1. thinking's Avatar
    I know this has been discussed on here before, but now the Droid has been out for a while. I am hoping to get some good input. I have never had a smart phone of any kind before, but I am getting ready to purchase one. I am up for my upgrade with Verizon, and I have narrowed it down to the Tour (or Essex if it comes out soon) or the Droid. I am getting ready to graduate from college, and I will be looking for a job soon. I am mainly looking for the phone to get emails, use the internet, a usable calendar, and of course make calls. I have heard Blackberrys are the best with emails, but I have also heard the Droid is pretty good with them now. I mainly use gmail, but who knows what I will use when I get a job. I also know using the internet is much faster with the Droid. What about GPS-type use? I don't want to have to pay for Verizon's navigation fee, so are there any apps on either phone that would serve as a GPS, and which is better? Which phone should I get? I know it is personal preference, but not having ever had a Blackberry or a phone with a touchscreen, I need some help.
    12-15-09 03:31 PM
  2. Roweazie's Avatar
    Base on what your looking for Blackberry is the way to go. Email, txt/sms, sync calendars. but when it comes to camera, browsing speed, social networking, the droid takes it all. I use bb maps almost daily and its pretty good now with my s2 and its free. the screen no longer dimmed on me. IDK about the droid map's
    12-15-09 06:08 PM
  3. freakboy2539's Avatar
    The Droids maps are basically like looking at a Garmin. while in use the screen stays on and they work pretty damn good!
    12-15-09 06:12 PM
  4. Branta's Avatar
    Go to the local phone stores and get some hands on experience with working models (not the display dummies). What feels right and usable is what counts.

    Second point - you are constraining your choice to Verizon's range of CDMA phones. Potential bad move unless you have a contract restriction or you already researched coverage. Find out which networks provide good coverage where you are likely to need it. Ask real users, don't rely on theoretical maps. Then decide which networks are in contention and see what models are available with the features you need (must have) and "would like but not critical".
    12-15-09 06:59 PM
  5. noized77's Avatar
    This one is tough. Its more of preference...keyboard vs touchscreen. Messaging vs internet. Since you've never own a touchscreen, you might wanna test try before you buy b/c its not for everyone as with physical keyboard its more user friendly. Both have great screen resolution for their respective size but the battery problem on the droid might me worse cuz of the bigger screen and being touch screen, a deal breaker for some. Browsing on the Tour is a pain without 3rd part apps. Go try both out and decide for your self.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    Last edited by noized77; 12-15-09 at 07:03 PM.
    12-15-09 07:00 PM
  6. Johnly's Avatar
    Look at all these fine folks giving their time to help you. Crackberry nation is about as good as it gets right! With your 1 post I assume it's safe to say you haven't searched the forums? Why? There is a TON of good info in them. Try searching them, it works...1 post guy
    12-15-09 07:11 PM
  7. Xopher's Avatar
    One of the things to look at is the Smartphone Roundup that started this week. There will be reviews of the different platforms by different users at the end of the week.

    You can also look at Kevin's initial review of the Droid that came out earlier this week.
    12-15-09 07:14 PM
  8. thinking's Avatar
    I have definitely looked at some of the other posts previously. I just wanted to see if there was any new info now that the Droid has been out for a while. I am stuck with Verizon (which isn't a bad thing for me) because of the contract. I will keep searching. The main hangup for me with not getting the Tour is the internet usage being slower and possibly the maps. I guess there is no such thing as getting everything perfect in one phone.
    12-15-09 09:09 PM
  9. darkmanx2g's Avatar
    I say the droid. Seems to me there's more potential in android than blackberrys OS right now. Your getting a bigger app store and free turn by turn voice activated navigation service. No more looking and reading for directions on your phone.
    Or get neither and get the new Google phone "nexus one" or the cdma version of it. Android is picking up a lot of steam these days. RIM got to act fast.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    12-16-09 01:57 AM
  10. thinking's Avatar
    Anybody have anything to say about emails on the Droid. My boss said he had one, and he wasn't able to get his emails set up very easily. Once he set them up, some didn't even work (I think he said he had four accounts). Anybody know if that has been fixed? Is it fairly easy to set up email accounts other than gmail, and are they pushed to the Droid? How long do they take?
    12-16-09 08:41 AM
  11. dcgore's Avatar
    I played with the droid a couple of times and i couldn't type very well. I would suggest you make use of the 30 day trial to see which device you like the most.
    12-16-09 09:45 AM
  12. Exiled Bulldawg's Avatar
    Anybody have anything to say about emails on the Droid. My boss said he had one, and he wasn't able to get his emails set up very easily. Once he set them up, some didn't even work (I think he said he had four accounts). Anybody know if that has been fixed? Is it fairly easy to set up email accounts other than gmail, and are they pushed to the Droid? How long do they take?
    I had a Droid for three days. The e-mail is fine for Gmail accounts. If one uses Yahoo or Hotmail, then not so much. Supposedly, the Exchange support is good, too, however I have no direct experience. My primary beef with the Droid and mail is there was no external indicator that I had mail, other than a chirp. Secondly, my Droid would constantly show I had mail because I don't immediately flag all mail as read. This is annoying if you expect to read the message later, because the indicator keeps popping up, but the new mail count has not changed. Gmail pushes, but all other mail is driven by a program that polls the accounts periodically for mail. When unread messages (note I did NOT say new mail) are present, there is an icon at the top of the screen indicated unread messages. Setting up accounts is very easy, the polling is somewhat iffy though.

