Droid 2 first impressions

[pandabear]

Just got my droid 2 global in white. I previously owned a droid, droid 2 and droid x. The color is nice, the default sound is no longer the iconic DROOIID, but perhaps a more "professional" humm ("on the hunt"). What really impressed me is how much of a difference the 0.2Ghz boost makes. Out of the box it benchmarked at 1610. Unfortunately, the default blur launcher with those hideous widgets makes it PAINFULLY slow (as it did on the D2 and DX). Though as soon as I install ADW launcher it becomes LIGHTNING fast as I suspect it was designed to be. It really makes me wonder why moto insists on gimping their hardware-wise amazing phones.. Although I miss my X, I feel like this is the superior phone by just a small margin.
BTW, the phone comes with a vodaphone sim card preinstalled, does anyone know what it's for or how it might be used?

 

[denmcdon]

Sim is for roaming in other countries that use GSM etc.useless in USA on Verizon.

 

[DF Smod]

Nice to know how fast this device is - now if they will make 1.2Ghz and up the standard :wink:

 

[Sweet Daddy]

I previously owned a droid, droid 2 and droid x.

I'm sorry. What were you saying again? I lost my train of thought after this sentence.

 

[msu]

I posted this with some other questions in the rooting post.

I have noticed that you can add Yahoo, facebook, etc into your syncing with this version of Android, but they are limited compared to the actual apps. Example: simply syning yahoo mail will not give you a option to put your junk emails into spam. With the yahoo mail app (out of market) you can mark email as spam.
I do like this newer version, but there are also things I don't like. I don't like not being able to modify the launch bar for sure. I would rather have my txting where the contacts are. I have also crashed the OS a few times, hung it, etc..
I'm still trying to make up my mind as to if I want to keep this phone or go to the Droid X.

I do like the phone over my D1 though and it is faster for sure. I love having the extra memory/rom.

 

[pandabear]

Something I noticed after rooting was that on setcpu the default high value was set on 1Ghz. Does anyone know if setcpu just set it that way when it started or does the phone run underclocked out of the box at 1Ghz?

 

[templetonryecy]

Although I miss my X, I feel like this is the superior phone by just a small margin.

I am looking to upgrade to the X or D2G...

Do mind explaining in more detail why you think the D2G is better than the X? Advantages/Disadvantages? (besides the global capabilities - I probably won't take advantage of that feature as much as others will)

Thanks!!

 

[pandabear]

I'd say it WAS the keyboard coupled with the improved processor. I just sold my droid 2 global for $700 and now i'm back to my X. If you're not going to use the global features, go for the Droid X. It's such a great phone!!!

 

[JBHorner]

I'd say it WAS the keyboard coupled with the improved processor. I just sold my droid 2 global for $700 and now i'm back to my X. If you're not going to use the global features, go for the Droid X. It's such a great phone!!!

Why on Earth would anyone pay $700 for this handset from a third-party, when it can be purchased from Verizon directly for less?

Anyway--I'm about to return mine. The battery life is absolute garbage...even with the extended batter. The exact same configuration on the D2G lasted me 7:05 minutes today, with no phone calls, no web browsing, and minimal screen on time.

As is mentioned above, if there isn't a need for the global features (which, unfortunately, I do need), run away from this handset. Quickly.

Joel

 

[templetonryecy]

I'd say it WAS the keyboard coupled with the improved processor. I just sold my droid 2 global for $700 and now i'm back to my X. If you're not going to use the global features, go for the Droid X. It's such a great phone!!!

Thanks for the reply.

I currently have a Droid Incredible but I've had it since the day it came out and frankly I am just bored of it Wanted to see if the Droid X is truely 'better.' I guess I'm not sure if my company corporate email/exchange policy supports the X, so maybe this is all a moot point anyway. Some things about the X seem awesome but I'm not sure I'm sold on the 'moto' experience compared to Sense (which admittedly bothers me in a lot of ways). But I'm willing to be convinced!

 

[pandabear]

I'd say it WAS the keyboard coupled with the improved processor. I just sold my droid 2 global for $700 and now i'm back to my X. If you're not going to use the global features, go for the Droid X. It's such a great phone!!!

Thanks for the reply.

I currently have a Droid Incredible but I've had it since the day it came out and frankly I am just bored of it Wanted to see if the Droid X is truely 'better.' I guess I'm not sure if my company corporate email/exchange policy supports the X, so maybe this is all a moot point anyway. Some things about the X seem awesome but I'm not sure I'm sold on the 'moto' experience compared to Sense (which admittedly bothers me in a lot of ways). But I'm willing to be convinced!

