DaddyRabbit
Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2010
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 0
Coming from a BB Storm 1. I actually liked the Storm, played with the Droid and the Incredible, didn't care for either one. When upgrade time came it was between the Storm 2 and the DX, obviously I went with the DX.
Overall I like the phone, love the big screen and pretty quickly got used to the differences in the touch screens (no "real" click). iPhone and other carriers (Evo 4G) weren't really in the running due to coverage issues.
I have discovered a few issues that just shouldn't be present in a top of the line smartphone though. Before I get flamed with the inevitable "should've done research first" comments I must say that this is a "smartphone" and you shouldn't have to question whether it does these or not.
From a phone standpoint (my biggest peeves BTW because it is a phone after all):
1. It's a little clunky to get around the interface. Once I got a handle on managing contacts it was better but it still seems to take too many actions to get where I want to be.
2. The most serious omission though is being able to activate voice commands via a bluetooth device, WTF!??? This is a top of the line PHONE and I cannot click my blutooth handsfree while driving and give the phone a dial command without first, unlocking the phone, then find the voice commands item and selecting it (although I can doubletap the BT speaker to redial the last number dialed).
While I know I can spend an extra $45 for a car dock I would still have to have the phone in dock mode (which is also kludgy at best) and have an ugly dock station taking up already precious space in the cockpit and STILL have to take my eyes off of the road to punch the voice commands button in the dock to make a call! This is a HUGE step backwards.
While this seems like a rant I have to add that my Storm did it, my Razr 2 did it and my wife's CASIO Boulder hooks to Ford Sync via BT flawlessly (she doesn't even have to take her hand off the wheel to make a call!).
As for the PIM stuff, this is less important to me but I can see where the people (like me) that believe that a "smartphone" isn't "just a phone with a big screen and good media features with tons of apps" would be peeved. I can't use personal devices to conduct business so these aren't money losing feature losses to me but they are inconveniences. If I could use my phone for business they would be showstoppers.
1. Sync with Outlook or other local contact stores without jumping through the effort of putting my whole calendar and contacts list in Google's "loving" hands - I know you are a corporation who has made a bunch of money and want to make more (that is how it should be in our society) there is a line. Your online apps aren't all that good compared to the apps I am used to and I don't WANT every aspect of my life in your hands! The last thing I need is for my 80 year old mother to start getting the "Make Your Manhhod HUGE To MAke her HAPPY" emails because some script kiddie pwned your cloud.
2. Once again, contacts is a mess to deal with, nuff said.
3. Apps - This is one reason I got the DX was to play with the TONS of apps out there (and I have). Sometimes too much of even a good thing is bad, or, just because you CAN write an app that doesn't mean you should
. How many Fart apps does the world need after all, (although the Tricorder is kinda' cool)
All of the above said I will be keeping the DX, it is a sweet piece of machinery despite the implementation issues. While any new phone (especially smartphones) will have their share of issues, neglecting the BT activated voice dialing is UNSAFE and UNFORGIVABLE in todays society.
My two rusty pennies...
Overall I like the phone, love the big screen and pretty quickly got used to the differences in the touch screens (no "real" click). iPhone and other carriers (Evo 4G) weren't really in the running due to coverage issues.
I have discovered a few issues that just shouldn't be present in a top of the line smartphone though. Before I get flamed with the inevitable "should've done research first" comments I must say that this is a "smartphone" and you shouldn't have to question whether it does these or not.
From a phone standpoint (my biggest peeves BTW because it is a phone after all):
1. It's a little clunky to get around the interface. Once I got a handle on managing contacts it was better but it still seems to take too many actions to get where I want to be.
2. The most serious omission though is being able to activate voice commands via a bluetooth device, WTF!??? This is a top of the line PHONE and I cannot click my blutooth handsfree while driving and give the phone a dial command without first, unlocking the phone, then find the voice commands item and selecting it (although I can doubletap the BT speaker to redial the last number dialed).
While I know I can spend an extra $45 for a car dock I would still have to have the phone in dock mode (which is also kludgy at best) and have an ugly dock station taking up already precious space in the cockpit and STILL have to take my eyes off of the road to punch the voice commands button in the dock to make a call! This is a HUGE step backwards.
While this seems like a rant I have to add that my Storm did it, my Razr 2 did it and my wife's CASIO Boulder hooks to Ford Sync via BT flawlessly (she doesn't even have to take her hand off the wheel to make a call!).
As for the PIM stuff, this is less important to me but I can see where the people (like me) that believe that a "smartphone" isn't "just a phone with a big screen and good media features with tons of apps" would be peeved. I can't use personal devices to conduct business so these aren't money losing feature losses to me but they are inconveniences. If I could use my phone for business they would be showstoppers.
1. Sync with Outlook or other local contact stores without jumping through the effort of putting my whole calendar and contacts list in Google's "loving" hands - I know you are a corporation who has made a bunch of money and want to make more (that is how it should be in our society) there is a line. Your online apps aren't all that good compared to the apps I am used to and I don't WANT every aspect of my life in your hands! The last thing I need is for my 80 year old mother to start getting the "Make Your Manhhod HUGE To MAke her HAPPY" emails because some script kiddie pwned your cloud.
2. Once again, contacts is a mess to deal with, nuff said.
3. Apps - This is one reason I got the DX was to play with the TONS of apps out there (and I have). Sometimes too much of even a good thing is bad, or, just because you CAN write an app that doesn't mean you should
. How many Fart apps does the world need after all, (although the Tricorder is kinda' cool) All of the above said I will be keeping the DX, it is a sweet piece of machinery despite the implementation issues. While any new phone (especially smartphones) will have their share of issues, neglecting the BT activated voice dialing is UNSAFE and UNFORGIVABLE in todays society.
My two rusty pennies...