    The maps are great! Turn by turn and all is cool. Search is great. However, I can accomplish the same things on my Berry with Yelp or even Google and I have an external GPS anyway. Besides no phone works as a GPS and a phone at the same time. Its one or the other.

    Everyone raves about the screen, however, play a YouTube movie on it before you buy it. I have seen dumb phones that have better video playback than a Droid. This should be fixed with a simple software upgrade. I didn't do the playback test before I bought the phone, so this was a surprise. When you see the screen displaying pictures or text, its sharp and beautiful. The difference is a let down.

    Additionally, I couldn't easily use the phone one handed. To make a phone call, I had to press the top button on the phone, then move my finger in an arch to unlock the phone, press the phone button, then flick through the contacts (if I didn't press search.) That was to make a phone call. On a Curve, I press the asterisk and green phone button twice and can type in the name or scroll with my thumb. Little stuff like that goes a long way. The Droid has speech recognition, but in areas with background noise or trying to use a headset, it's problematic.

    The keyboard is okay. The phone is good. I love the concept, and I think it is a good phone, however, the interface and video need work. I do like the phone and think it has a lot of potential and will definitely look at it again later.

    I would recommend making a list of what your must have features are. For example, is e-mail what you use the most? Figure the features you most want and find the phone that fits the bill.

    My final decision was to return the Droid and go back to an 8330. My key features in a phone are: phone, text, e-mail. However, once I am no longer contracting, I expect I will not need the e-mail as much. I am also migrating business e-mail to Gmail. The migration will take a few months, as I have used my Yahoo account for business for years. I took the money I had slated for the Droid and purchased a netbook. I have a tether plan on VZW, so this fixes the browser issue for the berry. Pleasantly, I have found the netbook has become my daily computer, so it hasn't been bad. Besides typing on a 92% keyboard is much easier than with thumbs!
    Last edited by Exiled Bulldawg; 12-16-09 at 01:27 PM. Reason: More directly answering the OP's questions
    12-16-09 11:05 AM
  13. BewitchedWitch21's Avatar
    I've used both. I really liked the Droid; its a fun phone and I found myself constantly doing something on it.

    The biggest issue I had was the keyboard. I just could not get used to it and I didn't enjoy messaging on it at all. I also didn't care for the fact that I didn't seem to ever get notifications. With my tour, if someone comments on my fb, I get a notification. With the droid, if I never updated it, I wouldn't know what was happening.

    I also didn't care for the Droid camera; it seemed like an overwhelming majority of my pics ended up blurry. There is a technique so it doesn't do that, but to me...I just want to hurry up and take the pic. Not sit and mess with it.

    As far as emails, if you use gmail, everything pushes fine. If you don't...it reminds me a lot of a windows type of device, where you have to set it to refresh every so often to get any updates.
    12-16-09 12:47 PM
  14. freakboy2539's Avatar
    Everyone raves about the screen, however, play a YouTube movie on it before you buy it. I have seen dumb phones that have better video playback than a Droid. This should be fixed with a simple software upgrade. I didn't do the playback test before I bought the phone, so this was a surprise. When you see the screen displaying pictures or text, its sharp and beautiful. The difference is a let down.
    Are you serious? Hit menu and choose high quality...the video on the Droid is amazing! I have yet to use a phone that has better video quality.
    12-16-09 05:38 PM
  15. Exiled Bulldawg's Avatar
    Are you serious? Hit menu and choose high quality...the video on the Droid is amazing! I have yet to use a phone that has better video quality.
    VERY serious. And I am not the only one who thinks the video playback is subpar. The example I cited is YouTube: it doesn't work well on the phone and the vids were washed out. That is true for several different sources. I wish I had read the following and knew that before I purchased the phone. My expectations would have not been so high. And, yes, I was in a EVDO area.

    Video fans should also remember that Android doesn't offer an integrated video download service like iTunes does. Of course, you can load your own videos on the phone, but I wonder how many people have movie files just sitting around. Don't count on the YouTube app, either. Since the clips are streaming over the air, the video and audio quality can be poor.


    Switching to Android? Read this first | Android Atlas - CNET Blogs
    12-16-09 05:51 PM
  16. Caesarg's Avatar
    Are you serious? Hit menu and choose high quality...the video on the Droid is amazing! I have yet to use a phone that has better video quality.
    I agree with you. I guess the largest, brighest, highest pixel density screen in a cell phone today is poor for videos. Uh huh!

    A HD youtube video on the droid looks better than any video I have seen on any phone. I have coworkers whose only response was wow! I had a bb storm from day 1 but switched recently for the Droid and I will tell u there is no comparison.

    Maybe if RIM ever updated their OS to something oh lets say at least late 90's or perish the thought, the 2000 timeframe bb's might be better. Imagine a Storm 3 with an OS that was designed from the ground up for a touchscreen and not for a trackball or trackpad. What a concept.

