Droid Rookie, can u help?

[Mr Mayor]

Ok My Droid is now 2 days old. I'm a forum junkie and this seems like THE place. So, diving in.

OK. Most of what I'm asking may be covered elsewhere, and for this I apologize in advance, but i need my answers in one neat place, because, frankly, I'm not liking the device as much as I had hoped. (I know.. )

1) Bluetooth headset! Where's my girl? "Please say a command?.boop" What happened? Did she leave me for an ENVY? or worse, a RAZR3? I've read elsewhere a fix is coming, but when? This sucks. Strike 1

2) Top row of keyboard, who is this for? My 8 yr old son? I mean come on, I might be a big dude, but I'm no fat . And where is the BACKLIGHT under the keyboard? Did I turn it off somewhere?

3) I'm sorry, there is no "3"

4) Need or rather want to add more than ONE email account? I Created the GMail acct already, and was able to add ONE (??) Yahoo acct. I need 2 others, plus 2 MBOX accounts from my 2 forums (IPB icyw). Is this possible without having to learn some foreign language? (Yes, that was a dig, sorry)

5) Battery life. Whoa. (note, thats more of a complaint than a question) Granted I've charged it twice fully already in 2 days, but likely due to frequent use.. However, as I get better, and add apps..... Wheres the extended life battery in this thing? Anybody make one yet? PLEASE!

6) I run the BES (hmm wondering if this forum views that as a curse word, ) and was wondering if I could trick either device so I can access my email. Yes, I doubt it too, but I have to ask. (We removed SMTP/POP/IMAP)

7) Silent mode kills vibrate too? But when I switch back I...I ... wtf is it doing now? I need to turn off ALL sounds, then go in and find Vibrate, but then that .... HELP! I just want a quick way to switch from vibrating ring/email/txt message, to full blast Ring like a muthafathu AC/DC "Thunderstruck"! (Sorry, too much sugar in my diet)

8) Anyone have a list of the "must-have apps" ..? I dont need anything GPS related.. I have K.I.T.T. hardwired into my truck. (Wait, I have to share)
ok skip it, no links yet, Google it yourself! KITT GPS

Ok I think that's it. I'll intro myself next, since time is of the essence right now. I'm still not sure I'm keeping it... I came from a Voyager, which was rock solid (literally, it rolled down the mountain with me, and so did my 850lb ATV). Then i had an Envy touch for 6 days. Now this Droid.

Thanx all.!

MM

 

[Zorro1]

4 You can keep adding
5 Be patient, improves big time after about a week..and when you start turning off running stuff, it's even better. The email app is a big user, tho'.
7 Use the button on the upper right side. All the way down is silent. One step up is vibrate, keep going for volume.
8 There are lists all over here. Trapster for driving. CompanionLink USB for direct non-cloud transfer to desktop app. DocsToGo for those of us who actually work! Takephone for good contact list use the way it ought to be.

 

[Mr Mayor]

Thanks Zorro...
4) How? I keep trying to add via "EMAIL" on the Home page.. and not ADD ACCTS, cuz the latest email didnt show up there either.. Do email addy's need to be SYNC'ed, or just the Google acct (new, cuz I needed my contacts)

5) Turn things off? Do tell oh Zorro.. do tell! I was told to avoid TASK MGR at all costs.. Still true? (Disregard, found stickey confirming)

7) Doh!

8) I spotted a few after, seems they change often as new apps come out, which is a good thing... BUT, hardly ANY of the lists tell me what they do.. (yeh, some are obvious like DocsToGo, but some not so much... DOLPHIN for example, I thought it was a Miami background (not really)....

Thanks!

Anyone have an opinion? Wait, lemme rephrase, anyone else have an opinion ON TOPIC?

MM

 

[scodoublet]

I have all of my email accounts around the web forwarded directly to my Gmail account now. It's just so much easier for me that way.

