You Guys Are Probably Going To Laugh At Me

[TheAlmightyDrew]

I am currently an iPhone 3G user thinking of switching back to Verizon to get the Droid X. I am done with AT&T horrible service. Sick of the dropped calls and poor reception, and I want a new better phone. I have done tons of research and I know that I want the Droid X to be my first Android phone. However, that is also the main problem. This is going to be my first Android phone. I have been told by several people that Android is more complicated than the iPhone and it will take some getting used to, but once I do it definitely pays off.

People say that the Android phones are for tech people, which I am not. However, I am not a grandma who doesn't even know how to send a text message. I just had a few questions: What is Launcher Pro? I keep hearing about it on various Droid forums but I have no idea what it does. What am I going to expect coming from an iPhone 3G? How steep will the learning curve be? What are some great apps to get me started that I definitely need to download right when I get the Droid X? How easy is it to transfer music to the Droid X? How easy is it to customize the home screens? What are some of the things you can put on the home screens?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am so worried. Phones are such a huge investment especially now that the early termination fees are $325 and smartphones are so expensive. So when you get a phone, you are locked in unless you want to pay outrageous fees. So I am just trying to do as much research as possible, and get a general idea of how good the Droid X is, and also how different the jump will be from an iPhone 3G.

 

[hookbill]

You don't have to be a techie to use the Droid. I'm not, and I work with it just fine.

You do have to be a little more flexible in understanding that you will be using many apps to do things that may have been standard in an iPhone. You should be aware that as of right now Bluetooth Voice Dialing is not available in the X but will be with the next update.

You should be aware that, yes, we do get upgrades on our Droids. The only thing that you really need to be a techie for is if you want to install custom ROM's and even that isn't too difficult. And you can't do that with the X right now anyway.

You have to understand that this is a GOOGLE phone. Your contacts, mail, calendar works best when you use it directly with Google. It can be a pain to set up certain types of email but nothing is unsurmountable, at least not that I know of.

All of your other questions about apps and stuff are asked by every new person that arrives. Search the forums and see what people recommend and you can decide what you want from there.

 

[tomah]

im a first time Droid user. i started with an iphone 1, bb bold and now on droid x. as with any phone, there will be some getting used to. the verizon guy that set me up with the droid x said... when in doubt, hold it down. that sums up ease of functionality.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

The Android operating system is easier, IMHO, than the iOS to learn. This system is more intuitive (again IMHO).

Launcher Pro is a Home Screen replacement app. It lets you have a different look from the native home screen app and it can be customized quite a bit more. If I recall correctly it can have up to 7 screens.

You can put any of the apps on the screens, varies widgets (weather, news, sports, power widgets, etc., etc.). You can put direct dial contacts so all you do is press a single icon to call someone.

This system is much easier to add music. I listen to books constantly (they are mp3's) and all I do is drag and drop them in the music folder. Open the music app that I use (Mixzing) and they are automatically in the library.

I don't think you will be disappointed and may I point out that learning about this operating system and reading this message board has been a tremendous amount of fun. Everyone here is very, very helpful and nice (well, except for me I do wake up grumpy some mornings ).

 

[jeffc103193]

I just want to say that I think all of your research is very admirable and that you should be proud of all your hard work .

 

[Arcstriker]

You do have to be a little more flexible in understanding that you will be using many apps to do things that may have been standard in an iPhone. You should be aware that as of right now Bluetooth Voice Dialing is not available in the X but will be with the next update.

You should be aware that, yes, we do get upgrades on our Droids. The only thing that you really need to be a techie for is if you want to install custom ROM's and even that isn't too difficult. And you can't do that with the X right now anyway.

You have to understand that this is a GOOGLE phone. Your contacts, mail, calendar works best when you use it directly with Google. It can be a pain to set up certain types of email but nothing is unsurmountable, at least not that I know of.

All of your other questions about apps and stuff are asked by every new person that arrives. Search the forums and see what people recommend and you can decide what you want from there.

Bluetooth Voice Dial works just fine on my Droid X. On both my Stereo Headset, AND my regular ear piece. I didn't on my old Droid, but the X works.


Coming from iPhone, I know SOME of my songs I d/l'd from iTunes way back when, are protected, and can't be played on my Droid X. But most of them I just copied over just fine. You'll have to use another program to Sync the phone too... But once you find a good one you like, and get use to it, its nice. Plus then you have choices instead of the same ole same ole.

 

[rickreno]

I went from an IPhone (nice device but AT&T really sucks) to a Verizon Blackberry and now to the Droid X. It's different, I can say that but different in a nice way. The great part for me is the way GMail contacts/etc synch up with this phone - that's a brilliant move by Google.

 

[MyNewDroidX]

I just moved from an iphone, check out my post titled "LauncherPro & Handcent wow wow wow" in this thread. I am very happy now that i found these two apps. Handcent is a must if ur coming from an iphone, the droid text message app is just stoneage compared to the iphone. This is motorola's app, so i blame them

Oh yeah, ya know how we thought the iphone phone sucked? Well the motorola phone and contact manager is just horid. Luckily, i don't use the phone portion a lot so i can live with this.

The internet browsing does rock on the droid x! I do a lot of internet and this phone is just the cats meow (replace with explicit) for internet browsing.

 

[TheAlmightyDrew]

The Android operating system is easier, IMHO, than the iOS to learn. This system is more intuitive (again IMHO).

Launcher Pro is a Home Screen replacement app. It lets you have a different look from the native home screen app and it can be customized quite a bit more. If I recall correctly it can have up to 7 screens.

You can put any of the apps on the screens, varies widgets (weather, news, sports, power widgets, etc., etc.). You can put direct dial contacts so all you do is press a single icon to call someone.

