Database Develop

Should I Get a Droid?

Hi guys(and girls), in 2011, should I get an original Droid? If I bought one it would be my first android phone, i've flashed a custom rom on a windows phone before but i don't know how to root yet, but would it be good for me to get a Droid now? With the newer phones that are out?

Honestly just get a newer and better phone for free. There are many free phones out there that are better hardware and software wise like the inspire 4g(which I have)

I'll pass on a contract.

Juanito216 said:
Hi guys(and girls), in 2011, should I get an original Droid? If I bought one it would be my first android phone, i've flashed a custom rom on a windows phone before but i don't know how to root yet, but would it be good for me to get a Droid now? With the newer phones that are out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes! I have one aswell and I can show you or message you on how to
and how to flash roms just like i did

no.
i think a nexus is way better supportet.
google is developing right on the nexus phones. i would by one of these. and not a doird again.

Thanks for the replies, I might wait to get something more advanced. Good things come to those who wait.

GodT2 said:
no.
i think a nexus is way better supportet.
google is developing right on the nexus phones. i would by one of these. and not a doird again.
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That thing is freaking expensive
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App

If I was buying my first Android right now (I bought the Milestone in September of '10) I might look at the Nexus one. I think Amazon has it for around $280, new. The screen size is the same but I think it's a little faster and is obviously better supported.

Consider buying a device with more RAM than droid.
Also you should answer a question, whether you are confortable with touchscreen virtual keyboard or not - I'm not, so I took Milestone

I would consider a keyboardless device ie EVO/HD2/Thunderbolt(big screens), my sister had a Cliq XT at one time and i tried texting on that, my thumbs were kind of big for the buttons?

Well guys, I got a Droid X today.

I've had my Droid for 2 years now and it's been a great device. The development community has been great and there are still a lot of good ROM a currently being developed and supported for it.
While it might not have the most memory, most apps can be pushed to SD. The processor overclocks to 1g (and usually even higher), so it can still match the quadrant scores of many newer phones.
If the price is right, and you want to experiment with rooting and flashing ROMs, not many other phones have as much community support and it's next to impossible to brick a Droid.

I have my Droid (Milestone, actually) for more than a year now and can't say anything bad about the device itself. When it comes down to Motorola, we're talking about a different sport
Motorola's update policy had me waiting for FroYo for months and when it came out, it was a beta-versions, months old that gave a lot of people WLAN-problems. Also the use of the bootloader is a real pain.
If you're willing to install a custom ROM, you're fine, there are good ones out there (I'm using FroyoMOD), but due to the company's update (and bootloader) policy, my next device won't be a Motorola.

CyanogenMod 7 - Chances?

What do you all think is the likelihood of us getting CyanogenMod 7 for the Droid 3? If you do think it's possible, how long do you think it may be? More than 8 weeks?

I know I'd love to have Cyanogen or a clone running on my D3, but there's lots of things that have to come first, like bootstrapping, and custom recovery before anyone can even begin baking anything. At least moto already has the source code up online, so that will save sometime. Give it some time, something will happen, but be polite and don't ask for ETA's.

I'm ready to get built in tethering. Someone needs to custom recovery quick!

Unless I'm missing some other kind of underground movement, it's not likely that we will ever see cyanogenmod support:
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/devices
There is no Droid 2 support. No Droid Incredible 2 support. No Droid X support. No Droid X2 support... and so on. I'm thinking now that I was spoiled with my Droid1 when it comes to aftermarket and custom rom support.

there are CM7 ports for D2 and D2G. Give it time, it will happen. I for one ran several CM7 nightly builds, MIUI, and a few others on my D2.

lordgodgeneral said:
I know I'd love to have Cyanogen or a clone running on my D3, but there's lots of things that have to come first, like bootstrapping, and custom recovery before anyone can even begin baking anything. At least moto already has the source code up online, so that will save sometime. Give it some time, something will happen, but be polite and don't ask for ETA's.
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My apologies, I realize now that asking for ETAs is a bit annoying. I should have realized that when I noticed how annoying it was that every other response in the "Can this root Droid 3?" thread was "how close are we?"
Thanks for the knowledgeable response.

