Droid Eris Questions before I buy?

[AndroidNoob]

Hey guys! I'm new to the board and had a couple of quick questions before I get an Eris at the end of the month. I now have and LG enV and am really excited about getting my first smartphone. I have been to the store and played with all of the smartphones and I really like the customization and the size and Sense UI of the Eris.
I just had a couple of questions...
1) I really don't want to have to retype all of my contacts into the new Eris is there a way to save them online and then sync it up later. I do have a gmail account can I do it via that?
2) Do the screen protectors really work? I was thinking about getting one of those body glove cases. How well do the screen protectors work?

Any info would help. Thanks.

 

[GolfProRM]

I can answer the first one - if you put all your contacts in Gmail, when you first activate the Eris, you'll put in your Gmail account info. It will pull down your email/calendar/contacts automatically from there.

The store may be able to export/import your contacts from your phone, but I know some people have had issues with those contacts syncing up to Gmail, so your best bet is to enter them in Gmail and let it pull them down and sync from there.

 

[mhotovec]

I agree with GolfPro about the contacts. GMail will work, and/or the store can do a transfer from old phone to new phone.

I'm using one of the Verizon screen protectors, insofar as I don't know that it's there, I love it. It doesn't impede screen input, and I don't have any scratches on the phone.

 

[AndroidNoob]

Thanks for the info guys. I will see what I can do to add all of my contacts into Gmail and do it that way. My luck transferring my contacts at the store hasn't gone to well in the past.

 

[Steve H]

I had the store transfer the contact info from my enV touch to my moto Droid..................BIG MISTAKE

Sit down at your computer and update your contact the way you want them to be on the Droid. The when you get the Droid and enter your Gmail info everything should be the way you want it.

 

[AndroidNoob]

What are you guys using to protect your Eris? I was looking around the verizon site and saw a few different cases. Also are you using screen protectors or just a bare screen? Pros and cons to each?

 

[mhotovec]

I started with Verizon's black rubber case for my phone. But it was too 'sticky' for my liking, it kept trying to turn my pocket inside out when I took the phone out of my pocket. Now I'm using one of these that I got off Ebay
SMOKE BLK Crystal Skin Gel Case Verizon HTC Droid Eris - eBay (item 250529281861 end time Jan-10-10 21:23:21 PST)

It does what I need it to do, which is make the phone a little easier for me to handle (sounds strange I know because we all like the form factor, but for MY paws the phone is actually little bit too small and slick). And if/when I do drop the phone it will have a bit of cushion when it hits the ground (sigh).

Personally I wouldn't even consider using the phone without a screen protector. The screens are tough, but they CAN be scratched, and once scratched it's scratched forever. I use the Verizon screen protector, it doesn't hinder me in any way - I don't even know that it's there.