Thread: A members comparision - Droid vs Eris vs Storm2

Originally Posted by Rellims

To me the reviews in this thread are the most honest and unbiased. Thank you.
Posted via mobile device

Thanks,

I know that bias is always present but I wanted to show what each brought to the table (in my eyes, which is my bias). I just hope that this will help others. I'm just glad that I don't have to carry 3 phones around with me anymore. Everyone stated asking if I dealt drugs, told them I was a doctor.

Originally Posted by P3Designs

Thanks,

I know that bias is always present but I wanted to show what each brought to the table (in my eyes, which is my bias). I just hope that this will help others. I'm just glad that I don't have to carry 3 phones around with me anymore. Everyone stated asking if I dealt drugs, told them I was a doctor.

LOL doctor.. right...

I got the Droid on D-Day, Nov 6, at 6am.

I was moving from a BB Pearl. My Pearl has been great and did everything I asked it to, including streaming music, stereo Bluetooth, email, and keeping a charge from Fri evening to Mon morning (with light usage).

But the Droid is a real step up. Web browsing is fantastic, the screen is gorgeous, GMail has HTML support, there are lots of great applications available, and I've even started to like the hardware keyboard.

Its been great having wi-fi. Recently I've been abroad without data and I can still go online with wi-fi. The EVDO Rev A is lightning fast, I'm getting 1600Kbs (vs 900Kbs on the Pearl and, in informal testing at the store, the Storm 2). A good place to test the speed is at: iPhone speedtest - let us know what speed you get on your Storm 2, Droid, or Eris!

So I'm really enjoying the speed, screen, web browsing, and applications on the Droid. The battery isn't even so bad. What's not to like? There are two main things.

Firstly, the Droid does not play nicely with the MS Sync bluetooth in my Ford Fusion Hybrid. It usually doesn't automatically reconnect to both the phone and the stereo for media playback and I have to connect manually. Then, it acts very laggy so that commands that I initiate on the phone take 20 seconds or so to take effect. For example, pausing the media stream or adjusting the volume. Sometimes, it acts strangely when answering incoming calls and also disconnects intermittently.

Secondly, the lack of hardware buttons makes it frustrating to use. There are no dedicated phone buttons - the phone is just an app like everything else! Sometimes it can take up to 6 actions to get to the "Call log" screen which is where I often dial from. For those who are counting:

1. Turn Droid on
2. Swipe
3. Exit to home screen (if in an application)
4. Swipe to get to center home screen (if not there already)
5. Press phone application icon
6. Press Call Log tab

This isn't a huge problem for me, as I don't use the phone a whole lot. However I do miss the dedicated Mute key on the BB.

Also, I listen to pod casts, the media player, Slacker, and Pandora a lot in the car and while working out and its a real problem for me not to have a dedicated pause button. Instead I must:

1. Turn Droid on
2. Swipe
3. Press pause button in application

This is a PIA and gets the screen all messy when I'm working out!

So I'm considering switching to the Storm 2. I'd love to get an Eris but the battery life stories have scared me away. Problem is, I've played with Storm2 in the Verizon store and its slow and clunky compared to Droid. But, it does what I want (except decent web browsing) and has the dedicated buttons so I may just switch over to it.

Other thoughts:
The lack of key rollover on the Droid software keyboards is a real limit to typing speed. Key rollover is when you press a key while lifting off another key. On the Droid I seem to miss a lot of characters because it doesn't support this. My understanding is that the Storm 2 has key rollover.

Battery life is pretty decent but I tend to use the Droid more than my Pearl because of the superior web browsing and bigger screen so it probably wouldn't last me the entire weekend like the Pearl does.

YouTube videos can be viewed in high def if you select this in the menu options. Its absolutely incredible.

The Droid has separate volume settings for notifications, media, etc but does not distinguish between Bluetooth volume, ear-piece, speaker, and headset volume the way BB does. I always leave the BB Bluetooth volume on max but on the Droid there is no concept of BT volume.

I'm thinking I will not like the Storm 2 as much as the Droid (S2 is slower, clunkier) but that it will do everything I use every day better. I hope that webkit browser and 3d graphics support will arrive in early 2010 and make it much more enjoyable as a web device. What I don't understand is why it's so much slower than the Droid on internet speed tests.

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)

@WP

You can press the Home key twice rather Han once & swipe. Maybe that will help just a tiny bit.

-X

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)

Another thing you might like to try WP is the Home replacement GDE as it puts two buttons on every home screen thus allowing you access to the Phone app as well as another on each screen without taking up extra space. You can have up to 7 home screens and it's really smooth (at least with the default theme).

-X

There is also an app that does away completely with the home screen lock. I forgot what it's called but it removes the first step of having to swipe to unlock the phone.

Originally Posted by jlevy73

There is also an app that does away completely with the home screen lock. I forgot what it's called but it removes the first step of having to swipe to unlock the phone.

That's another nice thing about the Blackberry - no need to turn it off and on, or swipe. You just take it in and out of your holster.

I think that RIM has really thought through a lot of small usability issues that add up to a superior experience overall.

But the BB can't do this:

Go to Google Maps and search for your house or a well known site. Then touch the bubble containing the text of what you searched for. You will get a menu. Scroll down to Street View and click that - it will show you a street-level image of that place that you can scroll around in - pretty cool, right? Now, this is where it gets really cool - touch the menu button and select compass mode - enjoy!!! :-)

If the image doesn't seem to follow your movement, wave the Droid around in a figure 8 which seems to recalibrate the compass.

Originally Posted by WPWoodJr

That's another nice thing about the Blackberry - no need to turn it off and on, or swipe. You just take it in and out of your holster.