    Yes email is great but I have the same emails set up now on my phone that I had on my bb and I receive them just as quickly. I can also go to a website to view emails if I desire because, and here's something unique, the browser is actually usable. It is almost as fast to check as it is through an email app.

    Again cell phone usage is a personal preference so this is my opinion. With that said look at the droid forums and see how many ex bb users have switched and are extremely happy.

    Finally if anyone wants to watch a movie with me, give me a shout, I'm watching one tonight on my Droid......
    12-16-09 06:16 PM
  17. freakboy2539's Avatar
    If not in high quality the video is very pixelated once ya switch to high quality videos look great! A lot of people who complain of video being subpar this is the issue.
    12-16-09 06:18 PM
  18. Caesarg's Avatar
    In many cases people try things for a short period and then complain about missing or negative features. If you don't know the HD option is available then the result is as posted. It takes a while to learn all the little tricks/options on any new phone.
    12-16-09 06:21 PM
  19. noized77's Avatar
    They don't call the Droid a toy for no reason. This is funny, the Droid fanboi comes in here and defend its video capabilities which is the least of our worries.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    12-16-09 06:50 PM
  20. freakboy2539's Avatar
    They don't call the Droid a toy for no reason. This is funny, the Droid fanboi comes in here and defend its video capabilities which is the least of our worries.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    Who's a fanboi?
    12-16-09 08:08 PM
  21. Caesarg's Avatar
    but for a touchscreen it fails miserably imo. I use my phone to listen to music at the gym. With a Droid to close the media player, I hit the pause then the home screen icon - done. If not for wanting to get out a touchscreen (read $) why could they not have written a touchscreen OS with something exciting like oh 1 button to close programs or maybe not so many scrolling menus.

    Now with the storm, I hit the menu key, scroll to close, close the player, then do the same and close the album list, then do the same and close the music player, then do the same and close the media player. This is a touchscreen, come on. And if you just stop the music and switchh apps - say goodbye to memory which is still a big problem with the OS. I used to reboot my storm once a day just to keep it running well.

    Maybe the OS gets the job done but at this point, I think RIM is more concerned with putting out phone after phone after phone....than they are with a new OS. I think they believe that a lot of people do think - yeah it is old and cumbersome but it gets the job done that I want - so why should we create a new one when we could be creating another new phone (well a continual upgrade on existing ones for the most part).

    I know while waiting for 5.0 to drop, I thought cool a newer updated os. Oops sorry just a few new features added to the same old OS.

    As to the title - If I had a trackball/trackpad, I guess the menu system works well enough but I did not want to sacrifice half the screen. And again solely my opinion, even the look of the OS is old. It sort of reminds me of working on a computer years ago with an amber screen, it worked but it was boring.
    12-17-09 05:59 PM
  22. Exiled Bulldawg's Avatar
    In many cases people try things for a short period and then complain about missing or negative features. If you don't know the HD option is available then the result is as posted. It takes a while to learn all the little tricks/options on any new phone.
    This has been one of those threads that makes me wonder. My main problem with the Moto Droid was two fold - the non Gmail e-mail system interface drove me nuts and the browsing wasn't as improved as I would have liked. I mentioned the video, because, yet again, it didn't meet with the expectations set by VZW's own marketing. And out of all of what I wrote, it appears the only thing the Droid fans want to address is the video problem I noted.

    I think my original assessment of the phone was more than fair. And, another poster noted that if the vid isn't HD then it IS pixelated. Same damn thing I said. This is something that could be fixed with a software update, as I noted. However, I stated my choice was not to use my upgrade and 250 bucks to keep the Droid and accessories. I found a better solution for my situation.
    12-21-09 01:32 PM
  23. dwaynewilliams#WN's Avatar
    Anybody have anything to say about emails on the Droid. My boss said he had one, and he wasn't able to get his emails set up very easily. Once he set them up, some didn't even work (I think he said he had four accounts). Anybody know if that has been fixed? Is it fairly easy to set up email accounts other than gmail, and are they pushed to the Droid? How long do they take?
    One of the things that I like about the Droid is that you receive full HTML email. Unlike the BlackBerry, the Droid presents the email just like you see it on the desktop computer. It doesn't have push email (so you won't get it in real time like you would on the BB), but it visually looks a lot better. The other side of it is that most HTML email is junk mail. So, if you don't really care about junk mail, then I would go with the BB. BBs are also the best messaging devices on the planet (IMHO). I haven't seen anything comparable yet.
    12-23-09 12:24 PM
  24. dwaynewilliams#WN's Avatar
    Everyone raves about the screen, however, play a YouTube movie on it before you buy it. I have seen dumb phones that have better video playback than a Droid. This should be fixed with a simple software upgrade. I didn't do the playback test before I bought the phone, so this was a surprise. When you see the screen displaying pictures or text, its sharp and beautiful. The difference is a let down.
    I don't think that YouTube videos are much better on a BB. Outside of the Iphone, I haven't seen a smartphone handle YouTube videos well.
    12-23-09 12:36 PM
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