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Hi all,
I am not an owner of the phone yet, but I have two questions.
Has the bootloader been unlocked, or not? That's one reason why I am hessitating of buying this phone.
Also, how is the sound quality?
No the bootloader as of right now is still locked. Though root is possible, custom roms are not. We are at this point stuck with 2.1 with no word yet as to if and when froyo is coming. I'd suggest looking at phones from HTC for an alternative unless you wish to join the many dissatisfied milestone owners in the wait to see what Motorola decides to do. And judging by the release of Droid X with eFuse and it's bootloader lock down, things don't look favorable...
Vic
Sent from my Milestone
OK, well, the thing is that I need a phone with a physical keyboard, and there are not many choices. So well, we'll see what I will end up with. I don't like that the bootloader is locked.
I also went with this phone for its physical keyboard not knowing about the bootloader situation until I had time to learn more about it online. I made the mistake of assuming it would be just as hackable as the droid. If it wasn't way too late to return it I would have. I still might try to sell it and get a Nexus One before they are no longer for sale. It's a shame really, cause the phone itself is great, just the company support for latest software and for openness of the device in general just sucks.
Vic
Sent from my Milestone
OK, well then I will have to think twice before I purchase it.
The Nexus is just available in the US, not Europe right?
It does not feature a physical keyboard?
Not sure about it's availability in Europe but I do know it's available online in Canada where I am. And no there is no physical keyboard. Which, I might add, is just a luxury not a necessity with all the wonderful touch screen keyboard options for android.
Sent from my Milestone
wileyvic said:
Not sure about it's availability in Europe but I do know it's available online in Canada where I am. And no there is no physical keyboard. Which, I might add, is just a luxury not a necessity with all the wonderful touch screen keyboard options for android.
Sent from my Milestone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, the touch keyboards may be great, but I need to have a physical keyboard since I am visually impaired and have difficulties using on screen keyboards.
So that's the main reason why I am searching for an Android phone with a physical keyboard.
I am using Windows Mobile at the moment, but if I purchase a Milestone it may just be a starting point for me so I at least get a feeling of the Android OS and may upgrade t something else if let's sy HTC releases a phone with a physical keyboard. What do you think?
I would personally wait for something different to come along with a physical keyboard. But again if you are okay with a locked down phone that is slow to receive updates the Milestone is a decent android device, it's just crippled by Motorola...
In the USA the Galaxy S by Samsung just released a keyboarded version, that may be an option for you.
Sent from my Milestone
I just found this: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f27/htc-vision-marries-the-htc-desire-with-physical-qwerty-keyboard-35204/
Vic
Sent from my Milestone
OK, looks great. But the question is when it will become available here in Europe and I need a new phone quite soon. So it's therefor I can't wait. The Galaxy S by the way looks really interesting to me.
But how is the sound quality of the phone?
Does the earpiece sound ok?
My vision sucks too. The physical keyboard doesn't help as much as some of the on-screen alternatives such as Swype.
As far as bootloader goes, it's only necessary for roms. Milestone has root, so apps that require root will run. Milestone has bluetooth voice dial already, so the BIG difference in froyo is already met. So long as you can find it subsidized, milestone is a solid purchase.
Sent from my droid using XDA App
Hi,
Just a question, root what's that?
I am not able to flash any ROMS right?
Many thanks for any info.
Root is when you gain super user rights on the OS, in this case Android. It's a unix term. What it means in terms of your phone is the ability to run programs which need special permissions to execute. For example rooted users can overclock the phones CPU, wifi tether their carrier internet connection, etc...
Vic
Hey all,
I was just thinking since my milestone is starting to get fairly old and beat up, would any of you have a phone with a hardware keyboard you might be looking at??
So far one phone that has caught my eye, might have to paper bag it, but its the Xperia Pro. Looks thicker then a brick, but hardware seems solid. Also read somewhere that sony will begin to unlock bootloaders, if I'm not mistaken it was here within xda... I've also been looking at the nokia N900, looks amazing but then id be parting with android which I don't really wish to at this current moment...
Any way what would you guys/gals have to say??
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
PsyCl0ne said:
Hey all,
I was just thinking since my milestone is starting to get fairly old and beat up, would any of you have a phone with a hardware keyboard you might be looking at??
