Droid 2: It's no Droid 1

[badger98]

Pardon my vent, but I was curious to see the reactions of some other original Droid owners who moved to the Droid 2. I personally had a Droid which had a malfunctioning hardware keyboard (my fault--got it wet), so I jumped to the Droid 2 as soon as I could get a decent upgrade deal. After 2+ weeks with the Droid 2, I have to say, there are some disappointing factors--some big deals, other nuisances--that cause me to yearn for the experience I had with the original Droid. Maybe some of you can help check my head, or even offer some advice if I'm missing the boat.

Here are my complaints so far:

• Bluetooth Audio doesn't connect with my car as reliably as the Droid
• Bluetooth audio experiences frequent audio cutouts
• Bluetooth audio usually starts the default media player automatically, even though I never use it. I noticed this a bit on the original Droid, but not nearly as often. It's really annoying to have to always turn off the media player to listen to ACast (or nothing at all).
• The Droid 2 has easily crashed more times in these two weeks than the original did in 6+ months.
• Phone contacts linked with Facebook contacts don't show the person's phone numbers anymore. This is really annoying when trying to dial someone by pulling up their contact.
• Navigation still can't pull up a contact's address by voice command (probably still an issue on the Droid, but had to mention it)
• I think I just prefer the "stock Android" interface to any of the manufacturer skins. It's more intuitive to me--or at least easier to get used to. For example, the Moto messaging app is a jumbled mess. It took me about 14 seconds to start using K-9 again.
• OK, here's a really nit-picky one... When choosing a contact to navigate to, it brings up the list of all of your contacts instead of just your contacts with street addresses as the original Droid did.

With that said, there are a few bright spots:

• The hardware keyboard is noticeably nicer on the Droid 2 than the original
• The camera is MUCH faster, if not any better in terms of image quality

Since I'm still within the 30-day return period, I'm seriously considering switching to something else, though I really don't know where to go. There is nothing like the original Droid anymore in Verizon's lineup. All are heavily-manufacturer-skinned Android-like phones. My wife got the Incredible, and though HTC's sense is quite different as well, I think they did it better than Moto. That's about the only seemingly better option for me at the moment.

Would love to hear any thoughts or counterpoints others have.

 

[Martin030908]

I got a shiny D1 over here

 

[Dragoro]

When I had to do the warranty exchange, I was dead serious with the verizon rep and he garunteed me that Id be getting another droid 1. When I started hearing on the net that morotolla was sending out the droid 2s in replacement for the droid 1s, I was nervous and kind of upset. When it got to my house, sure enough it was a Droid 2 and and I was pretty ticked off. After using it for a few days, I was pleasently surprised and now wouldnt trade the droid 2 for a droid 1. A much preferable phone in my opinion.

 

[arrjaytea]

Other than the first two points, it really sounds like all of these are things fall into the category "functional (software) issues I encounter daily that irritate me", and not necessarily objective criticisms of the phone (not that you ever claimed they were).

In that sense, if I imagine I'm in a similar situation where features of my phone I use constantly suddenly suck - yeah, I'd probably feel the same way as you. Everyone has a right to preference.

As for my take: no issues with Bluetooth Audio thus far (limited, but regular use), and in general no complaints with any UI issues (there again it's worth noting this is my first Android phone - you have a previous frame of reference), so I'm quite happy.

But from the sounds of it, I'd probably be a bit disappointed if I were you, too - if any of that makes any sense.

 

[Redflea]

D2 is winning over D1 for me so far - had it since Friday.

I haven't had any issues that I didn't have on my D1, other than a brief period when BT would not turn on that mysteriously resolved it'self.

Some stuff is much better, some is as good, and some is not (mostly the Blur junk) but overall the D2 is the clear winner for me so far.

When more ROM options come out (as they will over time) w/the blur removed/reduced, this phone will really come into its own, IMHO.

