Compared to a Droid 1, any downsides?

[TC_Mits]

Not sure where you get that idea from. ..

. http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-droid-4-review

"As for battery life, we've been pleasantly surprised. The 1785 mAh battery is a respectable size. Standby time has been excellent (that isn't always the case with Verizon LTE devices), and the Droid 4 holds its own in actual use. LTE data still eats through a battery, but things are getting a little better in that respect. As is always the case, your mileage will vary. But we didn't have any real issues to report, except that phone didn't like to charge on a lot of the USB chargers we have just laying around. You'll likely need to use the included one."

In the D4 you have a $550 phone that its retailer considers worn out, 'totaled', when the battery wears out. By the vzw definition, the life of the battery *is* the life of the D4. If I owned one I'd want to be extra careful about such things as charging regimens...

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[TC_Mits]

Disregard

 

[pcpilot309]

I recently went from the OG to a Droid Pro. Very happy. Rooted and flashing ROMs. I like the physical keyboard. Available SBF files to revert to stock, if needed. The price was right, 2 PROs for free.
Web only deal from Verizon.

Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Sohcahtoa]

Droid Pro? Eww. I'd rather have the OG. While the OG might have a slower CPU and less built-in storage, it has a bigger, higher resolution screen, and a bigger keyboard. The Droid Pro essentially looks like a Droid 2 designed for people that actually wanted a Blackberry.

 

[Wrigley25]

One thing I miss is being able to read a preview of a text in the notification bar.

 

[ricpdjrr]

How is the screen in comparison?? I use the d1 for a lot of outdoor activities and have a hard time seeing in full sun.. Is the d4 any better in the sun???

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[r314bd]

One thing I miss is being able to read a preview of a text in the notification bar.

I'd recommend using Handcent for your texts. It will do this and has tons of other customization options.

 

[TC_Mits]

How is the screen in comparison?? I use the d1 for a lot of outdoor activities and have a hard time seeing in full sun.. Is the d4 any better in the sun???

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

Funny you should ask about outdoor use specifically. The reviews of the D4 display and of the particular technology it uses -- RGBW PenTile -- are pretty uniformly negative. It has poor color fidelity, imprecise rendering of edges and lines, hatching, and a tendency to blur moving images.

But you didn't ask about all that. You asked, rather, about one of its two redeeming virtues. Yes, the RGBW PenTile display is usually easier to see outdoors in sunlight than most. In the D4, in an effort to minimize some of the other problems I noted above, the max brightness has been lowered some, so the effect will not be as pronounced. But the D4 should still be quite visible in sunlight.

Vzw would think that was a very good question for you to ask. If it wasn't just a coincidence, it should have you on the payroll.


Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[ricpdjrr]

Funny you should ask about outdoor use specifically. The reviews of the D4 display and of the particular technology it uses -- RGBW PenTile -- are pretty uniformly negative. It has poor color fidelity, imprecise rendering of edges and lines, hatching, and a tendency to blur moving images.

But you didn't ask about all that. You asked, rather, about one of its two redeeming virtues. Yes, the RGBW PenTile display is usually easier to see outdoors in sunlight than most. In the D4, in an effort to minimize some of the other problems I noted above, the max brightness has been lowered some, so the effect will not be as pronounced. But the D4 should still be quite visible in sunlight.

Vzw would think that was a very good question for you to ask. If it wasn't just a coincidence, it should have you on the payroll.


Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

Thanks for the detailed response. In you're opinion do you think the d- 4 screen would be better in the sun than the newer super amoled screens????

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[TC_Mits]

Thanks for the detailed response. In you're opinion do you think the d- 4 screen would be better in the sun than the newer super amoled screens????

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

The D4 is dimmed a little & I haven't used it. My guess is that it would be, yes. But that's only a guess.

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[Sohcahtoa]

The blurring during scrolling and poor edge fidelity is certainly noticeable when you first get the phone, but just like the color dispersion in my peripheral vision in my glasses, I got used to it and it doesn't bug me anymore to the point that I don't even notice it.

 

[standard101]

I upgraded from D1 to D4 last month. Here is my take since it's the same experience you can expect.

Positives:
Speed. Bloatware is irrelevant, going from D1 to D4 you'll never notice it. This thing is fast.
Size. This could go positive or negative depending on what your preference is. I was worried about the extra size, but so far I love the new size and the extra screen real estate.
Keyboard. A huge upgrade from D1. I write a lot of emails on it, keyboard is simply awesome.
Email app. Speaking of email, this is software so it's true on other phones too so not really a + for D4, but the Outlook integration is way better than the version on D1. The Outlook calendar integration is great too, setting up meetings is easy whereas it was next to impossible on version in D1.
Camera. The quality is much better than D1. I've read complaints, but I haven't personally experienced any technical issues.
Chargers. I have five chargers for my D1, they all work on my D4. That includes the car charger. Awesome.

