I’m thinking about taking another shot at replacing my old Palm 700p cellphone and am looking for something that is at least as good as what I bought 5 years ago. As many of you know, I tried the HTC Touch Pro2 and ended up returning it because it was so dysfunctional. I went to a Verizon store and was somewhat impressed. The thing actually seems to work. I didn’t see any kind of stylus with it which may be a good thing. Perhaps you don’t need one.
So – should I buy this phone or is there yet a better one about to come out? Should I wait for the Droid 2?
I have a few questions.
1) Since it’s a Linux box – is there a Bash command line?
2) Need an SSH client.
3) Would like to be able to turn it into a hotspot like I could do with the Windows phone I took back. Can that be done?
4) Youtube video was pretty grainy. I’m wondering why?
5) Where are good sites to get apps for this platform.
What else should I know or consider before buying this phone? Is it mature? There are no honest reviews out there for any phone and unlike most reviewers I am interested in how well it makes phone calls. One thing I almost never see in a review is the phone app. I’m also interested in the email app. If an email has an attached WAV file, can I play it?
Thoughts?
Is this an APP phone running nothing more then WHATS ON IT..
or a real computer telephone WHICH you can run anything thats OPEN to Linux??
not just a WEB based computer.
Im sorry. But I want a phone that I can ADAPT to what I need/want. If I want CHEAP 3mp pics, or 10mp pics, I can select it, or ADDON.
90% of cellphone cameras, have NO FOCUS or even a Lens to clear up the picture, just a protective cover. It gets scratched and FOGGY and you get NOTHING..
I would also like a CELLPHONE and Computer to have SEPARATE batteries. If one dies, I can STILL use the other features.
In all reality..IF you want pictures and VIDEO get a CAMERA..
Kid I work with got one. He loves it already.
maybe check out the nokia n900 which looks kind of similar
no shell access in android, so no bash. connectbot is an ssh client for android. wifi sharing is technically feasible but you better ask someone who has actually tried it – there is an android app wifi router. motorola will undoubtedly have a droid app shop, there are a few others, google might have a list. for what it’s worth, i hate sliders – the slide mechanisms are fragile, prone to jamming with sand and grit, become difficult in extreme cold, and the teeny keyboard is useless in gloves.
I live in Gilroy California so we don’t get extreme cold.
“Is it mature?” – Released few days ago on platform about year old…
Yes
Motorola makes crummy products. Over the last ten years, both I and everyone I’ve known have been unhappy with every Motorola product they’ve bought. (This is a shame, they used to make great stuff.) Wait for something from Nokia, Samsung, Sony Erikson, or any brand that has some happy customers. Don’t waste your time and money on a company with a proven record of failure. Good android phones are coming.
The Droid is the best Smart Phone that Verizon has until they get the iPhone next year. So go ahead and get the Droid.
I love the Android 2.0 OS, but the Moto hardware, to me, felt and looks like something out of the 90’s except for the screen.
If only they could take the internals from the Moto Droid and stuff it into the Eris shell…
I currently have both an iPhone 3GS and an HTC Hero (same as the Eris) on Sprint and HTC plans to update it with Android 2.0. Once they do, I’m going to shitcan the iPhone and AT&T.
Yes, buy it. Then you can tell us all about it.
I want one but I am going to hold off until next year. First adopters always get screwed. Maybe I will get one when they release the next Android update.
# 4 sargasso
It doesn’t matter that the keys are as big as 6 inch tiles and the keyboard is 8 feet long, what I want is a phone that can do text at 60 below with my mittens on while I mush my team thru the Iditarod.
You forgot underwater while scuba diving. The Rolex Oyster Droid…
Moron
It’s kinda fugly.
I don’t have an iPhone, I’m not an Apple fan, but I was impressed the first time I played with an iPhone at an Apple store, the day after they came out. Everything worked, including the new features, without a single “How the hell do I do this?” moment.
Opposite experience today with the Droid, which I really wanted to like. Had to go to two Verizon stores before I found one that worked. Very little was intuitive. I’m sure I could learn the interface, but hats off to Apple for making a powerful interface that I didn’t have to sweat.
My website has a long URL, making it a great test for the keyboard. I’ve never made a typo typing it out on the iPhone. Took me more than a minute on both the real and the virtual keyboard on the Droid. Yecch.
First impression: did somebody PAY for all that good ink? I really, really wanted to like the Droid, and I left totally underwhelmed.
Been a Palm Pre “early adopter” now for a while… Love the thing. Cheap to own too. Sprint coverage is great here and when i do roam it roams on Verizon. Sprint costs less, has fast networks, and the gives the main line an upgrade every year! Keep up with new products!
I could see the iPhone once they add some carrier who is not AT&T.
