Still torn between the Eris and the Moto Droid

[Garemlin]

Ever since deciding to switch to Verizon I have been flip-flopping back and forth. Just when I think I want the Eris I read something that catchers my attention about the Droid. Then when I think I am set I read something that sways me back to the Eris. I have played with both several times at the corporate store and like them both. The big thing I really like about the Droid is the screen size and physical qwerty even though I really hate the way the keyboard is designed. Might end up being really frustrating for me anyway.

Let me say this. I am nowhere near a "phone geek" as alot of you are. Some of you live eat and breathe this stuff. I have no intentions of hacking, rooting or whatever. I plan on keeping whichever one I chose for at least a year. I am very tech-savvy but don't always need the latest and greatest. The main appeal with the Android phones is the customization options and apps. It is going to be more for fun and a time killer at work while on breaks. Not a business essential or life line.

With all that being said would I regret the Eris???

 

[mth04]

Ever since deciding to switch to Verizon I have been flip-flopping back and forth. Just when I think I want the Eris I read something that catchers my attention about the Droid. Then when I think I am set I read something that sways me back to the Eris. I have played with both several times at the corporate store and like them both. The big thing I really like about the Droid is the screen size and physical qwerty even though I really hate the way the keyboard is designed. Might end up being really frustrating for me anyway.

Let me say this. I am nowhere near a "phone geek" as alot of you are. Some of you live eat and breathe this stuff. I have no intentions of hacking, rooting or whatever. I plan on keeping whichever one I chose for at least a year. I am very tech-savvy but don't always need the latest and greatest. The main appeal with the Android phones is the customization options and apps. It is going to be more for fun and a time killer at work while on breaks. Not a business essential or life line.

With all that being said would I regret the Eris???

No you won't regret the Eris. It is a very good device. I have also played with the eris and i thought it was nice. The sense UI is great too. The great this about Android is you options. So go get one. You have 30 days to return it if you hate it. You won't though. You'll end upp here and playing with your device a lot :icon_ banana:

 

[Garemlin]

Thanks Miami.

One other thing I should have added is this would be my first step into the Smart Phone world. Up until two years ago I had the attitude that phones were just for calling. Then I stepped up a little and got a full touch screen and medianet on AT&T and it changed my attitude quite a bit. I discovered so much more can be done with a phone. I just don't need it to do everything.

 

[Electrode]

I'm not all tech savay like a lot of people her, and I don't know what else is different then the pull out keyboard. I have the Moto Droid, and I have a really hard time with the physical keyboard. The keys are too flat, and too closely spaced. I keep making myself use it so I hope to get better at it some day but for now I perfer using throne screen landscape keyboard.

 

[mth04]

Thanks Miami.

One other thing I should have added is this would be my first step into the Smart Phone world. Up until two years ago I had the attitude that phones were just for calling. Then I stepped up a little and got a full touch screen and medianet on AT&T and it changed my attitude quite a bit. I discovered so much more can be done with a phone. I just don't need it to do everything.

Once you start using a smart phone. You can't go back . Atleast I can't. My droid does all I need it to do and more.

 

[Nonie3234]

I have the Eris and I really like it a lot! I looked at the Droid, but I disliked the keyboard. Plus, I prefer the User Interface (Sense UI) on the Eris.

It's all about preference...

 

[boatman2220]

The Eris might be better for you. It's a nice phone I've looked at and I did like it. Which ever you feel more comfortable with is the way to go.

 

[SirSyeco]

I almost bought the Eris, but then decided on the Droid for 3 reasons:

1) little faster processor
2) nicer screen (resolution and size)
3) keyboard

after playing with the droid in the store for awhile, and then the eris.. there was a noticable difference in speed and the screen looked "old" compared to the hi-res of the droid.

The keyboard: if you don't like it, you can use the virtual one same as the eris. For me? I took about a week or so and now I'm good with it and can out type my 13 year old on her env3 . So like anything, you just get used to it.

 

[SirSyeco]

oh and.. don't forget that Verizon is charging a restocking fee now if you do return the phone for the other. So I would recommend just spending and hour or so comparing the phones in the store and you'll know which one "feels" right.

 

[coolkidd]

oh and.. don't forget that Verizon is charging a restocking fee now if you do return the phone for the other. So I would recommend just spending and hour or so comparing the phones in the store and you'll know which one "feels" right.

Really? What if its within the 30-day period?

