Palm Users Who Changed to Droid?

[The Rigger]

wow so many former Palm peeps...glad to see I'm not alone...

Far from it... I came here from a Treo 700p, on my New Every 2 plan (the Droid only cost me $99 that way. Yay!)...

Oddly enough, the one thing I think I miss the most, aside from an Android version of FileMaker Mobile, is a Droid equivalant to the Palm's Memos app. Any ideas?

 

[Milehighjc]

Count me in as another convert. I started with a Treo 600 way back when (actually, had palm pilot, and a workpad too). Had a 650, then 2 years ago got a 755P which was a solid tool... I loved it... for about 1.5 years. It had started having problems - lots of random resets, the calendar was hosed up, and it was generally slow. It had a maddening habit of freezing when calls came in - would get the call screen, but it was unresponsive to the "answer' button. The only way out was pulling the battery, which means I lost the call from the call log too.

But given that I was VERY used to the palm user interface, I was a little reluctant. Two hours after bringing the droid home, I knew it wasnt going back.

From a hard core palm user point of view :
- Screen is spectacular. Only word I can think of.
- Very intuitive, highly integrated user experience - better than Treo. Much.
- Fast
- Much better sound quality (handset, speakerphone, audio) than Treo
- FAR better camera (w/flash) and video
- I was a big google maps user, but Google NAV is WAY cool

There were a few functional things that I HAD to replace :

Syncing of my work calendar/contacts - found a package called Companionlink that seems to be working quite well.

Tethering my PC to the phone as a high speed modem - while I havent installed it yet, I see that PDANet is available for Droid (that is what I used on Palm, so Im comfortable with it)

I had an awesome app called TryDA Phone number (yellow and white), reverse look up, integration with google maps). While I havent found a direct replacement, the Google integration on Droid may be sufficient if I can find a reverse look up app.

I used a mobile version of FlightStats on the Treo, there is actually a Droid app for it that is even better.

I used the espn mobile web page from Treo to follow sports, it looks/behaves MUCH better on Droid.

I was seriously considering both iphone, and PRE... Im not willing to move to AT&T, so that took the iphone out of contention at least for the short term, and I decided I like the form factor of the Droid better than PRE (although the PRE was VERY nice), and I didnt have to switch carriers.

Thats what I can think of for the moment - net is that so far Im EXTREMELY happy with the Droid - better function with almost no learning curve.

Hope this is at least a little helpful to anyone who is considering the jump...

jc

 

[darreno1]

I had a Pre for 3 months. Lots of potential but the small screen and keyboard was too much to get used to. Plus at times it was pretty sluggish. WebOS certainly has a lot going for it in terms of the interface. What Palm really needs to do is re-write it with the GPU in mind and possibly move to a slab-like design with a bigger screen and side-slide out keyboard similar to the droid.

 

[lowtech]

There are a couple of apps I really miss: Dakebk, SplashID, some card games... but overall I really like the installed apps and Oh My! That Market... with all those free goodies!

Splashdata actually has SplashID for the Droid:

Android Password Manager - SplashID

I use it on my PalmPilot but have yet to venture into moving it over to my Droid. I hope to get to that soon. I've heard that if you're an existing customer and you contact them they may give you a free upgrade to the SplashID desktop for Droid but you'll have to pay for the app, which is $9.95 in the Market.

-Gary

-Gary

I found it, tried it and uninstalled it. It was cranky! I got Keeper and really like it. It takes some initial tweaking, but that oblidged me to weed out a lot of old, unused passwords and trim the list. It synchs well now...

 

[doonger]

I'm a current Palm Centro user that's been looking forward to the Droid, but a little hesitant to make the plunge due to the mixed reviews...I suppose I have to just give it a shot and find out on my own.

But one HUGE question that I haven't been able to find a definitive answer to is whether or not there is a way to perform a complete phone backup/syncing with my desktop for the Droid. I know there are apps out there that can backup my contacts/calendar/etc...but one of the MAIN strengths of the Palm phones (at least for me) is the ability to do a COMPLETE backup/sync of the phone to the Palm Desktop Manager - not just of calendar and contacts, but all settings, preferences, and data such as ringer settings, phone background, text message conversations, downloaded applications (and associated data), etc...

Basically, if I lose my phone and replace it with a new one, I want to be able to plug it into my desktop and have it automatically updated so all settings are identical to the original. Can this be done with the Droid?

 

[mjeagent]

Maybe my video would help - I did a short comparison on the Droid vs. Palm Pixi vs. Palm Pre vs. IPhone 3GS

[video=youtube;ctOV-CaeHro]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctOV-CaeHro[/video]

 

[bernilynn]

wow so many former Palm peeps...glad to see I'm not alone...

Far from it... I came here from a Treo 700p, on my New Every 2 plan (the Droid only cost me $99 that way. Yay!)...

Oddly enough, the one thing I think I miss the most, aside from an Android version of FileMaker Mobile, is a Droid equivalant to the Palm's Memos app. Any ideas?

I'm using Google Documents as my memo pad- it will sync with the Droid.

