Starting to have 2nd thoughts on the Droid

[sir]

Let's face it, some folks are just not as tech savvy as others and are quick to jump to conclusions without first doing some research. Others are accustomed to doing things a certain away and will be equally quick to dismiss any device that does things a little differently or they would assume that function doesn't exist. It's just part of forum culture I guess.

that's about the best way to put it!

 

[Randomocity]

I agree with the previous few posters and I think many of people's problems comes down to the fact that compared to most smartphones on the market, the droid really has an immense learning curve to it. I'm a tech savvy guy, and its still taken me several hours with the phone to learn how to do everything I wanted and for it to do everything I wanted. That said, the possibilities with this phone are near limitless as it stands, and I think the only phone that I'll trade this for anytime in the next few years is the Droid 2.

Use the forums people. So far this community has been amazing in relaying valuable information about this phone and its features.

That said, I'll repeat what I've said in many of my other posts. The Droid is hands down, the BEST phone I've ever used. And I've used just about every high end smartphone at one point in the last 5 years.

I couldn't be happier.

 

[normwerner]

I've posted this opinion here before, but it needs to be repeated. There are probably some people who have bought a defective unit and that can be expected with any new product. There are also units that have been bought by defective people and the Droid is a phone that will expose that quickly. Much of the harping in this and maybe other forums is by folks who have committed pilot arror and flown their Droiid's into the ground, much like what causes the majority of airplane crashes.

I have owned my Droid for a little over a week now and have about 30 apps loaded. Today I attended my grandson's birthday party and decided to try out the camera and the video calpabilities. I'm not happy with the still pictures, but the video is excellant. I suspect that I am still not up to speed on how to properly use the cmaera to get good pics - again pilot error - especially in low light situations like I was in today.

Perhaps the worst marketing decision that Motorola made (a bean counter decision, I'm sure) was the choice to package the unit with only the little (and generally useless) "Getting Started" instruction manuel. They absolutely could have avoided most of the issues that show up in this forum with a better, more complete user manuel. The frustrations that I've had with the phone tended to be about trying to do things with it that I had no clue about and finding no instructions at all. This is a heavy duty "figure it out" scenario and I suspect that is the case with many so-called smart phones. There is great reward if you do figure it out and great frustration while you are trying. If you aren't the type that can handle that, then buy another flip-phone and be happy just making phone calls.

Norm

 

[Zennmaster]

I lot of good stuff has been said here, and I'll echo some of it. Once again, this is Droid on Verizon version 1.0. There have been no bug fixes officially issued as of yet, and the stuff that always manages to get past the beta testers is out there right now.

That's part of being an Early Adopter.

The other thing I've noticed about the Droid is that Google and Motorola really seemed to have started with a clean slate of assumptions, with no loyalty given to "the way it's always been done". My favorite example of this was when I tried to assign speed-dials. As has been mentioned on other threads, the Droid doesn't do it. As it stands, you can't assign a contact to a number on the phone's keypad. The way the Droid does one-touch dialing is via shortcuts on the home screen. At first, I thought that was kind of lame. Then I set up a few contacts that way and realized that an icon that is labeled "Dad" with a picture of my Dad on it was a much more intuitive way to do it that having to remember that Dad is on keypad number 5. I just had to get past the idea that on my last 7 phones, I've called my father by hitting "5". For some folks who are really really accustomed to doing something the way "It's always been done" this might be confusing.

This is just one example, but there will be others. Just as we switched from rotary dials to keypads, there will be other areas where the standards will evolve. I daresay, the Droid is right out in front of a lot of these areas.

Also, it's important to remember that when something goes wrong with a device, a very large percentage of users will rush to the forums to ask for help with their problem. When things are going great, probably most people can't tear themselves away from their Droids long enough to post a message stating "All's Well!".

Just my two cents worth. So far, with a little help from these forums, there has been almost nothing I've tried to get this device to do that it wouldn't. As the AppScape grows and evolves, this will only get better.

So go get your Droid!

 

[Spanky]

Im thinking on getting a droid next thursday and now after reading all the problems with it im having second thoughts. Its almost like it cant do simple things my Htc Diamond does. Is it really that bad? Seems like alot of unhappy people. And a bunch of returns.
So should a person wait for a while?
Ps. I want a droid really bad!!!

Remember, you only hear about the bad things. When things are going good, people don't complain.

Dude, get one already!

 

[lauriep]

Zennmaster, that was "masterfully" stated! I completely agree!

So, count me as one of the seldom-heard-from folks whose Droid is performing flawlessly, in all modes, and I could not be more delighted!

 

[rothenbj]

Another opinion from a former BB user for many years and now the happy member of a two Droid family. I was unlucky in waiting for the Omnia 2 to hit the market and "settled" for the Droid when it was announced for release on the 6th. I was also unlucky in believing the posts on the net about Verizon always selling new phones on the net before putting them out in the stores.

I ordered my Droid over the net and had to wait till it was delivered the following Monday. I then found out they were in stores so I went to the store and played with both the moto Droid. And the Eris. To make a longer story shorter, I had mine Monday and the Eris arrived Wednesday since I couldn't persuade my significant other that she had no need for a smartphone.

Is the Droid great? Absolutely. I forgot about my BB immediately after I started using the Droid. Could I have made a better CHOICE? Probably not, but I certainly could have lived with the Droid Eris. I really like that smaller Droid. Pick one up and just feel it. Nice to hold and a pretty nice alternative. There are some advantages with the 2.0 Droid but comfort isn't one of them. The Eris is lighter and slightly smaller and certainly runs cooler than this pocket computer that is the Droid.

If the Omnia 2 hits the market this month as I've heard in the latest rumor, I'll probably be at the Verizon store checking it out. After all, that's what my original plan was. However, how can you not want to be part of a journey that may change the face of computing forever. Are you listening MS and Apple.

Now if I only had a full size Bluetooth keyboard to Set this little baby behind.........

 

[serialtoon]

I'm a pretty heavy Droid user, and it has been pretty rock-solid. Had it since release. Came over from the iPhone 3g camp. I ate the ETF to get the droid, with zero regrets.

Same here. Although i am not new to Android ( i develop for it) its simply too cool to pass up.

 

[Erron]

I develop for the iphone.

since downloading and playing with the android sdk....I can say this.

Once more devs get on board with this, and they will with the sales figures out there, the app store will kill apples. Of course, it will need reorganizing. The search needs tweaked.

 

[apeshitninja]

Another thing to remember is that the majority of the complaints you hear are from the 'vocal minority' of people who were unlucky and picked up a unit with a defect. Statistically those people are FAR more likely to express their thoughts than your average satisfied user, it's like that with any new product release.

Can you get a defective unit? Of course, but the odds are slim. It can happen with any new hardware.

Oh, and don't forget the iPhone fanboys who will smack talk anything that threatens their favorite phone. I have nothing against the iPhone, but I've noticed that there is a fair amount of Droid-hate coming from iPhone fan sites and forums.

They are both great products, if you really aren't sure which you want just compare the features for yourself and avoid any write-ups that base their reviews on personal preference quantities (cough *cnet* cough).