Droid X worth the next 20 months?

[cece5702]

Thanks for your input

Greetings,

My wife and I wrestled with this same decision. On 01-Jan-11 our family contract expired and we wanted to upgrade two smartphones. After much research, our decision came down to getting two Droid X phones now or waiting for two Droid Bionics in April. The higher 960 x 540 pixel resolution of the Bionic's display was very tempting. But we decided to upgrade to two Droid X phones two weeks ago. We've been very happy with the decision.

Why did we choose the Droid X over the Bionic?

1 - Cost: The Droid X price dropped to $0 for both phones at WireFly.com (note: Motorola also dropped the micro SD card size from 16 GB to 2 GB when the price dropped). We already had large-capacity micro SD cards from our old phones so the price of the phone, itself, was the "tipping point" for us. Up until now, only new accounts could get them for free. But now upgrades can also get them for free, too. I just checked and they're still free as I write. The Bionic will undoubtedly command a premium price for many months after its release just like the Droid X did.

2 - We use our phones a lot for internet access and want the 4G speed but we're located in a rural area where Verizon 4G probably won't arrive until late 2012 or early 2013. If we get Bionics next month, we don't want to pay extra for a feature we can't use yet.

3 - Android (on a phone) is not really ready for multicore CPUs yet and you won't be able to get full performance from the Bionic until a future version which Motorola will probably be slow to provide. We'd rather wait until Android can better utilize multiple cores before moving to them and we may want to jump straight to a quad core (NVidia, maker of the Bionic's dual core, is already sampling quad core units to manufacturers).

4 - The standard battery of the Droid X is 1540 mAh and the standard battery of the Bionic will reportedly be 1930 mAh yet the Bionic will have less talk time because the dual cores consume so much more power. We don't want a shorter battery life---especially my wife. New battery technology is coming to overcome this but it won't be here for the Bionic. Nor do we want a thicker phone to accommodate a thicker battery. The Droid X is nice and slim (mostly).

5 - The Bionic will only shoot 720p HD video like the Droid X. We want full 1080p and we want it to be good-quality 1080p!!! I've worked in the pro photography industry for several years as both a photographer and a photo software developer and I'm convinced that super phones can also become super cameras/camcorders. It hasn't happened yet but it will.

As others have written, this is a largely personal decision and I'm not trying to talk anyone into doing what we did. I'm just sharing the thinking that contributed to our decision.

-------

As for the super cheap OEM batteries: BEWARE!!! Read the Amazon reviews for them and you'll see that, in many cases, you are getting what you pay for---namely, rejects or used-but-labeled-as-new junk that you should NOT want to get anywhere near your expensive phone. Do you really want to risk a $600 phone to save $45 on a battery that may overheat or explode when you charge it? You have got to be very careful about buying these kinds of grey-market batteries. It's like buying an expensive sports car and putting cheap tires on it. Sheesh! Nuff said...

Kind regards, Dr01dX

Sent from my Droid

 

[xman14]

Thanks for your input

Greetings,

My wife and I wrestled with this same decision. On 01-Jan-11 our family contract expired and we wanted to upgrade two smartphones. After much research, our decision came down to getting two Droid X phones now or waiting for two Droid Bionics in April. The higher 960 x 540 pixel resolution of the Bionic's display was very tempting. But we decided to upgrade to two Droid X phones two weeks ago. We've been very happy with the decision.

Why did we choose the Droid X over the Bionic?

1 - Cost: The Droid X price dropped to $0 for both phones at WireFly.com (note: Motorola also dropped the micro SD card size from 16 GB to 2 GB when the price dropped). We already had large-capacity micro SD cards from our old phones so the price of the phone, itself, was the "tipping point" for us. Up until now, only new accounts could get them for free. But now upgrades can also get them for free, too. I just checked and they're still free as I write. The Bionic will undoubtedly command a premium price for many months after its release just like the Droid X did.

2 - We use our phones a lot for internet access and want the 4G speed but we're located in a rural area where Verizon 4G probably won't arrive until late 2012 or early 2013. If we get Bionics next month, we don't want to pay extra for a feature we can't use yet.

3 - Android (on a phone) is not really ready for multicore CPUs yet and you won't be able to get full performance from the Bionic until a future version which Motorola will probably be slow to provide. We'd rather wait until Android can better utilize multiple cores before moving to them and we may want to jump straight to a quad core (NVidia, maker of the Bionic's dual core, is already sampling quad core units to manufacturers).

4 - The standard battery of the Droid X is 1540 mAh and the standard battery of the Bionic will reportedly be 1930 mAh yet the Bionic will have less talk time because the dual cores consume so much more power. We don't want a shorter battery life---especially my wife. New battery technology is coming to overcome this but it won't be here for the Bionic. Nor do we want a thicker phone to accommodate a thicker battery. The Droid X is nice and slim (mostly).

