Well, I drank the Google Koolaid

[Lucidpsychosis]

After much research and consideration, I got my first Android phone today, the Droid 2, and I love it! I got about two hours of use from the charge in the battery from the store, surprisingly, and it died just as I pulled in my driveway. It's on the charger now.

So, I guess I'm curious as to how I should best get started. What are some essential apps? What are the main benefits of rooting? Should a newbie like me even try to root yet? Also, a friend of mine said that tethering was possible via USB without paying the extra fee, but the sales guy at Verizon said that was not possible. Was my friend misinformed, or was the salesperson lying?

 

[wildride89]

I'm in the same boat as you with the unfamiliar feeling with the droid, but its been a nice transition from the old phone. I've downloaded a battery app so I could view the%. Fancy widget not from the market, a few demo games. I'm thinking about rooting but I don't know about how to do it and I'm not as ljterate with the computer I'm just an operator. Welcome to droid.

 

[wildride89]

Rooting was explained to me as gaining administrator access to your phone, I think.

 

[jatx2wne]

You can tether for free but you have to be rooted to do so

 

[mwhartman]

Welcome! I have a rooted Droid which allows me to tether to my Mac Book Pro. Prior to rooting, I tethered with an app called PDAnet and did not incur any fees.

As far as rooting, I suggest that you read, read, and read some more. Make notes and if you have questions post. if you decide to root the community will be here to assist.

Here are a few old links that may help
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/11102-all-one-popular-threads-read-before-posting.html
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/re...-dummies-guide-android-terminoligy-lingo.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/rescue-squad-guides/47871-overclocking-101-a.html

BTW what flavor did you have

Mike

 

[tgs3838]

You can tether for free but you have to be rooted to do so

I got a Droid 2 yesterday. but on my Droid 1 I had an app called easy tether i believe. It was free and didnt need root. Not sure if/how it works on the droid 2. Thats Usb tether. Not wifi tether

 

[Starfire]

I just got mine 3 day ago as well but had done some reading before hand. I downloaded the Advanced Apps Killer and it will extend your battery life, but you must kill the apps every time after using it to get the biggest benefit. I ran 12.5 hours today before putting it back on charge with 20% left. Before you install apps, read the warning of what it will access on your phone and what changes it will make!

 

[fish1552]

Welcome aboard. And I gotta agree with mwhartman. Read, read, and read some more. No rush. Droid does...wait patiently 'til you're ready.

Just remember what rooting your phone means. It is POSSIBLY giving things access to all levels of your phone. Not a bad thing 99% of the time, but the chance is there. Just know that.

There are a few utilities out there to root phones and while I don't believe they work with the Droid2 yet, they may shortly. So maybe by the time you get done reading up on things, it may be available for your phone. But they do have the manual method if you don't want to wait. That walk-thru is pretty thorough. You don't really need to be technically savvy, you just need to be good at following directions.

 

[ogDroid]

Welcome!

Benefits to rooting - Manage overclocking for less lag while using your phone & for better battery life (ability to lower the processor speed when your battery reaches certain levels [41%, 21%, when the screen is off, etc]. Custom ROMs, which basically give you a customized/better optimized firmware (custom apps, settings, options, themes, color changes, boot logo changes, etc). Many other perks to rooting, it seems "risky" and a confusing process to the virgin eye but many of us were the same, after a couple hours of looking around and testing, it's simple. I was a rooting "newbie" and I had custome roms, overclocked kernels, free tethering running in hours (and understood completely in a day or two).

As far as apps, there are several essential apps. If rooted, I use "wireless tether" which I am now, which gives you the ability to change the ssid (network name, set a wep (password to access), grant other people access and use wifi or bluetooth to give internet access.

Other apps you may enjoy or want to try out.. Quick Settings, Ringdroid, Shazam, AK Notpad (take quick notes), IMDb (if a movie fan), Dictionary.com (I find the word of the day widget cool to have and handy to look up words), Dolphin Browser (better browser than stock in my opinion), appInstaller (quickly remove apps, and install non-market place apps you download to your sd card), Astro (file manager for android), Compass (if you are the hiking/outdoorsy type), WordUp! (just a cool word game to play while wasting time)... many many more.. enjoy.

 

[brsmith23]

Power control widget is a MUST! Gives you the ability to control bluetooth wifi gps screen brightness and somethin else from the homescreen. Long press in a spot and add motorola widgets, its under there. By the way, what flavors the kool aid??