Would you recommend the Droid 3? - Motorola Droid 3

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?
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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 They devs still around are still working very hard but sometimes a lot of things are outdated , and if you get brick it can be hard with limited support.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

Related

After a year, is the Nexus One still a good buy?

I've been toying with the idea of buying a Nexus One for some time now, I'm no stranger to Android, having owned a Droid 2, Droid Incredible, and now a Samsung Captivate that I use with work. I currently also have an iPhone 4 as my personal phone, and I was just given an HTC Surround and Samsung Focus to replace the Captivate with, so I have to decide which I like more. I love Android, I've always been more drawn to it than my iOS devices, although I do love my iPhone. Now that the Nexus One has been out for a year and has its "successor" (depending on who you ask), is it a good buy still? I'm tired of waiting for AT&T to come out with something new that's a real killer phone, I've been hearing whispers of the HTC Desire HD being in testing, and the Moto Olympus being announced at CES. I'd get a Nexus S if I had T-Mobile and it had a microSD slot, but other than a larger screen and NFC capability, I don't see any real upgrade the S brings. What does everyone think, if I get this Nexus One is it a great buy and I'll enjoy it for awhile, or should I save my money and just wait longer?
PS, I know I own too many phones I can't help it! 3 phone lines will do that to ya
I barely got my nexus one so I would give you my own personal feedback.
Cons:
1.battery is some what horrible under medium to heavy use you can always tweak the phone to make last longer but sometimes is a pain in the butt.
2. 512mb of storage is a step back having to always watch what you installed, once again you can tweak it and make it less of an issue.
3. touch screen feedback is not the best like other phones that are out there. also having some multitouch issues on all models but I hardly notice the issue.
4. My personal issue not having a call and end keys is a pain but that just me been picky.
5. another personal opinion camera its not the greatest in my opinion.
Pros:
1. I got the phone for 295 under no contract that's a awesome deal I think.
2. will get gingerbread soon.
3. Having stock android makes things so much better I could of bought many android phones but the lack of updates made think twice of spending 300 plus.
4 this is a big one for me having to tether and having hotspot internet without rooting makes me so happy.
5. Adobe flash I love having flash for the same reason I didn't buy the nokia n8.
I know for a fact next year will be a big year for android if you wanna wait.
I have my nexus a year now, bought it when it just came out. I can agree with josemedina1983. Nexus is mine longest phone because it never got bored, there is always something new to find out, and google bringing the always the new android version makes the N1 up to date. All the new HTC phones are almost like the Nexus, some have more space to install apps on but that's it.
The only thing that bothers me a bit is the touch screen, it works great with apps but soon as you want to play games that require multi touch it's a nightmare.
I like mine N1 it has a great design works great love the trackball (miss it on new models) the dock station is great. i think i wil keep using mine N1 till something really great comes (didn't find a phone to replace it). I don't like the looks of the Nexus s it really feels cheap.
I think N1 is still a good it has it's flaws specially if you want to play games on it.
I've had my N1 for a few months, here's my take:
OS: Froyo with eventual Gingerbread
- Huge community support on the current OS with 'in-view' plans for OTA update to latest OS.
- Lots and lots of ROMs for this puppy, you can hack this baby four ways from Friday.
- Rumors that Gingerbread on latest Nexus S still a little green - will hopefully be ripe when it gets to N1
Phone cons:
- POS multitouch support (doesn't mean it's not responsive to single thumb touch).
- only 512MB of internal memory (but you can root and get Apps2SD to make up for that) [on a side note, isn't 16GB of internal memory on the Nexus S enough!?!]
- Bad design on the power button, will most likely fail after a few months if the design hasn't been fixed (see link in my signature)
- No Gyroscope - but it's not like you don't have other phones to play games on
- No NFC - but how soon are people going to start using that anways?
Phone Pros:
- Been around for a while, huge support community (XDA FTW!).
- Lots of hacks and tweaks for the phone as well.
- Anything wrong with the phone has already been discovered.
- Lots of developers have it, but you don't see it out in the wild that much (unique 'special' factor).
- Still a high end processor for the next few months until the Tegra 2s come out.
- Probably get it cheaper now that the Nexus S is out.
If you can get it cheap without a contract then sure its still a good phone.
But I would not pay full price for it or go on a contract in order to get it at this point.
Its not a bad phone at all but the phone market moves soooo fast its blinding.
I'll be keeping mine another year and then getting whatever is newest once my contract is up.