This system is much easier to add music. I listen to books constantly (they are mp3's) and all I do is drag and drop them in the music folder. Open the music app that I use (Mixzing) and they are automatically in the library.

I don't think you will be disappointed and may I point out that learning about this operating system and reading this message board has been a tremendous amount of fun. Everyone here is very, very helpful and nice (well, except for me I do wake up grumpy some mornings ).

This post was very very helpful. Thanks man.

 

[Garemlin]

It is a great (and fun) learning experience. I am tech savvy but far from a techie. When I first got the Droid I was WTF did I get myself into. But I spent more and more time exploring the phone, trying things out and asking questions if I got lost.

 

[TheAlmightyDrew]

So basically my best bet is to just spend a lot of time in the app store looking for apps to make this great phone even better?

 

[Philba]

That's good advice (muck about in the market).

If you don't use launcherpro, just delete all that motorola crap and think through the 7 home screen/page organization. I've got social media, shopping/location, settings/tools, messaging/email/phone, media, games. I like that I can flck quickly to the right page. I do wish there was a way add addidional pages.

 

[crb79]

Android isn't that hard to get used to. My mom is 68y/o and it only took her a couple hours playing with the phone to get used to it.

Thanks to Android OS she setup a facebook page, and texts me all the time.... The jury is still out on whether that's a good thing or not..... lol

 

[huskerkate]

I am currently an iPhone 3G user thinking of switching back to Verizon to get the Droid X. I am done with AT&T horrible service. Sick of the dropped calls and poor reception, and I want a new better phone. I have done tons of research and I know that I want the Droid X to be my first Android phone. However, that is also the main problem. This is going to be my first Android phone. I have been told by several people that Android is more complicated than the iPhone and it will take some getting used to, but once I do it definitely pays off.

People say that the Android phones are for tech people, which I am not. However, I am not a grandma who doesn't even know how to send a text message. I just had a few questions: What is Launcher Pro? I keep hearing about it on various Droid forums but I have no idea what it does. What am I going to expect coming from an iPhone 3G? How steep will the learning curve be? What are some great apps to get me started that I definitely need to download right when I get the Droid X? How easy is it to transfer music to the Droid X? How easy is it to customize the home screens? What are some of the things you can put on the home screens?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am so worried. Phones are such a huge investment especially now that the early termination fees are $325 and smartphones are so expensive. So when you get a phone, you are locked in unless you want to pay outrageous fees. So I am just trying to do as much research as possible, and get a general idea of how good the Droid X is, and also how different the jump will be from an iPhone 3G.

i don't think anyone on here would laugh at someone who is making the "smart" choice to experience Android!

i'm not a techie, either. i got my D1 7 months ago, and it's the smartest thing i did. the great thing about Droid phones is that you can virtually make them whatever you want! i came from a Treo "smartphone" (kind of an oxymoron, when compared with the droid). i had no idea what i was doing, but i started experimenting, and i was immediately hooked!! it becomes rather addictive...and rather quickly.

to learn about all the ins and outs of the phone, this forum is phenomenal! but, if you're like me (not overly technically inclined), YouTube is pretty helpful as well. just search "Droid X" and you'll have dozens of videos that will demonstrate tons of features about the phone (especially now that the X is officially on the market).

As for Apps, when you launch the Market on the phone, you can choose "all applications", and then you will be able to click on "top paid", "top free", and "just in". these will show you the most popular apps, and then you can just experiment for yourself. My favorite apps are: LauncherPro (and more specifically LauncherPro Plus, which you need to download directly from the developer website - but it was easy); Touchdown Exchange (phenomenal app for my work email); Music Junk; Slacker Radio; etc., etc....

i have never owned an iphone, but virtually all my friends do. i'm about the only one with a Droid, but i wouldn't trade them for anything! in my opinion, you won't regret for a second making the switch!! dancedroid

 

[ext]

I also am coming from an iPhone 3G (work supplied) and I had my own VZW phone (non-Droid, non-smartphone) and I just couldn't take it with the crappy AT&T service, not to mention that 2 year old hardware can't run the latest iOS worth a damn. The iPhone 3G became SO slow and painful - not to mention that I couldn't even make phone calls without dropping on our campus here at work even though we have AT&T repeater network which spans our six buildings. Since we are such a large account, AT&T even paid to put repeaters at our location at their expense - and service is still spotty. I went to answer my phone from my boss the other day and the phone locked up when I "Slide to Answer" - really? I did a fresh wipe of the device when iOS4 came out as well which wasn't more than a month ago and have hardly loaded anything onto the device. If I can't even make phone calls - forget it.

I also did my research on Droid phones and have been eying the Droid 1 for awhile and was going to outright buy one without contract and put it on my account. I ended up doing the DX instead, and I am loving it. It is a night and day difference from the iPhone 3G w/ iOS4 which is painfully slow as you probably know. I drove about 100 miles to another city to do some renovation work on my rental and with my Droid X i have 3G the whole trip and was streaming Pandora the whole time with no-hiccups. When I say travel 100 miles, this isn't in a metro area either. I am in the Midwest, so having 3G service the whole trip was pretty amazing to me. Not to mention that 3G service from AT&T is only in larger areas and the city I work in only has Edge. I just leave the iPhone at home now on the Bose sounddock and have call forwarding enabled and setup my work e-mail on my DX as well so I have no need to carry that piece of crap anymore.

AT&T sucks, Verizon's network isn't perfect but seems to be built out well enough that it can handle smartphone traffic with acceptable speeds. If you are still on the fence about Verizon I would suggest paying for a 1 year contract on a DX for $279 versus the $199 for a 2yr plan. In a year you can still sell the phone and get your $280 back.

Long rant, but hopefully it gives you some insight into someone in the same situation going from an iPhone to Verizon.

-Ext