LaTropa64 said:
Unless I'm missing some other kind of underground movement, it's not likely that we will ever see cyanogenmod support:
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/devices
There is no Droid 2 support. No Droid Incredible 2 support. No Droid X support. No Droid X2 support... and so on. I'm thinking now that I was spoiled with my Droid1 when it comes to aftermarket and custom rom support.
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That seriously needs to be updated. There are official CM builds for the Droid X, the Droid 2 and the Incredible 2 as well as quite a few other devices not listed on that page.
Look at their github products...
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_vendor_cyanogen/tree/gingerbread/products
the droid 2 is cyanogen_droid2.mk
the droid x is cyanogen_shadow.mk
the inc 2 is cyanogen_vivow.mk

Would absolutely love to see it happen. D3 is my favorite hardware so far (out of nearly a dozen devices I use for testing)...CM7 would simply make it the perfect device.

The Droid 3 will most certainly receive CM7 and MIUI; however, a recovery must first be released, and once 2nd init with gingerbread kernels is perfected it will have to be ported to the Droid 3.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Seeing CM7 on the D3 certainly would be great, but considering the number of devices the team supports, I would expect it to be a late-comer to the party. Once we get clockwork, expect to see Woodyman and DC dropping the first ROM (since Woody already owns a D3), followed by Chevy (I hope) and Pete. I really believe we are going to end up with a fairly extensive firmware list for this device, considering the massive popularity of the Droid. We should have some happy days in the near future!
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

NO ICS For Us :(

Just checked the updated Motorola page... looks like this device is stuck at android 2.3 forever.
That really sucks, it's gotta be the 512mb memory that's in the device. I knew that would possibly be an issue when I first got the phone. Maybe we can put more pressure on moto to unlock our bootloader so we can get a fully functional ICS (even if it's hacked) on our devices.
Check the link:
http://forums.motorola.com/pages/00add97d6c

PFFFFFFFFFFFFF

I just saw this as well, very disappointing. I wish they would open up development to the community on devices they no longer plan on upgrading/supporting. I know it will never happen...but I can dream

Droid4 and Bionic get the ICS
maybe Hashcode or some one try to do what he can, and pull out from this phones something for us and for CM9 on D3

niko99 said:
Droid4 and Bionic get the ICS
maybe Hashcode or some one try to do what he can, and pull out from this phones something for us and for CM9 on D3
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Click to collapse
Just got a response back from hash regarding this on twitter:
" @danifunker @dhacker29 I have 1 more trick up my sleeve for the D3. And if that doesnt work, then ill drop back to cm7.2 or something. "
Let's hope the tweak works out... but either way I think I could live with CM 7.2, although I would REALLY love running ICS on this phone.

What ever happened to Kexec for the D3? I'll sacrifice a core for a new kernel that could even OC that one to 1.2.

I started to believe that motorola doesn't want anyone to buy motorola products.

calash said:
I just saw this as well, very disappointing. I wish they would open up development to the community on devices they no longer plan on upgrading/supporting. I know it will never happen...but I can dream
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Sure would be nice if they would just open up phones when they started considering them legacy devices. Other than 4G which I don't particularly need anyway, the D3 is a great phone that could keep going for a long, long time just like my D1 did (I skipped the D2 and went directly from 1 to 3).
Part of the reason the D1 lasted me so long was that I could keep getting updates for it from Cyanogen. In fact I still have it. Though its no longer on the Vzw network I can test various things on it like security software, remote wipes etc over WiFi.
Verizon is probably against unlocking the D3 because they don't want to have the support issues and that's probably why we will never see it. How many people on these forums do you hear about that are constantly returning/exchanging phones that they have managed to kill through tweaking? Then its those same people who complain the loudest when the Motorola and the carriers won't unlock the phones. So, while I wish it was not so, we will probably never see them unlocked unless someone finds a way to hack them. Motorola isn't going to help and particularly VZW is not going to help.