Droid may be the best Android phone so far – yet I believe the pre to be the best choice so far. Droid has my attention – but watch out for Verizon’s contract– rumor is getting out is really $$$.
Oh, and the droid keyboard… wtf?
No data services are available during an in-progress phone call.
See the wired.com review.
I would love to dump my iphone, but the droid doesn’t to it for me yet. The screen is not wide enough, eventhough it is tall enough. I have both verizion (casio boulder-great phone/poor GUI) and AT&T (iphone 3G).
I probably won’t buy a new phone until the new 4G iphone comes out. By that time my iphone’s battery will be shot, and it will be time to upgrade.
I would wait until 2q2010 to make a choice. The market will have more choices then.
I’d also wait for a phone that can fully support Adobe Flash. Browsing the web without any Flash capability is a bummer.
Gilroy? Yuck. No offense but you should save your money and move to nicer locale, preferably a place that doesn’t reek of a vegetable.
The WalMart in Gilroy is the scariest place on the planet.
I would go for the Nokia N900 over the Droid
#11 – hhopper – Yes, buy it. Then you can tell us all about it.
LOL
Hello and I bought one on friday and I’ve had Iphone, HTC Touch pro, and palm phones. this so far is the best of the bunch for me! I love how your run lots of programs at the same time. last night I looked at how much stuff I was running and I had 10 apps open and running, The phone didn’t slow down. The screen is AWESOME and way better then the iphone. There are some clunky things with the menus the touch responce is not as snappy as the iphone but 2.0 is just out the gate and will get corrected, They are working on a 2.1 right now to correct stuff like that.
All and All I see lots of the same apps as on the iphone and for me the this is the phone that I wanted when I bought an iphone, The Droid is not as easy to use as the iphone and I think it’s that way because they don’t want to look like they are copying any other phone.
Get one and I bet you don’t take it back, but you have 14 days to do so. 😉
My sister works for IBM and wanted a Droid in the worst way. Found out it would be almost impossible to synch with Lotus Notes (which she is forced to use by her employer) and that it had cable synch abilities. Everything has to be done wirelessly. That might be seen as an advantage to some but there’s so much that can go wrong with wireless connections. A wired backup would have been nice.
I’ve got a Samsung Omnia with WinMob 6.1 and using it is an everyday trip to hell. I was ready to buy the HTC Hero but, I’m going to wait for another six months before I change. I just feel there is so much coming down the road.
You know what scares me, though? I’m afraid in six months I might get to LIKE the Omnia.
If I were forced to buy a new phone today, it would be either the HTC Hero or the Nokia N900.
Godfish,
That was very informative. Which Palm did you have. I really like my Palm but it lacks modern features. But the Palm 700p is what I consider to be a good phone and I have been happy with it. However the time has come for new toys and I don’t want to get a phone that I like less than the Palm.
The droid impressed me when I saw it at my local VZ store. All of the four they had on display were functional, even though it seemed like everyone had tried to install every app they could find on the display models. The screen was gorgeous; the text looks printed on. It would be a joy to read on. The screen finish isn’t as silky as the iphone, and it picked up fingerprints. However, it felt -very- solid, much more solid than any side slider I’ve had before. The keyboard was similar to the LG ENV which I’ve been stuck with for a while, so that might be why I liked it; not sure if screen typers will ever like a physical keyboard though. I kind of groked the interface in the time I had with it, but it wasn’t as elegant as the iphone. The widgets, however, are real cool, and might be fun to use. And you can pull out the battery, which is a must for me, I’ve had too many battery mishaps to seal the damn thing into the phone entirely. I may get it if a friend of mine who picked one up likes it a week from now.
Google put their foot down; it seemed like the phone was completely unhampered by the old VZ crapware. Totally stock eclair.
Avoid the N900 or any other Maemo device. It’s garbage. (at least, it was on the N810, which I owned.)
Just on Digg, rumor of a $99 iPhone before Christmas.
http://tinyurl.com/yca7pbz
There’s a number of reasons I’m not going with the iPhone. One is the most important feature is making phone calls. That’s why I’m on Verizon. I also don’t like Apple’s lack of understanding that is MY PHONE and not theirs. The very idea that they would deliberately brick a product that I buy counts them out. And a number of other issues like single tasking OS, enclosed battery, I like a slider keyboard.
Soln for me was the Pre (which you didn’t previously like) plus Sprint’s MiFi coupled with a 32gb 3G iPod touch. Best of both worlds. Sprint a different and friendlier company under new CEO. I’m not antone’s fanboy and I like the 3G touch with landscape keyboard. MiFi works well with laptop too and so far better mobile soln than aircard.
The one downside for me is the PDF reader is weak without a landscape view. And apps load a tad slow coupled with occasional delayed responsiveness. Probably dual core hardware would cure this.
All in all, satisfied. Of course YMMV.