 

[640k]

of all the gripes i have about my D2, i don't think i'm in a hurry to look back to the D1. it just seems so "old" compared to D2 now.

even with blur/moto screwing up the android system my only real gripes are things i can deal wtih. i took me a few days just to get used to the new key placement. i do miss the d-pad and the right-hand side shift and alt keys, however.

 

[davidtaylorjr]

I've had a D1, Eris, Incredible, and now a D2 and out of all of them they D2 is by FAR my favorite!

 

[MrKleen]

I also have come from the Droid 1 to the 2.

First off I would say that if your phone has crashed as much as you said you should replace it. Mine runs flawlessly and has never has a blip.

I can't speak of the bluetooth issues you speak of because I have not used it.

I do agree with the problem with contacts related to Facebook. I made the mistake of opening Facebook and all the contacts flooded in and it was a pain in the neck getting rid of them. So I had to log out of Facebook and will never log back in because they have screwed it up big time.

As far as Blur goes I think there is good and bad. I like a lot of it, but it would be better if they allowed you to modify the things you don't like. It would also be nice to delete the stupid apps that you don't want or need. I can't think of any good reasons as to why they force you to have apps you will NEVER use and refuse the ability to delete them.

However as a whole I wouldn't trade the new Droid 2 back for the Droid 1 for any reason. I had my original Droid since Nov 8th and loved it to death at the time and did everything with it.

I am very happy with the D2 and in the past week of almost constant use I have not had a single problem with it. (other than the goofy Facebook contact issue)

If your new D2 is crashing on you it might be a good idea to get another one and give that one a shot... Good luck!

 

[pc747]

I like my d2, and I am sure there are a bunch of people in this section, whose droid suddenly started having problems, would love to make a trade with you.
The droid 2 is not "the greatest" phone, but I like it over the d1, d2, inc, and dx. It has what I need, keyboard, better headphone jack, and does all that the dx does.

 

[bodean]

Those who went from droid 1 to droid 2...did you have to pay full price? I don't think anyone is eligible for discount upgrade after 11months (think that is how long droid has been out)

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[khaf]

I got my D2 as a warranty replacement (4 previous defective phones) I read alot of posts about the D2 that were negative saying it isn't much of an upgrad from the D1 and was worried before my D2 came. Well people were wrong its a great phone and thats before I rooted it and flashed Epic Unleashed 1.1. My D1 didn't run near this good when i had it clicked at 1.2 Ghz, and thats while running Ultimate Droid the best rom out for the D1.

 

[Dark Lazer]

Those who went from droid 1 to droid 2...did you have to pay full price? I don't think anyone is eligible for discount upgrade after 11months (think that is how long droid has been out)

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

I'm on a family plan, and one of the phones on my plan was eligible for an upgrade. On Verizons website they have a sweet option of transferring your upgrade to a different number on your family plan, so I took my moms upgrade and used it on mine, which gave me the cheap price on the phone.

So now I have a D1 and a D2. The D1 feels incredibly uncomfortable now after having the D2 for a while.

 

[xandor]

Those who went from droid 1 to droid 2...did you have to pay full price? I don't think anyone is eligible for discount upgrade after 11months (think that is how long droid has been out)

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

I didn't because I got a text from verizon that I was eligible for early upgrade (and I showed the store rep and he confirmed it was valid).

The only grief I have is the wifi on/off/on/off issue.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

 

[MrKleen]

Those who went from droid 1 to droid 2...did you have to pay full price? I don't think anyone is eligible for discount upgrade after 11months (think that is how long droid has been out)

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

No it was free. They gave some of them out as warranty replacements. However I think they have frozen that kind gesture since so many people were all of a sudden having problems with their Droids simply to get a D2.

 

[eggsped]

I'm due for an upgrade. I'm on a corporate plan and only do one year contracts. I really like the droid 1 and am rooted and run the vanilla OS to eliminate any unwanted programs that are forced on me. Will I be able to do the same on the 2? I'm one of the people that have a black background and no widgets on my homescreen. Maybe it would be best to call me a minimalist.

The Droid 2 sounds nice but I really hate to have programs and themes forced on me.