Advice from Droid Pro owners - looking to purchase

[poots]

Hello everyone. I'm an avoid android fan, used to own a Droid, Droid 2, Droid X and currently running with the HTC thunderbolt. After a few years, I'm finally realizing that I'm not a fan of using a virtual keyboard, but going back to a slider qwerty doesn't really appeal to me. Currently, the Droid Pro is the only portrait-style qwerty for android on Verizon's network.

I'm looking for your thoughts....the good, the bad, and the ugly about this phone. I'd wish the specs were a little higher, but if it performs as well as a Droid 2 or Droid X i'll be happy. Looking at the rom/hack section, it appears this phone hasn't been worked on by devs, which isn't a huge concern (though I've flashed roms on each of the previous phones I've used).

Any info would be appreciated. Don't want to purchase the droid pro if there are too many negatives.

Thanks!

[ozo012]

Howdy,
I enjoy using my Droid Pro but much more after I flashed CM7 on it. I absolutely love the form factor but there are 3 main grudges I have. How are you obtaining the phone (hopefully not on contract). I would strongly recommend other options if you are thinking about buying it with a contract.

The Gingercrap update (see below)
Screen resolution
Battery Life

To the screen resolution & battery life points... you would think a phone with a 320 x 480 screen would get better battery life... this simply isn't the case. I was lucky to get 2-3 hours of heavy usage, 4-5 of regular from a 3G phone.


The stock Gingerbread update on both the Pro and the X is an absolute disaster. See this thread here: Roundup of Gingerbread update issues (with solutions where available) Battery life wasn't one of the Pro's claims to fame to begin with and was only further diminished with this pathetic excuse of an update. Apex is apparently a very stable options for the Pro. I didn't mind stock Froyo but it was boring to me (probably should have used a custom launcher...) Motorola has no problem pushing out updates to the Razr/RazrMaxx but devices like the Bionic and older legacy devices have been left in the dust.

I've been thinking about picking up the Rezound. I don't have 4G LTE on my side of town in New Jersey, but my 1 hour bus ride commute into NYC has it all the way so I'm strongly considering picking it up due to my disappointment in the Pro. Unlockable bootloader and overall feel of the phone has me thinking of making the switch, especially with the phone being $179.99 on Amzn Wireless with a 2 year renewal.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
Chris

[poots]

thanks for the info. i'm definitely going to purchase via craigslist and not on contract. it's disappointing to hear about the battery life, the screen resolution i'm not too concerned about (it's almost given to sacrifice the screen for the portrait keyboard), and i'd definitely flash a custom rom to get away from the horrible gbread experience almost everyone seems to have.

again, big thanks!

[Tekkaro]

I got an European Motorola Pro (XT610) and in my opinion the battery (1850mAh) is just fine, it last for me in normal use ~3 days. The screen resolution is also fine, signs/pictures are bright and clear and it doesnt overwork the cpu, therefore the device is quite fast and responsive. The pro is a very good choice. I even would prefer the Pro over the pricy Pro+.

The only lack is the small variety of ROMs. But with root you can be happy even with Android 2.2.2. If you would like to upgrade use before upgrading "Droid 2 Bootstrapper" + Backup and "voodoo ota rootkeeper".

[ozo012]

thanks for the info. i'm definitely going to purchase via craigslist and not on contract. it's disappointing to hear about the battery life, the screen resolution i'm not too concerned about (it's almost given to sacrifice the screen for the portrait keyboard), and i'd definitely flash a custom rom to get away from the horrible gbread experience almost everyone seems to have.

again, big thanks!

To improve battery life, I've been thinking about buying the Amazon.com: Anker 2 x 1500mAh Li-ion Batteries for Motorola Droid 2, II, A855, A955; Motorola Boost Mobile i1; Motorola Dext MB200; Motorola PRO A957; Fits A950, BP6X + Free Anker Multi-purpose USB Travel Charger: Cell Phones & Accessories which is slightly larger than the 1390mAh battery it comes with. Apparently people have been getting better battery life out of these as well (better than expected from the small increase in capacity.) I think some of my battery life issues are from using Google Music (but I was expecting more battery issues when actually streaming as opposed to the crappy battery life I've been getting while the music has been cached.) Anyhow, I think you'll like ApeX or CM7 for the Pro. I've been reluctant to spend any more money on this phone but I may test out the Anker batteries since it's only $20 for 2 batteries and a charger.

[pcpilot309]

I "upgraded" to the Droid Pro from the OG Droid. I also had a Blackberry for work and I liked the location of the keyboard much better than the slide out of the Droid. I flashed CM7 with no issues. So far very happy. The Smaller screen has not been an issue.

[gsu_golfer]

I honestly don't get how you people have such terrible battery life. Mine lasts a day easy. Do you use your phone constantly?

[poots]

thanks again everyone for the info. if i do get one, do you guys recommend gingerbread or froyo based rom?

[ozo012]

I honestly don't get how you people have such terrible battery life. Mine lasts a day easy. Do you use your phone constantly?

My day usually works like this:
Wake up @ 7 to a charged phone.
Drive to the bus stop at 8.
Listen to Google Music cached on the bus (data off no streaming)
I'm at either 60% or 70% when I enter the office at 9:30 which is 2.5 hours off the charger.
I'm thinking the terrible battery life has something to do with Google Music and partial awake time which always keeps the phone in "awake mode".
I usually turn 3G on at work (I'm on the 9th floor in NYC) but I have a good signal. I check a few emails and texts. By 3:00 I'm hovering around 20% and have to charge the phone so I have it for use on the bus ride back to NJ from 5:30 - 6:30.

Even if I don't listen to Google Music I will still kill the battery by 4:00 PM which is about 9 hours.

If I have to stream something on Google Music... forget it 30% of the battery will be gone in an hour. I have full 3G service on 90% of the trip including the Lincoln Tunnel too...

This is all on CM7.

[ozo012]

thanks again everyone for the info. if i do get one, do you guys recommend gingerbread or froyo based rom?

I didn't think there were any Froyo roms.

Gingerbread:
ApeX: Most stable, somewhat blur-ish ROM. *Updated*[PORT] ApeX 2.0 Release Candidate (RC4) (10/11/2011)
CM7: [NEW] Cyanogenmod 7 for the Gingerbread Kernel

There are 2 ICS ROM threads... camera doesn't work along with a few other things it's worth keeping an eye on though.
[ALPHA] Ice Cream Sandwich for the Pro
Would anybody be willing to test out an ICS alpha for the Pro?