The Motorola Droid
Posted by Gabe on December 28, 2009 under Droid | 
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Guess what I got for Christmas? Yep – the Droid. Like many things it prompted a blog post, so if you are thinking about getting one, I hope this helps you.
I must preface this “review” with a few caveats. I don’t pretend to be an expert on anything, or a professional reviewer, but from a user’s point of view I think I have a lot to offer, especially since I am a computer nerd and can handle technical things. I also have noticed that part of my decision revolved around reading other reviews, and many of them were influenced by personal allegiances. Many people who buy one or the other (iPhone or Droid) don’t want to admit they made a mistake. I will do my best to be as objective as possible, especially since I have till tomorrow to take it back without penalty. Update 01/02/10: Read this but keep in mind had I read the “Getting Started” pamphlet in full before I let myself loose on my phone I would have had fewer bumps along the way. I highly suggest that if you have a new Droid that you be a tad more patient than I was. :)
Why I Chose Droid
When I first looked at the iPhone I LOVED it! It is sleek, pretty and the interface is wonderful. However, when I tried to use the keyboard that was an absolute show stopper for me. My fat fingers were constantly looking for the backspace key. It has no other keyboard so that was it – no iPhone for me. It also didn’t help that I was already with Verizon and would have to pay to get out of my contract. But that is up in April and I am a patient person. If the iPhone was right for me I would have waited. I even went back a few months later to see if my fingers got any “slimmer”. Nope – I was still having the same problems. I had also heard from many iPhone users how bad AT&T was. “I hate the dropped calls” many people told me. This to me is not just a knock against the iPhone. It is a huge reason not to get it. It’s like saying, “I got this new car today — the leather seats are beautiful and the stereo system is unmatched. Unfortunately it stalls out on me a lot.” This reason alone would prevent me from buying one until they fixed this issue. Remember that this is a phone and if the phone part doesn’t work then I don’t see much sense in getting it.
Then I heard about the Droid. It was supposedly the first real competition to the iPhone that Verizon had. That interested me because I am happy with Verizon’s network. I did a bunch of reading when it first came out. It had all kinds of glitches — the largest one seemed to be in the camera. Due to some very strange bug the auto-focus wouldn’t work on certain days of the month. Then all of a sudden the issue would clear itself up. I waited and watched and then heard about the patch that was sent out to fix this issue. So maybe the phone was ready for me, or I for it. And besides, it has a navigation appliucation that gives turn-by-turn directions and it’s free.
The Purchase
I went to two places to test it out. I was pleased to learn that I could use the keyboard right out of the gate with no problems. The second time I went I knew I was going to buy it. Neither salesman knew about the camera glitch which was scary to me. Either they are uninformed about their own product or are hiding that among other things. The first salesman showed me the things he liked about it which were OK I guess. He liked the video and that did seem to be pretty good. I realized that the device had so many features I had to take it home and try it myself to see if it was worth it or not. Oh and by the way. If a Droid salesperson tries to sell you a plastic film screen protector for ten bucks, show him this:
The Experience
So from here on I am going to tell you my impressions, both good and bad, about the device, reminding you that I am not a technical device reviewer. As a matter of fact this is my first touch screen smart phone, so some of my missteps might have been due to lack of experience. Hopefully that will give you a better snapshot (sorry for the pun) for yourself.
My overall impression of the Droid so far is that it is a bit kludgy and is still so new that all the bugs haven’t been worked out yet. There are a lot of neat things about it, and will probably be an excellent choice in a year from now. Whether or not I put up with its idiosyncracies and lack of app support remains to be seen. Here are my impressions of the things I have worked with so far:
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