All really good advice, I feel like I'm still getting a phone that's relevant in today's market, but at the same time I know that something else is going to come soon and just put it to shame. I would like to know what's wrong with the N1's multitouch, is it just unresponsive or does it really not work? It's taken me quite some time to track down one that's sub $500 with the AT&T 3G bands, so I'm weighing the options very carefully here. After playing around with the Nexus S for some time a few days ago, I personally didn't find anything on Gingerbread that really stood out to me from Froyo, and I have it running on my Incredible now. It would be really nice to get something that was completely free of any carrier or manufactor influence as far as updates go, and easily hacking other roms onto this thing seems to be really easy. The power button issue I've heard about from other people, but some say it's not too hard to fix, so that isn't too bad for me. Decisions, decisions.
Just get the S
If you own another android phone and still using it i dont see the point of buying another one especially having the incredible its a damn good phone I think the incredible,evo,nexus,hd2,droid x,g2 are the classic android phones of 2010. I would wait alittle bit and stack up those 300 for the next phone. I feel next year windows 7 nokias meego and android tablets i love having alot of OS options.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I have had my Nexus One 6 months and think it is a great phone. IMO one of the best looking phones made. I also have a Desire as my main phone and have used the Nexus to learn about rooting and custom roms. Its copped a hammering from experimenting but it has always come back to life. Google is defiantly your friend here LOL. If you have the spare $ and not to concerned with whats around the corner with the next gen Android its a good buy. But maybe that its 12 months since release a more current phone may be better. Try Nexus S. When it arrives in Australia I surely will get one. Good luck with your decision.
Steve.
It's a good phone, but I wouldn't buy it now after a year it came out, unless you get it really cheap. With CES happening right now, you should definitely wait and see.
If I need to recommend a phone I would still recommend the N1 provided its cheaper than the NS
Definitely a phone worth getting, more ROMS then you'll ever know what to do with. I've been back and forth between MIUI, cyanogen and enomthers ROMS and have never been.disappointed. battery life is amazing with these ROMS. My nexus at 1.113 Ghz outperformed my friends droid X at 1.465 Ghz and his rooted Evo
Sent from my mighty nexus one
I've also had gingerbread for about two weeks already and loving it
Sent from my mighty nexus one
llaufhutte said:
All really good advice, I feel like I'm still getting a phone that's relevant in today's market, but at the same time I know that something else is going to come soon and just put it to shame. I would like to know what's wrong with the N1's multitouch, is it just unresponsive or does it really not work? It's taken me quite some time to track down one that's sub $500 with the AT&T 3G bands, so I'm weighing the options very carefully here. After playing around with the Nexus S for some time a few days ago, I personally didn't find anything on Gingerbread that really stood out to me from Froyo, and I have it running on my Incredible now. It would be really nice to get something that was completely free of any carrier or manufactor influence as far as updates go, and easily hacking other roms onto this thing seems to be really easy. The power button issue I've heard about from other people, but some say it's not too hard to fix, so that isn't too bad for me. Decisions, decisions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU0R9tdodw8
Its not the best but the biggest problem I have is axis flipping and the snapping to match the axis of the other finger (Don't know what that's called officially). It's not the best video and neither of these problems really bother me in day to day use. I vote it's a great phone to own and will be for a few years yet. As for the power button i've had mine since last march and still no issues.
I still think you should wait the nexus one AT&T version are pretty rare and they still go for around 50 + bucks, more than the t-mo version.
Comes this february then I officially own a phone that lasts for a year. Lol I used to change phones a lot. I just tried to find the perfect one for me. pam there it is
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Amazon.com deal on N1 too good to be true?
Been a long time follower of this forum but only just registered.
Looking to buy a Nexus one. It's going at $298 on Amazon from one of their eSellers. It is listed as new but most of the feedback on this seller refers to refurbished products - and sometimes when the buyer was expecting a new one. So I am really sceptical though it is very tempting to be able to get the phone for <$300.
Anyone here Ble to advise? Any better ideas on where I could look?
There are a lot of killer phones out there but....I like having one of the only phones that has Gingerbread without rooting (2.3.4). Exclusivity; I haven't seen one in the wild. Hotspot and tehering without rooting. Vanilla Android. While the touchscreen is buggy at times, I love my N1. I have had it for a year and never regretted my purchase. This is one of the phones that will be remembered for quite sometime IMO. A classic, as it were.

