shatteredzman
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- Joined
- Nov 1, 2009
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I have had my milestone for about a week and a half now and I thought I would share my experience with the phone.
The phone I had before I had the Milestone was the G1 from T-Mobile. My carrier is AT&T because I am in a family plan and get a good price. Since I had a T-Mobile phone I was stuck with edge speeds which for the most part sucked. Since I was tired of edge speeds I waited for the Milestone to come out in Canada so I could have 3G. So now I am set, I have a Milestone with 3G in the USA.
I am going to split this "review" in two pieces, the hardware portion and the software portion.
Hardware.
First of all I am very impressed with the build quality of the phone. The way the phone feels in your hand is great, the soft plastic case combined with the weight and solid feel of the phone is really unlike anything I have experienced in any other phone. The Milestone definitely feels like a high quality phone.
Many people have complained about the keyboard but I think it is fine. I would have liked to of had the two blank keys used for something such as a common task or key. At first I was having a lot of trouble typing because my left thumb was swollen because I cut my nail too close to the skin(it really hurt). I also do a lot of labor that requires a lot of use with my hands so I got slightly tougher skin on my hands than most people. Overall I find the keyboard very usable.
I have no complaints about the phones hardware in general but I am finding myself increasingly angered by Motorola's software department.
Software.
Since Google is responsible for 95% of the software and it is like any other android phones I wont discuss the basic function of the operating system.
What I do have a problem with is the specific modifications to the operating system. My biggest problem is the locked boot loader. Even though I know we will eventually have custom roms it still makes me angry that Motorola pulled such a slime ball move to lock down the phone. I don't know of any other phone manufacturer that went to such great lengths to lock down their android phone. What makes things worse is the way Motorola has handled the issue, they have tried side stepping the issue by telling people to buy a developers phone or they locked it for our own protection so we wouldn't void our warranties. I feel like this is a big "**** you" from Motorola.
Motorola has also locked the programming menu on the phone that lets you edit some more advanced settings. Another "**** you" from Motorola.
I have also ran into some other issues with the software regarding the most basic function of the phone! When I call people they say I am cutting in and out a lot. I also hear myself echo when I talk.
I have one final complaint about a "feature" Motorola has included. Auto rotate does not work on the home screen. The phone auto rotated for a few days and then quit, after checking the Motorola forum they said that it was never intended to auto rotate and that they disabled the feature because it caused confusion and that is the way they want the phone to operate. Motorola needs to learn that the best feature to have is the feature to enable/disable features! Once again another "**** you" from Motorola.
**edit, more complaints**
When I install apps from the market they dont show up in my app tray until I reboot the phone.
I also forgot one of the biggest problems for me. The web browser lags really bad! I would LOVE to fix this myself, its a very easy fix but I cant because Motorola has locked up the phone.
**edit, more complaints**
All of my software complaints would go away if they hadn't of locked down the boot loader. So it seems like Motorola has an awesome hardware department, a ****ty software department, and a ****ty customer service department.
My final thoughts on the phone are that I love the phone but I am angry at Motorola for the crap they have pulled on the software but this will all be fixed in time when the phone is hacked. Motorola can go eat a dick.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I can help with a few customizations I have done to the phone, if people ask I will explain how I got things working.
I have enabled google navigation and car home.
I have installed voice search.
I have installed google earth.
My phone says "DROIIID" when I get notifications.
The phone I had before I had the Milestone was the G1 from T-Mobile. My carrier is AT&T because I am in a family plan and get a good price. Since I had a T-Mobile phone I was stuck with edge speeds which for the most part sucked. Since I was tired of edge speeds I waited for the Milestone to come out in Canada so I could have 3G. So now I am set, I have a Milestone with 3G in the USA.
I am going to split this "review" in two pieces, the hardware portion and the software portion.
Hardware.
First of all I am very impressed with the build quality of the phone. The way the phone feels in your hand is great, the soft plastic case combined with the weight and solid feel of the phone is really unlike anything I have experienced in any other phone. The Milestone definitely feels like a high quality phone.
Many people have complained about the keyboard but I think it is fine. I would have liked to of had the two blank keys used for something such as a common task or key. At first I was having a lot of trouble typing because my left thumb was swollen because I cut my nail too close to the skin(it really hurt). I also do a lot of labor that requires a lot of use with my hands so I got slightly tougher skin on my hands than most people. Overall I find the keyboard very usable.
I have no complaints about the phones hardware in general but I am finding myself increasingly angered by Motorola's software department.
Software.
Since Google is responsible for 95% of the software and it is like any other android phones I wont discuss the basic function of the operating system.
What I do have a problem with is the specific modifications to the operating system. My biggest problem is the locked boot loader. Even though I know we will eventually have custom roms it still makes me angry that Motorola pulled such a slime ball move to lock down the phone. I don't know of any other phone manufacturer that went to such great lengths to lock down their android phone. What makes things worse is the way Motorola has handled the issue, they have tried side stepping the issue by telling people to buy a developers phone or they locked it for our own protection so we wouldn't void our warranties. I feel like this is a big "**** you" from Motorola.
Motorola has also locked the programming menu on the phone that lets you edit some more advanced settings. Another "**** you" from Motorola.
I have also ran into some other issues with the software regarding the most basic function of the phone! When I call people they say I am cutting in and out a lot. I also hear myself echo when I talk.
I have one final complaint about a "feature" Motorola has included. Auto rotate does not work on the home screen. The phone auto rotated for a few days and then quit, after checking the Motorola forum they said that it was never intended to auto rotate and that they disabled the feature because it caused confusion and that is the way they want the phone to operate. Motorola needs to learn that the best feature to have is the feature to enable/disable features! Once again another "**** you" from Motorola.
**edit, more complaints**
When I install apps from the market they dont show up in my app tray until I reboot the phone.
I also forgot one of the biggest problems for me. The web browser lags really bad! I would LOVE to fix this myself, its a very easy fix but I cant because Motorola has locked up the phone.
**edit, more complaints**
All of my software complaints would go away if they hadn't of locked down the boot loader. So it seems like Motorola has an awesome hardware department, a ****ty software department, and a ****ty customer service department.
My final thoughts on the phone are that I love the phone but I am angry at Motorola for the crap they have pulled on the software but this will all be fixed in time when the phone is hacked. Motorola can go eat a dick.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I can help with a few customizations I have done to the phone, if people ask I will explain how I got things working.
I have enabled google navigation and car home.
I have installed voice search.
I have installed google earth.
My phone says "DROIIID" when I get notifications.
Last edited:
