G1 user's Droid review

[rushmore]

Background (FWIW): Heavy game and media geek. Currently use rooted G1 and have used Android for thirteen months now.

Good

1. Sweet and responsive display
2. Freaky fast, for the most part
3. Verizon 3G is AWESOME in Kentucky (not really Droid related but still worth saying)
4. Great build quality
5. Android 2.0 works great with Droid
6. Compared to the G1, I was able to install all of my apps PLUS ones I had to remove due to running out of space and STILL had 204 megs free. For Android, this is VERY nice. G1 is weak for app space and operational memory.
7. Great and loud speaker
8. New Navigator & Maps works great

Bad

1. SD card blocked by battery is very annoying
2. Sound quality and volume through 3.5 jack is noticeably weaker compared to G1. This surprised me, since G1 needs an adapter for 3.5 jack.
3. Droid has minimal video drivers, based on lower res non-native widescreen movies have borders around them and is very picky on what MP4's will play (virtually no scaling). This means decoding movies to native res, which takes up a lot of space on the 16gb card. It would have been better if the sd card could be removed without removing the battery. Then you could have a card just with movies and simple to replace.
4. D-pad is only 4-way so is useless for most tasks- especially games. Also forces stretching of the right thumb for testing. This gets old quickly.
5. Keyboard is inferior to the G1's. I never thought I would think that, but it gets tiring typing on the Droid KB and easy to hit wrong letters unless you have small fingers.
6. Not a world phone

I also pre-ordered the Nokia N900. Advantages over Droid (both have same chipset)

1. 32GB of class 6 memory built in plus micro sd slot that does not require battery removal.
2. FM receiver and transmitter
3. More efficient OS
4. Better sound quality through 3.5 mm jack (even better than G1)
5. Video playback up to native res with full aspect scaling for Xvid, Divx, Mp4, Wmv, Mpeg, Mpeg2 and FLV. No need to re-encode videos.
6. SIM card, so can use overseas (I go to England, but not really enough for this to be too much of an issue)
7. Ir transmitter
8. Though resistive screen, the newest firmware makes it very responsive for finger touch, plus stylus is handy for handwriting apps or Flash games that require mouse functions.
9. Already has full Flash, so no need to wait eight more months (at least). Flash games and standard res videos play fine from almost all sites. Hulu is one that does not, but that chokes fast netbooks too.

Though T-Mobile sucks where I live compared to Verizon, the N900 is a much better device based on features and function. Still ,if the N900 was sold by Verizon, I would drop T-Mobile in an instant. Verizon 3G rocks!!!!

When Flash 10.1 comes out, Droid will be even better and since it has a DSP, Flash should work great. Flash will NOT work too good on the G1 (if at all) or the Cliq, Hero, MyTouch, etc- because none of those devices have a DSP. Droid will RULE Android when Flash is released.

 

[sir]

interesting list. thanks for the info! when you get your Nokia, can you respond to this post and let us know if the list of Pros holds up in your personal opinion? it's nice to get a personal comparison of all the smartphones out there.

 

[DaHarder]

I'm always curious as to why some feel, "SD card blocked by battery is very annoying"

Why's it annoying?

What's the logic/compelling argument for constantly taking the (included) 16gb microSDHC in and out all the time?

My experience with microSDHC cards is that they are extremely small, therefore highly suiceptible to loss, and having the slot on the exterior of the device is just inviting an accidental ejection, resulting in a loss of card/data.

As for the Nokia N900... I'll Pass On That - Thing


Happy DROIDing​

 

[lauriep]

No, I agree, it would be nice if it was outside the phone so that you could swap them out easily. I have had a Voyageur for over a year, and its microSD card snaps in (very distinct snap) and has a cover over the slot that also snaps in. Very secure and I never even considered that it was at risk.

 

[rushmore]

interesting list. thanks for the info! when you get your Nokia, can you respond to this post and let us know if the list of Pros holds up in your personal opinion? it's nice to get a personal comparison of all the smartphones out there.

Will do!

In spite of the Droid issues, I would probably keep it if the N900 was being no released now.

When Flash 10.1 is released, there are two key phones that will work well with Flash- Droid and the N900, since both have the same powerful DSP.


Flash will be a big event!