danifunker said:
Just checked the updated Motorola page... looks like this device is stuck at android 2.3 forever.
That really sucks, it's gotta be the 512mb memory that's in the device. I knew that would possibly be an issue when I first got the phone. Maybe we can put more pressure on moto to unlock our bootloader so we can get a fully functional ICS (even if it's hacked) on our devices.
Check the link:
http://forums.motorola.com/pages/00add97d6c
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Click to collapse
HTC just released the HTC Desire C with a 600Mhz processor and 512MB ram. It runs Android 4.0
If they can do it with that, surely Motorola can too

ChristianPreachr said:
HTC just released the HTC Desire C with a 600Mhz processor and 512MB ram. It runs Android 4.0
If they can do it with that, surely Motorola can too
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It's possible that the HVGA screen on that device needs far less memory - HVGA is 480x320 which is 70% less pixels to push than the qHD on the Droid 3. Also, Moto is pretty terrible at software, Blur runs a lot slower and chews up a lot more memory than a lot of its competitors.
What Moto should do is release a plain vanilla, non-blur ICS as an optional upgrade. I have to think that would take a minimal amount of time to port vanilla ICS to the Droid 3 if there is no need to get it working with Blur - just need the drivers which should be substantially similar to Droid 4.
---------- Post added at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------
ratman6161 said:
Sure would be nice if they would just open up phones when they started considering them legacy devices. Other than 4G which I don't particularly need anyway, the D3 is a great phone that could keep going for a long, long time just like my D1 did (I skipped the D2 and went directly from 1 to 3).
Part of the reason the D1 lasted me so long was that I could keep getting updates for it from Cyanogen. In fact I still have it. Though its no longer on the Vzw network I can test various things on it like security software, remote wipes etc over WiFi.
Verizon is probably against unlocking the D3 because they don't want to have the support issues and that's probably why we will never see it. How many people on these forums do you hear about that are constantly returning/exchanging phones that they have managed to kill through tweaking? Then its those same people who complain the loudest when the Motorola and the carriers won't unlock the phones. So, while I wish it was not so, we will probably never see them unlocked unless someone finds a way to hack them. Motorola isn't going to help and particularly VZW is not going to help.
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Couldn't they just do what HTC did - online based bootloader unlock tool, which builds a list of unlocked IMEIs which are then voided of their warranty, and people calling for support will be checked against this list. Of course, the most enterprising guys with bricked phones will try to change their IMEI sticker, but that wouldn't match their Verizon account records.

This is so sad... Cant believe that Dual Core Processor phone is not eligable to receive Ice Cream Sandwich... Media shall be contacted, so they could make fun from Motorola... I'm never going to buy Motorola products again.. Ever.

Rlin5741 said:
What Moto should do is release a plain vanilla, non-blur ICS as an optional upgrade. I have to think that would take a minimal amount of time to port vanilla ICS to the Droid 3 if there is no need to get it working with Blur - just need the drivers which should be substantially similar to Droid 4.
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Im pretty sure all we need is a compatible kernel and hashcode will take care of the rest. If Motorola could do that, it can extend the life of our phones.
Sent from my XT860 running ICS

Time to do some more Facebook trolling, I may even make an account over on the Motorola forums and do some spamming/trolling.
In July 2011 when I bought my phone there were 2 new Motorola smartphones out there the Droid 3 and Droid X2. Both had dual core processors and felt mid-high end at the time. But somehow an Android OS upgrade that was released less than 6 months after the Droid 3 was released is skipped by Motorola.
This was my first Android phone and I bought it because I wanted a keyboard and really liked the feel of a friends OG Droid. The OG was probably built better but I have still been mostly satisfied with the Droid 3 hardware wise. But I just can't see myself buying another Motorola device. I will have to see what is out there in 2013 when I upgrade, hopefully some nice QWERTY non Motorola devices.

Damn it Verizon
This is the Fourth phone that I've had from Verizon that has been abandoned before the end of it's life cycle. Although I am sure this is Motorola's fault I will curse Verizon for all time and remember to get the latest and greatest for top dollar right off the bat to ensure that I will get updates when dealing with a cell phone company or maybe get a landline and tell jerks like Verizon to stick it where the sun don't shine. The real pisser is that I am finding this out the day after I spent the money that could have been used to buy out my contract. Color me angry and frustrated.
I'm going to start reading up about custom roms for this phone I might as well since support is all but gone from this model.

