Droid 2 Questions from a New User

[Izzu]

I really want to like the Droid 2. I'm a big fan of physical keyboards, coming from a BB Curve before my iPhone 3GS, and I like how the Android OS works/gives you freedom. The one problem that is making me consider taking advantage of the ability to return it within 30 days is interface lag.

I noticed this phone's interface is much laggier than my iPhone was; the iPhone was definitely more snappy when changing screens, opening apps/pages, unlocking the phone, and switching views from horizontal to vertical and vice versa. It sometimes takes the screen 2-3 seconds (count 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand...yes that long) for my phone to unlock. Switching pages or views can take 1-2 seconds. At first I tried to get used to it, but when I was on the go today, trying to text someone, read an email, check the time, and walk across an extremely busy street at the same time...I was getting irritated.

I've read a lot of people talk about bloatware and how they hate it, but not how it affects performance. Is my bloatware on my phone taking up really that many precious CPU resources? Another thing I read a lot about was rooting and how just recently a way has been found for the Droid 2. My main reason originally for wanting to do this was to use Titanium Backup which I've heard about. The iPhone sync would backup everything where it was and when I had to restore it went right back into place. Titanium Backup seems to do the same thing so I was interested. However, I know you can remove bloatware through rooting and there may(?) be some performance gains from it. I must admit I am afraid of bricking though and I don't want to screw up my 30 day. Who can give me some heads up on the benefits of rooting?

I'm currently running LauncherPro (lag existed before I installed as well...I actually originally installed LauncherPro to try to fix the interface lag). I have nine apps on my homepage with TheWeatherChannel widget, another page with contact widgets and the 4 on/off setting widgets (airplane, BT, wifi, and gps), a page with the LP FB widget and the LP calendar widget, and a page with the LP messaging widget. I've read some people get zero lag who are rooted, but then I see others who are not rooted and are loving the phone without lag...maybe I'm just a little more impatient?

My main question really boils down to is the 1-3 second interface lag I experience all the time something I can fix or not? I really do not want to go back to my iPhone, best case scenario would be to make this as snappy as my iPhone and continue to use it. What type of things should I be doing to rid the lag?

 

[Dragoro]

At first I tried to get used to it, but when I was on the go today, trying to text someone, read an email, check the time, and walk across an extremely busy street at the same time...I was getting irritated.

I wouldnt worry bout it, Your going to get hit by a car and killed soon enough.

 

[Izzu]

Lol that was my point. I'm paying attention to crossing the street and it's irritating when I was doing all of those things before crossing, but it was lagging so badly that I didn't have time to finish. I had to close the phone and cross the street.

 

[Dragoro]

Having all those dang widgets on your homescreen is whats causing your lag.

 

[Izzu]

The interface is still laggy without any widgets. You think that's a lot of widgets? I thought that was only a few...

 

[Dragoro]

1 second lag isnt that bad. Youll never get it to be as quick as an Iphone, but its still pretty quick.

 

[Izzu]

Ok, I know it isn't terrible at 1 second, but sometimes it does take up to 3 seconds, which is a bit above and beyond IMO. I'm just used to my iPhone. My question still stands though if there is any way I can dramatically improve performance while using that amount of widgets (just a few screens...I believe I've seen way more/isn't the phone supposed to be for that?)

What about the whole bloatware discussion and rooting? Does everyone complain about bloatware just because they hate seeing it in their app drawer or is it something more serious like it is bogging up my system? Should I have any interest in rooting and using different ROMs?

 

[Redflea]

I've played w/a friends 3GS and another friends 4GS, and obviously use my D2 regularly, and can't say that I see a significant difference in performance...apps close and open and switch as promptly on my D2 as what I've seen on their phones. In fact, when I tried my friends 4GS my first reaction was that I was underwhelmed...

i'm running Launcher Pro rather than the stock launcher, and haven't removed any bloatware other than renaming city ID so it won't launch.

Any OS can have occasional glitch when an app may hang opening/loading, but in general use the D2 OS is snappy for me.

YMMV of course...I'd always recommend a look at what apps/widgets you're running, how many home screens, and consider a factory reset to clean things up and "start over."

 

[Dragoro]

Ok, I know it isn't terrible at 1 second, but sometimes it does take up to 3 seconds, which is a bit above and beyond IMO. I'm just used to my iPhone. My question still stands though if there is any way I can dramatically improve performance while using that amount of widgets (just a few screens...I believe I've seen way more/isn't the phone supposed to be for that?)

What about the whole bloatware discussion and rooting? Does everyone complain about bloatware just because they hate seeing it in their app drawer or is it something more serious like it is bogging up my system? Should I have any interest in rooting and using different ROMs?

Its just people complaining about seeing it in their app drawer. Pretty rediculous if ya ask me, but meh, what ever floats their boat.

 

[Izzu]

consider a factory reset to clean things up and "start over."

I've considered doing that a few times. However, I have one question then: how often does the google cloud sync your phone and how do I know my latest setup is synced? When I do a factory reset how does everything restore itself? I'm assuming since there is a homescreen backup option with LP I can just restore my apps (minus the widgets as it says) to their original positions with the click of a button.

Its just people complaining about seeing it in their app drawer. Pretty rediculous if ya ask me, but meh, what ever floats their boat.

Well I'd rather hear that then hearing it's making my system eventually slow to a crawl, I can deal with the few extra apps in my drawer . Thanks.

 

[karnovaran]

Ok, I know it isn't terrible at 1 second, but sometimes it does take up to 3 seconds, which is a bit above and beyond IMO. I'm just used to my iPhone. My question still stands though if there is any way I can dramatically improve performance while using that amount of widgets (just a few screens...I believe I've seen way more/isn't the phone supposed to be for that?)

What about the whole bloatware discussion and rooting? Does everyone complain about bloatware just because they hate seeing it in their app drawer or is it something more serious like it is bogging up my system? Should I have any interest in rooting and using different ROMs?

Its just people complaining about seeing it in their app drawer. Pretty rediculous if ya ask me, but meh, what ever floats their boat.

Not entirely. Certain apps like Skype, NewsWidget and WeatherWidget run as background services whether you use them or not, which eats up resources.

 

[karnovaran]

Izzu, spend a couple bucks on Widget Locker and your lag will be gone. You'll get a ton more functionality too, like quicker access to your sms.

 

[Izzu]

How does a widget locker improve my lag issue? I use handcent sms, love using that so I get my texts instantly and get to reply instantly.

 

[karnovaran]

It replaces the lock screen. I use Handcent too. Just check out Widget Locker and thank me later

 

[Redflea]

WidgetLocker just moves where widgets run, it doesn't reduce their impact or affect on system resources/performance. Why do you think it would help improve performance?