So far one phone that has caught my eye, might have to paper bag it, but its the Xperia Pro. Looks thicker then a brick, but hardware seems solid. Also read somewhere that sony will begin to unlock bootloaders, if I'm not mistaken it was here within xda... I've also been looking at the nokia N900, looks amazing but then id be parting with android which I don't really wish to at this current moment...
Any way what would you guys/gals have to say??
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hardware keyboard Android phones are slowly dying out.. There are rumors of the Droid 3, maybe it'll have an unlocked bootloader, like Motorola said they would do on future phones.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App
G3 if it's gonna be similiar to the G2 with better specs.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
I'm also looking to move away from a HW KB, I rarely use mine on the droid.
I'm eyeing the SGS2, but it doesn't look like it will come to Verizon for a while!
Awsome thanks for the replies . I know the software keyboard are getting better but I really like the hardware keyboards, the other reason is that the screens won't be as huge wich translates to better battery life... well unless I'm mistaken...
~PsyCl0ne
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
m done with motorola .. nt coming back to it .. sony xperia arc or some htc dual core phone .. mayb even blackberry storm 3 .. or iphone 5 .. too many options for me
I'm also interested in the Xperia Pro. It's not out yet, but hopefully in a year's time (when I'll be looking for a new phone) the price of the Pro will be down enough for me to afford it (either new or used). Or maybe I'll be used to on-screen keyboards by then and can choose from more phones.
I've been wondering for a while if a netbook/smartbook would be a better way to do more 'serious' web browsing, etc than a mobile phone. If I got a reasonably portable netbook/smartbook/tablet I could get a simpler and cheaper mobile phone. The Asus Transformer is looking pretty good...
maybe i am also done with motorola- i say maybe because i love the industrial design of motorola and till now any other phone out dosent have that factor. Nexus 3 or whatever is next nexus is getting my attention unless it is by samsung again.
I'd like to know how important having a keyboard is to you guys. I'd like to buy a new phone soon and I'm picking between this phone, the Galaxy Nexus, and waiting for a Droid 4. The thing is, I use AT&T which none of these phones are available for. The Droid 4 is said to come with GSM bands, and I know the D3 does, so I can work with that. My question is whether it's worth giving up the Droids' keyboards for the Galaxy Nexus' superior specs.
P.S. I'm coming from a 4 year old HTC Kaiser, so anything is an upgrade.
I love my keyboard. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have one. I definitely would sacrifice a little on the processor and ram to have a keyboard phone,
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
I chose the droid 3 specifically because of the keyboard. That and the fact that it needed to be new and android
My droid 3 was the best phone I ever used, the keyboard is amazing. But the phone sometimes lagged with only 512mb or ram, the boot loader is not unlocked, other than that stuff it is blazing! I would suggest waiting for the droid 4 if you love qwerty keyboards that much but go for the nexus if you cant wait for a phone and want specs now.
ourtut said:
My droid 3 was the best phone I ever used, the keyboard is amazing. But the phone sometimes lagged with only 512mb or ram, the boot loader is not unlocked, other than that stuff it is blazing! I would suggest waiting for the droid 4 if you love qwerty keyboards that much but go for the nexus if you cant wait for a phone and want specs now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is, I have AT&T, not Verizon. I don't know if the Nexus will ever come to AT&T and the Droid 4 may or may not have GSM bands.
I always go for the best phone available with keyboard. My XT860, which is the nearly identical cousin of the Droid 3 (except 4G), unlocked, works with my AT&T sim card when I travel in U.S. might be worth your considering.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Thank you, that's very useful to know. I hope it's possible to do the same with the Droid 4, because this phone will become obsolete when that comes out.
My advice is not to get the Verizon version as it is a pain to get unlocked for AT&T but the 860. But other then that yes this is a good phone. If Hash can get the kinks worked out for ICS (I know he can), then it will be an amazing phone. It is still new enough hardware wise it isn't a big deal.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
You can get unlocked gsm nexus online. It means you pay full price instead of using a carrier upgrade. Check out www.negrielectronics.com (I'm in no way affaliated, I just know they have gsm nexus)
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
The physical keyboard is really a person preference thing. Generally speaking, the recent phones that have physical keyboards are usually slightly lacking in other departments like screen size/quality and/or RAM. What I'm getting at is having a physical keyboard is usually a trade off, but those of us that are willing to make that trade will swear by them because we greatly dislike having only a virtual keyboard.