Return the phone and tell them you want out. Can be done.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

spunker88 said:
Time to do some more Facebook trolling, I may even make an account over on the Motorola forums and do some spamming/trolling.
In July 2011 when I bought my phone there were 2 new Motorola smartphones out there the Droid 3 and Droid X2. Both had dual core processors and felt mid-high end at the time. But somehow an Android OS upgrade that was released less than 6 months after the Droid 3 was released is skipped by Motorola.
This was my first Android phone and I bought it because I wanted a keyboard and really liked the feel of a friends OG Droid. The OG was probably built better but I have still been mostly satisfied with the Droid 3 hardware wise. But I just can't see myself buying another Motorola device. I will have to see what is out there in 2013 when I upgrade, hopefully some nice QWERTY non Motorola devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't troll that forum. The mods there aren't actualy affiliated with moto like you think.
I did some of this back in the day about the d2 and learned the hard way.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

Dead

It seems to me that this phone has reached death. All the forums seemed to have died (here,droidhive,rootzwiki,android-den(which hasn't really taken off) and where ever else) and quite frankly I'm disappointed. There really hasn't been any steps forward in ICS since I don't even know when (hw codecs/bluetooth/whatever else). Unfortunately I'm still 9 months away from upgrading.
I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining because I really do appreciate all of the dev work thus far(Hashcode, sparkyman, and others are the shiz), but its like we've hit a brick wall. ICS isn't complete and won't be and gingerbread doesn't seem good enough. I am grateful of everyones work. I just wish more Could be done.
Sent from my XT862 using xda app-developers app

This was my first android phone and obviously a mistake. Not that I should have gotten an iprison(I am anti I everything). I hope progress can be made. At this point though I'm sure Motorola Was and Is a mistake and I should have known better previously owning a Q9C.
Sent from my XT862 using xda app-developers app

This should be in general
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

Endoroid said:
This should be in general
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
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why? It's about the development - the phone itself isnt dead.
But I agree. I was hoping to use this phone for 2 years (using 0.5 year now). I thought that eventually, we'd get ICS like we deserve. Guess not . I'm not sure how fast/supported this phone will be using gingerbread in 1.5 year

and except Droid 4 and RAZR MAXX..what other options we've got?!
galaxy no way (too big and overrated), and HTCs are all the same: big and no qwerty. nothing to get out of the crowd...like RAZR MAXX.
i used to be a fan of HTC, since S710 days..but now i'm bored by their lack of originality. no qwerty and no good processors for the small ones (<4" display).

not really dead everyone just faced the fact that ics will not happen for the d3 and blame the lack of ram for it..although we have proven that the d3 does and can handle ics and it does improve it no dev will continue to develop it due to the locked bootloader and the work involved to write all new kernals and bypasses fir it..there are 2 great gb roms in development..team haters (my fav) and mavrom{my 2nd fav}..both development crews hang out on droidforums stop by say hi and give their roms a whirl

Because its not development, its venting about our forgotten phone. And while I feel the same as you, its still not development
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

I noticed the same thing but dont really mind.
Im on a ATT contract for another year and 4 months or so.
Ive always wanted a droid and got the droid 3 because it works on att. It has to be the best sliding keyboard phone out their, and beats using any virtual keyboard IMO.
Even if development isnt strong, we have got it better then a lot of other phones. We have stable gingerbread roms and we can overclock it.
The Droid 3 is still a good phone and i know il be getting a good year of use out of it. .. hopefully then keyboard phones come back to life...
But i never used to post really on these forums but seeing they are kind of dead, i decided to become as active as i can to help around.