[Q] What's the best Andoid phone to use with the NC (CM7)?

I have a four year old Blackberry Storm. I like the phone but it will not tether to my NC so I can use the phones internet.
Now I am looking for a new phone.
4G is not a required but it would be nice.
Suggestions?
Please tell us who your carrier is.
Sent from my NookColor using XDA App
Sorry, That would be a big help....
Verizon
The Samsung Galaxy S II
is rather sexy.
But there are alot of great choices out there.
4G would be a good choice in general. Tether it to your Nook and you can easily stream all the media you want to your Nook and enjoy media on the 7" screen.
The Galaxy S II is coming to Version in July
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/08/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-said-to-be-verizon-bound-in-july/
Edit:
Oops, read the article closer, I guess Galaxy S II in July is not confirmed. read the update at the bottom of the article. Sorry.
Definitely...
The 3 best verizon phones out there are the:
Thunderbolt (HTC) Good speeds, android 2.3.4 with gingeritis (a rom) root, sense 3.0 on that rom, but bad battery life. 4G though.
Droid Incredible 2 (HTC) I believe its Froyo, but sense 2.1 on stock rom with good battery. 3g though.
Droid CHarge (Samsung) Bad UI, bad manufacture. Android is OK with the customizations. But 4G + Extremely good battery + tethering = awesome time with the Nook
Good battery life is a lot higher than streaming video. I almost never use my phone for this.
My phone is primarily for work. Email, phone, data.
I am a Submarine Combat Systems Electronic/Computer Engineer and I upload ton of Word/Excel files, PDF ect along with technical manuals and cheat sheets that I have developed myself to aid with any repairs that I have to do, in any part of the world. Having world phone coverage is NOT an issue. But the issue with that, is up until now 99% of all phone screens were too damn small.
The NC has fixed that issue.
I use Documents to Go on the Storm and now have it on the NC along with a bunch of other apps. I want to start to use my NC for email and such in conjunction with my new phone. Sometimes I get new schematics, PDF's etc emailed to me when I am out on some boat.
My long term goal is to make the phone and NC one integrated system. Transmitter/receiver on my belt, and NC in my hands.
Does this help?
Oh, rooting my new phone will have to be a must....
Thanks to all who have already responded.
ikingblack said:
The 3 best verizon phones out there are the:
Thunderbolt (HTC) Good speeds, android 2.3.4 with gingeritis (a rom) root, sense 3.0 on that rom, but bad battery life. 4G though.
Droid Incredible 2 (HTC) I believe its Froyo, but sense 2.1 on stock rom with good battery. 3g though.
Droid CHarge (Samsung) Bad UI, bad manufacture. Android is OK with the customizations. But 4G + Extremely good battery + tethering = awesome time with the Nook
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bad manufacturer? how so?
From the verizon porfolio, i would wait for more LTE phones to roll out. There is really nothing attractive coming out from them.
ph00ny said:
bad manufacturer? how so?
From the verizon porfolio, i would wait for more LTE phones to roll out. There is really nothing attractive coming out from them.
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I have never owned one, but the general consensus on this and most every other forum seems to be that Samsung is the worst manufacturer by a very large margin. I have heard various reasons why such as a horrible UI, bad build quality and extremely slow updates to current models. Having never owned one I can't confirm any of this but the XDA community as a whole seems to feel that Samsung phones are not a wise choice and I've learned never argue with them so I went HTC
Edit: Also do keep in mind that many newer phones are expected to have locked bootloaders. This means no custom ROMS or possibly no rooting... and that means that if you want tethering you will have to buy Verizons tethering plan. So, if you are wanting to do the free tethering provided by rooting your phone then you will want to make sure that whichever phone you buy can in fact be rooted! And in the case of many newer phones coming out this summer, that is very much in doubt I'm sad to say. But then again all these rumors may be just sky-is-falling panicky behavior by us newbs, the Chefs may be able to root and flash boot-locked phones in a month flat for all we know!
robertroland said:
I have never owned one, but the general consensus on this and most every other forum seems to be that Samsung is the worst manufacturer by a very large margin. I have heard various reasons why such as a horrible UI, bad build quality and extremely slow updates to current models. Having never owned one I can't confirm any of this but the XDA community as a whole seems to feel that Samsung phones are not a wise choice and I've learned never argue with them so I went HTC
Edit: Also do keep in mind that many newer phones are expected to have locked bootloaders. This means no custom ROMS or possibly no rooting... and that means that if you want tethering you will have to buy Verizons tethering plan. So, if you are wanting to do the free tethering provided by rooting your phone then you will want to make sure that whichever phone you buy can in fact be rooted! And in the case of many newer phones coming out this summer, that is very much in doubt I'm sad to say. But then again all these rumors may be just sky-is-falling panicky behavior by us newbs, the Chefs may be able to root and flash boot-locked phones in a month flat for all we know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Outside of the whole brand bias, general consensus including professional reviews are usually favorable for samsung's high end phones.