5 - The Bionic will only shoot 720p HD video like the Droid X. We want full 1080p and we want it to be good-quality 1080p!!! I've worked in the pro photography industry for several years as both a photographer and a photo software developer and I'm convinced that super phones can also become super cameras/camcorders. It hasn't happened yet but it will.

As others have written, this is a largely personal decision and I'm not trying to talk anyone into doing what we did. I'm just sharing the thinking that contributed to our decision.

-------

As for the super cheap OEM batteries: BEWARE!!! Read the Amazon reviews for them and you'll see that, in many cases, you are getting what you pay for---namely, rejects or used-but-labeled-as-new junk that you should NOT want to get anywhere near your expensive phone. Do you really want to risk a $600 phone to save $45 on a battery that may overheat or explode when you charge it? You have got to be very careful about buying these kinds of grey-market batteries. It's like buying an expensive sports car and putting cheap tires on it. Sheesh! Nuff said...

Kind regards, Dr01dX

Sent from my Droid

Just for the record, a dual-core processor uses less power and runs cooler than single-core. always has even in pc's. I just bought a droid x on ebay for less than 250. And I get my upgrade four months from now neways you could always do a one year upgrade unless your chief concern was price. than you would only have to worry about keeping it for ten months.

 

[Rocko]

No it's not. Get the thunderbolt and the 4G if it's in your area. It's the only dual core Verizon phone out.

 

[JonKyu]

No it's not. Get the thunderbolt and the 4G if it's in your area. It's the only dual core Verizon phone out.

There's no dual core Verizon phone out yet or else I would have already have bought it. Tbolt is a single core 2nd Gen snapdragon.


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[Rocko]

No it's not. Get the thunderbolt and the 4G if it's in your area. It's the only dual core Verizon phone out.

There's no dual core Verizon phone out yet or else I would have already have bought it. Tbolt is a single core 2nd Gen snapdragon.


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My mistake. I read old specs.

Ok, don't get anything. Wait for dual core 4G, front facing camera 4.3" screen phone.

 

[Dr01dX]

Just for the record, a dual-core processor uses less power and runs cooler than single-core. always has even in pc's. ...

This is only true if you compare "apples" to "oranges". All things being equal, a dual core part will draw more power than a single core part. Perhaps you're confused by unrelated changes or improvements (like reduction in clock cycle, further miniaturization, and/or improvements in manufacturing technique) that cause newer parts to draw less power than older parts (typically on larger dyes).

Besides, all you need to do is read the engineering news to know that the increased power draw of the dual-core chips in forthcoming phones is creating further engineering constraints on manufacturers. They wouldn't be sweating this problem if it didn't exist.

Kind regards, Dr01tX

 

[Rocko]

And hopefully they won't lie about the specs like the ipad2, which measured dual 900mhz processors, not 1ghz.

 

[bigdad63]

I was waiting on the Thunderbolt but then I tought, What about battery life. That lTE must take a toll on the battery life!

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Speaking of battery life, I went to look at the TB today and noticed something very interesting. I put both The and the X next to it on the same corporate wallpaper (leafs on water) and turned up the brightness to max and the X was Significantly brighter than the thunderbolt. I wonder if turning down the max brightness was 1 of the ways they improved the reportedly bad battery life?



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[jmorton10]

And hopefully they won't lie about the specs like the ipad2, which measured dual 900mhz processors, not 1ghz.

BFD, I'm no fan of the ipad (I would never buy one) but they are fast as hell (I don't care what the specs are)

~John

 

[Rocko]

And hopefully they won't lie about the specs like the ipad2, which measured dual 900mhz processors, not 1ghz.

BFD, I'm no fan of the ipad (I would never buy one) but they are fast as hell (I don't care what the specs are)

~John

That's a great attitude to have. Lie to me, I don't care. :r_c:

 

[scottfree]

I am trying to find a link for the poem I read this morning by panda about an unlocked bootloader dual core coming out in the not too far future maybe someone can help me find

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[huskerkate]

New Poem Time… Hypebeast Hangover….RT THIS… | Rants, Opinions and the confessions of a Tech addict…

 

[scottfree]

That poem is awesome ! And i had a hangover when i read it lol .I think I want to wait for what he is talking about . Bionic maybe?

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[huskerkate]

someone with a lot more time and inclination than me broke it down here: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...uying-thunderbolt-says-panda.html#post1376019

 

[rudydroid]

count me in the group that would not upgrade. yes, I have 18 months to go. I've never been one to frequently trade up. I get what I consider to be the best available for my needs at the time, and wait the necessary time. I definitely want a dual or quad core phone or tab.
when this x feels dated, I'll flash the best rom I can find and be happy. I might even switch to a tab for much of what I do now on the x, and when contact renewal time comes up just go month to month with calls and texting only.

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