Questions about Droid Pro

[boblist1]

I'm very close to buying the Droid Pro but I have several concerns. I've been a blackberry user for several years and the things I like about Blackberry are 1) Push e-mail and 2)the ease of messaging. I'm tired of the lousy web browser and the poor interface. I'm also tired of waiting for a new OS. Here are my questions that I would appreciate someone answering if possible:
1) My corporation (an academic hospital) uses Outlook2003 SP2, but only supports Blackberry. There's even a vague threat at some point in the future to disallow forwarding of e-mail(I doubt it given all the Iphone users). I really like the push e-mail and I've been reading in the forums how many users are having problems with the Droid Pro. I can't go to my IP people for fear of them "shutting me out". My question: Does "corporate sync" on the Droid Pro refer to those servers that support Droids? Or even if my institution won't allow them will I be able to use it? I've read about Touchdown- will that be necessary.

2) I'm concerned about battery life never having had a Droid. If I buy the extended battery (will that be necessary), will I be able to make it through a 16-18 hour day without recharging (I don't mind doing it every night)?

3) I've read about battery management and turning off Skype, Wifi etc to conserve power. Will I need to turn these off each morning after having turned off the phone the night before for recharging?

I suppose I could buy the phone and see how it goes for the 30 day Verizon trial period, but I'm trying to do my due diligence first. Thanks.

 

[hookbill]

:welcome: to the Forum. I can't help you much on Corporate Mail issues, I can tell you that since this is a Google Phone you will have a Gmail account and Gmail does push. What you may want to do is open a Gmail account, if you don't have one already and read the information in the settings in regards to how it works with corporate email.

Battery. Unless you had a Blackberry Storm, you can expect battery life to be limited. Now in my case I can go most days all day and into the next morning and be at 20% but I don't use my Droid that much. I should also mention that I'm basing my experience on my use with a Droid 1 and Droid 2, not a Pro but they all use battery. One reviewer may say the Incredible is better, someone else will say the Pro. I say anytime you get into a phone this high tech you're going to see it use battery if you are a frequent user.

When I was using it constantly I would have it at 100% charge and just doing internet alone would pull it down to about 30% within 5 hours of use. But that was constantly being on the internet, not just every now and then. I have an iPad now so that's changed significantly for me.

If you're a power user don't let that scare you away from the phone. Just pick up a spare battery or two at Amazon, I think that would be the best place. You may want to check eBay for a wall charger. Or if you use it in the car a lot, then a car charger is definitely needed.

You can't really shut down some apps on these phones, apps will run in the background, but really they are more or less sleeping back there not really using any battery. Skype I believe is one of them.

Hope this helps some. Maybe someone else will come along with a better answer for your email question.

 

[bwhite757]

I'm very close to buying the Droid Pro but I have several concerns. I've been a blackberry user for several years and the things I like about Blackberry are 1) Push e-mail and 2)the ease of messaging. I'm tired of the lousy web browser and the poor interface. I'm also tired of waiting for a new OS.

First remember that there are pros and cons to both Android and Blackberry. Everyone has to weigh these out, because everyone's life is a little different.

1) My corporation (an academic hospital) uses Outlook2003 SP2, but only supports Blackberry. There's even a vague threat at some point in the future to disallow forwarding of e-mail(I doubt it given all the Iphone users). I really like the push e-mail and I've been reading in the forums how many users are having problems with the Droid Pro. I can't go to my IP people for fear of them "shutting me out". My question: Does "corporate sync" on the Droid Pro refer to those servers that support Droids? Or even if my institution won't allow them will I be able to use it? I've read about Touchdown- will that be necessary.

Straight out of the box, from what I've read, the Pro is not completely corporate ready. Touchdown supposedly incorporates push, and works pretty much flawlessly with most enterprise servers. I don't have any personal experience with this so take it for what it's worth.

IF your company allows email forwarding, have it set up to forward to a Gmail account. I do this and it works great. Now that Gmail has updated their app to where you can specify you're return email address, I have no complaints.