They did have some issues just like every other manufacturer and it may have seemed worse partially based on the fact that they had the single largest successful line up out of all the android handsets last year
Btw, galaxy s2 came with unlocked bootloader and received at least two updates since early may and 2.3.4 is supposedly under way. As for the carrier delayed roms, there is a real issue there when two identical devices on two different carriers ended up getting the froyo updates months apart.
Btw samsung released the gingerbread update before anyone else.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
ph00ny said:
Outside of the whole brand bias, general consensus including professional reviews are usually favorable for samsung's high end phones.
They did have some issues just like every other manufacturer and it may have seemed worse partially based on the fact that they had the single largest successful line up out of all the android handsets last year
Btw, galaxy s2 came with unlocked bootloader and received at least two updates since early may and 2.3.4 is supposedly under way. As for the carrier delayed roms, there is a real issue there when two identical devices on two different carriers ended up getting the froyo updates months apart.
Btw samsung released the gingerbread update before anyone else.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
They also just sent free Samsung Galaxy S II's to many of the Cyanogenmod developers. Also, it seems that the trend NOW is that the manufacturers will be unlocking their bootloaders. (samsung has never locked theirs if I remember correctly)
Well that is good news. Maybe they are trying to buy their way back onto the XDA peoples good graces Hey as long as they have learned from their mistakes and are building quality phones now, nothing wrong with that! And I have no doubt that no matter what they buy the Devs, it won't get them any good press here that they don't deserve. Like I mentioned I never bought one. I've just heard hundreds of people posting about how "bad" they were for one reason or another. But I'm always glad to see another Android manufacturer step up their game, it's good for the community as a whole!
I have the Droid X and it play well with my NC using Wireless Tether.
I picked up a LG Revolution. Seems ok, but battery life is not great. Better than the Thunderbolt but still not great.
Using wireless tether on the phone, I was able to get my NC to the internet using Wi-Fi. Attempted Bluetooth tethering but that was a no go.
Thank to all for the recommendations.
my samsung galaxy s gt-i9000m is a fantastic bit of hardware that had lots of software issues that made out seem as though it was bad hardware. I found software fixes for everything that was wrong, e.g., microphone distortion, gps failure to lock, etc. & now it is a perfect device. Maybe HTC is better out of the box, but if you are a tweaker the galaxy is rewarding.
iolinux333 said:
my samsung galaxy s gt-i9000m is a fantastic bit of hardware that had lots of software issues that made out seem as though it was bad hardware. I found software fixes for everything that was wrong, e.g., microphone distortion, gps failure to lock, etc. & now it is a perfect device. Maybe HTC is better out of the box, but if you are a tweaker the galaxy is rewarding.
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+1
10chars
Thunderbolt, Droid Charge are the best options. If 4G is not a must, the Droid X2 has a dual core.
They all will do what you want. Just different styles which is up to your personal tastes.
I have now had htc samsung and moto phones (all Android) and there are pros and cons. Just go to a store and see what feels best when you hold it.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt with Das Bamf 2.0
There really is no "best android" phone IMO. There are different needs for different reasons and people. You mention that you want to make them work seamlessly, blue tooth or tethering both will work. As long as the phone is rootable and a selection is there for apps to work together from phone to NC, then the simple answer is with phone do you prefer? I always make sure my phones have a battery that can be removed..screen is easy on eyes and I have a good feel for it. Currently using my EVO which is sprint for both my nook, transformer and when also my netbook. I might upgrade to the 3d and even thought about samsung galaxy 2..from what a friend of mine told me who has a samsung...flash CM in it becuase of the update issues..he is TMobile..
4g
Well
i use evo 4g with cm7 latest nightly to tether to my nc... it compliment each other....
Donny
I owned a galaxy s on tmo before. I liked it a lot. Very light, great screen, decent power. No build issues other than flaky GPS (vibrant version only?) Hard to brick for those who flash a lot. Problem with file system early on(due to proprietary fs), solved by roms. I actually unlocked it and still switch to it from my inspire4g. No locked bootloader.
But really, any android (that is unlocked bootloader) will work... its all about preferences.
Sent from my Apple IIe
hololight said:
Sent from my Apple IIe
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Do you really still have a IIe? (yea, right) That would be awesome. I had two of them at one time...

