my droid pro ramble: good; it should have been better

[jhalsey205]

I am a fan of the Droid Pro ... but more because I am a huge android fan and its the best device currently available given my needs rather than it being the best device. I think Motorola tried to shoehorn the blackberry experience into an android device rather than leveraging some to the best features of both into an uncompromising droid. In the "world according to John" recommended improvements include:

• screen resolution could/should be better,
• screen size larger
• wider (less cramped) keyboard
• power consumption/management should be maximized to support requirement of business users. 2 to 4 hours of battery life is inexcusable.
  • Disclaimer: I get in excess of 10 hours a day but I am not the typical user. I have my device rooted and tweaked; I have disabled most of blur. The average user will not bother to do this.

There could easily be additions to the above list (corporate messaging/ sync remains a work in progress but that appears to be more about android than anything else ... and it seems to be improving), but those strike me as the "biggies."

I should add that the pro is my 4th android device: the original droid and droid x before it, as well as a Viewsonic gtab. I suspect a Xoom will be in my immediate future. I rely on my Droid primarily for business (in spite of the 80 + apps I have added), staying connected via 4 separate email accounts, sms, IM, twitter and rss feeds, gps while in rental cars, web browsing, blah, blah). The candybar form factor best fits my needs (sliding keyboards are not as efficient; soft keyboard not accurate enough). I have never owned a Blackberry, instead embracing Window Mobile and all its earlier incarnations. My favorite WinMo devices were the various candybar form factors - Moto Q, Q9C and Q9Napoleon.

So ... to sum up my "ramble," I think the Pro is good (satisfying the "blackberry" requirement); it could have been much better; because its not, I fear for a lack of future form factor progression (i.e. a Droid Pro 2) or it ever being embraced by the development community. That is unfortunate.

John

 

[hotkoko]

Too much to read. But I love my pro. Not gonna change phones for a looooooong time. Love the texting

Sent from my DROID PRO

 

[Kaos2flo]

I switched from the original droid to the Blackberry then I switched from the Blackberry back to the droid pro. Now I wont switch to anything for a long time.

 

[jwgraves]

Agree with some of your issues, but all-in-all, I think it's a great version 1 of a Motorola DroidBerry. I switched from my BB Curve which I had been using for almost 3 years and even with some minor issues, love the Pro, and at this point will never go back to BB. I may not be using my as intensely as some others, but I've never gotten as bad as 3-4 hours of use, I always got a full day out of each charge. And now with my extended battery I get two full days out of each charge.

 

[jpcalhoun]

I too love my Pro and I also am a BB convert which will probably never go back to BB. I'd like to see a "Pro 2" as a improved, upgraded follow-on to the Pro. A little larger screen/keyboard, 4G, improved resolution, better battery management (although I agree with jw, the extended battery has done the trick for me). Sure, the Pro has a few "glitches", but nothing that is not manageable or a 3rd Party app doesn't fix in most cases. All-in-all, I hope Motorola and Verizon take the Pro concept/form factor and improve upon it.

 

[kjjb0204]

There will always be things to improve on a first, or any subsequent release. Hence the droid 2, the x2, the inc 2, and so on. Im hoping moto follows this up with a homerun, but even as-is its a great device.

Sent from my DROID PRO using DroidForums App

 

[rheisler]

I don't get how people AREN'T having trouble typing with the bottom row keys overreacting. I lost a 2page email and 30% of my texts/emails have to be restarted b/c I get too close to the home key. Give me a way to tone those down and im a fan (don't care about resolution, screen size, etc)!

Sent from my DROID PRO using DroidForums App

 

[google123]

The next Pro should have...

1. Hardware Send, Menu, Home, Back, Search, End keys in that order. Also have the four middle keys be dual-function as Up, Left, Right, Down (in that order) using the Alt key. Or just add a trackpad, a la 'Blackberry..

2. WVGA screen at the same or slightly wider size that it has now. I see a lot of plastic on the sides of the screen and 3.1 WVGA is already out there....see Here

3. Better camera....HTC Inc has a great camera. Take that one and apply it to Pro.

4. Hardware camera button with focus.





That is all. I am completely happy otherwise.