Ok had the DX for a month now...

DaddyRabbit

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Coming from a BB Storm 1. I actually liked the Storm, played with the Droid and the Incredible, didn't care for either one. When upgrade time came it was between the Storm 2 and the DX, obviously I went with the DX.

Overall I like the phone, love the big screen and pretty quickly got used to the differences in the touch screens (no "real" click). iPhone and other carriers (Evo 4G) weren't really in the running due to coverage issues.

I have discovered a few issues that just shouldn't be present in a top of the line smartphone though. Before I get flamed with the inevitable "should've done research first" comments I must say that this is a "smartphone" and you shouldn't have to question whether it does these or not.

From a phone standpoint (my biggest peeves BTW because it is a phone after all):

1. It's a little clunky to get around the interface. Once I got a handle on managing contacts it was better but it still seems to take too many actions to get where I want to be.

2. The most serious omission though is being able to activate voice commands via a bluetooth device, WTF!??? This is a top of the line PHONE and I cannot click my blutooth handsfree while driving and give the phone a dial command without first, unlocking the phone, then find the voice commands item and selecting it (although I can doubletap the BT speaker to redial the last number dialed).

While I know I can spend an extra $45 for a car dock I would still have to have the phone in dock mode (which is also kludgy at best) and have an ugly dock station taking up already precious space in the cockpit and STILL have to take my eyes off of the road to punch the voice commands button in the dock to make a call! This is a HUGE step backwards.

While this seems like a rant I have to add that my Storm did it, my Razr 2 did it and my wife's CASIO Boulder hooks to Ford Sync via BT flawlessly (she doesn't even have to take her hand off the wheel to make a call!).

As for the PIM stuff, this is less important to me but I can see where the people (like me) that believe that a "smartphone" isn't "just a phone with a big screen and good media features with tons of apps" would be peeved. I can't use personal devices to conduct business so these aren't money losing feature losses to me but they are inconveniences. If I could use my phone for business they would be showstoppers.

1. Sync with Outlook or other local contact stores without jumping through the effort of putting my whole calendar and contacts list in Google's "loving" hands - I know you are a corporation who has made a bunch of money and want to make more (that is how it should be in our society) there is a line. Your online apps aren't all that good compared to the apps I am used to and I don't WANT every aspect of my life in your hands! The last thing I need is for my 80 year old mother to start getting the "Make Your Manhhod HUGE To MAke her HAPPY" emails because some script kiddie pwned your cloud.

2. Once again, contacts is a mess to deal with, nuff said.

3. Apps - This is one reason I got the DX was to play with the TONS of apps out there (and I have). Sometimes too much of even a good thing is bad, or, just because you CAN write an app that doesn't mean you should :) . How many Fart apps does the world need after all, (although the Tricorder is kinda' cool) :)

All of the above said I will be keeping the DX, it is a sweet piece of machinery despite the implementation issues. While any new phone (especially smartphones) will have their share of issues, neglecting the BT activated voice dialing is UNSAFE and UNFORGIVABLE in todays society.

My two rusty pennies...
 
Coming from a BB Storm 1. I actually liked the Storm, played with the Droid and the Incredible, didn't care for either one. When upgrade time came it was between the Storm 2 and the DX, obviously I went with the DX.

Overall I like the phone, love the big screen and pretty quickly got used to the differences in the touch screens (no "real" click). iPhone and other carriers (Evo 4G) weren't really in the running due to coverage issues.

I have discovered a few issues that just shouldn't be present in a top of the line smartphone though. Before I get flamed with the inevitable "should've done research first" comments I must say that this is a "smartphone" and you shouldn't have to question whether it does these or not.

From a phone standpoint (my biggest peeves BTW because it is a phone after all):

1. It's a little clunky to get around the interface. Once I got a handle on managing contacts it was better but it still seems to take too many actions to get where I want to be.

2. The most serious omission though is being able to activate voice commands via a bluetooth device, WTF!??? This is a top of the line PHONE and I cannot click my blutooth handsfree while driving and give the phone a dial command without first, unlocking the phone, then find the voice commands item and selecting it (although I can doubletap the BT speaker to redial the last number dialed).

While I know I can spend an extra $45 for a car dock I would still have to have the phone in dock mode (which is also kludgy at best) and have an ugly dock station taking up already precious space in the cockpit and STILL have to take my eyes off of the road to punch the voice commands button in the dock to make a call! This is a HUGE step backwards.

While this seems like a rant I have to add that my Storm did it, my Razr 2 did it and my wife's CASIO Boulder hooks to Ford Sync via BT flawlessly (she doesn't even have to take her hand off the wheel to make a call!).