 

[jjb2]

I love all the features of the Droid. I also love all of the features of the iPhone. The main reason I went with the Droid is for the Verizon service. I've had Verizon for a very long time and never had issues with their service. I never drop calls and internet browsing is fast. I don't understand why people go with other services such as AT&T and T-Mobile. You said yourself that you were impressed with Verizon over T-Mobile. Remember, the main reason for a cell phone is to make and receive calls and texts. All the other things are nice, but secondary to their service reliability. As far as movies and apps, get an iPod touch and use your Verizon phone for everything else. I now have a Droid and love it. Before the Droid I had an HTC Imagio and Samsung Omnia. Both were cool phones, but I still found myself using my iPod Touch for apps and games. I haven't touched my iPod Touch since purchasing my Droid on Nov 6. I love this phone.
Oh yeah, i don't understand why you think it is annoying that the sd card is behind the battery. What is the reason to remove and replace a 16gb sd card?

 

[rushmore]

I love all the features of the Droid. I also love all of the features of the iPhone. The main reason I went with the Droid is for the Verizon service. I've had Verizon for a very long time and never had issues with their service. I never drop calls and internet browsing is fast. I don't understand why people go with other services such as AT&T and T-Mobile. You said yourself that you were impressed with Verizon over T-Mobile. Remember, the main reason for a cell phone is to make and receive calls and texts. All the other things are nice, but secondary to their service reliability. As far as movies and apps, get an iPod touch and use your Verizon phone for everything else. I now have a Droid and love it. Before the Droid I had an HTC Imagio and Samsung Omnia. Both were cool phones, but I still found myself using my iPod Touch for apps and games. I haven't touched my iPod Touch since purchasing my Droid on Nov 6. I love this phone.
Oh yeah, i don't understand why you think it is annoying that the sd card is behind the battery. What is the reason to remove and replace a 16gb sd card?

Main card loaded with MP3's and game roms and second card with movies. Due to the native res issue with Droid and its lack of scaling, the files are bigger than they need to be. If Droid had decent drivers it would scale low res files to correct apsect ratio and not have borders around the whole image.

 

[DaHarder]

I love all the features of the Droid. I also love all of the features of the iPhone. The main reason I went with the Droid is for the Verizon service. I've had Verizon for a very long time and never had issues with their service. I never drop calls and internet browsing is fast. I don't understand why people go with other services such as AT&T and T-Mobile. You said yourself that you were impressed with Verizon over T-Mobile. Remember, the main reason for a cell phone is to make and receive calls and texts. All the other things are nice, but secondary to their service reliability. As far as movies and apps, get an iPod touch and use your Verizon phone for everything else. I now have a Droid and love it. Before the Droid I had an HTC Imagio and Samsung Omnia. Both were cool phones, but I still found myself using my iPod Touch for apps and games. I haven't touched my iPod Touch since purchasing my Droid on Nov 6. I love this phone.
Oh yeah, i don't understand why you think it is annoying that the sd card is behind the battery. What is the reason to remove and replace a 16gb sd card?

Main card loaded with MP3's and game roms and second card with movies. Due to the native res issue with Droid and its lack of scaling, the files are bigger than they need to be. If Droid had decent drivers it would scale low res files to correct apsect ratio and not have borders around the whole image.

Sounds like you're encoding your videos incorrectly/inefficiently, as using MP4/WMV at 500kbs (or so) is more than adequate for veiwing videos on the DROID.

Personally, I use DVDFab Platinum to rip DVD titles/clips to MP4/WMV, and the resulting file sizes run roughly about 350 - 400 mb for the typical 2 hour movie, though admittedly it's a bit insane to even want to watch a two hour movie on a 3.7 inch display no matter how nice it is - IMO

 

[rushmore]

I love all the features of the Droid. I also love all of the features of the iPhone. The main reason I went with the Droid is for the Verizon service. I've had Verizon for a very long time and never had issues with their service. I never drop calls and internet browsing is fast. I don't understand why people go with other services such as AT&T and T-Mobile. You said yourself that you were impressed with Verizon over T-Mobile. Remember, the main reason for a cell phone is to make and receive calls and texts. All the other things are nice, but secondary to their service reliability. As far as movies and apps, get an iPod touch and use your Verizon phone for everything else. I now have a Droid and love it. Before the Droid I had an HTC Imagio and Samsung Omnia. Both were cool phones, but I still found myself using my iPod Touch for apps and games. I haven't touched my iPod Touch since purchasing my Droid on Nov 6. I love this phone.
Oh yeah, i don't understand why you think it is annoying that the sd card is behind the battery. What is the reason to remove and replace a 16gb sd card?

