Got exchange hooked up. Pretty much no hassle after I figured out the right host to use. Gmail's and exchange's push basically happen within seconds. Also spent more time than I thought I would playing Robo Defense.
RandomEngy on
Profile -> Signature Settings -> Hide signatures always. Then you don't have to read this worthless text anymore.
Well, got my Droid in the mail today. Mmmm, so sweet! I've got it pretty much configured as I want, except for an SMS replacement.
I downloaded Handcent SMS, but it must not be quite working with the Droid yet. The settings screen (and only that screen) causes the screen to flicker. This makes changing settings almost unusable, and it certainly destroyed my confidence in the app's stability. So I uninstalled. Has anyone else run into this? I may just wait until it's fixed to get one at all. I know Chomp is supposed to be okay too, but I hate compromising.
Also, wow, so glad I didn't let the reviews dissuade me from trusting that the physical keyboard would be okay. The keyboard is totally fine. I'm already almost up to speed on it, and the feel of it is just pure quality, IMO. I can see how some might not like the keys flush, but that didn't slow me down at all. Like any other phone, the only thing slowing me down is relearning the positions of function keys and such.
And since this is my first smart phone at all, let me just say: SSH access to my home computer from my phone, from anywhere, is revolutionary. It really changes everything, for a savvy user.
Oh, wanted to ask: will Handcent SMS automatically split long text messages into the necessary multiple texts? My girlfriend is still on AT&T until her contract is up, and I have to manually type a partial message, send, type second part, etc. for however long the message is. It's bullshit in the modern era, total bullshit.
If Handcent doesn't do that, are there any apps that do?
In the interest of better battery life and laziness I tried downloading Locale and the sync plugin. I tried to configure it to enable sync when the phone is plugged in and disable it when I unplug the phone. Before the update to Locale earlier today it managed to disable sync when I unplugged the phone but it wouldn't enable automatically when the phone is plugged in. After the update it enables sync when I unplug the phone. Has anyone else tried this on the droid and had better luck?
I can confirm the first update for the Droid is coming December 11th. It's going to fix a lot of small things. January has another big update coming too.
any hints to what those are?
Also, for Droid users: was it just the demo unit at verizon, the videos I was using or do YouTube videos kinda run sucky, visual quality-wise, on the Droid?
I can confirm the first update for the Droid is coming December 11th. It's going to fix a lot of small things. January has another big update coming too.
any hints to what those are?
Also, for Droid users: was it just the demo unit at verizon, the videos I was using or do YouTube videos kinda run sucky, visual quality-wise, on the Droid?
An employee less scrupulous than DP here has leaked the details:
I can confirm the first update for the Droid is coming December 11th. It's going to fix a lot of small things. January has another big update coming too.
any hints to what those are?
Also, for Droid users: was it just the demo unit at verizon, the videos I was using or do YouTube videos kinda run sucky, visual quality-wise, on the Droid?
I had the same thought when I tried using YouTube yesterday on my Droid... "This looks pretty horrendous." If you hit the Menu button and then hit "Watch in High Quality", though, it goes fullscreen and is sharper. Dunno if it's a toggle or if you have to select it on every video, but yeah. The default is crappy but it's good in HD.
I can confirm the first update for the Droid is coming December 11th. It's going to fix a lot of small things. January has another big update coming too.
any hints to what those are?
Also, for Droid users: was it just the demo unit at verizon, the videos I was using or do YouTube videos kinda run sucky, visual quality-wise, on the Droid?
I had the same thought when I tried using YouTube yesterday on my Droid... "This looks pretty horrendous." If you hit the Menu button and then hit "Watch in High Quality", though, it goes fullscreen and is sharper. Dunno if it's a toggle or if you have to select it on every video, but yeah. The default is crappy but it's good in HD.
I can confirm the first update for the Droid is coming December 11th. It's going to fix a lot of small things. January has another big update coming too.
any hints to what those are?