2) I'm concerned about battery life never having had a Droid. If I buy the extended battery (will that be necessary), will I be able to make it through a 16-18 hour day without recharging (I don't mind doing it every night)?

With all of the battery life threads on all of the different forums out there about this phone, I can definitely understand why battery life would be a concern. It's really going to depend on how much you use the phone, however my personal feelings is that the battery is simply inadequate for this device. I can make it through the day with 2 standard batteries (barely), but then again I'm a heavy user. I've been carrying a spare battery in my back pocket since the Storm 1 days. The only good thing is that these batteries have been on the market for quite some time now, and they literally are next to nothing. $5 shipped to my house for a spare, and $5 for a wall charger that charges just the battery without the phone. I simply plug my phone in, and throw my dead spare in the charger at the end of the night, and I'm ready for the next day. I've read great things about the extended battery, but until the price of them drop a little bit, I don't mind swapping out batteries in the middle of the day. (2 minutes downtime, as opposed to 15 minutes downtime with a Blackberry)

3) I've read about battery management and turning off Skype, Wifi etc to conserve power. Will I need to turn these off each morning after having turned off the phone the night before for recharging?

I really don't see a HUGE gain from making sure my WiFi/GPS/Etc. get turned off when I'm not using them. I leave everything on all the time. (I watched it for about a week, and was only getting MAYBE an extra 1/2 hour out of my phone, not worth my time to make sure everything was off).

My biggest gains came from rooting my phone and instally SetCPU. After that I've added profiles to:

Screen Off = 300 MHz
Battery < 70% = 800 MHz
Battery < 50% = 600 MHz

This has gained me probably 2 1/2 to 3 hours of juice (I only get 7-8 hours out of a battery)

I suppose I could buy the phone and see how it goes for the 30 day Verizon trial period, but I'm trying to do my due diligence first. Thanks.

Yep, that's a great thing. You can read about a phone til the cows come home, but until you got it out real world testing it for yourself, you just never know if you're going to like it or not. And if you're one of these people that keep a phone for the full 2 years, then you best be sure you're going to enjoy it's company for that long. Me personally, I wouldn't give up my Pro for anything else out on the market right now. This is by far the best phone I've owned.

 

[jimbo11mcm]

You'll Love It

My wife, who is not very technical, transitioned to the Pro from the BB8830. She loves it. I got her the extended battery and it lasts all day without any problems. You have 30 days to decide if you like it. Go for it.

 

[boblist1]

Thanks

Thanks everyone. i guess I'll just have to see how the battery life goes. I prefer not to carry around 2 batteries so I'll try using the extended battery.
However, I'd still like to learn about the "corporate sync" function. I understand about necessity of the gmail account. More questions:
1) I have 2 separate work e-mails- will the gmail account allow me to have the return address as each individual e-mail address, or will the return address be the g-mail account?

2)Also, any sense how the "push" feature drains battery life?

3 Finally, is there any way to get rid of the preloaded apps which O don't care about without rooting the phone (which I don't understand and wouldn't do)?

Thanks again

 

[KZIWarrior]

1) My corporation (an academic hospital) uses Outlook2003 SP2, but only supports Blackberry. There's even a vague threat at some point in the future to disallow forwarding of e-mail(I doubt it given all the Iphone users). I really like the push e-mail and I've been reading in the forums how many users are having problems with the Droid Pro. I can't go to my IP people for fear of them "shutting me out". My question: Does "corporate sync" on the Droid Pro refer to those servers that support Droids? Or even if my institution won't allow them will I be able to use it? I've read about Touchdown- will that be necessary.

If they only 'support' BlackBerry than it's likely they have the server restricted to only BB clients. If that is the case than the server will not allow anything other than a BlackBerry to connect. Ask your IT people if that is the case (if connections are 'restricted to' BB). As per your comment about forwarding and iPhone users it is exactly BECAUSE of the number of iPhone users they likely WILL turn forwarding off. iPhones are not readily supported by IT departments (least ones worried about security, eg. hospitals and schools) because they are not secure and easy hacked (read 'jailbroken'). Sadly it's the same for Android phones. More and more IT departments are locking their exchange servers because of the prevalence of Android and iPhone devices alike (both are simply security risks for companies concerned with data/email security).

