Thinking of switching from BB, but have questions...

[ralgrl]

Hi all,
I'm thisclose to switching from the BB Curve to the Motorola Droid (I'm on Verizon) but I have a few questions first and thought this is a great place to ask....

Since I've had the Curve since December 2008 I'm very used to a few features. I know the Droid will do all of them, but I just wanted to double check:

1. I use Yahoo as my main mail, not Gmail (I know, I know... GASP!). I've heard Android is a bit buggy with Yahoo, but that the new OS release, 2.1, should fix that. Is this true?

2. Is email notification instantaneous? Here's an example: at work I keep my BB next to my keyboard and have it on vibrate. I have the settings such that whenever I get a new Yahoo mail the phone vibrates once, and any new txt messages the phone vibrates twice. I'm very impressed with how quickly the BB tells me I have new Yahoo mail ... it often tells me before Yahoo Messenger does. Will this change with the Droid?

3. Not that any camera phone is great, but I am pretty impressed with the BB's phone. How is the Droid's phone?

4. The BB is great at managing multiple email accounts. I have quite a few (have one for mailings like for coupons, etc, my main one, a Gmail one, etc) and the BB pulls email in quickly. How is the Droid at managing multiple email accounts?

5. How do you like the qwerty keyboard? Which keyboard do you use more?

6. I've read all the great things about the Droid. But what about things you think could be better?

Thanks.

 

[elusiveaura]

***Yahoo mail was working before the 2.1 update, you just had to manually adjust the settings It should work fine for you.


***Not sure about the vibrate but you can change the color of the led to let you know what you're getting, be it a text or an email. It doesn't come in immediately though just so you're aware. It takes anywhere from 1-10 minutes, although you can adjust this higher in the settings.

*** In my opinion the DROID camera is much better. I used to own a STORM1 The video is even better.

***Multiple email accounts work great on my Droid


*** Coming from a storm, I was very used to using the click screen so it took a little getting used to on the small screen of the droid (holding it vertically) I find it much easier now to use the keyboard in horizontol touch and the physical keyboard.

I would love to have "push" like the BB's and instant FB notifications but I guess we can't have everything. We will need flash on it eventually too. Other than that, I love my droid.

 

[Cyrus6001]

I just came from the Curve to the Droid about 2 weeks ago, and absolutly love it!
The Gmail notification is pretty quick, but other email notifications are set on a timer e.g. 5/10/15 min...
It handles multiple accounts just fine, but doesnot have all the email features you are used to with the BB
The camera on the Droid takes way better pictures that the Curve... i could send you some examples if you like... since i have both
the KB is eh....ok. not even close the BB KB, but it works alright

I would say if you are not super reliant on your BB for work purposes, get the Droid. I just say that because, in reality you cant beat the BB's keyboard, and if you have to fire off 50-60 email a day, like i used to have to, then you may want to stick with your BB. But if you dont send a ton of email you will be able to get thru the day just fine with the Droid.
And the Droid is just so much fun to play with when compared to the Curve.
Oh and the web browsing is fantastic.... as good as the iphone, maybe better. And as im sure you are aware the browsing on the curve SUCKS

 

[waylman]

if you are really reliant on timely email I would honestly stick with the BB. I own both a Bold 9000 and a Droid and I do all my email on the Bold. The keyboard on the Droid sucks compared to the BB keyboard. If you are doing a lot of email/typing I would upgrade your Curve to the new Bold 9700.

The Droid does kick ass for web browsing and it has a lot of great apps that are fun to play with but it sounds like you are a heavy email user and the BB is more suited to that.

Just my .02.

 

[Backnblack]

2.1 is reported to be yahoo email friendly....

 

[ralgrl]

if you are really reliant on timely email I would honestly stick with the BB. I own both a Bold 9000 and a Droid and I do all my email on the Bold. The keyboard on the Droid sucks compared to the BB keyboard. If you are doing a lot of email/typing I would upgrade your Curve to the new Bold 9700.

The Droid does kick ass for web browsing and it has a lot of great apps that are fun to play with but it sounds like you are a heavy email user and the BB is more suited to that.

Just my .02.

Thanks for your .02! I actually don't use my BB for work purposes. I just like to stay tapped into my personal email, and it is important to me that I get my new email notifications quickly.

Isn't there an option to have Gmail check Yahoo email? If that's true, then wouldn't my Gmail account quickly detect my Yahoo emails?

thanks!

 

[hookbill]

Not with Yahoo exclusively. The best thing to do is to set up a gmail account if you don't have one already and then take a look at the settings. That should give you an idea on how it works.

 

[LtKen]

Isn't there an option to have Gmail check Yahoo email? If that's true, then wouldn't my Gmail account quickly detect my Yahoo emails?

thanks!

Just one of the -isms of programming, something they're working on fixing for 2.1. Even though they both use IMAP, the GMail app was built to work well with GMail...