Also, for Droid users: was it just the demo unit at verizon, the videos I was using or do YouTube videos kinda run sucky, visual quality-wise, on the Droid?
An employee less scrupulous than DP here has leaked the details:
If it makes the camera useful, that would not be minor imo. I found out I can take a decent picture if I set focus to either macro or infinity, depending on where my subject is. If I let it do auto my picture is Blurry McBlurryson.
The thing is I know it is software, because I will see it going past the in focus picture to finally take the shit pic.
how is everyone's voice quality? mine reminds me of talking on my friends storm, it's not quite all there all the time. i've been getting quiet, kinda scratchy and tinny voice mixed with nice and clear in the same call.
how is everyone's voice quality? mine reminds me of talking on my friends storm, it's not quite all there all the time. i've been getting quiet, kinda scratchy and tinny voice mixed with nice and clear in the same call.
I've been really happy with it. I felt like it was pretty tinny with the Imagio, and if someone wasn't speaking clearly, I'd find myself asking, "What?" Glad to say that I haven't had that problem with the Droid.
how is everyone's voice quality? mine reminds me of talking on my friends storm, it's not quite all there all the time. i've been getting quiet, kinda scratchy and tinny voice mixed with nice and clear in the same call.
I've been really happy with it. I felt like it was pretty tinny with the Imagio, and if someone wasn't speaking clearly, I'd find myself asking, "What?" Glad to say that I haven't had that problem with the Droid.
Yeah, this is actually the best audio quality of the phones I've had before. Most reviews mentioned it favorably, too. If your audio quality is consistently bad, I'd probably try returning the phone while you're still under your unconditional warranty.
How is the built-in media player for playing audio or listening to shoutcast streams off of the web? I'm thinking about getting a Droid and it would be great if I could replace my mp3 player in the process, or at least bring fewer gadgets to work. What's the consensus on the battery life?
Quick Question, does the Droid require the 29.99$ data plan?
All smartphones do.
Yes, unless you want exchange then it is $45 apparently, but there may be some work arounds.
The nice thing is, if you have a corporate discount it applies to data too, unlike text messages or other add ons.
That's only for a corporate account. You can still get exchange for the $30 data plan.
I went to go look at a Droid today at a VZ store. They didn't have any on display for me to try out. I left promptly. Why wouldn't they have one for me to play around with to see if I like it or not?
How is the built-in media player for playing audio or listening to shoutcast streams off of the web? I'm thinking about getting a Droid and it would be great if I could replace my mp3 player in the process, or at least bring fewer gadgets to work. What's the consensus on the battery life?
Battery isn't terrible. With normal usage, you can get a day's worth out of it. I.e. 12 hours.
As far as the speaker, it's actually really freaking good. I went running with it and used the cardiotrainer ap and it integrates with your music. The speaker was great.
How is the built-in media player for playing audio or listening to shoutcast streams off of the web? I'm thinking about getting a Droid and it would be great if I could replace my mp3 player in the process, or at least bring fewer gadgets to work. What's the consensus on the battery life?
It's not as good as an iPod/iPhone, but given the harsh reviews, I was surprised how nice and functional the music player is, really. I'm a bit of a minimalist, so that helps, but it does what it says on the box: plays music with all the standard features, and is easy to navigate. Not fancy, but easy enough on the eyes.
I don't know about streaming, though, as I don't do that much. If the music app doesn't handle it though, I've seen several streaming apps on the market.
I just found Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Use. Getting a breakdown of battery use by app/function is super cool. I had actually been afraid I would just have to do trial and error to find out what exactly eats my battery. I assume the "Phone Idle" setting just means the power it takes to stay in sleep mode?
RandomEngy on
Profile -> Signature Settings -> Hide signatures always. Then you don't have to read this worthless text anymore.
I just found Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Use. Getting a breakdown of battery use by app/function is super cool. I had actually been afraid I would just have to do trial and error to find out what exactly eats my battery. I assume the "Phone Idle" setting just means the power it takes to stay in sleep mode?
