Well, it’s official folks. My AT&T contract has been terminated and my new line on Verizon has been activated with the Motorola Droid X. The whole process was quick and painless. I know I’m going to miss the iPhone 4 hardware and apps. I’m not even going to pretend that I won’t. But one look at the status bar on the DX, makes me happy that I made the switch – full bars and a rock solid 3G connection. I’ve been listening to Pandora on and off all day, with no hiccups at all. Accessing the App Market works great too. I couldn’t do either of those tasks consistantly with the iPhone without needing a WiFi connection.
Speaking of the App Market, is it just me, or does it need a complete interface overhaul. It’s not very user friendly in my opinion. I’m spending a lot of time in it and am finding it difficult to locate the apps I need. I’m all ears if you all want to send me your must-have apps lists. 🙂
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can i buy the iphone 4 off you then?
My Droid X approves of this post. 🙂 It may take you a couple days, but you’ll never look back. Customize away. Choose your own browser (I recommend xScope). Use Google Voice. Add widgets (start with Beautiful Widgets). Google Maps? Check!
(BTW, if you haven’t already install LauncherPro Plus. Should be the stock launcher.)
The app market isn’t bad, but not great. Add AppBrain instead. Its free and has a web interface that you can use from your regular computer to find apps and queue them for quick install to the Droid.
I use adw for my stock launcher with a droid x theme, home switcher to go with that. SMS backup and restore if you wanna save and always have your texts back logged. tikl, for push to talk capabilities. and wheres my droid just in case you lose your phone in the couch cushions. Hope some of these helped
My wife got a Droid X and I am glad I didn’t upgrade my iPhone 3g to 4… I love the “openess” of the Droid. As more and more developers support Android, it will become even better.
Get AppBrain, pronto. It doesn’t address some of the more glaring issues in the market, but does at least allow such obvious browsing as by what is currently hot on the market. Google android appbrain market to read up a bit on it.
A few other I use and love are Dolphin Browser HD, Advanced Task Killer Free (a must have when stubborn apps freeze) and JuiceDefender to prolong battery life if you know you are not going to be able to charge your device soon and need to preserve every bit of power. Also, Astro is a great file manager app. As for LauncherPro Plus, this, for sure. You are going to love this beast. Enjoy!
Lifehacker has a good list: http://lifehacker.com/5616299/lifehacker-pack-for-android-our-list-of-the-best-android-apps?skyline=true&s=i
Also download Handcent SMS to see the true customization capability of Android. As well as Launcher Pro (get plus for all the nice widgets) for a home screen replacement. Finally, download Chrome 2 Phone and install the plug in (there is also a FF extension, Fox to Phone) to be able to send app links in app brain or droid blogs. Really comes in useful when I read app reviews.
Two great droid blogs: http://www.droid-life.com
http://androidandme.com/
Oh, and Handcent SMS is my texting client of choice.
i too would like to say install appbrain. the DX social media (FB Twitter) app isnt too bad. Beatiful Widgets is also a nice add on as well. Astro File manager which is a heck of a lot better then the stock one. If you wanted a different look, Root it and Theme it. Custom ROMs arent out yet. pesky bootloader… 🙁
Just a quick word…
I am a proud owner of the X and I love it. Coming from previous Windows phones, the change is a welcome one. I have pushed the 2.2 update that was out last week and the changes are awesome. The app store gets an nice user interface change that will please you I’m sure.
There are some really great apps out there, but with 2.2. they get better. Google’s Voice apps are out of control (to that end, all of google’s apps are great on the X). I am very happy with this phone and will be for a long time. 2.2 makes the phone so much better, it is upsetting that Motorola is stalling on this. I don’t know what they were thinking by not pushing out the latest software on the newest and most advanced phone out.
Anyhow, Droid X is an awesome phone.
Just ordered a DX after doing a bunch of research. Moving up from my Storm 1. I am anxious to see if I never look back. So far, the DX seems to have it all.
I am having a similar experience. Picked up a Droid X about a week ago and really like it.
My prior Droid on Verizon had awful audio quality. Somehow they’ve figured out how to improve the audio since the Droid X so far does not suffer from the same issue.