Negatives:
Battery. The fact that you can't switch it out on the fly sucks. Battery life was shaky at first but after several charge cycles it is good, not excellent. Definite improvement after the initial charge though, this has been pointed out by several users on the board.
Camera. Already pointed out by others, not having the hardware button sucks, it now works like the iPhone and other phones where you have to touch the button on the screen.

Neutral:
Screen. It's not any better or worse than the D1 out in the sun. I never had issues looking at it in the sun in general on my D1 though, I guess it depends on what you are looking at. As far as the overall colors, D4 looks darker and very different from the D1. A part of this is due to the fact that the D4 has a much higher resolution and does a much better job showing the true colors of the images. Looking at the same images side by side with my D1, the clarity is very obvious on the D4.

Some clarification on things pointed out here:
The bootloader is locked, but Blur is irrelevant if you don't like it. As someone pointed out you don't need root to install a launcher, like Launcher Pro or Go Launcher which I just switched to. Blur gone. The idea of locked bootloader is really irrelevant unless you're a hack nut.

Root is fast and easy as of now. Rooting your phone does not brick it, every report of bricked phone that I've read on four different message boards were result of people trying to either install a backup from another phone or trying to install old root software not yet tested for this phone. Freezing/removing bloatware and tether are the only two things I've used so far and both are working fine. There really isn't much else out there yet for the D4 even if you root though, no roms available yet, etc. I don't really get the whole overclocking thing, I think it's cool but doesn't serve a whole lot of purpose yet. At some point I'm guessing these guys will figure out how to underclock to save battery life which will be huge for a phone without replaceable battery (dam u moto!), but so far not much of that tested and published en masse.

 

[TC_Mits]

For me, the above post reads a little like a vzw advertisement.

The idea that the display matches the D1, IMO, is used hogwash. Two years later, a display that is no clear improvement over the D1 is a huge negative, I think.

The bootloader issue is about custom kernels, primarily. A very powerful tool that won't come to the D4.

Here's my take (with links):

From D4 Release Thread:
*** D4 RELEASE THREAD SUMMARY ***

(Very UN-official.)

Looks like this thread is going inactive. [It didn't.] So, for searchers, my personal summary:

D4 pros & cons -->

PROS:
LTE 4G plus...
Possibly best tactile keyboard ever
Dual-core with good speed
Full gig of RAM
SD card support
HDMI
8mp camera w/1080p video
Moisture resistant
Gorilla glass
LED notification
Speaker is loud
Moto build & reception
Docks available
ICS update likely
Global update possible
Rooted
Best in its class atm
Cheap.

CONS:
*Poorly thought-out KB layout
Old tech [[email protected];LGVu-1.5]
Partitioned IM - only 50% available
Not global & no ICS at release
Encrypted bootloader
Iffy battery life ('Results may vary.')
No battery pull resets
Phone is trash if battery wears out
Battery has safety issues
Std USB chargers don't work well
Display mediocre at best
Display ghosting & hatching
Brickish by current fashion
Only show in town

*As to KB layout, here is an extended discussion:
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=193699

.
There is a detailed, long-winded, even tedious technical discussion of the D4 display. Some thought it was OK. Others did not, for reasons found here:

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/05/2...x2-and-its-qhd-display-pentile-at-its-finest/


REVIEW LINKS:
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/02/17/motorola-droid-4-review-verizon/#more-61296


.http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-droid-4-review


This post sums up my opinion only.
I did not buy this phone.
I may get the D4G MAXX --
IF it happens.


Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[TC_Mits]

The blurring during scrolling and poor edge fidelity is certainly noticeable when you first get the phone, but just like the color dispersion in my peripheral vision in my glasses, I got used to it and it doesn't bug me anymore to the point that I don't even notice it.

I have a farm on a US highway right on a busy RR right-of-way. Been here a few years now, so sometimes I hardly notice the trains going by.
Btw, anyone interested in buying a small farm?

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[standard101]

Your crusade against this phone which you don't own and don't plan to own is amazing, TC. Please don't criticize others opinion though, I don't need you turning yet another thread into a discussion about hardware hypotheticals, which I agree with you btw about the D4, but its still a good phone and as a User going from D1 to D4 the faults you mention are not at all an issue. Not writing an ad, but a real opinion from someone who understands what the D4 could have been as you do.

Btw, I heard from a very reliable source that D4maxx could be announced as early as July with a hardware upgrade. Th hardware speculation is the screen so for those who can wait maybe a decent option. Of course these are rumors and no real guarantees and even if it is announced in the summer who knows how long for release.