Is the droid three dead? Yes, in a way. The phone's bootloader is locked. This is the ONLY thing that is stopping any major developments on the Droid 3. If Moto, or google at this point, decided to unlock the phone... We would have Ice Cream sandwich 100% working (provided that they released the source code as well), and we would be eagerly looking forward to Jelly Bean. I often go on the Google+ Google account and harass them, I know I won't win but I am always hoping for a miracle.
As it stands now, there is a large chance that I will leave Verizon when my contract is up. Their handling of this phone as well as their pocketbooks has left a bad taste in my mouth. After 6/28/2012 (my birthday of all things), any phone being upgraded via contract will LOOSE their UNLIMITED data. You will have to purchase phones off contract to be able to keep your unlimited plan (It's only like $400 for a good android phone). Not only that, you will be charged a $30 fee just to upgrade.
So in conclusion:
Our phone is on life support. We are getting by with such developers as TeamHaters, Maverick, and Hashcode (who's still realasing AOKP updates for our phones), who are doing an excellent job keeping our phones working the best they can with what they have. Until there is a cure for our Bootloader issue... Our phone is stuck in intensive care, and Patch Adams is their to annoy the hell out of it.

Does anyone think googles new PDK will help our device? its supposed to allow low level api for easier porting of android to hardware. Think this could bring around any fixes? Ofcourse the bootloader will be locked but it mite make the making of kernels not take 6-8 months as hash said and help him out.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

jesusishere said:
This is the ONLY thing that is stopping any major developments on the Droid 3. If Moto, or google at this point, decided to unlock the phone... We would have Ice Cream sandwich 100% working (provided that they released the source code as well), and we would be eagerly looking forward to Jelly Bean.
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Click to collapse
*sigh* I hate to be the one that has to come in and burst everyone's bubble every time someone makes this argument, but the problem is not the locked bootloader. If the bootloader was unlocked, we'd be in the same exact position. Hashcode has stated this several times. We'd still be without hardware codecs, we'd still be having Bluetooth issues, we'd still have all the same issues because they're all a matter of hardware limitations or lack of documentation on certain parts of the proprietary hardware.

Pokelover980 said:
*sigh* I hate to be the one that has to come in and burst everyone's bubble every time someone makes this argument, but the problem is not the locked bootloader. If the bootloader was unlocked, we'd be in the same exact position. Hashcode has stated this several times. We'd still be without hardware codecs, we'd still be having Bluetooth issues, we'd still have all the same issues because they're all a matter of hardware limitations or lack of documentation on certain parts of the proprietary hardware.
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It's the combination between the bootloader and the source code
Sent from my XT862 using xda premium

jesusishere said:
It's the combination between the bootloader and the source code
Sent from my XT862 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
It's more of a "TI doesn't support hardware codecs for devices >1GB data". TI doesn't release source code for those binaries and isn't obliged to, so that's not really an argument that should be made. It's simply that our phone was cursed from release.
EDIT: And as of now I can no longer say "our phone" as I jumped ship to the Razr... goodbye, Droid 3 community, you will be missed...

When Ics gets released this year for droid it is getting better
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA

Nope, it's not, because ICS isn't going to be released to D3. This is it, for better or worse.
Rocking with my M3 and XDA app

AragornPE said:
Nope, it's not, because ICS isn't going to be released to D3. This is it, for better or worse.
Rocking with my M3 and XDA app
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Click to collapse
who cares. I had ICS on a device before and its not that different besides a different interface .. after using ICS i prefer gingerbread's layout..

Juicy555 said:
who cares. I had ICS on a device before and its not that different besides a different interface .. after using ICS i prefer gingerbread's layout..
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ICS is majorly different from previous releases under the hood. It uses a different kernel; things have been made more efficient; the APIs have been updated to allow for more possibilities for app developers; certain parts of how the system overall operates have undergone drastic resigns; etc.. All of this came at the price of needing better hardware to incorporate new features, but I say it was well worth it and is a very large difference even without the interface changes.