Until Google/Android addresses these concerns (along with manufacturers) Android will not be readily adopted as a viable BB alternative on the corporate level (which is one reason manufactures have started to lock bootloaders ect)

2) I'm concerned about battery life never having had a Droid. If I buy the extended battery (will that be necessary), will I be able to make it through a 16-18 hour day without recharging (I don't mind doing it every night)?

I haven't used the Pro but on my original Droid I do NOT have the extended batty and use push-mail (corporate account via TouchDown) throughout the day and it lasts from ~5am to 12am every day just fine, even with maps and internet use (though I am rooted with a custom ROM which does 'enhance' the battery life). As always this is going to depend largely on a number of personal factors. Either way with ANY smartphone it's a good idea to always have a few charging options throughout a day 'just in case.'

3) I've read about battery management and turning off Skype, Wifi etc to conserve power. Will I need to turn these off each morning after having turned off the phone the night before for recharging?

Generally not, most settings will resume in their previous state, but you don't need to turn it 'off' at night. Just use profile settings to disable all sounds/notifications.

 

[KZIWarrior]

Thanks everyone. i guess I'll just have to see how the battery life goes. I prefer not to carry around 2 batteries so I'll try using the extended battery.
However, I'd still like to learn about the "corporate sync" function. I understand about necessity of the gmail account. More questions:
1) I have 2 separate work e-mails- will the gmail account allow me to have the return address as each individual e-mail address, or will the return address be the g-mail account?

Yes, any email that it's receiving emails from.

2)Also, any sense how the "push" feature drains battery life?

Depends on the client and the settings you have set. With TouchDown it doesn't 'drain' battery but allows you to preserves it. And 'push' email waits for the server to send the email notification to the phone instead of 'looking' for it at set intervals. This way it's saving your battery by not connecting unnecessarily. With TouchDown you can further utilize this feature by setting 'syncing' events (i.e. moving things to folders, marking things ect) until the next 'active' connection (i.e. next time the server sends a pushed item). If you 'need' instant changes to the server items you can do that but it will severely drain your battery if you do a lot of actions (because it is connecting after every action you perform).

3 Finally, is there any way to get rid of the preloaded apps which O don't care about without rooting the phone (which I don't understand and wouldn't do)?

Thanks again

No. Just root. No reason not to and it's easy with so many 'auto' rooting solutions out there. No ROMs for the Pro yet (least that I'm aware of, but there will be soon if not) but freeing up the memory by getting rid of the BS Bloatware and gaining access to other settings will make it worth it (as for warranty concerns just make sure that method you use allows to restoring stock, most if not all do).

 

[boblist1]

Okay. I'm not going to worry about battery life;I'll probably get the desk top charger fro work. But I'd still like to know more about corporate sync "push". Without a direct link between the Droid and my server, is downloading Touchdown essential to make the "push" feature work?

 

[KZIWarrior]

Okay. I'm not going to worry about battery life;I'll probably get the desk top charger fro work. But I'd still like to know more about corporate sync "push". Without a direct link between the Droid and my server, is downloading Touchdown essential to make the "push" feature work?

The 'push' feature is a function of the exchange server. If your IT allows Droid clients to connect it will work with any client on your phone (well, any client that meets the security perimeters, K9 likely won't). If Android clients are not allowed to connect than NOTHING you put on your phone will give you Push. Actually if Android Clients aren't allowed to connect the phone will not be able to connect to the server at all (i.e. no Push, not passive email, no nothing). CALL YOUR IT or ask coworkers if any have Droids.

That being said get TouchDown (30 day free trial). You'll find it's in a far different league than the POS exchange client that Android comes with.