Main card loaded with MP3's and game roms and second card with movies. Anyone find any that will?

Sounds like you're encoding your videos incorrectly/inefficiently, as using MP4/WMV at 500kbs (or so) is more than adequate for veiwing videos on the DROID.

Personally, I use DVDFab Platinum to rip DVD titles/clips to MP4/WMV, and the resulting file sizes run roughly about 350 - 400 mb for the typical 2 hour movie, though admittedly it's a bit insane to even want to watch a two hour movie on a 3.7 inch display no matter how nice it is - IMO

Still, it would be nice to be able to take movies already made for the PSP or iPhone and they scale to the Droid's native res. Because there are no drivers, it can not. N900 has same chipset and scales lower res movies to native res.

Not Droid's fault, but is Androids fault. On the card & battery issue, expect HUGE sales of the 32gb micro sd when they finally go on sale

On a side note, the Droids nice display and speed has made my Droid seem like a pay & go phone

Just wish the keyboard and d-pad were not so weak- this thing screams ready for the great emulators on Android. Using MP3gain has helped with the volume issue though

 

[moosc]

what is mp3gain? as for sd card slot it does suck as noted b nice to swap cards for movies musics apps etcs.

 

[moosc]

do u think any of your movie problems drivers etc can b added via a OS update?

 

[rushmore]

what is mp3gain? as for sd card slot it does suck as noted b nice to swap cards for movies musics apps etcs.

It increases the volume level of songs that seem too low. I set to 95.

 

[mloewen]

Concerning the battery blocking the sdhc card. I like to put an sdhc in a little usb reader and have a very compact option to a flash drive. I use the one I have for my Sony PCM M10 (digital recorder) and Have not removed the one in my Droid. It would be cool to be able to pull the card if I ever need more memory in a pinch, like a concert I am recording goes into multiple encores.

 

[hazydave]

Why's it annoying?

What's the logic/compelling argument for constantly taking the (included) 16gb microSDHC in and out all the time?Happy DROIDing

The obvious thing.. this is where you put things. The only advantage over something like an iPhone, with all the memory built-in, is that I can swap cards. So maybe I have one card for everyday use, one card when I decide my DROID is a music player, another when I decide it's a video player.

Simply put, 16GB or 32GB (one you can get those)... not enough for a full fledged PMP that, oh-by-the-way, is also a phone.

Naturally, this works dramatically better when the SD slot only needs to be used for this kind of thing. The tiny bit of memory internally (I mean, really, I have personally designed radio control units, the Nomadio "Sensor" and "React", with 512MB of memory)... that tiny bit of memory on a device like this is just plain silly. These days, that's about a $5.00 part... if I buy, single quantity, at DigiKey (if it didn't show... yeah, I'm a hardware engineer). I get 4GB for under $12. So make that $36 for retail.. is there ANYONE on this list who wouldn't have paid another $40 or so for 4GB internal memory. And of course, at Moto volumes, it probably would have been more like $10 additional...

 

[reggin]

Why's it annoying?

What's the logic/compelling argument for constantly taking the (included) 16gb microSDHC in and out all the time?Happy DROIDing

The obvious thing.. this is where you put things. The only advantage over something like an iPhone, with all the memory built-in, is that I can swap cards. So maybe I have one card for everyday use, one card when I decide my DROID is a music player, another when I decide it's a video player.

Simply put, 16GB or 32GB (one you can get those)... not enough for a full fledged PMP that, oh-by-the-way, is also a phone.

Naturally, this works dramatically better when the SD slot only needs to be used for this kind of thing. The tiny bit of memory internally (I mean, really, I have personally designed radio control units, the Nomadio "Sensor" and "React", with 512MB of memory)... that tiny bit of memory on a device like this is just plain silly. These days, that's about a $5.00 part... if I buy, single quantity, at DigiKey (if it didn't show... yeah, I'm a hardware engineer). I get 4GB for under $12. So make that $36 for retail.. is there ANYONE on this list who wouldn't have paid another $40 or so for 4GB internal memory. And of course, at Moto volumes, it probably would have been more like $10 additional...

It's possible they designed it this way so one could troubleshoot apps better. Just think if you could install 5000 apps and all of a sudden everything goes berzerk? Which one is causing the issue? I know you think that it must be the last one you installed right? Maybe the last one you installed plus the 3432nd installed app was causing the issue? How would you know? It just makes sense to limit amount of apps to install, me thinks....