It's like "idle system processes" in task manager on windows I believe.
Quick Question, does the Droid require the 29.99$ data plan?
All smartphones do.
Yes, unless you want exchange then it is $45 apparently, but there may be some work arounds.
The nice thing is, if you have a corporate discount it applies to data too, unlike text messages or other add ons.
That's only for a corporate account. You can still get exchange for the $30 data plan.
I went to go look at a Droid today at a VZ store. They didn't have any on display for me to try out. I left promptly. Why wouldn't they have one for me to play around with to see if I like it or not?
SRSLY? My store had like 6 on display, plus the sales people had them on their person. Did you ask one of them?
Anyone else having issues with the Ringer Volume screwing up and only coming out of the earpiece speaker? It's happened to me once ..but doing a quick search I found other people complaining about it on the Motorola forums. I don't see it addressed in those fixes, but I'm hoping they come out with something soon - the only workaround for now is to reboot the device.
So when using google voice, when somebody sends an SMS to my google voice number I get the double whammy notifications, once in regular "Messaging" and once in the GoogleVoice SMS center thing. Is there a way to just route everything through one? OR if I respond via "Messaging" will it still show up on the recipients phone as my g-voice #?
Been looking around in settings on both the website for google voice and just in the phone and I am stymied.
Does anyone know how to force a contact to sync with Facebook? I have a friend on Facebook and in my contacts but they don't sync together. I have the names spelled the same in my contacts as their Facebook and everything. I've tried deleting the entire contact and recreating it again, but that didn't work either.
EDIT: Also, ChompSMS isn't showing up in the market and when I download it from the browser it gives a parse error.
Having to split up longer SMS messages is a pain in the fucking ass, Verizon. Cut that shit out.
You don't have to split up longer SMS. The phone should auto convert it to an MMS.
Inter-carrier messages only support 160 characters. MMS supports 7x that. When you send an SMS over 160 messages, it turns into an EMS which isn't transmittable to other carriers.
Does anyone know how to force a contact to sync with Facebook? I have a friend on Facebook and in my contacts but they don't sync together. I have the names spelled the same in my contacts as their Facebook and everything. I've tried deleting the entire contact and recreating it again, but that didn't work either.
EDIT: Also, ChompSMS isn't showing up in the market and when I download it from the browser it gives a parse error.
your situation might be different from mine, but when i had duplicate(gmail n facebook) contacts, i had to double check the names. then force a facebook sync from the account & sync menu. then the two would merge under 1 entry. still not sure how to pass along the facebook contact pic to the gmail contact though.
Having to split up longer SMS messages is a pain in the fucking ass, Verizon. Cut that shit out.
You don't have to split up longer SMS. The phone should auto convert it to an MMS.
Inter-carrier messages only support 160 characters. MMS supports 7x that. When you send an SMS over 160 messages, it turns into an EMS which isn't transmittable to other carriers.
That said, it's not a Verizon limitation.
I can verify that neither the Droid, nor my previous enV2, convert texts over 160 into MMS messages. I have to manually type texts in chunks. And it's a huge pain. And it doesn't happen on other carriers, so I'll continue blaming Verizon. Texting should "just work."
I am in the process of convincing my girlfriend to switch to Verizon, solely because of this.
Edit: I know it's a technical limitation, but other carriers apparently have and use work-arounds. Verizon should follow suit instead of sending an equally-annoying error text to my phone every time I accidentally go over 160.
Question regarding Verzion data plans: am I paying by the byte for things like web browsing? I'm looking forward to the features, but I'm wondering if my $99.00 plan is going to have $299 of use charges tacked on.
Edit: Bonus Question! Anyone using a screen protector for the screen? I've never had a non-flip phone before, so I'm a little worried about beating it up.
Question regarding Verzion data plans: am I paying by the byte for things like web browsing? I'm looking forward to the features, but I'm wondering if my $99.00 plan is going to have $299 of use charges tacked on.