How important is a keyboard to you?

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.
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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.

[Q] Is Nexus One still worth buying?

I have a chance to buy a new Nexus One. I already have a Motorola Atrix 4G. I had wanted a Nexus One when it first appeared about two years ago. Is it worth buying it now for $180? What do you think guys?
I've had mine since it first came out and through the barrage of phones that have emerged since my purchase, it's been hard to give up. Not a bad deal for an N1 in my opinion.
I'll think about jumping when the quad core phones come out though.
After two years my Nexus One works flawlessly and is one of the best phone I've ever operated and it still have support here. So if you want to give it a try, well then go ahead pal....
Excellent and versatile phone
Biggest flaw--touchscreen and maybe signal strength. Although that may depend on area and/or may be inherent in smartphones.
Reason it is not outdated is that I am now running a VERY stable Ice Cream Sandwich rom. ICS is not on very many phones yet and this granddad of a phone is capable of running it. Must be rooted though to get full benefits of ICS IMHO.
Ken
No, for $180 I'd get (after careful selection) MyTouch 4G. Actually I did, but more than 1/2 year ago, and for $250. Nexus doesn't come close in any parameter besides glowing multi-color trackball. And I'm not talking benchmarks, but usability, ROM selection and quality. MT4G has fully functional CM7 and MIUI, just like Nexus, but unlike Nexus it's highly overclockable, has a barrage of latest and fully functional Sense 3.0 and 3.5 ROMs, will most probably receive Sense 4.0 ROM when it gets out, and has ICS in at least as good a state as N1. All that while being approximately the same size, 4 times more powerful GPU and a bit more powerful CPU, front cam, stronger speaker, no power button issues and no screen issues (well, it has other type of issues, ones that make you need to select the specimen carefully).
My honest opinion. I had Nexus One for over a year, and I knew when I drew the line and said that I'd like something else, and by my wife's experience too. She's now perfectly happy with Desire S, MT4G's almost-twin brother.
My 2 cents
If you can find one for $150 or less, yes, it's still an amazing phone! This phone hasn't had any issues for me since I bought it and I bought it when it first came out. I've yet to find a phone that runs so smoothly, can handle so many upgrades and has an amazing camera. There's no reason to get rid of this phone yet. The gorilla glass is amazing! I literally have screen cracks throughout my glass and the touch screen still works great and the glass doesn't fall apart.
Still Upgradable
Amazing Camera/Camcorder (720p w/kernel)
Doesn't Lag
Touchscreen is so so when playing some games
All in all it's a phone that's still hard to beat.
You put Kang-o-Rama on it with the kgpneok kernel and you won't need to upgrade your phone for a while.
The only worthy update to this phone right now is the Galaxy Nexus but even then, you're sacrificing an awesome camera for a crappy samsung one. (the galaxy nexus and galaxy s have horrid camera's compared to the N1)
If you want a more powerful phone I would say to go with the HTC Amaze. Same specs as the Galaxy S2 but a MUCH better camera (one of the best) although only a 4.3 inch screen compared to the bigger s2 screen but 4.3 should be the limit on cell phone screens anyways.
Also if you plan on modding it, HTC phones are better to Mod than samsung phones.
Had mine for two years and still not swapping for another one.
Running ICS and if CM9 is nearly as good as CM7 i see no point in changing phones.
Besides that it can stand some beating, the N1. I dont know how many times I've dropped mine without inflicting it any damage.
yeah...it's worth buying with all the support you can get here but cranky touchscreen is a pain!
I've had a G1 and N1 best phones in my opinion but you should get a Gnex $180 is too much
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I bought the N1 on release day, a great phone. But T-Mobile coverage left a lot to be desired, traveling I was on 2g more often than not.
When I replaced it with a Rezound at Amazon's $.01 black Friday sale, I thought that I would put it up for sale. But I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I've re-purposed it as a media center remote with VOIP.
$180 seems a little steep.
I had mine since it came out, It's great phone except my power bottom died but with CM rom i use trackball to do all the job. I also got NS and now waiting for GN. I think You'll be better off with Galaxy Nexus since it has dual care which will be useful for future apps.
jamesc760 said:
I have a chance to buy a new Nexus One. I already have a Motorola Atrix 4G. I had wanted a Nexus One when it first appeared about two years ago. Is it worth buying it now for $180? What do you think guys?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not. I just got a Sensation for $200, the touch screen problems and the lack of app storage make it an irritating phone to own. I should know since I just replaced it.