The advice mentioned earlier about getting a non-Verizon version is sound advice. It is my understanding that Verizon's GSM capable phones are locked for other US GSM carriers. You could probably avoid a lot of headaches by not getting a Verizon phone if you don't plan on using them as your carrier.
But I thought this would remedy all my GSM-related needs.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20634546
There is that hack to get At&t working on the Verizon Droid 3 and if you are comfortable doing it then go ahead. It will require rooting and unlocking.
Otherwise you could look at getting the international XT860 since it will work on At&t out of the box. You could probably grab a Canadian one off ebay and to pop in your At&t SIM and not have to do anything else.
But if you don't mind doing that hack, the US XT862 is getting more dev attention it seems so it may be a better investment.
I'm using my Verizon D3 (xt862) on T-Mobile, which only allows me to use Edge. The process to hack it to use GSM isn't hard, and it's pretty reliable still, but does require unlocking the phone through Verizon. I've heard a ton of problems coming from people who think they can get it to work using paid for unlock codes, so I'd advise being sure you can get the VZW unlock code from the source.
This phone is compatible with AT&T 3G bands, so if RAM isn't too big an issue (works fine with 512 MB IMHO), then this phone works great. I would argue that the D4 coming out won't make this phone outdated unless it comes stock with ICS. That would mean it would get a lot more developer attention probably, but wouldn't necessarily make me switch right away
Sent while mobile using Tapatalk.
Without a doubt, i'd go with a keyboard. I picked this phone specifically because of that.
ChocolateShein said:
I'd like to know how important having a keyboard is to you guys. I'd like to buy a new phone soon and I'm picking between this phone, the Galaxy Nexus, and waiting for a Droid 4. The thing is, I use AT&T which none of these phones are available for. The Droid 4 is said to come with GSM bands, and I know the D3 does, so I can work with that. My question is whether it's worth giving up the Droids' keyboards for the Galaxy Nexus' superior specs.
P.S. I'm coming from a 4 year old HTC Kaiser, so anything is an upgrade.
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i got fat fingers soo a keyboard will be a must for me since i do heavy messaging with my phones, but bear in mind the Nexus do have a larger screen and there are keyboard apps that give a wide selection of layout for data entry, i dont know haha but i guess i am milestone used since the day when droid 1 came out, soo i have been buying every droid they ever released. i have a droid 1, 2, 3 now , i am waiting for the droid 4, but i like keyboard, cuz it feels better to type with a hardware keyboard, rather then poking at a screen.
if u are still iffy about the galaxy nexus then i'd say u wait a bit longer, new year they have to have new phones to be released
Keyboards are amazing, I have all Droid phones with keyboards (Milestone 1, Milestone 2 and finally Droid 3) and it`s impossible for me to buy a phone without HW keyboard anymore
keyboard is the major reason for me buying xt860
I'll be the dissenter. I lived for a couple of years with a virtual keyboard only and I am fine with that. I chose the D3 because I wanted a stable 3G phone, I wanted Moto because my house is in a weak cell area for Verizon and Moto has better radios, and the world phone capability I felt was a good idea for me - we are planning to do some travel in the next year and a half.
Ok, that said, once I tried the keyboard, I loved it. The original plan was just to ignore the hardware keyboard, but now I almost always use it.
I can't stand using a virtual keyboard, I am always hitting a wrong key. The Droid 3 physical keyboard is great and is a must in my book!
For me, it's the deciding factor in purchasing an Android phone. I waited and watched for the Droid 3's five-row keyboard as the first satisfactory upgrade from my HTC Dream.
My password contains numbers, so having to hit all those extra shifts on my iPod Touch poops me to tears. That and my continuous fat-fingering on the on-screen keyboard. I can use my fingernails on my Milestone 3's keyboard quite happily, with nary a mistake.
I recently bought an HTC Desire Z but was given the T-mobile model which doesn't suppport 850Mhz 3G, which is what my local network runs. The eBay seller has a Droid 3 XT883 that he can exchange my HTC for, would you recommend your Droid?
I really like the QWERTY keyboard on the HTC but there seems to be less in the way of ROMs for the Droid. Any other models you can suggest?
ashok_fernandez said:
I recently bought an HTC Desire Z but was given the T-mobile model which doesn't suppport 850Mhz 3G, which is what my local network runs. The eBay seller has a Droid 3 XT883 that he can exchange my HTC for, would you recommend your Droid?