 

[boblist1]

Now I'm a bit confused. My IT definitely won't let androids connect. So, I somehow forward my corporate email to the gmail account. Then, it's forwarded to my phone. Will each of these steps be "pushed"?
From what I've read, I'm convinced about the superiority of Touchdown and have no problem getting that, as well as the extended battery. I know it sounds crazy but I'm all about "push"! Thanks.

 

[KZIWarrior]

Now I'm a bit confused. My IT definitely won't let androids connect. So, I somehow forward my corporate email to the gmail account. Then, it's forwarded to my phone. Will each of these steps be "pushed"?
From what I've read, I'm convinced about the superiority of Touchdown and have no problem getting that, as well as the extended battery. I know it sounds crazy but I'm all about "push"! Thanks.

Don't waste the time/money with Touchdown for your purposes (TouchDown is only for exchange servers not for IMAP/POP accounts). As for what your doing the exchange server is forwarding the email to gmail and then gmail is 'pushing' it to your phone (or more correctly sending a notification to your phone). Since you're using this configuration any Android device will be able to fill your needs (well, any 2.1 or 2.2 device with the latest version of Gmail). You won't be able to use exchange and therefore no reason to go with the Pro unless you particularly want the candybar style. The screen is smaller than other devices (as is the keyboard if that is a feature you want) so you might want instead to look into the Droid 2.

 

[bwhite757]

Now I'm a bit confused. My IT definitely won't let androids connect. So, I somehow forward my corporate email to the gmail account. Then, it's forwarded to my phone. Will each of these steps be "pushed"?
From what I've read, I'm convinced about the superiority of Touchdown and have no problem getting that, as well as the extended battery. I know it sounds crazy but I'm all about "push"! Thanks.

Gmail is automatically setup for the so-called "Push" service. Gmail is always sitting in the background on your phone waiting for a small string of data to show up saying there's an email waiting to be downloaded, it then fires up and downloads that message and notifies you so you can view it. If your IT is allowing email forwarding and you forward your corporate emails to your gmail account you should receive all your emails on your phone pretty much instantly.

I have 7 different email addresses forwarded to my Gmail, and like I said in my earlier post, the Gmail app now allows you to tell it what email address you want your sent from to be. So if someone emails me at [email protected], I can reply and it will say that I replied from [email protected] not an @gmail.com address.

If all you're looking for is email push, this will work for you just fine. This however doesn't address calendar/contact/task sync between your phone and Outlook. I personally use Google for everything so it works great for me.

 

[KZIWarrior]

\
If all you're looking for is email push, this will work for you just fine. This however doesn't address calendar/contact/task sync between your phone and Outlook. I personally use Google for everything so it works great for me.

There is no current solution for contacts but there is for calendar. Google Calendar Sync does just that, to a point (it will only sync your 'default' google calendar).

There are some third party apps (CompanionLink ect.) that can sync EVERYTHING (all calendars, contacts ect) but they are expensive and I would consider a last result. OP this is the route you'll likely have to take when they block email-forwarding. Companion Link should still work (it uses different means to perform the tasks, though try before you pay just in case).

 

[boblist1]

Thanks. i realized after my last post that Touch down won't work for me. I've read that I won't be able to sync contacts/tasks. But do you have any knowledge of CompanionLink? It would be nice to sync contacts/tasks. Can it be used without going through my server?

 

[KZIWarrior]

Thanks. i realized after my last post that Touch down won't work for me. I've read that I won't be able to sync contacts/tasks. But do you have any knowledge of CompanionLink? It would be nice to sync contacts/tasks. Can it be used without going through my server?

Couldn't say, I used it a while ago (for WinMo phones) but haven't recently. Reviews seem relatively mixed. It's a 'supporting vendor' on this forum so don't put to much wait on the thread(s) about it here. Look elsewhere online (and you'll see why I say mixed). Some people like it some don't. Either way it's costly and you'll need to be sure about the server connectivity issues before you fork over the funds.