I'm really picky about my electronics and technology. For the average person, the Droid 2 is probably ambrosia. I thought the HTC Droid was much faster IMHO.



 

The Incredible is in fact much slower hardware.  The droid 2 and x have motorola's software which isn't that great.  All you have to do is download ADW or Launcher pro apps (both free) and then not only are things faster, but you can customize everything, map buttons, change toolbars, etc.

No BB is crash and lock happy lag ware. Constant battery pulls.





I am not sure what advice you are looking for OP.





Droid X and Droid 2 are FAST and supports everything you asked for just about out of the box. Offline GPS + Maps, check. Online GPS + Nav, check. Great web experience, check. Tethering, check. Customize the shit out of them, check. Decent battery life for a smartphone, check.




*edit, Have you tried the Samsung Galaxy S phones? They are on just about every major carrier now, VZW coming very soon. My friend just picked a ATT Captivate up, and it is even faster than my Droid X.





 

Sounds like Sprint & the Evo 4G (which is Android based) would be a good fit...



Isn't Sprint the 69.99 for 'unlimited everything' plan company?





 

Yeah but their coverage SUCKS.



 

Rethinking as we speak...  

Do they make a large battery for the X?

I have a Droid Incredible with Verizon and love it, best phone I have ever had. I just recieved  the 2.2 Froyo update yesterday which is supposed to make it even better.

Yes a VZW one that is 1850mAh and Sedio has a 3500mAh one coming out. I am holding out for the 3500 before I buy one. The stock battery is OK, and can get me through a full day of heavy use, but another 8 hours would be golden.



Oh and when you get the car mount, you can run a dash cam... which is just flippin cool. Eventually some geek will figure out how to stream it over the air... which will be epic.





 

Droid 2 and Droid X were fucking slow as shit, even with Android 2.2 - I requested a web page and walked away for a few moments, it had yet to load (full bars for 3G and even tried it with 802.11n wifi). The user interface itself was slow as well.





The HTC Droids that a few others bought were literally FLYING through the menus. Whenever I tried doing that on my Droid 2 and on the demo units in the store, it'd bog down a little or it would activate the item that I swiped over. The HTC Droids were working great out of the box.





I guess I was hoping the Droid 2 would be as fast as everyone claims it is, but it was a real disappointment to me (along with Droid X). I didn't understand what the fuss was about, but I'm glad I ditched it.





The BB Storm2 was shit, along with the Bold something they had on display. The Palm wasn't that good either. I couldn't find anything I liked at Verizon and AT&T.





Google Maps / GPS / Flash 10.1 / etc on a smartphone was just unimpressive especially at $75+/month even with the Army discount. It's ridiculous and I am surprised people are willing to pay these high monthly costs. Everyone at work says they pay well over $100/month on cell phones. I thought Android would be the best, since it has full support of Google apps, but Android itself wasn't anything to write home about. I've given Linux a shot every few years and it has yet to impress me (yes, even the latest releases). If it doesn't crash / lock / freeze / corrupt, I'd be surprised.

 

Got my EVO in the mail today, so far its pretty cool

3500mAh you say?  Hmmm...

All you had to do was download one app.  It would have taken 30 seconds.

That nailed it.

I'll back pack a nuclear generator if I have to.

Off to the Verizon site I go.  

They're also developing a security app that uses face recognition/iris scanning.

Pretty useless for me, but very cool.

I have the Droid Incredible. For me it is the best combination of size and power. With the new update it shoots hi-def video. If you use PDAnet you can tether it to your laptop for free. There are free apps for everything I need to do. I really don't care about playing games or entertainment on mine. My buddy just upgraded to the Droid X from a Moto Droid. The screen on it is awesome, but it's twice as thick and the Incredible.

Would it have fixed all the sluggish interface issues, the GPS, Google Maps, and the horrible battery life? If so, why didn't Motorola just include this app? To me, paying for any apps just adds to the sunk cost of owning one of these "smartphones". For the total cost of ownership in a 2 year contract, I could buy a FN SCAR H and it'd be at least more reliable and fun to use.
 