 

[doonger]

Maybe my video would help - I did a short comparison on the Droid vs. Palm Pixi vs. Palm Pre vs. IPhone 3GS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctOV-CaeHro

thanks mjeagent - can you provide any insight about the ability to do a complete phone backup/sync for the Droid? right now that is my main concern, all my other questions/concerns have been addressed/discussed by various articles/threads, but still haven't seen anything about that.

 

[lowtech]

Maybe my video would help - I did a short comparison on the Droid vs. Palm Pixi vs. Palm Pre vs. IPhone 3GS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctOV-CaeHro

thanks mjeagent - can you provide any insight about the ability to do a complete phone backup/sync for the Droid? right now that is my main concern, all my other questions/concerns have been addressed/discussed by various articles/threads, but still haven't seen anything about that.

Here is a link to an article: How to backup Android (and HTC Hero) phone | Backup HowTo - I have not looked at all the options yet, but there might be some help there...

 

[Milehighjc]

Another thought for palm users... if you liked to group applications in palmos (as I did) using categories, I found a way to get a "similar" result. I have now set up several folders on my home screen that I drop similar applications into. That way Im not searching through what is now becoming a pretty large collection of apps to find something Im looking for.

A nice substitute for speed dial is to create a folder that contains shortcuts for direct dial... I've done one for all my family - The icons are pictures.

It takes some effort to set up, but it should be a one time event.

I think mjeagent's review is very good. Ive "played around" with the IPhone 3GS quite a bit . Awesome devices. Having said that, I think you have to consider carrier too. For me and the way I use the device, the Droid is looking like a great choice, and one that I think will be a fairly quick leap for those who were PalmOS fans in the past. For me, it was a very intuitive migration.

My 755P was still in great shape... needed to be hard reset, and reloaded (was running a little slow lately). But the Droid is at another level!

jc

 

[mrpete311]

Handspring -> Palm -> BB Storm -> Droid...........so far LOVE this one the most. Only prob thus far is finding an easily manageable calendar/contacts connection with PC. I don't us GMAIL other than setting up an account for the phone. I use yahoo (work mail comes to it via alias).

Surely Outlook Express will sync with Droid soon. So far the droid/gmail transfering programs S-U-C-K! I've also tried 2 alternate software programs - also LOUSY!

Waiting ......

Pete

 

[hazydave]

On Palm for some years, but never going back...

I started out on the PalmOS with the Palm V. I have owned a TX and a Treo 700p. Back in 2002 or so, I used one of the 3rd party Palm devices (don't recall who's, it was the one that did sound recording AND had a Compact Flash slot.. the only one) as a proof-of-concept remote control at a startup company I had formed with two friends... so I even did some coding on the PalmOS.

I was happy, early on. When the TX was out, I was starting to get a little frustrated with Palm... the device was actually a pretty good alternative to an iPod at the time, but Palm never tapped that capability... they wouldn't even release SDHC drivers for the TX (though they did for the Treo 700p, which used the same SOC as the TX).

And it was pretty clear just how long-in-the-tooth PalmOS was. I had some hope that would change after they bought Be, Inc... but nothing came of it. So once my Treo died, I decided enough with Palm, bought a dumb phone at a yard sale, and waited for The Next Big Thing. That was pretty clearly Android even before they had a device that met my needs. So once I read about the DROID... well, I was one of those geeks waiting outside Verizon that Friday at 6AM.

The PalmOS was never a thing of complexity, but after using the DROID for a few weeks, it's clear just how oversimplified it had become on modern hardware... they could have done so much more, but never did. Kind of sad, but I've never been one to spend too much time looking backwards.

Never considered the Pre or WebOS... Sprint is useless where I live, and I wasn't keen on offering up Palm another change. Plus, I'm kind of done with proprietary systems... a single OS/device vendor is SOOOOO 20th Century.

 

[lowtech]

"Another thought for palm users... if you liked to group applications in palmos (as I did) using categories, I found a way to get a "similar" result. I have now set up several folders on my home screen that I drop similar applications into. That way Im not searching through what is now becoming a pretty large collection of apps to find something Im looking for."

LOL! Now I realize why one of the first things I did when I began using the Eris was to learn to make new folders and put all my apps in them on the home screen! It's the years of Palm use coming out! I have folders for Travel, Shop, Do It! (productivity stuff), etc. (games, maps, etc.) with icons grouped in them... very comfortable for me now...

 

[gpigate]

i go all the way back to the kyocera 7135 palm flip phone Man that thing was HUGE

The thing that I really miss is being able to group contacts so that on the contact list i can choose neighbors and limit the list. I am hoping there is a way and I just havent figure it out.

 

[Milehighjc]

i go all the way back to the kyocera 7135 palm flip phone Man that thing was HUGE

The thing that I really miss is being able to group contacts so that on the contact list i can choose neighbors and limit the list. I am hoping there is a way and I just havent figure it out.

Wow, that does go a ways back... I ran across my old IBM Workpad (a logo'd palm pilot). I cant believe I used to actually carry that in my jacket pocket! Weighed a ton too...

Have you tried the trick I mentioned a couple of posts back - create a folder with direct dials for the contacts you want ready access to? I wanted the same thing for my family.

jc