recently the storm 9530 and the 8900, what finnaly dragged me away from my long relationship with the crack is the integration with all things google and the "fresh" feeling of android itself.

No doubt BB has the track record that screams "I'm reliable", but I gotta say, I don't miss the daily battery pulls. Truth is, if a BB addict is not ready to embrace the monster that is google, they will take the device back and the crackberry addiction will continue.


allPhone killer = Blackberry Device
+ Physical Keyboard and Touch screen
+ Blackberry Email
+ Android w/ google integration

I could die a happy man.............honestly!

Haha, only daily? If you constantly upgrade your phone with hybrid or beta OS, it's more than that...

And personally for the allPhone killer, I'd have to add in Apple's App Store. Love or Hate it, you can't deny that their selection of applications in one space like that is phenomenal.

 

[Sayo]

What I liked most about my blackberry was that it just worked and was very dependable. I feel the same way about the droid, but now don't have to deal with a subpar browser and potential memory issues as noted by others. Plus I feel I'm in a much better position for future developments. While RIM has a lot of momentum and solid hardware, I am concerned about their ability to keep up in the coming year without a revamp of their OS. Seems a lot like what PALM went through. Let's hope they have something up their sleeves, but business as usual won't cut it.

Agreed entirely. Rim has succeeded in keeping their OS current and lustworthy where Windows Mobile has failed, but the limitations are beginning to show and Rim may soon be faced with the same market conditions palm dealt with and Microsoft's Mobile division is attempting to overcome--The market changes so quickly now that being on the top is nearly meaningless when it comes to future prospects.

But seriously, in the short-term, Rim needs to update their browser. It could significantly change perception.

 

[ardoreal]

I just need to chime in one thing that may not be covered. I don't use a task killer. Why? I'll tell you why......Drooooooooiiiid

Initially I got fairly obsessive about killing tasks, then I read from a user that he doesn't bother with it. The task killer was more of a way to get better battery life out of the rather short living Eris/Hero's out there. Not that it was needed, but it helped stretch it a little. On my Moto Droid I check my battery stats about halfway through a charge, and the Android OS consistently only uses around 1%. Occasionally, I'll see an app use a percent, but that's only if I abused it pretty badly. For example, after a huge marathon FeedR session about 8 hours later I saw it had recorded "FeedR" used up %4 all by itself.

In case battery stats wasn't covered, I find it a landmark feature for Android 2.0. You can use it to see exactly what's killing your battery. Cell standby (poor signal), display, Android OS, specific apps, it delineates all of it for you and generates an on-the-fly bar graph.

I stopped using task killer entirely, and my battery drain behaves the same with no performance degradation. At all. Try to do this on your Hero, and HAH, good luck! Bahahah! Your battery will be dead in no time.

 

[largeselection]

Forgot to mention in my comments...I find the droid loses data connection more often than my blackberry did. I was kicked out of gtalk today many times. Also, the text messaging app would not open and kept force closing. I had to power down to fix it. I don't know if the droid is just more honest than my BB (as in the droid tells me every time it loses connection vs the bb which may just lose the data connection just as often, but doesn't alert me- this happened on my curve a bunch where I wouldn't know I had lost data connection until I couldn't send a bbm)

 

[ardoreal]

Ditto for me - stereo audio Bluetooth is terrible on the Moto Droid with Ford Sync - in addition to connection and random disconnect problems it has lag issues with controls - volume, pause, ff, rewind. It can take up to 20 seconds for a volume change or pause to take effect!

I wonder if the HTC phones have Bluetooth audio issues?

I don't get that at all. My pause/play/skip is very fast. I have Ford Sync as well on an '09. Pandora is awesome on it, and I use the Youmail visual voicemail service, in the car it works great. Skip/play/pause even works in Pandora. What really cheeses friends out is when I am in bluetooth audio, and I tap the voice search button on the Droid and I say something like "Navigate to Carelli's Pizzeria" and then the Droid starts talking through the bluetooth. My buddies are like "Whoa man that's awesome!!!"

Voice dialing and phonebook download is flawless.
I'd troubleshoot your setup, maybe something is up? I do not see any of the troubles you are experiencing at all.

 

[Tacos]

Android is generating apps like mad now. Currently at over 20,000! But I do wonder about future Android app fragmentation with all these different smartphone varieties released, not to mention those that have yet to be released.

 

[instrument]

16,000 apps, thank you.

