I’m buying a DROID. This alliance between Motorola, Verizon, and Google, promises to deliver the cell phone of my dreams.
Last year about this time I purchased an iPhone. It was a great piece of equipment. Good camera, nice calendar options, it looked slick and had a nice large screen for viewing. It was excellent except for one little thing, The phone sucked. Dropped calls. lost calls, no service, no speaker phone volume, made it nothing more than an expensive gadget. I’d been with Alltel for around 8 years with no problems so I was shocked at how bad the AT&T cell service was. Suddenly I knew why all those people had been standing outside using their phone. They must have had AT&T Mobile Service.
I returned that phone and canceled the service. The whole experience was expensive and disappointing. If only the iPhone had decent phone service, I would have been a happy guy. Flash forward to today and I’m hearing and reading about DROID.
Like I said, I’m definitely buying the Droid and I’m going to chronicle this event here. You’ll get to experience the purchase, good vibes and bad vibes, as they happen. I’m already excited about being able to access email, Google Maps and Turn by Turn Directions. I know there’s a qwerty key board so I’m hoping that the slide for the keyboard doesn’t feel all wobbly like some have felt in the past. I’m wanting a solid, easy to handle, phone that doesn’t feel like it’s going to slip out of my hand.
I know Version service is excellent so I’m not worried about call quality or reliability. I do want a decent Speaker Volume along with all the other goodies.
Check back for a list of features.
Update 11/1/2009
Lots and lots of articles comparing Droid to the iPhone. I’m including several at the end of my piece for your inspection.
Some reviewers have received pre-release hardware in order to do a decent review however I’ll be providing more of a user experience sort of thing. I’m listing the specs below but I’ll decide how I like it based on how it functions, just like I did with the iPhone. I can read reviews for days ,but until I have it in my hands, I have no idea how I’ll like it. I’m sure I can conform to it just like I conformed to the Blackberry, but will I like it? That’s the question.
Already it’s being billed as the iPhone killer so besides great cell coverage and reception what is causing all the excitement?
FEATURES
Click the pic. to the left for a full list of tech specs and features.
Update 11/2/2009
So, today I’m talking to a friend who works at a local PC repair shop. We’re talking about the Droid and he tells me I can preorder one through BestBuy and pick it up on Friday Nov. 6th. Sounds like the easy way to guarantee that I get one early so that’s what I do. Paid $50.00 to reserve a phone and I received a gift card and a receipt for pickup on Nov. 6th. Whoo Hoo could it possibly be this easy? Naaaaaaaaa but it’s always fun waiting to see what will take place.
Phone prices are $199.99 with a 2 year Verizon contract and $599.99 with no contract. I hear talk of prices for a 1 year contract, but nothing I can verify.
Update 11/5/2009
So, of course I’m chomping at the bit to get my hands on this rascal. Only one day to go so checking out the opinions of others fortunate enough to get their hands on one early. Seeking praise and confirmation that this will truly be better than the iphone and that I’ve made a good decision. Here’s a YouTube clip that I ran across. It’s from TV8 in Indiana.
Nice but I want to see the continuation promised later in the broadcast day. Oh yeah, that’s what they wanted….. I’ll look for that or possibly some other “hands on” clips.
There are two things I’d like to point out. The first is that in the video doesn’t make completely clear that the Droid memory capabilities are upgradeable. The memory card can be replaced and added, unlike the iPhone which gives you a choice of 16 or 32 Gig. I will be able to store and replace memory cards without a trip to the store or risking damage to my hardware.
The next thing I didn’t see mentioned is that MultiTouch is a feature but is not enabled as default. There’s been much talk of why and even some incorrect statements that it’s not available, but it is, and can be enabled.
Here’s the Verizon demo. It gives a lot more information.
Nov. 6th Update Droid Day
Droid day went without a hitch. There was no line when the store opened. Not more than 6 people waiting and only one other person there for the Droid phone. By the time I got mine hooked up and working there were 4 people waiting for the droid; nice but not earth shattering. My sales person said the pre order was good but indicated it was not huge. I’m betting most people are waiting to get the real scoop.
It’s slick! Is it an iPhone killer? I don’t think it’s a “killer”, but I think it’s a phone that will take a big chunk out of iPhones piece of the pie. Nothing is going to dissuade iPhone lovers if they’ve put up with the poor reception all this time.
I can tell you that right off the bat that the phone, which is the point of the whole thing, is excellent. Great reception, fantastic volume on the speaker phone, and the contacts list and call list is way better than others including the iPhone.
For those who are technology challenged, you’ll find that overall, using the phone is intuitive and the functions are easy to find. I’m impressed with everything I’ve tried so far.
I’ll be back later after I’ve had a chance to put it through it ‘s paces. Right now I love everything about it.
_______________________________________
LINKS