The bigger screen is great — and my gut feeling based on seeing a lot of these bigger phones out and about is that iPhone will pretty quickly get a bigger screen to compete.
So far I’ve had no lockup or stability problems with the Droid X — and I’m impressed.
I’ll keep my iPhone 4 around but the Droid X is definitely my top choice (of the month) …
@fondoo Sorry, but I’m keeping my iPhone 4. For one thing I spent $500 on it (eep) and secondly, I will be using it to do app and accessory reviews.
Thanks to everyone else so far for the app and website suggestions. I’m going to go ‘shopping’ right now and check some of them out!
@Wayne The screen was the deciding factor for me in choosing between the DX, D2, and Incredible. 🙂
Oh, one more suggestion. Unless you like Swype (I don’t like it) get Smart Keyboard PRO. Excellent keyboard, and if you just can’t get away from the iPhone you can even skin it so it looks like your old cast-away. 🙂
http://www.gmote.org/
Must have apps? WordPress (automatic, inc), PicSayPRO (trust me) , ES File Browser (or something – its a local, ftp and personal network connector you can browse files with on your home pc over wifi, your ftp space or locally! w0oT)
And uuuh, JetVD 😉 (trust)
Get appbrain and use that instead of the Android market. I have both an iPhone 4 and a Droid X. If I could only have one it would easily be the iPhone 4.
Congratulations, Julie !!
May all your rollover minutes rest in perfect peace, and you stay connected from here on!!!
You finally got it!! congrats!! I know you will love it!!
besides what everyone else said, most apps are trial by fire. I read the comments and d/l apps just to see how they work. The good thing about purchasing google apps, you have 24 hours to get a refund if you do not like the app. That is a big plus. Especially if you want to try an app out but are afraid of purchasing it.
if you have time, you can try your hand at rooting the X. It wasnt hard at all. other than that, enjoy your X!! and welcome to the dark side!!
In my opinion I love the Android App Market on my Droid X compared to the Itunes App Store. I don’t have to log in every time I install a free app and after I install an app I don’t have to start all the way at the top of the list and click “25 more” over and over to get back where I was. I honestly hated the Apple Itunes App store on my Ipod touch… which has now become a laggy 32gb $299 peice of junk since Apples latest “4g” update. I’m selling it and never buying Crapple again.
Have you downloaded “Double-Twist” yet?
Congrats. Inshallah Tuesday I will have my Samsung Epic 4G (unfortunately with 2.1), and will bid Palm farewell after 12 years (except I still have three devices), and will relegate my iPodTouch to a mere media player and possibly a reader in government buildings.
Four days, eight hours, nine minutes and 5 seconds
Congrats Julie! In a strange bit of irony, one of your recent pre-Droid X reviews on the iPhone 4 pushed me in that direction and I couldn’t be happier. Don’t make me regret it! 😉
What city do you live in? You can’t download apps or listen to Pandora? I have never had a problem with iPhone signal but I live in Manhattan.
Just curious.
@Jt I live in Columbus, Indiana. I’m not saying Pandora or the app store don’t work at all, they are just slow as heck unless I use Wifi.
Check out http://www.appbrain.com/ and http://www.android.com/
Much faster than shopping on your phone.
My top apps:
> Adobe Reader
> Advanced Task Killer
> Barcode Scanner
> Dictionary.com
> Kayak
> Amazon Kindle
> Weather Channel
> Wapedia
> Yelp
Thanks for all the great info on your site!
I just switched from my iPhone 3GS to the Samsung Captivate. It was kind of painful at first but I’m really enjoying Android now. I recommend the Google Calendar Sync app if you need to move Outlook/MobileMe calendars to Google. There are contact sync apps for Google-Outlook/Exchange also. I use the PicPush app to automatically push photos up to Flickr. I think the biggest difference between the iPhone and Android is Android’s approach to using cloud storage rather than attaching to a Mac/PC like the iPhone. QuickOffice was free last week, it is worth picking up.
I also went from an iphone to the droid x. I am selling mine on craigslist under chicago. Droid x open to so many options that were lacking on my iphone unless I jail broke it.