1. how do you find the hardware - coming from a curve i do miss the keyboard, and oddly the keyboard on the cliq feels very natural in comparison..wish they'd made the buttons bigger and done away with the steampunk gold dial deal.
2. how do you find the battery life .. battery life seems to be better than my curve..though when gaming or online for extended times its killed super quick..but during a normal work day i go home with more then half a charge left.
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? What I miss are the alert profiles! Animated gifs aren't supported either (?) and typing on a landscape keyboard is a little slower. But OS wise i think rim is years behind...hell ever tried to take a picture while listening to a song on your blackberry?
4. what are the must have apps? pdanet , free tethering..mm.
5. how do you go about loading up the device with media - drag and drop?
6. with all that, i want to know your background - 32 yo male, use it for personal use with business use being limited to email/messaging/calendar scheduling. Personal use i use it as a on the go camera/ipod/laptop replacement/and if i have my laptop a free 3g connection.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Android is generating apps like mad now. Currently at over 20,000! But I do wonder about future Android app fragmentation with all these different smartphone varieties released, not to mention those that have yet to be released.

Hopefully once HTC refines their Sense UI for Android 2.0, we will begin to see most devices come in line with which version they are running.

 

[y.kenny.u]

1. For the Droid, the metal case is just a sign of durability and value. The UI whether it be the open source or the HTC UI, is easy to use
2. I've heard the battery life is decent even with heavy use
3. I am currently a BB user and can't wait to throw away my 8330 curve and get the Droid for it's faster web browser and a customizable OS.
4. Facebook, aim, and various games to amuse yourself
5. MicroSD
6. Student. Brother currently uses a Droid and Basically it can do everything my Blackberry does with speed. Better rendering of websites. Just seems like a better phone overall. Although the Curve 8330 is outdated, the Droid seems to stomp over any BB competitors.

 

[jjenson]

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!!

Sorry Kevin I did jump ships after the Iluvmybb contest. maybe its a good thing I didn't win as at that time I had loved everything about blackberry's. But I am not disappointed I made the switch now as this is the greatest device I have ever owned.

1. Personally the hardware was very nice and easy to use the only flaw in the whole design is the battery cover other than that I love the layout and I do use the physical keyboard almost 80% of the time and I have big hands can palm a basketball and for me very simple and easy to use.

2. I am a heavy user of any phone I have used I think battery life is significantly better than the Storm1 I owned. I do use the media and navigation dock though quite a bit and those are plugged in to charge on both items.

3. Honestly I think for me personally the Droid has out performed the Storm 1 in every way. I love google tools and have been using them for a long time as a web developer. Now with that integrated with my phone makes my life much simpler. I also run my own email servers and have had no issues with emails and syncing everything. I know others have had email issues but not me.

Also running multiple apps and not worrying about rebooting or battery pulls is sooooooooo nice. I mean I can run about 24 apps at the same time without issue. I couldn't run 8 on the storm without coming to a standstill.

4. Well first off for me I can actually do web development from my phone not. I can ftp into any server grab the files I need and edit them on my phone and reupload then see them in action on my phone. This is amazing with the 3G everywhere with verizon is absolutely amazing. Also I am a classic gamer so getting the NES and SNES emulators to play my old games is a blast. Also I have been able to find any app I need as the app store now has over 20k apps its growing so fast so anything needed is great.

Also being able to root my phone and do even more things with it is also very fun so I can play even more with my phone than before.

5. I have uploaded all my media through a usb connection. I create my own file structure and then use the default media gallery. I love the default player and actually sold a ipod I was given.

6. I run my own business and am 26 years old. Its a software/web development company. We actually just release a product for all dumbphones out there to get emails on them very neat. But for me I need a phone that I can use for personal fun and also business and this has been able to do both for me.


Again sorry Kevin for jumping ships but as you play more and more with teh phone I think you will see it is a very very good device for many different applications.

THanks and I hope you will enjoy your turn with teh Android os.

 

[Fuzzy427]

My brotherinlaw brought my parents under his account and used their upgrade to get a droid. He loves it. I've played around with it a bunch and love the screen a lot. Seems to be very responsive, bright, and big. I'm so jealous of him. I should have listened to my parents when they were telling me they need cell phones!

 

[D-LuX]

I just watched the ROund Robin video, and like many others agree that it's finer points weren't really talked about much.

1. Speed of opening aps
2. Google maps were discussed, but the GPS really shines, as good, or better than off the shelf GPS units. Say where you wanna go... Bam, directions...
3. Browser speed. I would put the Motodroid up against any phone in speed. it's nearly as fast as my computer
4. Themes... You cannot really change themes, per say... But you can change icons, and update new home screens etc...
5. Stability... This was never discussed in the vid... I've had mine since launch, never ever had to restart it! EVER!... When i got my Storm 2, I had to do a battery pull day 2.

 

[sjunkie#AC]

i'd love to try the droid.

 

[jankyhanky#WP]

The reviews for the keyboard have been consistently terrible, and I do agree that it leaves a lot to be desired. However, I still regularly use an HTC Mogul /Titan / XV6800. When I got this phone, moving up from a XV6700, I thought the keyboard was amazing. The Droid is actually better yet. Compared to a top of the line phone that is just 2 years old (also just 2 or 3 generations old) the droid keyboard wins. So despite the negative reviews, it isn't that bad.