I really like the QWERTY keyboard on the HTC but there seems to be less in the way of ROMs for the Droid. Any other models you can suggest?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not a bad device, its got a solid cpu and ram which is still pretty speedy, the keyboard is one of the best available ( besides the droid 4's ), but in terms of roms and dev support its almost dead. They devs still around are still working very hard but sometimes a lot of things are outdated , and if you get brick it can be hard with limited support.
It is quite durable and reliable, easy to root as well, once hash develops the JB ROM it'll be a solid phone. I use mine day to day, on an ICS ROM, and it works well. However, doesn't mean I won't buy the fighter once is out, due to the fact that its a bit old. But I would recommend it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers
Never even approach to this phone. It is the worst smartphone I have ever not only owned, but even held in my hand. This phone has managed to disappoint me not even in Motorola, but in whole Android. I'm pulling the thread to get brand new flagship on WP8 - thankfully we will never see WP8 on Motos. F..k Moto, damn droid!
the biggest pro to this phone, the keyboard, sucks for me. i've had 2 now and both have had problems with double pressing keys and some keys (particularly the question mark) not wanting to register. plus there's very little support. stay away
edit: on the pro side i can use it to open my beer bottles because of the metal bezel
DROID 3 - good specs, terrible support/updates. biggest drawback at the moment is the locked bootloader. i'm currently trying to decide whether to keep it (hoping we can actually get an OS update) or sell it.
if you're looking for the QWERTY keyboard and full 3G band support, have a look at the Xperia Pro mk16a. It's a good piece of equipment already running Jelly Bean.
Droid 3 could be good for you
If the following apply to you, the Droid 3 is a great phone:
1. You are OK with not having the latest and greatest version of Android
2. You don't mind rooting
3. 3G rather than 4G is OK for your purposes
Number two kind of applies to all Verizon Android phones in my book. They are so incredibly full of crapware as they come from Verizon that the hardware seems basically crippled by it. However rooting it and installing Titanium backup and then freezing all the crapware so it can't run transforms the phone. Personally I don't much care if I ever get ICS or JB on it. Once de-crapified the version it has is fine in my book. Then again my needs are probably less demanding than others. For me my phone is just a glorified PDA for getting my email, providing appointment notifications and storing my contacts. I use Touchdown for those things and that is going to be pretty much the same no matter what phone I use it on.
The speakerphone is the best I've had so far, very clear sound. The camera is above par as well, crisp and little grain, certainly better than my Atrix.
Absolutely
Right now, I have a HTC Desire. I have been thinking of getting Galaxy S2 (i9000g) but I noticed this phone and I must say I really like the QWERTY keyboard.
Are there any reasons I should not be getting it instead of S2?
How is the camera and battery life in comparison?
And how does it compare to Samsung Glide?
It would be nice to have full support on JB, which apparently D3 doesn't give.
Get the Samsung, better device over all.
The only reason getting the D3 is if you're already addicted to a hardware keyboard.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda app-developers app
impactor said:
Right now, I have a HTC Desire. I have been thinking of getting Galaxy S2 (i9000g) but I noticed this phone and I must say I really like the QWERTY keyboard.
Are there any reasons I should not be getting it instead of S2?
How is the camera and battery life in comparison?
And how does it compare to Samsung Glide?
It would be nice to have full support on JB, which apparently D3 doesn't give.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I find the d3 vastly superior to the s2 hardware wise but if you want full support on the software side and you aren't stuck on the physical qwerty like many of us are then you will probably be happier with the s2. For me I'd like jb support or ics on my d3 but since I can live with gb and really need the keyboard I will stick with my d3 till its dead in the water.
Sent from my XT862 using xda app-developers app
The S2 can go to JB and has faster radios if you buy the T-Mobile version.
Just go with the Droid 4 or Photon Q, or wait, because it looks like that some "Droid5-ish" phone pictures has leaked from motorola... just look for those on the internet!
Droid 3 are really cheap
One nice benefit of the d3 is how cheap they are - I just got one for $50 shipped on Ebay.
I really liked my Droid 3 great piece of hardware, but plagued by terrible software from motorola and it really should have had a gig of ram in it. I still mess around with mine and I really miss the keyboard now that I have my s4 I still recommend it if you need a keyboard phone with good build quality