Storm 1 looking into upgrading, looking for advise.

[maseren]

Hi There!

I am sure this has been addressed before, so apologies, but i've had issues finding it in here. Basically, will rooting the phone store all future apps on the SD card vs the phone itself as well as open up the phone for editing, or/and if not, is there a ROM out there that does that?

I currently have a Storm 1, and am DYING to upgrade. I can get the upgrade for 200 dollars from Verizon after discount, although I am not at my renewal date, not even sure how much cheaper that would be if anything, anyone know?

So would everyone suggest I upgrade? The storm has given me many issues, even though I have run hybrids for a long time, but the sad truth is, I look at My girlfriend's Iphone and look at my storm, and I cry a little... yep, they don't compare. Ok apps on storm (Viigo, Mobipocket book, Poynt), but crappy browsing, bolt has been a life saver, some nice apps overall, but practically NO good games, or fun apps... all I have is work like apps.

Any advise and suggestions would be great! And any answers to my questions above would rock too. Thanks!

 

[takeshi]

Basically, does rooting the phone store all future apps on the SD card vs the phone itself?

Nope. Rooting itself doesn't do that. There's a thread somewhere that explains what rooting is but I can't seem to find it. IIRC it's equivalent to having administrator access on your PC. I don't think there are any mods for storing apps on the SD card but I haven't been actively following things.

So would everyone suggest I upgrade?

IMO apps and browsing are much better on the Droid than any BB but it's really a judgment call that you have to make. It's not a final decision anyway since you have 30 days to return it. I'd suggesting taking it out for a spin and seeing for yourself first hand. Have you looked at one in a store yet?

 

[maseren]

Takeshi, and everyone sorry if I wasn't clear. I know the reason for rooting so I guess a better question would have been, will any of the ROMS out there allow for storage of apps on the SD card. This is a big deal for me, as I really don't want to end up having a second storm, where every couple of days I have to reboot due to memory running out etc...

 

[crspang]

I have 118 apps and still have room for more. There is not much need to store apps on the SD. Downloaded apps are tied to your gmail account so it's not like you're gonna lose them if something happens to your phone.

 

[liquidzoo]

There is not a ROM out there (that I know of) that will allow you to store and run apps from the sdcard, but like the above poster said you can have a LOT of apps on the phone without worrying about space issues.

The Android OS overall seems much, much better than the RIM OS did at managing memory and space. You don't have to worry about apps running in the background, no daily/weekly battery pulls (I've had to pull my battery once because of a bug in a ROM, that's it).

I came to the Droid from the Storm2 (granted, I only had it for 2 weeks) and the Pearl before that, and I am very glad that I did. This is by far the best phone I've owned in a long time. It does have quirks, but every phone does. The customization and level of control I have over the phone is what I love the most.

 

[legalkill]

Hi There!

I currently have a Storm 1, and am DYING to upgrade. I can get the upgrade for 200 dollars from Verizon after discount, although I am not at my renewal date, not even sure how much cheaper that would be if anything, anyone know?

I came from Voyager with New every Two discount and got $100 off.

 

[jsh1120]

Takeshi, and everyone sorry if I wasn't clear. I know the reason for rooting so I guess a better question would have been, will any of the ROMS out there allow for storage of apps on the SD card. This is a big deal for me, as I really don't want to end up having a second storm, where every couple of days I have to reboot due to memory running out etc...

As others have noted there is no way to store apps on the SD card. That is a current limitation of the Android o/s kernel and there is no way around it without rewriting the operating system. The justification for the limitation is to make piracy of applications more difficult. But since it is not really that effective there are numerous reports that the limit is being rethought. (It tends to make porting of some games to the Android platform more difficult.)

On the other hand, that limitation should not be a dealbreaker for you. Unlike the RIM o/s, Android is a true multitasking operating system, like Linux and its ancestor Unix. It is very very very difficult to "run out" of memory if you stick to applications that are "well behaved." And at least in my experience almost all applications available for the Droid fall into that category. When you start an application that needs more memory than is immediately available the Android o/s simply "swaps" out applications that are not active to provide that memory. If a "swapped out" application is then needed, the operation is reversed.

The price you pay for this sophisticated operating system, however, is that it IS possible for the o/s to be "busy" swapping applications in and out (and accessing data used by particular applications that IS stored on the SD card). That manifests itself from the user's perspective as "lagging" or "hiccuping" in the user interface. And that frequently concerns some users.

What you'll probably find if you compare a Droid to your gf's iPhone is that her device seems "smoother" and more "predictable" in its performance. That's simply because Apple severely limits the multi-tasking their o/s supports but provides much more active memory to avoid "swapping."

Like all designs, the Droid involves a set of compromises. The RIM o/s and the iPhone o/s represent other compromises. The Android o/s is by far the most "flexible" in terms of allowing a unique combination of applications to run simultaneously. The RIM o/s (Blackberry) is very fast and works well for a very limited set of tasks. Trying to make it work well with a unique (and large) set of applications is very difficult, however. (Thus, the problems of memory management you cite on your Storm.) The iPhone o/s tries to strike a balance by imposing severe restrictions on multi-tasking but balancing that by allowing the phone to use its entire storage system as active memory.

Then there is the Microsoft approach that tries to stuff an o/s designed for a computer into a phone. They've tried to do it in multiple ways; so far they haven't been spectacularly successful.

Bottom line. Stick with BB products if you need the corporate business features they do a great job of supporting. Go to an iPhone if you want a polished consumer device and can get good service on the AT&T network. (That varies a lot.) Go to a Droid if you're a bit of a geek and are willing to deal with the downside of a device with huge potential but some rough edges.

 

[maseren]

Thanks for all the responses!

