Droid Newbie!

[TSX05]

Well I finally took the plunge, thanks to the Best Buy (free phone fridays) and got the Samsung Fascinate.

I'm coming from a BB Storm 1 that i have had since a week after it released with no issues!!

I apologize up front if I ask some stupid questions or don't quite understand the droid way of doing things. I'm basically trying to figure out within my 30day window if I want to keep the droid or go back to BB and wait it out for more new phones.

Things i miss from my BB that I haven't been able to figure out yet on my droid.

1. email push - by far the biggest thing I loved about my storm being able to delete emails on the handheld and desktop at the same time or just one or the other.

2. notification LED (yes I know there is an app for it here but from the comments sounds like it doesn't really work all that well)

3. different sounds for different types of notifications. for instance on my BB i knew just from sound whether I had just received a text message, email, or FB notification. same thing with Vibrate functions ( and man does this thing vibrate very softly).


4. I do love the screen on the fascinate, the picture quality and the camera as well.

thanks again for your support.

I am liking the droid OS a little bit more and more each day, just not all the way there yet!

 

[azdmelani]

Welcome. I came from the 9650 last week. Here is what I've found:

1) use K-9 mail app. Works great.
2) I like NoLED. What it does is show a little dude on the screen. I've customized mine for different colors (i.e. green= text, orange = missed call etc)
3) you can do this, you just need to go into each program and set a different tone in the settings.

I love the fascinate so far!

 

[TSX05]

does the k-9 mail app work through comcast.net?

 

[Gitykins]

Most mail apps support a wide variety of servers.

I also came from a Strom 1 and holy crap, this phone is literally miles ahead of it.

Just so you don't get confused in the future:

The Fascinate and other Galaxy S's are NOT Droids. Droid is a line that used to only be made by Motorola (now HTC has one, etc) to support a certain platform, which brings me to my next point.

Anrdoid is the name of the OS. It was developed by Google and for the G1, but has been updated to it's 2nd version for newer phones like the Droid and the Galaxy S's. The system you have now is 2.1, Eclair. 2.2, Froyo, will be coming out soon enough.

1) I don't mind email push, although it was nice on the BB. Setting the email to check in short intervals works well but drains a bit of battery.

2) NoLED is pretty good but no replacement for the invasive LED on the Storm, which I loved. I just get used to checking my phone more often for notifications. It's annoying, but not a deal breaker for me as it shouldn't be for anyone else.

3) Just go into setting of any app that gives you notifications and you can customize them. To customize vibration patters and sounds, you should look into a different email app (I use stock) or sms app (I use and love and recommend Handcent)

4) The screen is a beauty, isn't it? Have you seen it in sunlight? It's tremendous.

 

[packerbacker]

Good choice for your first Android phone! I've had this since the launch date and I have had zero complaints with it.

1- I only use Gmail (no other mail apps) and if you delete the email it deletes from the computer as well. I'm sure in this thread someone answered this question for you though!
2- You get used to not having an LED. At least I did. I definitely wish it had one, but I think NoLED looks bad. So I just live with the lack of LED.
3- You can definitely change sounds for different things, you just have to go into the settings of the phone itself or for apps like email or texting to change sounds.
4- Indeed! The screen is such a selling point.

Browse around the forum and on other websites (even YouTube have awesome app reviews) to find out what apps you should download that would suit your needs. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

 

[jjcasillas15]

I came from a Storm1 also. Can honestly admit I loved it. I was one of the few that never had a problem. But had to move on and took advantage of BB free phone Friday! Best thing I have done in awhile.
Love my Fascinate. Yes I do miss the LED but life goes on. I have Gmail accounts so like how those emails are sent to the phone. Changing the notifications arent a problem, just like they say.

The screen is awesome. The phone itself is a beauty!!

 

[TSX05]

thanks all for your comments and tips. yeah I think this is going to be somewhat a tough road for me to get fully used to the phone. yes the screen is amazing, size is good, but I've gotta dig down in the menus i guess to really setup the notifications. I like to have emails be a different tone than SMS, and FB.

the one other thing I notice alot is my phone is not on 3g alot, its goes to 1x with a D under it, or 3g with a D under it?

 

[packerbacker]

I was sort of overwhelmed too - I never had a smart phone before I dove into Android- but forums and YouTubes are your friend.

Yeah, mine does that too and I think it has something to do with signal strength. If you have Wifi capabilities, ALWAYS use that instead of 3G. It's a battery saver because if your signal sucks with 3G, it wastes a lot of battery having to constantly search for a better signal.