As for the PIM stuff, this is less important to me but I can see where the people (like me) that believe that a "smartphone" isn't "just a phone with a big screen and good media features with tons of apps" would be peeved. I can't use personal devices to conduct business so these aren't money losing feature losses to me but they are inconveniences. If I could use my phone for business they would be showstoppers.

1. Sync with Outlook or other local contact stores without jumping through the effort of putting my whole calendar and contacts list in Google's "loving" hands - I know you are a corporation who has made a bunch of money and want to make more (that is how it should be in our society) there is a line. Your online apps aren't all that good compared to the apps I am used to and I don't WANT every aspect of my life in your hands! The last thing I need is for my 80 year old mother to start getting the "Make Your Manhhod HUGE To MAke her HAPPY" emails because some script kiddie pwned your cloud.

2. Once again, contacts is a mess to deal with, nuff said.

3. Apps - This is one reason I got the DX was to play with the TONS of apps out there (and I have). Sometimes too much of even a good thing is bad, or, just because you CAN write an app that doesn't mean you should :) . How many Fart apps does the world need after all, (although the Tricorder is kinda' cool) :)

All of the above said I will be keeping the DX, it is a sweet piece of machinery despite the implementation issues. While any new phone (especially smartphones) will have their share of issues, neglecting the BT activated voice dialing is UNSAFE and UNFORGIVABLE in todays society.

My two rusty pennies...

My Droid X makes BT device (BlueAnt Q1) initiated calls just fine. I don't have to hit anything on my phone.

My old Droid 1 did not do this until the 2.2 update came out.

Perhaps your device does not support the proper BT profile to initiate it.
 
Voice commands

The X does do voice commands via BT - all I do is hold the button on my earpiece for a sec, wait for the prompt, & then simply say: "dial (insert name here), mobile one" Done deal :)
 
The X does do voice commands via BT - all I do is hold the button on my earpiece for a sec, wait for the prompt, & then simply say: "dial (insert name here), mobile one" Done deal :)

You must be running 2.2, 2.1 doesn't support BT voice dialing.


Xliderrider, I have to disagree... I am 100% stock and it works for me just fine!!!
 
1. It's a little clunky to get around the interface. Once I got a handle on managing contacts it was better but it still seems to take too many actions to get where I want to be.

I've had it a little over a month now myself.

The interface is fine. Did you try to customize it? Maybe a good app launcher (I use Launcher Pro) and some nice widgets?

Everything I want to do on a regular basis is literally 1 step away for me. Not sure what it is you are doing that is making it take more than 2 steps because you don't really say here, but I assure you it can be streamlined.

2. The most serious omission though is being able to activate voice commands via a bluetooth device, WTF!??? This is a top of the line PHONE and I cannot click my blutooth handsfree while driving and give the phone a dial command without first, unlocking the phone, then find the voice commands item and selecting it (although I can doubletap the BT speaker to redial the last number dialed).

I agree about needing to unlock the phone before initiating bluetooth voice commands... but once I unlock my phone (I have a BlueAnt V1), I just hit the button the my headset and the phone asks me for a command. I don't click anything.

Again... not sure what you are doing differently.

While I know I can spend an extra $45 for a car dock I would still have to have the phone in dock mode (which is also kludgy at best) and have an ugly dock station taking up already precious space in the cockpit and STILL have to take my eyes off of the road to punch the voice commands button in the dock to make a call! This is a HUGE step backwards.

I have no experience with the car dock mode on this phone, but I know you are definitely not alone with your complaints about the features.

1. Sync with Outlook or other local contact stores without jumping through the effort of putting my whole calendar and contacts list in Google's "loving" hands - I know you are a corporation who has made a bunch of money and want to make more (that is how it should be in our society) there is a line. Your online apps aren't all that good compared to the apps I am used to and I don't WANT every aspect of my life in your hands! The last thing I need is for my 80 year old mother to start getting the "Make Your Manhhod HUGE To MAke her HAPPY" emails because some script kiddie pwned your cloud.

I didn't send Google any of my contacts in order to get them on my phone. It isn't hard to get them on to the phone if you just take a minute to find out how to do so without syncing a single thing with Google's servers.

2. Once again, contacts is a mess to deal with, nuff said.

Not really.

3. Apps - This is one reason I got the DX was to play with the TONS of apps out there (and I have). Sometimes too much of even a good thing is bad, or, just because you CAN write an app that doesn't mean you should :) . How many Fart apps does the world need after all, (although the Tricorder is kinda' cool) :)

Yeah, fart apps are a bit overdone. However... the air horn app is hilarious in close quarters. Give it a try.

