Motorala Droid

[Clay Campbell]

Does anyone have this phone yet? Ive done a good amount of research and I think I'm gonna get this for christmas since my current phone is crapping out on me. It will be my first smart phone. For those of you who don't know, the Droid is verizons newest iphone rival. It works of an ANDROID operating system. I'm not gonna say whether or not its better than the iphone but for me it has better aspects than the iphone. 1st of all its on verizon so better coverage hands down. 2nd it has a very good turn by turn navigation built in that does beat the iphone. The apps are still better on the iphone and the web browser is arguably better on the iphone but that is really a matter of personal opinion. If anyone has any input on the subject lets hear it. I am still not 100% but its either this or the iphone for me next.

 

[Jacob Dryer]

link below from another forum i frequent who asked the same question.

 

[Dingo]

Palm pre...

 

[Don Pertz]

Every Motorola phone I ever had was lousy on Battery life. Needed charged more than others and Batteries died a lot sooner.

 

[Evan F]

Avoid the Droid buy an iPhone

 

[Matt Alvin]

I have Sprint since 1996 and never had any issues. They also have one of the best price plans.

 

[kevinbakon]

Obviously, there are going to be critics of both the iphone and the Droid.

I've been with Verizon since the were GTE in '98 and personally, I've been monitoring any and all internet buzz I could find on the Droid for months now. . . trust me, I want the Droid to be better than the iphone for some of the obvious reasons (5.0 camera with flash, adobe flash, removable battery & memory, it's not AT&T, etc.), but I am an avid apple user with iMac, itouch, time capsule, etc. and I've also been following the "Verizon iphone" rumors and I want them to be true too.



I think the main thing to consider is that you are comparing apples and oranges . . . Apples are way better than oranges to some people and oranges are way better to others.



Just my two cents . . . the Droid, with Google Maps/Voice and Android 2.0, has come a long way but there is still a lot of room for improvement. . . . The real question is, do you want the "best phone" available with the worst coverage, or do you want the second best phone with the "best coverage"?



Personally, I've had to stop myself from stopping in a couple of times and impulse buying the Droid, but I'm going to hold off until the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2010 and hold my breath for a Verizon iphone or at least a 2nd Generation Droid.



Also, the best & non bias reviews available are on engadget.com and gizmodo.com

Btw, for what its worth, one of the iphone-loving-gurus on engadget.com compares all phones he reviews to his beloved iphone. He is so impressed with the Droid, that he stated that he's tempted to get a second personal phone line with Verizon, just to get the Droid.



One other thing to consider is that Verizon just increased their contract cancellation fee to $350 . . . . not to say that AT&T won't be soon to follow.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

For those "stuck" on Verizon and looking for a good, cheap smart phone, can't say enough good things about the Samsung Rogue. Can get it free with a plan renewal.



TJR

 

[Roger Batts]

The only thing that stopped me from upgrading to another smartphone it the new rules everyone has making it mandatory that you buy a data plan now. I love the functionality and features of a smartphone, but I can't see shelling out an extra $30 for data per line when I'm already paying about $160 a month for five phone lines!

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Don't forget Verizon also upped their early termination fees for smartphones. Something like $350 now should you want to get out early.

 

[Ed Fenwick]

I agree with Roger, why have a wifi phone if you have to buy the data plan? There must be something better coming.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Here's what CNet.com has to say:



Product summary

The good: The Motorola Droid boasts a gorgeous display and the benefits of Android 2.0, including a faster Web browser, Google Maps Navigation app, and better messaging and contact management. It also offers excellent call quality, long talk time, and improved speed over previous Android devices.



The bad: The QWERTY keyboard feels flat and the dialpad control is restricted to the home screen. Music and video capabilities still trail behind the competition. Dual-mode functionality for world-roaming capabilities would have been a nice addition. The Droid does not support Bluetooth voice dialing.



The bottom line: Despite some design issues and a couple of missing features, the Motorola Droid is the most powerful and fastest Google Android device to date. It fully embraces the openness of the Android platform and offers Verizon customers a smartphone that certainly rivals the other touch-screen devices on the market.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Ed,



A wifi-enabled phone is good wherever there is free wifi. However, a wifi-enabled mobile phone with data plan will get you connected almost anywhere.



TJR

 

[Clay Campbell]

I too am an APPLE user. I have at least 3 ipods including a touch. I love my Macbook Pro. But like you said, at this point its Either the best phone with worst coverage or 2nd best phone with best coverage. My brother and his wife both have Iphones so I'm very familiar with them. Waiting on a second gen droid would be nice but unless I want to wait a whole 2 years i dont have that option. And even when Verizon does get an Iphone it will be a dulled down version. I have very few friends on the AT&T network. I'm also excited about tethering with the droid. So I can use my computer for internet even when on the road

 

[P M]

A guy I work with picked up a Droid and I got to fiddle with it. Certainly not enough to make a recommendation or buying decision, but it was very nice. The interface seemed comparable with the iPhone. That's saying something because until now I didn't think any other phone was even close. I too am waiting to see if a Verizon iPhone becomes reality. If it does not, I'll go with a Droid once I'm up for an upgrade.

 

[Clay Campbell]

I believe that Verizon will get an Iphone. However, I believe it will not be the same iphone that AT&T has, what I have heard is that it will be a version of the iphone but not have all the same features.

 

[P M]

Vodafone is part owner of Verizon Wireless and they already sell the iPhone in Europe. Not a big leap to get it to the US market. GSM vs. CDMA is the limitation in the US (in addition to the exclusivity clause with AT&T). Once Verizon gets their new network up and running I'll bet you'll see a Verizon iPhone. Not much point in developing a CDMA iPhone with the new network already in development.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

My wife & I stopped by Best Buy tonight to look at HD TV's, and on the way out we stopped by their cell phone area. There was a Verizon rep. there, and one thing that caught my attention is when he said that the Droid has military level security built in. I am going to have to investigate that because I do know for fact that no one except the military has nats butt accuracy for GPS. I feel that the Verizon rep. was doing his darndest to keep us as continuing customers because I am seriously looking at an iPhone.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Had one of these phones in my hand yesterday and played with it big time.



The phone is really very nice.



The ONLY reason I will not get one as of yet is for the simple fact the phone is not tetherable. And, since I use the tether method to access the internet via my phone, it was a deal breaker.



I expect this will be fixed on the next version though...

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Please explain what "tethering" is. I have an idea of what it is, but want to make sure that I am correct and not assume what it is. Thanks