LookOut (it is an antivirus, it backs up files, and can help you find your phone when it is lost), Advanced Task Manager (can be set to automatically kill all running apps every 30min+) dictionary.com, DroidLight (we all need a flashlight at some point), Fring (if you like to video chat), Handcent SMS (hands down the best SMS app), music blaster & music wizard (both good music download apps), shazam (listens to your music and tells you the title and artists), redboxer (if you rent from redbox), TiKL (touch to talk), GOchat (facebook chatting THE BEST!), ringdroid (to make your own ringtones), and Act 1 video (to watch your movies)
I must say I’ve been a bit disappointed with my new Verizon Droid Incredible. Not only is the phone way less polished than my iPhone, and the Marketplace is simply horrid when put up against the app store, but Verizon’s service coverage has been lackluster to say the least. I primarily bought the phone to give me something to use when I was in an area that didn’t have adequate at&t coverage, and am considering returning because it fails to live up to that standard. So far, if I have no signal on my iPhone, I have no signal on my Droid. In many cases my Droid loses signal first. Today I was sitting at my local BMW dealership, and I was rocking full signal on my iPhone, full 3G signal at that. My droid had 2 bars of 1X. I have until Sept. 9th to decide if I’m going to keep the Droid. As of now, I see no point to. I’m hoping something comes along to convince me not to return it other than the fact that the phone is more easily customized, because a customized phone with no signal is just a customized battery cycler…
http://I.pgu.me/Wyz4Nd94_original.png
I hate slow iPhone 4 3G
That was in meeker oklahoma
Awww, your not a child anymore, you just became a grown up! 🙂
Eight hours, forty-four minutes and three seconds…I get my Samsung Epic4G!
I want to transfer my phone log (nearly 6 years of logs!) and text messages from my Palm to the Android device.
Julie, what is your battery life like on your Droid X?
I admittedly loaded my Epic 4G with apps the first few days, trying to get the functionality of my Palm smartphones and have pretty dismal battery life but I cannot find anyone else stating what their battery life is like. I am losing about 8-10% an hour with a minimal setup. I am about to backup and remove everything, do a hard reset and see what my b-life is like with no apps then slowly start adding apps.
@Jason The battery live on my Droid X isn’t as long as what I was getting with the iPhone 4. I typically get about 1 – 1.25 days or per full charge. I need to get my hands on the extended battery.
So backup my E4G, do a hard reset then restore about half of my apps then let it charge to 100%. I unplugged it at 8:36a at 100%, it is now 7:49p and I am at 68%. which is about 3% an hour. Granted I only made one phone call today and received/made about 6 texts but I had wifi and phone on all day. Also I only have one email account setup (gmail)…the Exchange acct is not re-setup yet. Typically I would be completely dead by now…I was down to 60% in less than four hours before.
I hope this is a sign of the performance I will get from now on.
Well, it didn’t last. I am still losing about 8-10% an hour and I don’t know why. I have change all my settings to be as little as possible and usable (my display is at 10% brightness). I’m now trying a task killer to hopefully shut everything down on screen off. Frustrating.
@Jason if you go into the settings and go to Battery Manager, what is it showing that is using all your juice?
Good news first: I downloaded and installed Advanced Task Killer (free app). I found a good setup advice on the web and today I am at 48% after 14 hours (about 3.7% per hour). Much better! I suddenly liked my phone also there are some other tweaks I am hoping for. To go a whole day it needs to average 3.75% per hour or less (assuming 100% down to 10% battery).
To answer the question, it was always saying the Display, Cell Standby, Phone Idle. Usually in that order. I have read and tried about 15 or 20 website’s advice on how to improve battery life with all kinds of tips.
I read one yesterday that said Droid X is the best (by almost 2 hours with the test they ran), the Epic was in the middle and the Incredible was last.
But anyway, the task killer at least lets me someone know that it is some app or service that is not turning off or is sucking too much juice when it is one (the former is most likely since I was draining fast even when it was off).
I also use Profiles (free app, has paid version too) and this is great too.
Will keep you posted. If possible, this would be nice in the general Android convo area too.