Yes, it would have replaced the interface completely.  And its FREE.

Motorola doesn't include ADW or Launcher Pro because they do away with their motoblur interface which they spent money designing (stupid, I know).  The idea is to differentiate their device from those of other manufactures, since android is open source.

As to the GPS, both the droid 2 and droid X I've had have excellent GPS and the google maps and navigation are great.  Much, MUCH better than my tomtom; if your device wasn't then it was defective.  The battery life for both those devices is also pretty good for smart phones.  Yes, you have to charge it every day, but I've not had mine die on me and I stream music and  use it quite a bit.  Consider that these phones are closer to laptops (which last only a couple hours on a charge) than dumb phones and the battery life is pretty reasonable.

It sounds like you really just don't want a smart phone.  That's fine; you've returned yours.  For other people they work great.  Personally, I won't go back to a dumb phone.

So are you done with your smartphone bashing thread, or do you have more to whine about? It seems to me you just started this to vent about his you hate motorola products, att and vzw and the people that apprently misled you. The droid x and droid 2 are very fast devices, but a store demo model that people have goobered up is not a good indicator of anything. So go back to your flip phone and be done with it and let the morons play with the smart phone.

Seriously, why did you even start this thread?

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

It also sounds like you couldn't figure out how to use it, thus it must be the phones fault.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Which carrier?

Verizon. Don't love them, but you know how it is with cell phone companies.

 

I just got back from the Overland Park Mall in Kansas City. Went to the Verizon store and checked on the Droid X. Surfed to AR.15 and KUSports and it was quicker than my  home cable at 6MB to customer prem. Everthing was immediate with no lag. We ran video and cruised the forums. They have been spot on and impressive the times I have looked at them. I'm just trying to justify $250 a month for cable, internet, smart phone.  If I could make money with it maybe.....

Kill the web and get the wifi tether.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

This is what I'm thinking.  I've never heard of a single person with any of the issues he's describing.

The Droid X and Droid 2 at the store took forever to load web pages. It was much slower than the cable internet I had at home. I pay $60/month for cable internet and TV (just basic mandated crap that Comcrap wants for the $15 discount). It's either I pay the $15 for basic broadcast TV or I pay an extra $15 for cable internet. And yes, I did try the WiFi (the mall had free WiFi everywhere) - but it was just as slow as the 3G on the phone. YouTube, Fox News, and other web sites were loading slow. I literally walked away while it was loading, just to try some other phones. When I came back, it had locked up.
I think beyond the problems I experienced with the usability/performance on the Droid X and Droid 2, I felt the entire experience of owning and using a smartphone was pretty boring and contrived. The functionality was limited. I could download additional apps, but many of them cost extra. There are plenty of free apps as well, but even with Android the experience wasn't what I was expecting. I've used the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4 and Blackberry in the past, and none of the latest BB models impressed me. I guess if I absolutely had to be able to go on Facebook or watch movies/YouTube where I didn't have a computer, then yeah maybe it makes sense. I just watch movies at home. I only listen to music in the car or at home.
I am a tech junkie (lots of laptops and PCs at home) but I'm going back to not having a cellphone. Verizon / Droid didn't do much for me honestly. I'm not sure how people can afford their plans (average person tells me they spend over $100 on their voice/data plan) or justify it. It would be around $75/month after taxes/fees with the Army discount (450 min voice, no text, "unlimited" data, insurance).
The tether feature sounded great but Verizon threatened to drop your plan if they "found out" and I did mention to them that PDAnet and Easytether are just apps and not firmware hacks. The extra $20+ month wouldn't justify it either.




I've tried a number of times to really like cellphones/smartphones but nothing has impressed me. I only pay $60/month in cable internet and $25/month for VoIP (unlimited CONUS and to 21 countries). I don't need to pay $100/month for tether and voice/data on a phone that won't be used as much as my home net.