Pokelover980 said:
*sigh* I hate to be the one that has to come in and burst everyone's bubble every time someone makes this argument, but the problem is not the locked bootloader. If the bootloader was unlocked, we'd be in the same exact position. Hashcode has stated this several times. We'd still be without hardware codecs, we'd still be having Bluetooth issues, we'd still have all the same issues because they're all a matter of hardware limitations or lack of documentation on certain parts of the proprietary hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but anyway hashcode would be able to trial and error approach without deeming the device unusable (loading kernels, and modules and stuff)
it would certainly help to have an unlocked bootloader.
but without source of course it would be time consuming and without knowing when it would have success

bogdan_wrc said:
galaxy no way (too big and overrated), and HTCs are all the same: big ...
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This thing is a brick in my pocket compared to galaxy line and most htc phones, check out the quad core HTC One X w/beats audio or the galaxy note etc for "originality" but seems like all manufacturers are using a very similar forum factor. I agree the qwerty is nice to have but it doubles the size of the phone as well(unless maybe desire z) so you kind of have to choose.

Willis111 said:
This thing is a brick in my pocket compared to galaxy line and most htc phones, check out the quad core HTC One X w/beats audio or the galaxy note etc for "originality" but seems like all manufacturers are using a very similar forum factor. I agree the qwerty is nice to have but it doubles the size of the phone as well(unless maybe desire z) so you kind of have to choose.
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Click to collapse
I came from one of those phones and dont mind the difference. In fact the keyboard is one of the best features ive had on any of my smartphones. And a 4" is perfect for me, coming from a 4.5" screen.

droid 3 deserve ICS!

when i was with my old p350, i remember there i saw a manifest from p350 users to LG, 'cause (i don't remember the model, sorry) *p500* users made a manifest and than send it to LG, so, past some time they was with ICS.
so, tonight, i was thinking about it, and (can look like a child's dream, but ..) WHY NOT?
and i know .. motofail won't help .. ):

I agree, droid 3 unfortunately became one of those unique devices motorola abandoned early. It is a pity that it doesn't have ics even with its ics reference cpu omap4430.

I mean this a company that nownbelongs to google. How much BS needs to be writen for they to comply with an upgrade that will take 3 days to their development team! Jesus!
But thats the misery of good and well created products (Delorian, Dreamcast and Wrangler) its.like a course.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda app-developers app

this phone deserves the trash compacter. worst phone i've everhad

So bad see some people think that.
..
I feel so sorry for u.
Sent from my my droid 3

I was disappointed to see they abandoned this so early. ICS came out 11 months after the D3 released and no update? Unreal.

AnEternalEnigma said:
I was disappointed to see they abandoned this so early. ICS came out 11 months after the D3 released and no update? Unreal.
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Actually it was released on 19 October 2011, and the droid 3 was released on July 7, 2011 which makes it only 3 months..........

giovannipaquier said:
So bad see some people think that.
..
I feel so sorry for u.
Sent from my my droid 3 directly to your ***.
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Well I wouldn't get too worked up about it. After all its only a phone
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

I still find the Droid 3 the best smartphone with full-sized QWERTY keyboard out there, just behind the Droid 4. It doesn't make sense for a Droid 3 owner to buy a Droid 4 just to get 512mb extra RAM, 200mhz faster CPU and not much more.
ICS is the only other factor to consider getting a Droid 4, and knowing perfectly well that the Droid 3 is perfectly capable of handling ICS if Motorola wanted, I refuse to get a Droid 4.

raymccoy said:
I still find the Droid 3 the best smartphone with full-sized QWERTY keyboard out there, just behind the Droid 4. It doesn't make sense for a Droid 3 owner to buy a Droid 4 just to get 512mb extra RAM, 200mhz faster CPU and not much more.
ICS is the only other factor to consider getting a Droid 4, and knowing perfectly well that the Droid 3 is perfectly capable of handling ICS if Motorola wanted, I refuse to get a Droid 4.
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don't forget photon Q. but still isn't too much.

giovannipaquier said:
don't forget photon Q. but still isn't too much.
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Right! But it's too big for my liking (prefer 4'' than 4.3'' screen, specially at same resolution...), has less internal storage and you can't replace the battery... I have two batteries for my Droid 3 and it really saved me some times to be able to change to a fully charged up battery in a pinch. Can't do that with Droid 4 or Photon Q.
Still thinking that with ICS the Droid 3 has a couple more years of life for me at least.

and also you can install a mugen-power battery, which is 2-time longer than original one
and imho D3 has a better design, i mean it does not look like a toy