JSH thanks for the advise, very sound. Honestly, I don't use the blackberry for work, as i have been provided by one... the BIG consideration right now is the cost. It'll cost me 200 dollars to get it, might be able to shave off a bit if I push the idea that the blackberry storm was practically useless for 1 year before 5.0 came out, which more or less is true. However, the cost for a plan not under BBerry is cheaped by 20 dollars as weird as that sounds, therefore i'd end up paying it off in 10 months easy.

Lastly, I think i love the idea of it being much more easily changeable like the linux system.

One last question, regarding games, not that i have ANY on my storm right now as the graphics frankly speaking are terrible for it vs the Iphone. Are games somewhat decent on the Droid?

 

[UNVERIFI3D]

The moto droid is an amazing phone but I would wait a couple of months for the nexus one/htc desire to make a final call. If you want a physical keyboard then go get a droid, NOW! If you don't have to have one then the small wait for the nexus one/htc desire will be well worth it I'm sure, especially if your going to have the phone for 2 years!

 

[pyro6128]

When you go to buy your droid, when you're haggling the price, let them know that if they can't help you out you're considering getting an iphone. I wanted to upgrade my phone a couple of months before I was due because I really wanted the droid and recieved a promotion in the mail that said I was eligible for an early upgrade. When i went they told me that i would have to pay an extra 20 to upgrade early, and lose my $50 credit for a new phone. So i argued and told them that I would like to walk out of the store with a droid, but if theyre going to make me pay an extra $70 for the phone, when the promotion I recieved said "Save" all over it, then I'll just go get an iphone and not pay all the extra fees and give them my money. The guy talked to a manger and suddenly they were able to accommodate me. Then as he was punching it into the computer a supervisor came over and asked him something, and the guy ringing me up said "customer mentioned he was considering switching to the iphone", then the supervisor nodded and walked away.

So to summarize, if you go in there and make a big deal and mention you werent satisfied with your BB and that you'll get an iphone if they can't help you, they'll probably be able to knock some money off and help you out.

 

[WLJohnson05]

coming from a storm1 myself and being a big blackberry fan beforehand, i can say that the upgrade is really worth it. you wont be running out of room on your card very easily (it comes with a 16gb card in it) and the phone itself doesnt have the whole memory flaw that the storm did. i dont ever have to do resets or even turn it off unless i choose to. it's a great phone to work with.

 

[jozhua]

There are only a few things that Storm can do that the Droid cannot. Being a former Storm user myself, I was slightly annoyed and still am a little

1. No true combined inbox - I really enjoyed this feature on the BB. Having all my email accts, txt msgs etc. showing up in one place. Droid only has a combined inbox for the standard e-mail app if you have multiple email accounts, problem is this only POP and not true push. The Gmail app on the phone syncs & gets emails rather quickly but no combined inbox for that.

2. IM apps - Lots of 3rd party multi-IM apps on Android. I have not found any of them as reliable as the ones for the BB platform. Also, BB Messenger is a little more robust in functions then the Droid's stock Gtalk app - which I have found can be flaky at times.

Uhhhh... that's pretty much it. Droid blows the Storm out of the water on all other fronts.

 

[maseren]

Pyro! Much appreciated on the advise, thats what I was leaning towards to be honest. That and the fact that the S1 was umm, sad for one full year. I think they owe me more than that.

Univer, I looked into the Nexus one, and it is coming soon to verizon, however, the reviews are not very encouraging. The speakerphone seems weaker than droid, and the headset not nearly as crisp or clear. Granted it is running a 1ghz processor, but f rom what i heard the Droid has a GPU ie. 3d would run better, vs the Nexus one doesn't, can anyone confirm that?

Lastly, from what I have seen, people have been OCing the Droid to 1.4ghz or so... personally I think THAt is excessive, but I saw a demo of it running at 1.0 or 1.2 and it was BLAZING fast. Also, from what I heard although the screen is prettier on the Nexus One, it sounds like under sun you can hardly see it, though the Droid may not be much better. I wonder how they compare to the Storm? Anyone know?

 

[maseren]

Joz thanks for the compare! Kinda what I was looking for there! The funny thing is I have one account and it happens to be gmail. I do have a work one, but I already have a bberry on that front so not worried about it too much. And Gchat is the only chat I seriously do, so not too bad there either.

Now i'm trying to decide if I am holding off for the Nexus One which is supposed to be released on March 23 or some such by Verizon. Leaning away from it at this time though. Wish I had a comparison of the Droid with a custom ROM vs the Nexus One 2.1.

 

[takeshi]

Takeshi, and everyone sorry if I wasn't clear. I know the reason for rooting so I guess a better question would have been, will any of the ROMS out there allow for storage of apps on the SD card.

Sorry about that. All I had to go on what what you posted in the OP. I don't think that the storage limitation is really a major issue for most people. A decent app developer should know that app resources (which are the space hogs) can be stored on the SD card as it is right now. Only the binaries themselves need to be in phone memory.

That said, I have seen posts from those running low or out of memory but I can't recall how many apps they had or if the even bothered removing anything that they really didn't need. It certainly hasn't been an issue for me. YMMV, of course.

1. No true combined inbox - I really enjoyed this feature on the BB. Having all my email accts, txt msgs etc. showing up in one place. Droid only has a combined inbox for the standard e-mail app if you have multiple email accounts, problem is this only POP and not true push. The Gmail app on the phone syncs & gets emails rather quickly but no combined inbox for that.

You could have your gmail account pull mail from other accounts. It might not ne exactly like Messages on the BB but it would be the closest you can get.

The Droid certainly won't turn POP accounts into push but BIS couldn't do that either (it was only push between BIS and the BB in such cases).