Deak Starkiller
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Hmm...thanks Sarge, I appreciate the review. So where are you in Wisconsin? Is Milwaukee ____ty? Might have to move there soon. 
Motorola DROID
- Thread starter King Darkness
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King Darkness
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As promised, here are my thoughts on the Droid X. This is gonna be a long post, but will probably be worth the read if you're considering buying the phone.
My last phone was a first generation iPhone, so any time I compare to the iPhone, keep in mind that this is the basis for my comparison, unless otherwise specified.
If you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them but please check below to see if your question is answered. I know this is a big scary wall of text but I'll try to keep things somewhat organized here. However, keep in mind that I'm a bit of a scatterbrain.
Lastly, it may sound like I'm beating up on the iPhone a bit here. This is for a couple of reasons:
1) My last phone was an iPhone
2) Most everybody I know has an iPhone
3) I support the iPhone in a corporate environment professionally
4) I agonized over getting the iPhone 4 on several occasions (I *really* wanted one, just as BadMoon). I think virtually everybody shopping for a smartphone today has the iPhone at or near the top of their list. Frankly, they'd be stupid not to.
So, before you all start posting how I'm hater or whatever, please understand the context.
Phone - The thing to keep in mind when buying any phone is that it is a phone first and foremost. The thing should be able to make and receive calls and hopefully be of decent enough quality. The Droid X accomplishes this better than any cell phone I've ever owned. The earpiece speaker plays high quality audio and can do so at high volumes if need be.
My first phone call was with an iPhone 3GS user. I could hear him clearly, but he told me my voice would cut in and out. I was a bit concerned but he told me it happens "almost all the time". Just to be sure it wasn't my phone causing the problem, I called my wife (from the same location) and the quality was almost land-line-ish on both ends. (we were in the same building on different floors and traded phones halfway to compare).
My second call was with someone on Virgin Mobile with some Kyocera dumbphone. We could both hear eachother clearly. I was receiving the call in the exact same location as my call with the 3GS user.
My third call was with an iPhone 4 user. He was breaking in and out and reported I was doing the same.
After that, I kinda stopped keeping track of my calls. They were all great quality. This is probably due to the multiple noise canceling mic's and (from what I understand) multiple antennas.
So, call quality good.
Carrier - I'm not going to get into it too much here because carrier preference largely depends on where you live, but I want to make a few points here.
I had good coverage and full 3G throughout southeastern Wisconsin. I drove all over the damn place running errands and whatnot and was streaming Pandora the whole time. It never once switched to EDGE, not even in the boonies.
When I was shopping for a new cell plan, I had to consider AT&T's new data cap policy (no, I was not "grandfathered in" to the unlimited plan for reasons I'm not going to get into here). So Verizon's unlimited data was *VERY* attractive to me and was definitely the deciding factor in choosing a phone.
AT&T will tell you that just about everybody will fall short of their 2GB cap. I've only really used my phone two days, and I used the ____ out of that sucker today, and my usage reads as 40 MB right now (remember, I was streaming Pandora *a lot* too). So taking this small sample size, I use 20 MB a day, which would come to 620 MB a month, which is *FAR* short of AT&T's data cap.
I was actually quite shocked by this. I still think I made the right decision by going with unlimited though because, while my usage today may average to be under 2 GB a month, who knows what the future holds? I'm locked in for two years, I'd rather not worry about it. With the plan I have, I end up paying $5 more on Verizon's unlimited plan than I would have on AT&T's 4 GB plan. I think that $5 for not having to worry about data caps is money well spent. Your opinion might be different.
Hardware - The first thing you'll notice when you see the Droid X is the screen. The screen is HUGE! You simply cannot understand how big and wonderful this screen is until you see it for yourself in person. And while the screen is huge, the phone itself is a very reasonable size that fits good in my hands and pocket. I may be an adult male, but I have small womanly hands, and it still feels great in portrait mode. I never really felt the need to switch to landscape, so I can't really comment there.
The Droid X sports more buttons and ports than I'm used to. There is your standard audio jack, micro USB, and a mini HDMI port. There is also a spot for a lanyard thingy, not sure how many people will use that, but it's there. There is a power/attention button on top, a volume buttons on the side, a camera button on the side (or up top in landscape), and four buttons on the face for your basic Android functions (which I'll get into what that's all about later).