I know the community here will help you out a great deal once they glean some more informative details from you about specific problems. But, again, I have no trouble with my bluetooth outside of the fact that you are forced to unlock the screen before it accepts a voice command.

The contacts problem is a non-issue, really, as there are easier ways to sync them to the phone without relying on Google. Personally, I am dinosaur when it comes to computers and I use command lines and CSV files like some people use point and click applications. You may not like that method, or understand or whatever... just know that there is ALWAYS more than one way to boil a puppy. :)
 
The X does do voice commands via BT - all I do is hold the button on my earpiece for a sec, wait for the prompt, & then simply say: "dial (insert name here), mobile one" Done deal :)

You must be running 2.2, 2.1 doesn't support BT voice dialing.


Xliderrider, I have to disagree... I am 100% stock and it works for me just fine!!!

I also am in fact running stock 2.1 - I'm too afraid to root.
 
I've also had no problems initiating bluetooth calls from the headset. Using a Jawbone (not sure of model) and a stock Droid X.

Syncing with Google Contacts is optional. Go into Contacts, find the account settings and disable the Google Account sync.

If you don't want to sync with Google Calendar then don't use the default calendar app. There are lots of alternate calendar apps. I'm sure you can find one that does what you want.

As for multiple steps, there are a lot of options and shortcuts available. So many that it may take a while to figure out the best combination for you. It's one of those good/bad things that people argue about all the time. In short it's another example of the old saying, "The more you can do the more you have to do."
 
Well you definitely need Launcherpro. It is a home screen replacement.

Then go through the settings and customize it.

As for contacts... i use google for personal and Microsoft Exchange for work and everything else.

Microsoft Exchange syncs your outlook emails, contacts, calendars with all your desktops, laptops, droids, iphones, ipads, and even has outlook webmail!

Its really sweet. It costs me $12.95 a month per email. I get hosted exchange from New York Technical Support, Arizona Website Design - Red Key Solutions

So when i add a contact into my outlook... it syncs into my phone wirelessly.. Its pretty sweet. Well worth the $12.95.
 
I'll give LauncherPro another try now that I'm more familiar with the phone.

Probably the most annoying thing to me about the interface is that I hate when the phone locks while I am in a call and seems to cause me to furiously bang on stuff to end the call (usually the other party hangs up first:( )

A jawbone headset is not an option as the facility I work on doesn't allow their use. The Jabra speakerphone I have works fine with every other phone I've tried except the X. I will wait and hope that Froyo fixes this and I know that I'm not alone.
 
I'll give LauncherPro another try now that I'm more familiar with the phone.

Probably the most annoying thing to me about the interface is that I hate when the phone locks while I am in a call and seems to cause me to furiously bang on stuff to end the call (usually the other party hangs up first:( )

A jawbone headset is not an option as the facility I work on doesn't allow their use. The Jabra speakerphone I have works fine with every other phone I've tried except the X. I will wait and hope that Froyo fixes this and I know that I'm not alone.

Launcher Pro PLUS!!!! The widget resizing and his widgets are amazing.
 
Going 15 days with stock DX and loving it!dancedroidThe large screen is awesome no more squinting to surf the net,availbility of apps is so plentiful everything I could imagine is out there and then some. I use Touchdown for Exchange email and it's working flawlessly for me,I love the Sirius XM app and external speaker I use as portable radio. The phone is so very fast, it amazes me the quick way to surf on a smart phone was never this good! Last but not least seven screen to cutomize is all I'll ever need!:icon_ banana:
 
If screen locking is a problem I use screen mode widget....no lock if you chose and a lock option for when needed and an always on for web browsing..maybe this will help for ending calls...this eliminates the swipe to unlock or answer...just a press to answer. usually don't have any problem ending call unless multi tasking...then I have to pull down notification bar to end call. launcher pro plus is awesome... and I prefer "mecontacts for setting up one touch dial or text. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your X more every day. I believe a disconnect with power button will be an option with 2.2 or at least i thought I heard that somewhere lol...would be nice if so
 
The X does do voice commands via BT - all I do is hold the button on my earpiece for a sec, wait for the prompt, & then simply say: "dial (insert name here), mobile one" Done deal :)

You must be running 2.2, 2.1 doesn't support BT voice dialing.

Stock DX using jawbone icon voice works...though the initial response to a headset button press is slow... headset does not work when I press the on screen mic button
 
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