 

[Zorro1]

4, like Sco, I just forward mine as needed to Gmail, so can't answer it, but there's a process to add an account as was explained to me when I bought it, in case I ever did want to have both coming in...
5. There's a page called Running Settings, which doesn't show you mission critical stuff that will break your phone when you turn them off like the Task Managers. I have three running all the time, my Battery Widget which gives me instant on/off access to wifi, bluetooth, and gps, Android Keyboard, don't know, haven't asked...and my Airplane Mode widget which lets me turn off phone/3G service instantly. They don't run the battery at all. With minimal use, I can run 3-4 days at times without recharging.
8 Trial and error. Dolphin is an alternate internet browser but I've noticed people uninstalling it lately. Chomp is a preferred texting app that's better than the built-in. Keep reading, you'll be up to speed in no time. This ain't like Crackworld, folks are friendly here!

 

[Mr Mayor]

Thanks again guys. I need all the emails separate.

"Page called running settings" ?????

One is joint email with stb-xwife, one is junkmail, and one is good, PLUS I need to add my 2 forum emails as well..

Suggestions?

MM

 

[prometheus]

"running settings" is actually: (from home screen) Menu (the button on bottom with lines) / settings / applications / running services / then select app to kill and blast away

 

[prometheus]

no seperate icon for eack mailbox. sorry.

However, once email is added to "email" icon... open the icon and on top you'll see "combined inbox" which is... well, what do you think? then each seperate inbox and a message count for each one. -- Not as saightforward as a seperate icon for each email, but, you'll adjust I'm sure, you're young and healthy - you'll adjust just fine.

Oh, and if you're having trouble getting emails to deliver after you set them up.... well, that's a tough nut to crack. Search for a thread (I forget) something like "how to set up yahoo" you have to do all sorts of backflips and handstands -- but, once you do the whole imap.domain.user.mail.mobile.whatever BS - it DOES work. Good luck.

 

[Mr Mayor]

OK, zapped a few... can I zap the keyboard too? I ONLY use the physical kb..

I got one of my Yahoo accts working just fine, yeh, imap.domain.pita.sob.muthafatha thing.. weird find, but hey it works.

I dont mind the non-seperate icon. I just stumbled into adding another acct when I went to explain what I was doing...wrong obviously... Nice.

I gotta say, this new Droid isn't really growing on me like I had hoped.... frustrating little bugs here n there, still no (ad nauseum) proper BT and headset interaction... seriously, we HAVE to break the law to use the wireless headset????? How about a class action suit to push these Motorola people along? OK, not really.. blowin smoke out my @ss...

Help me Obi-Wan Sanjay Jha... you're our only hope?!

MM

 

[Zorro1]

Updates are coming, so we're under constant development. Patience, grasshopper, patience. I've been more freaked by how crappy the phone database works, hence Takephone to the rescue. And now, that I can friggin' save attachments from emails!!! Oh my gosh, you can't be serious. Oh, and the never ending quest for just ONE freakin' encyption program for the card so that you can carry sensitive biz stuff safely. I have found one, but it's not been active since last Sept, which is pre 2.0...So we wait.

 

[Mr Mayor]

Ok, all my Yahoo accts are working, and fine. It's still organized enough for me, actually preferring the way "they" did it. Next it's on to my MBOX accounts, that'd be awesome.
EDIT: EMail app is a big battery eater? So I switched all accts to 1 hour. I would have dropped it as low/high as 3 hours if I had the choice)

Saving attchments, encryption, sensitive business data in yer pocket??? Yer a braver man then me Charlie Brown... That there scares the beejezus outta me. Then again, I've got some pretty serious stuff in my email.... hmm...

By the way, downloading apps, is this billed or charged directly? (That may be a dumb question... but I'm wondering just how secure that can really be).

MM

 

[Zorro1]

Yeah, they whack it to the credit card you use the first time.

I'm an accountant, and liked to carry full pdf's of all clients' tax returns, which fit in my Centro, and since I could encrypt the card, no worries. Same for all my own passwords and login's. And there might be one or two other things that my wife would die over if they were ever 'out there' that I like to have with me. Encryption is necessary! LOL.

Considering that this is considered a biz tool ala Crackberry, this is a pretty fundamental biz app. Many folks carry customer lists and contact info that would be considered proprietary, not to mention pricebooks, proposals, contracts, and the like. I'm still amazed that this is being overlooked.