Edit: Bonus Question! Anyone using a screen protector for the screen? I've never had a non-flip phone before, so I'm a little worried about beating it up.
No, your $29.99 covers all your data use from the handset. So you'll be all good there.
Question regarding Verzion data plans: am I paying by the byte for things like web browsing? I'm looking forward to the features, but I'm wondering if my $99.00 plan is going to have $299 of use charges tacked on.
Edit: Bonus Question! Anyone using a screen protector for the screen? I've never had a non-flip phone before, so I'm a little worried about beating it up.
No, your $29.99 covers all your data use from the handset. So you'll be all good there.
Technically, it covers up to 5 GB per month. However, you'd have to really try to go above that limit, so it's effectively unlimited. Just don't plan on replacing your home ISP with your phone plan. :P
Question regarding Verzion data plans: am I paying by the byte for things like web browsing? I'm looking forward to the features, but I'm wondering if my $99.00 plan is going to have $299 of use charges tacked on.
Edit: Bonus Question! Anyone using a screen protector for the screen? I've never had a non-flip phone before, so I'm a little worried about beating it up.
No, your $29.99 covers all your data use from the handset. So you'll be all good there.
Technically, it covers up to 5 GB per month. However, you'd have to really try to go above that limit, so it's effectively unlimited. Just don't plan on replacing your home ISP with your phone plan. :P
I don't think I push 5GB through my router in a month, so maybe I COULD use this as my ISP.
Technically, it covers up to 5 GB per month. However, you'd have to really try to go above that limit, so it's effectively unlimited. Just don't plan on replacing your home ISP with your phone plan. :P
I don't think I push 5GB through my router in a month, so maybe I COULD use this as my ISP.
Yeah, fair enough. I don't get cable or anything, so I wind up streaming Hulu and other videos a lot. That shit adds up fast.
ZampanovYou May Not Go HomeUntil Tonight Has Been MagicalRegistered Userregular
edited November 2009
So if you go over the 5gb do they start charging, or is it capped? I'd personally rather have it cap than have the bastards start charging me stupid amounts.
Edit: And using Wi-Fi doesn't count toward the 5gb, right?
Odd question: You can change the wallpaper on the home screen, right?
Yes, got to the gallery and when viewing a picture there will be an icon in the top left that says "set as" which you can choose wallpaper.
Side note is anyone having problems with getting the Droid connected to a protected WiFi router? Mine will connect to open routers just fine, but won't work with my WEP protected home router. I have added the Droid's mac address to the filter list. If I force the droid to use a static IP on the network it will connect, but the internet will not work (even if I force set the Droid's DNS to use my router IP.) If I let the droid try and acquire an IP from DHCP it will always fail.
Posts
I downloaded Handcent SMS, but it must not be quite working with the Droid yet. The settings screen (and only that screen) causes the screen to flicker. This makes changing settings almost unusable, and it certainly destroyed my confidence in the app's stability. So I uninstalled. Has anyone else run into this? I may just wait until it's fixed to get one at all. I know Chomp is supposed to be okay too, but I hate compromising.
Also, wow, so glad I didn't let the reviews dissuade me from trusting that the physical keyboard would be okay. The keyboard is totally fine. I'm already almost up to speed on it, and the feel of it is just pure quality, IMO. I can see how some might not like the keys flush, but that didn't slow me down at all. Like any other phone, the only thing slowing me down is relearning the positions of function keys and such.
And since this is my first smart phone at all, let me just say: SSH access to my home computer from my phone, from anywhere, is revolutionary. It really changes everything, for a savvy user.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
If Handcent doesn't do that, are there any apps that do?
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
any hints to what those are?
Also, for Droid users: was it just the demo unit at verizon, the videos I was using or do YouTube videos kinda run sucky, visual quality-wise, on the Droid?
http://phandroid.com/2009/11/09/motorola-droid-and-htc-droid-eris-ota-updates-coming-december-11th/
:^:
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
I had the same thought when I tried using YouTube yesterday on my Droid... "This looks pretty horrendous." If you hit the Menu button and then hit "Watch in High Quality", though, it goes fullscreen and is sharper. Dunno if it's a toggle or if you have to select it on every video, but yeah. The default is crappy but it's good in HD.
aah, okay then, didn't know I could do that
A lot of it has to deal with exchange, camera, and some bluetooth stuff. But it's minor for most things.