Honestly, I HATE Blur. I do everything I can to get rid of it. On a stock rom you can just install ADW or LauncherPro and that gets rid of most of it. I like to run rubix focused roms which make the phone LIGHTNING fast, and give it that familiar old AOSP feel. Personally, I don't make decisions on phones based on what skin they have over it because I usually just end up rooting and installing custom ROMS anyway. I really think you'd like the X, it's a much sexier phone.

Also, I sold my phone to some guy overseas via ebay. I kind of threw it up there for buy it now/best offer at a ridiculous price just to see if I could get around paying verizon $35 for a restocking fee. Trust me, I was as shocked as you to see that it sold (within 2 hours too!). Anyway, I figure there must be some kind of market for Droids overseas...

 

[templetonryecy]

I'd say it WAS the keyboard coupled with the improved processor. I just sold my droid 2 global for $700 and now i'm back to my X. If you're not going to use the global features, go for the Droid X. It's such a great phone!!!

Thanks for the reply.

I currently have a Droid Incredible but I've had it since the day it came out and frankly I am just bored of it Wanted to see if the Droid X is truely 'better.' I guess I'm not sure if my company corporate email/exchange policy supports the X, so maybe this is all a moot point anyway. Some things about the X seem awesome but I'm not sure I'm sold on the 'moto' experience compared to Sense (which admittedly bothers me in a lot of ways). But I'm willing to be convinced!

Honestly, I HATE Blur. I do everything I can to get rid of it. On a stock rom you can just install ADW or LauncherPro and that gets rid of most of it. I like to run rubix focused roms which make the phone LIGHTNING fast, and give it that familiar old AOSP feel. Personally, I don't make decisions on phones based on what skin they have over it because I usually just end up rooting and installing custom ROMS anyway. I really think you'd like the X, it's a much sexier phone.

Also, I sold my phone to some guy overseas via ebay. I kind of threw it up there for buy it now/best offer at a ridiculous price just to see if I could get around paying verizon $35 for a restocking fee. Trust me, I was as shocked as you to see that it sold (within 2 hours too!). Anyway, I figure there must be some kind of market for Droids overseas...

Thanks again for the input.

My experience with ADW and Launcher Pro has been nothing short of awful (bugs, bugs, and more bugs. Consistently, no matter what I seemed to try. And unfortunately I just cannot root. Long story but it's just not an option.

Knowing that, does not being able to root (and having the default 'blur-esque' OS) eliminate the positives of the X versus the Incredible?

 

[pandabear]

Thanks for the reply.

I currently have a Droid Incredible but I've had it since the day it came out and frankly I am just bored of it Wanted to see if the Droid X is truely 'better.' I guess I'm not sure if my company corporate email/exchange policy supports the X, so maybe this is all a moot point anyway. Some things about the X seem awesome but I'm not sure I'm sold on the 'moto' experience compared to Sense (which admittedly bothers me in a lot of ways). But I'm willing to be convinced!

Honestly, I HATE Blur. I do everything I can to get rid of it. On a stock rom you can just install ADW or LauncherPro and that gets rid of most of it. I like to run rubix focused roms which make the phone LIGHTNING fast, and give it that familiar old AOSP feel. Personally, I don't make decisions on phones based on what skin they have over it because I usually just end up rooting and installing custom ROMS anyway. I really think you'd like the X, it's a much sexier phone.

Also, I sold my phone to some guy overseas via ebay. I kind of threw it up there for buy it now/best offer at a ridiculous price just to see if I could get around paying verizon $35 for a restocking fee. Trust me, I was as shocked as you to see that it sold (within 2 hours too!). Anyway, I figure there must be some kind of market for Droids overseas...

Thanks again for the input.

My experience with ADW and Launcher Pro has been nothing short of awful (bugs, bugs, and more bugs. Consistently, no matter what I seemed to try. And unfortunately I just cannot root. Long story but it's just not an option.

Knowing that, does not being able to root (and having the default 'blur-esque' OS) eliminate the positives of the X versus the Incredible?

I wouldn't say so. I mean some people actually like blur. I think...
Anyway, if you do go with the X, I'd give ADW another shot. It was a buggy for me at times with my original droid, but it's done nothing but make my droid X operate much more quickly and smoothly. Haven't had a single problem with the current version on the X yet.