You could migrate your e-mail to Google.... I know not the best solution, but it would work. You could also just forward your Yahoo stuff to your GMail, so you have it in both places.

 

[smonakey]

I'm new to the board & to the Droid. I just switched from a BB Curve last week b/c the web surfage on the BB sucks. I have a 2 YO & needing to access the Sesame Street website just became a lot more important!

I don't rely on the Droid for emails, although I have my office emails & my yahoo account pulling to the Droid. I've had no problem with either, although the syncing between yahoo & my office accounts & the Droid is a bit slower than it was with the BB. I'm much happier with the Droid than I was with BB (so far)!

I like the Qwerty keyboard fine. I actually prefer it to the BB's. The keys are a bit bigger & easier for me to key on. I have tiny hands, too BTW. I'm not too crazy about the virtual keyboard, but it might just be lack of practice.

That said, I have 2 Qs -
1. The BB allowed me to delete emails on the BB, but leave them on the server. Do I have that option on the Droid? If so, how do I access it? I think that's the only think I like more about the BB right now.

2. When I try to use the pull out keyboard, I don't get the spell check/autofill thingy. How do I get that?

Thanks.

 

[Tracyap]

Recently switched from years and years of Blackberry use. You won't miss your Blackberry, except for the keyboard. And if you get a defective Droid with call quality problems, you'll also long for the days of your Blackberry. Otherwise, the email, networking and Internet capabilities are amazing.

 

[dlwhtrose]

I came from a BB Curve and the DROID is better in most respects.

For me, the email notification seems to be a bit laggy. But it is not a deal breaker for me. I too use if more for personal than work. I have not found a way of setting different vibrates for the different emails/texts like you can with the Curve BUT I did set up separate ringtones for each. I also use a different text program versus the one that came with the Droid therefore I can change my led to a different color when I receive texts. There is a way of setting up your email accounts so that once you delete your email from your Droid its deleted from your actual email as well but I did not like that function so I did not check it.

The physical keyboard on the Droid sucks (in my opinion). I liked the physical keyboard on the Curve better. However, I use the virtual keyboard (the touch screen one) all the time and love it. It does have auto fill that you can customize if you use specific abbreviations and such.

I read somewhere that 2.1 was suppose to make the Droid Yahoo friendly now but I do not use Yahoo so I really do not know.

I don't think you will be disappointed coming from a Curve to the Droid. I did it back in November when the Droid first came out and I have not looked back. Take the leap and enjoy. There is a lot that the Droid does that the Curve doesn't!!

 

[Cyrus6001]

That said, I have 2 Qs -
1. The BB allowed me to delete emails on the BB, but leave them on the server. Do I have that option on the Droid? If so, how do I access it? I think that's the only think I like more about the BB right now.

2. When I try to use the pull out keyboard, I don't get the spell check/autofill thingy. How do I get that?

Thanks.

1. there is an option to delete from server in the account settings, but you dont have the option to decide on an individual email basis.

2. Thats a good question, and hope somebody has the answer.

 

[sboman_32]

I used the blackberry storm for a year before recently switching to the droid and I love it. I use k-9 mail for yahoo email and it seems to work just fine.

 

[nphil]

I'm new to the board & to the Droid. I just switched from a BB Curve last week b/c the web surfage on the BB sucks. I have a 2 YO & needing to access the Sesame Street website just became a lot more important!

I don't rely on the Droid for emails, although I have my office emails & my yahoo account pulling to the Droid. I've had no problem with either, although the syncing between yahoo & my office accounts & the Droid is a bit slower than it was with the BB. I'm much happier with the Droid than I was with BB (so far)!

I like the Qwerty keyboard fine. I actually prefer it to the BB's. The keys are a bit bigger & easier for me to key on. I have tiny hands, too BTW. I'm not too crazy about the virtual keyboard, but it might just be lack of practice.

That said, I have 2 Qs -
1. The BB allowed me to delete emails on the BB, but leave them on the server. Do I have that option on the Droid? If so, how do I access it? I think that's the only think I like more about the BB right now.

2. When I try to use the pull out keyboard, I don't get the spell check/autofill thingy. How do I get that?

Thanks.

1. I think there is an option to hide read mails (Pretty much the same as deleting from phone). Not sure if the default mail client does this, I use K-9 mail.

2. I don't think the stock hardware keyboard has this option, but if you download the HTC_IME keyboard (free, search on these forums) you get a nice popup with suggestions/spell check etc

Oh and if you want faster e-mail notifications, just create a dummy gmail account and forward all mail from yahoo/msn whatever to that gmail account. I get pretty much instant notifications this way. (I set up my college e-mail this way)

 

[samiusmc]

The Droid will not disappoint. It will take care of all your concerns. I used to have a BB Curve before the Droid and compared to the Droid, the Curve is a dinosaur.