3DSFF: 5026-4429-6577
The thing is I know it is software, because I will see it going past the in focus picture to finally take the shit pic.
Minor gripe but still annoying.
I've been really happy with it. I felt like it was pretty tinny with the Imagio, and if someone wasn't speaking clearly, I'd find myself asking, "What?" Glad to say that I haven't had that problem with the Droid.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
All smartphones do.
3DSFF: 5026-4429-6577
Yes, unless you want exchange then it is $45 apparently, but there may be some work arounds.
The nice thing is, if you have a corporate discount it applies to data too, unlike text messages or other add ons.
That's only for a corporate account. You can still get exchange for the $30 data plan.
I went to go look at a Droid today at a VZ store. They didn't have any on display for me to try out. I left promptly. Why wouldn't they have one for me to play around with to see if I like it or not?
Battery isn't terrible. With normal usage, you can get a day's worth out of it. I.e. 12 hours.
As far as the speaker, it's actually really freaking good. I went running with it and used the cardiotrainer ap and it integrates with your music. The speaker was great.
3DSFF: 5026-4429-6577
I don't know about streaming, though, as I don't do that much. If the music app doesn't handle it though, I've seen several streaming apps on the market.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
It's like "idle system processes" in task manager on windows I believe.
3DSFF: 5026-4429-6577
SRSLY? My store had like 6 on display, plus the sales people had them on their person. Did you ask one of them?
Been looking around in settings on both the website for google voice and just in the phone and I am stymied.
EDIT: Also, ChompSMS isn't showing up in the market and when I download it from the browser it gives a parse error.
Steam: Car1gt // Tumblr // Facebook // Twitter
You don't have to split up longer SMS. The phone should auto convert it to an MMS.
Inter-carrier messages only support 160 characters. MMS supports 7x that. When you send an SMS over 160 messages, it turns into an EMS which isn't transmittable to other carriers.
That said, it's not a Verizon limitation.
3DSFF: 5026-4429-6577
your situation might be different from mine, but when i had duplicate(gmail n facebook) contacts, i had to double check the names. then force a facebook sync from the account & sync menu. then the two would merge under 1 entry. still not sure how to pass along the facebook contact pic to the gmail contact though.
I am in the process of convincing my girlfriend to switch to Verizon, solely because of this.
Edit: I know it's a technical limitation, but other carriers apparently have and use work-arounds. Verizon should follow suit instead of sending an equally-annoying error text to my phone every time I accidentally go over 160.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
Question regarding Verzion data plans: am I paying by the byte for things like web browsing? I'm looking forward to the features, but I'm wondering if my $99.00 plan is going to have $299 of use charges tacked on.
Edit: Bonus Question! Anyone using a screen protector for the screen? I've never had a non-flip phone before, so I'm a little worried about beating it up.
No, your $29.99 covers all your data use from the handset. So you'll be all good there.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
I don't think I push 5GB through my router in a month, so maybe I COULD use this as my ISP.
Steam BoardGameGeek Twitter
Edit: And using Wi-Fi doesn't count toward the 5gb, right?
PSN/XBL: Zampanov -- Steam: Zampanov
Yes, got to the gallery and when viewing a picture there will be an icon in the top left that says "set as" which you can choose wallpaper.
Side note is anyone having problems with getting the Droid connected to a protected WiFi router? Mine will connect to open routers just fine, but won't work with my WEP protected home router. I have added the Droid's mac address to the filter list. If I force the droid to use a static IP on the network it will connect, but the internet will not work (even if I force set the Droid's DNS to use my router IP.) If I let the droid try and acquire an IP from DHCP it will always fail.