The only complaints I have about the buttons are that the face ones feel a little wobbly for my taste in a smartphone built in 2010, and also that the camera button, which I love having btw, takes a little getting used to. What I mean by that is that it's a two-stage button like most cameras nowadays, but it didn't always make it to the second stage. I can do it now, but I had to practice it a bit before I got it. Lastly, I need to complain that there is no physical switch to silence the phone. This is done by holding down the power button and selecting silence from a menu, or by toggling a setting or widget within the software.
I do love the feel of the phone. The back feels slightly rubbery, which is great for keeping it in place, but doesn't stick in the pocket like many cases do.
GPS - The GPS found a signal faster than my TomTom. Directions and location seemed accurate to me. Google Maps with Turn by Turn navigation is included for free on every Android phone. This is a pretty big plus, imo. One thing to keep in mind is that it does require a data connection, so if your signal is spotty, you'll be SOL. There may be an app with downloadable apps, or some other solution, but I haven't looked into it.
Android - Compared to iOS, Android is a mangled mess of gibberish. At least the version on the Droid X is. From what I understand, there are many different Android "skins" to make it more pretty/usable. I stuck with the shipping version, but will try the recommended "Launcher Pro" some time in the future.
Settings aren't just in the Settings app, they're also all over the damn phone in menus, submenus, and who knows where else. Navigating is done with physical buttons on the phone as well as the touch screen. It can be confusing at times to know when to use which. This is not a problem on iOS.
While you may be playing hide and seek with the settings, you will have a lot of them once you finally find them. You can configure pretty much anything and everything.
Android has widgets work much like the widgets in Mac OSX. I love these things. They provide easy and quick access to various tasks without having to launch an app.
Gamers need not apply to Android. There are games, but nowhere near the selection available on iOS. This may change in the future, but for now, the selection is pretty weak. Don't take my word for it though, see for yourself here: https://www.android.com/market/#app=com.com2us.HG
You can compare that to Apple's selection in iTunes.
One thing Android does better than iOS in a really big way is notifications. Notifications on iOS are an obnoxious, intrusive experience that gets in your face no matter what you are doing. On Android, an icon displays up top and doesn't get in your way until you acknowledge it. If it's a text, it will display the text up top and you can still do whatever it is you were doing uninterrupted.
One last thing that I'm really not a fan of, is Android's need for a 3rd party task manager. Lots of programs like to start themselves when the phone boots up (much like Windows) and they will sit there and use your phone's resources until you quit them (using a 3rd party task manager).
Camera - I put this last because of the large pics I'm going to post. The Droid X sports a nice camera with a flash. There is a two-stage physical button that launches the camera app and takes pictures. I mentioned the quircky-ness of the button above, but I do think it works fine once you get used to it. In fact, I prefer this to the touch screen interface of the iPhone. I can't speak to the quality of the iPhone 4 personally, but there are comparisons all over the web. I'll stop my rambling and let the pics do the talking:
Outdoors:
Outdoors using zoom:
Dimly-lit indoors without flash:
Dimly-lit indoors with flash:
The video shoots 720p. There is no image stabilizer, so it's comparable to most flip cams and point-and-clicks on the market today. One nice thing about the video is that you can select which mic to record from.
Overall, I'm very happy with the Droid X. It's the best phone I've ever owned, and I have no regrets whatsoever. I hope somebody out there finds this giant wall o' text useful, 'cause it took forever to type up.
If you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them.
Typically this post would recieve my "Too many words
" reply, but that was a great review Kabu. Glad you're happy with the purchase.
Kabukiman
Greatest Person Ever
So where are you in Wisconsin? Is Milwaukee ____ty? Might have to move there soon.
I'm in the Milwaukee area. Milwaukee's alright (as long as you're not sending your kids through Milwaukee public school, most of the 'burbs have good programs though), I don't have any complaints really, I guess it depends on where you're coming from what your interests are.
I forgot to mention the battery in my ramblings. I've been making in through full days just fine so far, which is surprising considering the hardware. The battery is replaceable, so I can get an extra if need be, but I don't think I'll need one. I do plug it in to the charger when I'm in the car, same as I did with the iPhone, so your mileage may vary.
gibby
Super Freak
Kabukiman
Greatest Person Ever
Thanks!
There's 8 GB of on-board storage and it includes a 16 GB micro-SD card. When you mount the phone to your computer, you only get access to the SD storage.
