Thinking of taking the plunge for X-Mas

[trickhog]

Hello everyone. I'm thinking of buying a Droid as a X-Mas present to myself and want to thank everyone on this forum for providing so much information in helping me make an informed decision.

I should start by saying that I really, really wanted an iPhone. I'm a Mac guy. I work on a Mac. At home, I have a Mac desktop and laptop. My wife has an iPod Touch (that she uses as a music player and a PDA) and a Mac laptop. So, we're all Macked out. And we use Apple mobile me to keep our calendars and address books all in sync across all the computers and devices. With two busy adults and two busy kids (amazing what the kids are involved in nowadays) it is imperative that we keep our calendars in sync so we don't accidentally overbook our time.

So an iPhone would be perfect for me with it's perfect synchronization through mobile me. But the problem is I had AT&T several years ago and hated it. And everything I've read tells me that it hasn't got any better since. So I'm a very happy Verizon customer. And I like my simple, easy to use Samsung Alias flip phone.

But I would love the ability to get "push" e-mail and be able to have my calendar with me at all times (as well as the ability to push calendar additions from my phone to my home computers and wife's iPod).

So, it was with great interest I read about the Droid. Having done my research, it seems that using a program like Spanning Sync (or being cheap and taking the time to do it myself) I can achieve good synching between my home computer's iCal/Address Book with Google Gmail/Contacts. That way, any info. that synchs between google and my home computer then gets synched to all the other mac products in my home via mobile me.

I can also set up my mobile-me e-mail account to forward to my gmail account, and have my gmail account check my other two e-mail accounts automatically. Allowing my gmail account to contain all my e-mail. With everything I need up on google, that would then provide the push e-mail and calendar/contacts sync with the Droid phone that I desire.

The end result of all of this -allowing me to achieve the same results as I would get with an iPhone, without having to switch to AT&T.

Of course, all the cool apps, google navigation, internet access, etc. would just be icing on the cake.

So, I'm just wondering if anyone else is in my shoes and set up something similar to this and if there are any potholes, hidden issues, etc. that I might be missing in my scheme?

Thanks so much. You've got a great forum here.

 

[taftwatson]

I'm in a simular situation as you are. My wife and I came from iPhone to verizon. We currently have the blackberry storm and we're looking at the motorola droid. We talked to several people and we were going to add 2 lines for $9.99 each. BUT, I found some information about getting a free Droid as Buy One Get One Free, so we'll wait till tomorrow to see if this B.O.G.O is true. If it is, we'll get the Droid.

 

[Backnblack]

Don't Think....Just Do it!

You will not regret it!

 

[kastj]

The phone is great and verizon service, at least where I live, is superb. I don't think you will regreat it but you can always try it out and return it if its not for you. I really wanted am iphone too but ever since I got my droid I haven't looked back. I am posting this from my droid by the way. Good luck

 

[DroidFan]

I'm a Mac fantatic also...have been for years... never had the iPhone only because it meant my leaving VZW for ATT... but I have the iPod, use me.com, etc.

I took all my iCal entries and transferred them to Google Calendar and the same with my contacts from Address Book to GContacts. It was easy and seamless and now I can enjoy the power of Google!

I also had no problems establishing my mac.com email account on my Droid, although there are reports that others have had problems... I haven't had a day's problem with it though and it will even push my mac mail to the Droid sometimes faster than to my MacBook Pro!!!

I also like that I can take my iTunes, drag and drop it to my microSD card and then be able to listen to all my iTunes without having to reformat the .mp4 ... had to reformat on my BB to hear the purchased music... not on the Droid!!!

All in all, as a Mac user, I'm THRILLED with the Droid....

Hope this helps and merry Xmas to you!

 

[taftwatson]

Quick question. I have my calendar and contacts syncing to google. I'd like to use my google account but I have my own domain with email. I use my email as primary. When I sync the Droid with google, will the contact sync on the phone so I can use my other email to send and use the contacts?

 

[trickhog]

I also had no problems establishing my mac.com email account on my Droid, although there are reports that others have had problems... I haven't had a day's problem with it though and it will even push my mac mail to the Droid sometimes faster than to my MacBook Pro!!!
D

Really? From the research I did, I was under the impression that the Droid will only get "push" e-mail from Google Gmail, and that all other e-mail requires the Droid to look at an interval that you determine in the settings, which drains more power than the e-mail just pushing only when e-mail comes in.

If mac mail will push, that would be great, because then I wouldn't have to forward it to my gmail account first and have that extra step in order to get my e-mail.

 

[DroidFan]

Really? From the research I did, I was under the impression that the Droid will only get "push" e-mail from Google Gmail, and that all other e-mail requires the Droid to look at an interval that you determine in the settings, which drains more power than the e-mail just pushing only when e-mail comes in.

If mac mail will push, that would be great, because then I wouldn't have to forward it to my gmail account first and have that extra step in order to get my e-mail.

Sorry...I guess I used the wrong terminology...it doesn't "push" like a Gmail account...you're right there... but my mac.com mail does process sometimes faster to my Droid than to my computer... timing issue? Dunno...but it's nice that it's so reliable.

 

[trickhog]

Took the plunge and got my Droid yesterday. Just want to say thanks to all the people who post here. Without the numerous threads (and the handy search window) I'd be lost with this phone, but thanks to droidforums.net and a couple hours this evening, I'm getting a good hold on this phone and getting it set up nicely.

I'm a mac person who uses mobileme extensively over several computers and I've got a pretty nice set-up going that keeps everything on my phone perfectly synced (e-mail, calender, contacts, music and pictures) to 4 computers and 1 iPod Touch, so after I let it run for a couple days to make sure it's all working without any glitches, I'm going to make sure to come back and post my set-up for all the Mac users out there.

Thanks everyone!