 

[SirSyeco]

Return Policy - Verizon Wireless

The way I understand it is.. to get around the restocking fee, you have to return the phone, cancel your new agreement that you signed (to get the discount on the phone) and then wait past the three days to repurchase the new phone.

I've not done this myself, I'm just restating it as I understand it.

 

[dezymond]

If you know someone with either phone ask them if you could mess around with it for awhile. Make some calls, type out a text, surf the web, etc. I think an hour on the Droid isn't enough though, the learning curve took me about that time, then you gotta set it up to your liking, then you discover more apps, and the whole is just a great discovery. I didn't get the hang of my Droid til about 2 weeks to the exact way I like it; wallpaper, apps, games, settings, etc.

Droid is supposedly getting 2.1 next month and that'll be like getting a new phone again. I don't know much about the Eris, but I can tell you that the Droid doesn't get boring or seem dull at any point. And with OTA updates you never really know what you're gonna get, but this phone does get better with time.

 

[modified]

I too was torn between the two, but I ended up getting the droid.

Here's why:

I liked the look of the eris better, and I still do. In my opinion the droid is an ugly phone, with the exception of the magnificent screen. I also like the UI much better, and I even thought the touch screen is a little smoother and friendlier too.

But the processor of the droid was better, the screen was nicer, and most importantly, for me anyways, was the internet speed. It flies over 3G. Your needs might be different from mine, so decide what you prefer.

What I really want is an eris with the droids processor and internet speed. That might be the HTC passion. I am within my 30 days for another 24 days so let's hope it comes out soon and its good.

But back to the eris, you can't go wrong with either phones, they both rock. I came from a voyager and I was blown away.

 

[les017]

Wife has Eris and loves it....I have Droid and love it. Neither of us would trade for the other, BUT we both agree that the only real reason to specifically chose Eris over Droid is if you don't want to carry Droid around or if Droid is uncomfortable in your hand. And for us the sense hi is not a selling point, especially since I turned it off on the eris and it now performs better and she prefers the stock interface. Just our observations of course.

 

[Lazerlike42]

Well, I originally got the Eris. I ended up becoming very frustrated with it for a couple of reasons.

Basically, there are a lot of people reporting problems with their Erises right now related to the most recent update. The two big problems are that 1) Youtube does not work (this one seems to affect the majority to vast majority of users) and 2) the phone locks up, reboots itself, etc., from time to time (this seems to effect fewer users but still a significant number).

I had the problem with youtube, but no lockups. Now the problem with Youtube irritated me - it made me feel like I had a second rate phone when everyone with their Droids and iPhones and so forth could go watching Youtube aand so forth and I couldn't. However, it didn't cause me to bring the Eris back. My way of looking at it was that the Eris would be getting the 2.0 or 2.1 update soon enough, and that this would probably fix the Youtube problem and I could certainly be patient for that.

The next thing that happened was that my phone locked up. Now this was significant for the following reason: I had had the updated Eris for nearly a week, and had had the Youtube problem the entire time but everything else was impacted me because I had been reading some forums about the update problem and someone made a good argument that the lockup problem is more widespread than it seems and that it just wasn't cropping up with everyone yet. (Unfortunately I forget the facts he used to support his point, but it followed). Now, I had the freezing problem too.

So at this point I was feeling more unhappy with the phone, and it was made worse because I recognized after a lot of searching that Verizon and HTC were being largely silent on these issues, which did not give me confidence in the future, because even if the 2.0/2.1 update fixed the problems, what about future problems?

Then I began to think about the Droid versus the Eris, and what I came up with was that there were two "advantages" to the Eris: the more compact size, and that HTC had supplied a flash player with it. However, the size didn't matter to me, and the reality is that the Moto Droid will be getting a flash player from Adobe at some point, so that wasn't a big deal either. The Droid, on the other hand, had a few more significant advantages: the larger high resolution screen, the camera flash, and at least having the physical keyboard there if one ever wanted it. On top of this, I reasoned, the Droid is Verizon's flagship product, and one which is being marketed as an iPhone killer, so I have much more confidence that Verizon will make an effort to ensure that the Droid works properly.

With all of this, I decided to pick up the Motorola and, though I've only had it for two days, I've been very happy with it. I just can't, at this point, think of any reason why one would want an Eris over it, other than the cost.

As an aside, if you have a Best Buy near you they also offer the Droids, and they don't charge a restocking fee if you swap out your phone within the 30 days. They also don't deal with rebates - they handle all of that themselves and so that you pay the post-rebate price up front. You might consider getting your Droid/Eris there.