08/22/10 UPDATE: QUESTION: Would the large screen of the Droid X allow users to see more things or the same things in a larger size on its display? Has already been over five weeks of using the Droid X and no complaints. This week I ran some "home tests" trying to answer the question on how programs will be seen in its larger display and have included some Photos.
The process was a direct comparison with my I-Pods Touch (running IOS-4). Said Apple products were used because their display is the same size as the I Phones and the recently introduced Droid 2. The I Pod Touch accessed the Web trough Wi-Fi and photos have not been adjusted, only cropped to size. The results showed some unexpected results that answered my question but not the way I anticipated. Included are photos demonstrating what I describe below:
1. Keyboard. The virtual keys for the Droid X are almost double the size of the Apple device. More important, the keyboard stretches to the full screen when in landscape (the I Pod does not have landscape capability even with IOS 4) and the key organization of the Droid seems to be designed with users in mind as for having included the period and the comma in the main screen amongst many other goodies.
2. Displaying e-mails. When the same e-mail is displayed in both devices. No major differences as for content but fonts in the Droid X are almost twice the size as in the I Pod Touch.
3. Urbanspoon. With the Urbanspoon, the information is about the same for both devices. The larger display of the Droid X is basically lost area with the "urbanspoon" logo.
4. Weather Bug. Using the Weather Bug, the Droid X shows more content and more important, shows an additional decimal digit for the temperature reading.
5. Browsing the Web. On C-Net's TV podcasts, the larger screen of the Droid X allows users to see more information on the display.
Thus, answering my own question on the larger display on the Droid X, seems that all depends on the way that specific applications/programs were designed for the Android Platform vs the I Phones OS. On some instances (e-mails), things were displayed larger. On others, the larger display of the Moto device allowed more content to be displayed (Weather Bug & the C-Net website). On a third group, exemplified by Urbanspoon, the content is the same and the larger screen shows basically useless/dead space on the display.
A point to remember. These are home tests done with I Pods from 2007 and I have not yet played with the Droid 2. The Droid 2 has many features from the Droid X and new I Pods will soon be unveiled with a front facing camera and not unlikely the Retina Display of the I PhoneFour4. And I use I Pods for e-mail and web browsing through Wi Fi only, never to watch movies or even for music listening. For these, I use old Zen Visions (from 2004) which I modified with 120 GBs of HD space.
Hope that these comparisons are useful or at least interesting to you as a consumer and if someone conducts similar comparisons with the Droid 2, the I Phone Four or the new Sammys, will be worth reading about the results and your opinion.
08/14/10 UPDATE: It has been almost a month (29 days) using the Droid X and time to decide if I it should be returned or if it is The Keeper because the VZNs 30 day return policy ends tomorrow. Since my last update, one major event happened. After all the fuzz & buzz regarding the E-Fuse that allegedly Moto had installed in the Droid X and will self-destruct the phone if users tried to modify it, I decided to see if indeed the phone would self-destruct while still under the return policy.
Last week when VZN sent the Froyo (Android 2.2) for the Original Droid users, I was able to download it from the Internet. The phone was backed up (over the air) and the Froyo file copied on a Micro SD Card. Following the instructions, installed the card and rebooted the phone. Opened the zip file and although it seemed to self-install, the phone went dead. I thought that the feared E-Fuse had gone off and would have to go to a VZN store with a credible explanation of what have happened.
But checked on the Internet and found a posting on how to get the phone in recovery mode. Thus, replaced the Froyoed card with the original one, got the phone in Recovery Mode (with the mechanical buttons; power & volume) and was able to restore the Android 2.1 OS. Rebooted it again and the phone self-synchronized with VZN and all contacts, links, etc, came back as backed up. Applications had to be reinstalled one by one. Thus, seems that the story of the E-Fuse that self-destructs the phone is not true at all.
Have used the phone in low reception areas and even with the signal meter showing just one bar, can access the Internet and make phone calls. Battery life continues to be excellent and with the customization capabilities of the OS, the phone goes into a sort of sleep mode (called Off Peak Hours) at midnight and wakes up at 7:00AM. With a third party application; Tasker, have been able to do modifications as to which "things" are on in specific events. For example, the GPS turns itself on when any of the applications that use positioning is launched. Otherwise it is off. With said application and moderate use of the device, have been able to get up to 48 hours from a single battery charge of one hour.
For those of you who are considering the Moto Droids, be aware that you must have a Google E-Mail account to access your contacts. Google allows you consolidation of other e-mails or you just import your contacts from Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. Your Google E-Mail is accessed on the phone and all the information of your contacts show up. The latest from Google is that they allow you to log on multiple accounts from a specific device. Very convenient but anticipate that this will end.
The keyboard has proven to be very convenient, especially the large virtual keys and the predictive texting. With just the first three to four letters of a word, alternatives show up under the texting area and you pick up the proper word. On 08/12/10, Google announced the One Voice for voice recognition or voice to text. I installed it but does not work. Seems that needs Froyo and the latest reports are that will be delivered over the air on the first week of September for the Droid X.
A couple of things that I had not covered before. The camera and camcorder work great and files can be searched alphabetically or by date. Video streaming is uninterrupted but have not received any with HD resolution.
Having said all this, I must re-classify the Droid X with five stars, especially because even after erasing the OS, was able to self-configure itself over the air and have not had any problems at all with the new toy. It's a keeper until at least next year.
Hope that my review and updates have been useful to you.
07/31/10; UPDATED REVIEW. First, thanks for the consumers who have found my Initial Review helpful and classified it as such in Amazon. Has been two weeks using the Droid X as my only means of communication besides Skype. Overall, it is an excellent device with amazing customization capabilities but have found that the Droid X may have an even more limited customer market. As amazing as the Droid X is, IT IS NOT A PHONE FOR PERSONS WHO ARE TECHNO OR COMPUTER CHALLENGED, at least for now, if they want to get the most of this marvelous Moto engineered toy. Otherwise, there are many simpler phones that will not complicate your/their life(s).
THE BAD: First issue, being such a new device, not many vendors have the accessories for it and even though I received the ordered seven in one package from Amazon, still, no one has manufactured the proper case for the phone. See last photo below.
Second, the Verizon website offers plenty of features to customize your phone and play with it; messages, ringtones, etc. But it does not work with 64 bit computers. And after downloading and installing the software, you get a message that it does not support computers running 64 bit OS.
Third, there is not much information on the Web and most of it relates to the original Droid which is not compatible with the new X version. After following advices posted to load ringtones, videos and photos, noticed that most were wrong and had to erase all the OS system.
THE GOOD: Reception, battery life and call quality continue being amazingly good for a device with such a large display and now that I have been playing with some Multi Media features, can give you an update on these. Besides, the phone has become the center of attention of some persons; from a Security Officer at the local Airport to friends that have noticed the change from my Blackberry look alike old Nokia (E-71) to this MONOLITHIC 2001 SPACE ODYSSEY Movie alike icon.
Unlike other devices that limit MM features, if you work around, you will be able to customize caller IDs with JPGs (not animated graphics like some Samsungs), from your favorite characters to recent pics of your kids and/or significant persons. The Photo Gallery even included the date of the pictures you uploaded. The audio is OK with a single rear facing speaker unlike other devices which have two speakers. The only limitation encountered is loading videos. Have tried at least 10 different movies to be converted from VOBs into compatible and reasoably small formats but unable to load these on the X-device.
Thus, after using the Droid X for two weeks is still a KEEPER that fulfills my needs as for a device that can make calls, browse the web, get e-mails, messages and use a GPS w/o paying the extra $10.00 monthly fee usually charged by Carriers.
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