It looks like the SD card is for photos, video, music, save data, etc. While the on-board storage is used for the OS and apps. Not sure what happens if the on-board storage fills up, I'm hoping it will just start using the SD card automatically. Or maybe 8 GB is enough space for non-media stuff, I dunno.
My only complaint about the SD card is a minor one: you need to remove the battery to get at it. Seems like a goofy design choice to me, but it's really not a big deal at all.
The SD card is one thing I think this phone has over other phones out there. If I fill it up, I don't have any regrets wishing I went with a higher capacity model, I just buy a new SD card and stick it in. I think micro SD maxes out at 32 GB right now, but I'm sure that number will be doubled and doubled again during the lifespan of this phone.
gibby
Super Freak
The SD card is what almost sold me on this phone. How it's placed in there is a little annoying, but I'm not sure where else you could have put it, honestly.
I am curious, though, what you thought of the transfer speeds and if you've noticed any slow down in transfers with the hd video.
Kabukiman
Greatest Person Ever
Not that I noticed. It seems to transfer as fast as my Coolpix and my flipcam.
Reinhardt
Super Freak
Awesome review Kabuki. Thanks, very helpful.
gibby
Super Freak
Cool, thanks.
Deak Starkiller
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I actually might have to move to Milwaukee, how funny. And dude the schools can't be worse than AZ, we're 50/50 for education BUT we're number one for teen pregnancy! 
Droid Incredible is set to get the Android 2.2 update later this month or early next month. It's also adding 720p video recording and 3G hotspot.
BadMoon
Demi G0D Overseer
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King Darkness
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OH NOES!!!! 
BadMoon
Demi G0D Overseer
OH NOES!!!!
I'm under my desk as I type this!
And my iPhone has no signal because I'm holding it wrong! How the hell else can I get a hold of John to let him know?
Kabukiman
Greatest Person Ever
Awesome! Now I have to decide which team I'm on...
Team :
or Team
:
Personally, I've always been pretty partial to this guy: I'm just glad us Droid guys aren't missing out on the fun. Unfortunately, most of the press is too busy covering Apple to notice. The real tragedy is that I wanted to put a sad monkey here, but I already hit the limit for number of images allowed in a post. =(
Team
:I DEMAND JUSTICE!!!!
GET ERIC SHMIDT OUT HERE!!!
IT'S DISPLAYGATE!!!!!!!!!
FREE BUMPERS NOW!!!!!!!
or Team
:I don't see what the bid deal is.
I don't have this problem so it doesn't exist.
All smartphones suffer from crazy broken screen. It's just a face of life.
Personally, I've always been pretty partial to this guy:
I'm just glad us Droid guys aren't missing out on the fun. Unfortunately, most of the press is too busy covering Apple to notice. The real tragedy is that I wanted to put a sad monkey here, but I already hit the limit for number of images allowed in a post. =(
BadMoon
Demi G0D Overseer
"Hang on to your megabytes, folks, because it looks like the Brave New World of limited data is truly upon us. AT&T and Verizon tend to follow each others' moves pretty closely -- the two carriers regard each other as their nearest competitors, after all -- and we're hearing that Big Red intends to move to some sort of tiered bucket strategy on July 29.
We don't have details on whether the pricing will be identical to AT&T's ($25 for 2GB, $15 for 200MB), but we imagine it'll be within shouting distance if not. Of course, Verizon has been sending this message for a long time -- even before AT&T was -- so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that this is going down. You might say that Droid Does Caps, eh?"
We don't have details on whether the pricing will be identical to AT&T's ($25 for 2GB, $15 for 200MB), but we imagine it'll be within shouting distance if not. Of course, Verizon has been sending this message for a long time -- even before AT&T was -- so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that this is going down. You might say that Droid Does Caps, eh?"
King Darkness
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Yeah, not a surprise there. Still sux ass though.
Exactly how much is 2GB a month? I spend a ____ load of time on the net from my phone and listen to a lot of internet radio stations, no clue how that translates into the amount of GB used
Exactly how much is 2GB a month? I spend a ____ load of time on the net from my phone and listen to a lot of internet radio stations, no clue how that translates into the amount of GB used
King Darkness
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I just checked my last three months of statements
295866 kb
395678 kb
356254 kb
So it seems my average usage is well below the 2GB, so I guess if Verizon chooses that as a limit I should be okay. Still sux though.
295866 kb
395678 kb
356254 kb
So it seems my average usage is well below the 2GB, so I guess if Verizon chooses that as a limit I should be okay. Still sux though.
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