I think that RIM has really thought through a lot of small usability issues that add up to a superior experience overall.

But the BB can't do this:

Go to Google Maps and search for your house or a well known site. Then touch the bubble containing the text of what you searched for. You will get a menu. Scroll down to Street View and click that - it will show you a street-level image of that place that you can scroll around in - pretty cool, right? Now, this is where it gets really cool - touch the menu button and select compass mode - enjoy!!! :-)

If the image doesn't seem to follow your movement, wave the Droid around in a figure 8 which seems to recalibrate the compass.

Google Maps for BlackBerry has Street View... Just maybe not as flashy/fancy.

I am also torn between the Droid and the Storm2. I had the original storm for about a year and I generally enjoyed the device. Yes, I had about 5 replacements and was allowed an early upgrade (currently with the Droid), but for emailing/texting/calling, it was great.

At the moment, I have the Droid. It is undoubtedly a GREAT phone, but I don't know if it's for me. The Droid seems to be more of a toy - all the apps are great, but I could type and respond to messages so much faster on my storm, and even faster on the storm2. The storm2 OS might be more simple and outdated according to many critics, but that makes it even easier to check my calendar, make a phone call, and read an email - just what I REALLY want from my phone. Similarly, the universal inbox on BBs is something I greatly miss. Even though the notification panel on the Droid is very useful, you can't simply click compose and then choose to send an mms/sms/email/bbm/pin/IM/etc.

Typing on the Droid is simply not good. If you have a case on the Droid, then the top level of keys on the pull-out keyboard are difficult to hit. A lot of times, I would end up hitting two keys at once due to this. The on screen keyboard is better for some people, but I find it laggy and it often misses characters if I type too quickly (not to mention if you happen to touch two keys at once). I've read that a lot of people simply don't use the pull-out keyboard at all - I've tried this, and I feel like I'm neglecting the features of my phone. What's the point of buying a slider if you won't use it? Maybe I just miss surepress, but I miss typing on the storm/storm2. Whenever I play around with my Dad's storm, I reminisce about how fast I could once type.

There are a lot of features that I could compare between the Storm2 and the Droid, such as the camera, the screen, media features, and bluetooth, but none of these are deal breakers for me. I might watch a video once every week or so on my phone, and I might take a picture of something funny to send to my friends, but either phone can sufficiently perform these tasks.

As it stands, I am learning towards returning my Droid for the Storm2. However, what has been holding me back is the Android OS because I know it will only get better and better. The apps on the Droid are also great, but the ones I actually use - weather, maps, google talk, pandora, google voice - BB app world has, and they work fine. I've really tried to love the Droid, but I can't stop myself from yearning for the storm2.

Hey droid'ers. I am posting this here as this seems to have the most useful info on the site. I have a problem with someones droid its running slow and freezing up on text messages.. any suggestions?

Originally Posted by evan87

As it stands, I am learning towards returning my Droid for the Storm2. However, what has been holding me back is the Android OS because I know it will only get better and better. The apps on the Droid are also great, but the ones I actually use - weather, maps, google talk, pandora, google voice - BB app world has, and they work fine. I've really tried to love the Droid, but I can't stop myself from yearning for the storm2.

Exactly! The stuff I will probably really use is on BB too. But the Droid is a great device. I'm counting on RIM to come through with a decent Webkit browser and OpenGL graphics.

Originally Posted by jnepsa

Hey droid'ers. I am posting this here as this seems to have the most useful info on the site. I have a problem with someones droid its running slow and freezing up on text messages.. any suggestions?

The first Droid I purchased had lots of lag and would constantly reboot. I had it returned and everything went smooth after that. May just want to have the person return it DOA for a new one.

Wirelessly posted (9530 Storm)

Originally Posted by jnepsa

Hey droid'ers. I am posting this here as this seems to have the most useful info on the site. I have a problem with someones droid its running slow and freezing up on text messages.. any suggestions?

In reading... The free Advanced Task Killer causes battery drain & lag. Many are HIGHLY suggesting no running any task killing app but to let the Linux OS do it's thing. I'm going that route myself and am not running any task managing app and seem to now be getting better battery life, but it's only been 1 day.

If they're running a task manager app have them uninstall & reboot. Post back their findings please.

-X

Originally Posted by sunkast

Google Maps for BlackBerry has Street View... Just maybe not as flashy/fancy.

Hmm - I can't find 'street view' on Google Maps (3.2.1). Satellite View and Map View seem to be it. Am I looking in the wrong place? Or have the wrong Google Maps on my Storm 1?

Originally Posted by MJKneuro

Hmm - I can't find 'street view' on Google Maps (3.2.1). Satellite View and Map View seem to be it. Am I looking in the wrong place? Or have the wrong Google Maps on my Storm 1?

Yes. Just click anywhere on the map and it should pop up asking for things like directions to/from here, and also street view.

all it says when I click on the screen is 'loading address' then the address of the spot I clicked shows up - no other options. hm - double click on that and it does give me more options - including street view, though every where I have tried so far has that grayed out - guess I need to move in towards town.
Thanks.
went into town and it works pretty well - even lets me scroll in different directions
cool

Dunno man... Go to help and see if street view is listed.

Originally Posted by jnepsa

Hey droid'ers. I am posting this here as this seems to have the most useful info on the site. I have a problem with someones droid its running slow and freezing up on text messages.. any suggestions?

battery pull

Originally Posted by catstide

battery pull

tried it lol thanks though

Any new thoughts from the Droid converts? Missing anything on BlackBerry? Or so wowed by the Droid's capabilities that you aren't looking back?