Thanks for your help everyone.

You're still running Windows '95 on your computers at home, aren't you?

You got a bum unit. Take it back. I don't have any of the issues your are talking about. $ of my friends have Droids to and they aren't having those issues either.

That's what I thought, but all of the Droid X's and Droid 2's were DOA at the store. They had to start hard resetting and reactivating all of them to make them work. They only managed to get 1 ready for demo and it was slowwwwww in 3G and WiFi. They let me play with their own Droid X's and Droid 2's and it was about the same experience. Like I said before, a few people just bought HTC Droid's in line and the Verizon reps were just activating/preping them so it was a clean activation. The HTC's were FLYING right out of the box w/o the stupid touch screen issues I experienced on every Droid X / Droid 2.



I was mainly  curious about Google Maps and the Nav feature. Everyone that has a Droid kept telling me they didn't bother using a GPS unit anymore because Google Maps on their Droid was "so good". After trying it out myself, I thought "meh" and my 3-year old Tom Tom worked a lot better w/o a monthly plan. I could at least store a destination and retrieve it rather than type in its full address and waste time searching for it. I hoped Google Maps would allow me to at least retrieve "My Maps" locations to directly input as destinations especially for remote areas that don't have addresses.



I wouldn't have complained so much if it weren't for the fact these things cost so much to use. For about $30 a month, I could live with the problems and try to work around them. $75/month - meh, I could live without it. The total cost of ownership/usage over the 2 year contract would be well north of $2000.



Windows 7 / Vista 32/64-bit here. Oldest one is XP on an old laptop. I tried Linux, and Ubuntu/Hebuntu/Whateverbuntu didn't work well. After using it a few times on a netbook on a USB drive, it locked up, crashed, and corrupted itself. I tried this 3-4 times and the end result was the same - very unreliable, but has a clean UI.



I appreciate everyone's help, but I don't think smartphones/cellphones are for me. If I absolutely had to get something, I may just end up going with Virgin Mobile's $25/month unlimited data plan and a BB. It'd be a POS, but it's cheap.





 

...Or get the extended battery for like $35 from Verizon.



 

The OP's experience is not typical of Android phones, Android OS, or any other phone, really.  Sounds like he got a defective phone.  Defects even happen to the almighty Apple, believe it or not.





 

Blackberry vs Iphone



Iphone is absolutely better than Blackberry.



I own and operate both phones. My Iphone is my primary phone, but I use a Blackberry for work. While both phones will do similar functions the Iphone is simple and intuitive where the Blackberry is ridiculously complex. Even the Icons arevague on a blackberry.  Even know I couldn't tell you what some of them are by sight.  I have to actually roll over them so the verbal discription of the folder comes up.   The blackberry is obnoxiously difficult to understand. I did the Parent test....



I handed the Blackberry to my parents and asked them to do various tasks.....the couldn't do anything on the Blackberry, my father did finally figured out how to make a phone call. On the Iphone they initially stumbled, but quickly started smiling as they figured out how to navigate the thing.



Both phones will do the same thing.   Blackberry is doomed.  

Was just in the Verizon store.  They have the newest Droid coming out on the 9th.  It is the iPhone killer.  Looks and works like an iPhone.  



Can't remember what they call it, but I had one to demo.  It is the Droid I will buy.

Been using my Samsung Captivate for a couple of weeks (coming from an iPhone 3G)...This phone is amazing. Everything about it is just great. Using Launcher Pro because I didn't care for the Samsung interface, and it's just fast as hell, and the screen is incredible. My neighbor has an Evo 4G and she's jealous of mine.

Is the Captivate the new one that Verizon is bringing out on the 9th..sounds like the name...I just demo'd it briefly.  Nice.





 

I think the Captivate is ATT only, but it's in the same line of "Galaxy S" series phones that verizon and tmobile also sell. I believe it's the same hardware, just different looks.

Same here, the Incredible with FroYo is simply awesome. Best phone ever my buddy has an iPhone4 and he is always asking me what Google nav says because the nav app for crapple sucks the high hard one.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

You guys convinced me... I'm going to give it another shot, either Droid X or Droid 2 again - I found them at another store for a lower price. Any reason to go with one or the other besides the digital camera and mechanical keyboard? The buttons on Droid 2 felt like a cheap Tozai calculator I used in my childhood, or a Microwave oven and feels like it would eventually tear because I type with my thumbnails.

I have a droid x, and none of the issues that you have stated are apparent with my phone.

And, for what you are using it for, the larger screen would be nice.

When you buy a computer, is it crap if it doesn't come with software that you have to PAY for?

It definitely does sound like he got a defective unit.   Also fingerfucking the floor models that dozens of other jacktards have fingerfucked in the store is like fucking a prostitute and then saying sex is a horrible thing because you got an STD.   Those floor model phones were probably all ten kinds of jacked up and probably had ten tons of shit installed by idiots fucking around with 'em.


A smartphone is like a computer.  You can run it smart, or you can run it like an idiot and end up with a fucked up phone.   My desktop with a three year old install of Win XP still runs like a fucking champ, and I don't even have antivirus on it.  I just avoid stupid shit that will fuck it up.   A smart phone is the same.


The OP should have exchanged his phone for another one.  Condemning a whole company's product line from a personal sample of 1 is idiotic.   If you get a bum unit, get it exchanged.  Don't assume that every example of the same model product will exhibit the exact same undesired performance.  

FYI the floor models all had to be hard reset so I played with the one that was hard reset, and I tried out the sales reps' personal Droid phones. I probably need to download 13 different apps to make the Droid 2 work like everyone claims.

Honestly after reading this entire thread, you just need to stick with your netbook/camera/MP3player/Tomtom.
Ive gathered from all your posts that you will not be happy no matter what you end up with.

FWIW I'm a gear Guy and IVe owned all of the listed phones at one point or another, DroidX and the android OS are my Favorite so far.

Good luck.
Del

You gave up too easily.

You should just buy an iPhone.  Apple will make it run for you so you don't have to worry about it.

Between those two, Get the X unless you want the physical keyboard (for the larger screen).  Learn to use Swype.  

Note that the Fascinate is coming out on the 9th, and should be a superior phone in almost every way.  Faster processor and graphics processor, better screen.  

The very first thing you should do is download ADW launcher from the android market, no matter what phone you get.  Then, learn a bit about the operating system, and what apps you want/need.  Android Forums is a good resource.


Good Luck!

It took me about six hours to download everything, get all my settings set the way I want and install/configure the apps I wanted.  I still troll Android forums looking for new/interesting apps.  I was new to android, when I switched from the droid 2 to the X it took me about 45 minutes.

Tried it again at the store and it didn't do anything for me. The Samsung Galaxy looks ok but I don't see anything that indicates it is much better than the Droid X or Droid 2. Still a 1 GHz processor. I read the HTC Droid Incredible has poor battery life compared to the other droid phones.



Maximum PC said Google Maps was the most used app for Android phones, but I didn't see what the fuss was about.

I have had my Droid 2 for about three weeks. I had a Eris before, Ipod touch.

The Droid 2 is  way better than the Eris. I like the keyboard, but think the Droid X is cooler. Droid 2 was upgrade from eris, cost me nothing with rebates. The battery life is not good, but I am always surfing here so, it  may be me. I  have a extended battery on the way, once I have it I will have a cool phone, that is basically my travel net book, GPS. The GPS rocks and got me to a friends house outside of St. Louis.

All in all I am happy with mine. Maybe people are expecting too much from phones now days

Processor speed doesn't really mean much.  The architecture on the samsung processor is different; it CRUSHES the droid 2 and x on benchmarks, and has a much better graphics processor.  Again, the phone has a crappy UI that needs replacing.


As I said earlier, you just may not want a smartphone.  If it doesn't do it for you, then don't get one.  Easy.