Sprint gets the Droid 4 variant, the Photon Q, with upgrades

http://www.motorola.com/us/consumer...,pd.html?selectedTab=tab-2&cgid=mobile-phones
At first glance, I thought this was a Droid 4. But then I saw that Moto took off the capacitive buttons on the bottom of the front of the phone. The Photon Q gets an upgraded 1.5gz dual core processor, and the display apparently has ColorBoost technology (resolution is the same, however).
I always wondered what Moto would do as a one-up on the droid 4. Looks like we have an answer
Motorola has stated that it'll have an unlockable bootloader. Also i think someone said that it has an s4, srsly the only real drawback so far to this phone is Sprint and that qhd display. Still very nice though
* raises fist * Damn you, Motorola! I just got the Droid 4!
* settles down * I still prefer a menu button though
* enables puppy-eyes * Please release an unlocked version in Europe?
I think the SIM card of the photon Q is not removable, so don't worry about getting it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
If it'll be non-removable SIM card, it's dead phone
danifunker said:
I think the SIM card of the photon Q is not removable, so don't worry about getting it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sure is not removable. I hope this is not going to be a new trend. Does not bode well for the Droid 5 on Verizon whenever it will be out.
From the Spec sheets:
Frequency: LTE, CDMA 800/1900 EVDO Rev A, World Phone - GSM 850/1900/1800/900, UMTS 850/1900/2100 (SIM is embedded in the phone, GSM SIM is locked and not removable)
hey all i care about is the fact that they will let you unlock the bootloader, they better do it for the Droid 4 and RAZR too!
Fat chance of that. Verizon thinks that rooted phones can impair the quality of the service they provide. /:
maddeath said:
Fat chance of that. Verizon thinks that rooted phones can impair the quality of the service they provide. /:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
**** Verizon, all they do is pack their phones with bull**** bloatware, delay OTAs by months, overprice, and all that. the only good thing they've ever done for me is not get rid of my unlimited data plan yet. ....yet.... *knocks on wood*
@sjaakbaanan i had the same reaction when reading OP
rubixcube said:
@sjaakbaanan i had the same reaction when reading OP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, good to see I'm not the only one!
I'm still keeping my hopes up that one day they'll release this or a newer QWERTY over here too, with unlocked SIM. If not this phone, then the next.. and I'll buy it right away!
Maybe we should start some kind of internet petition to bring Motorola QWERTY phones than Europe and see if more than 5 people sign it
Didn't Samsung succumb to internet users when it offered a "developer version" (unlocked bootloader) of the GS3 on verizon (for way more money, of course)? If I'm correct, then it can be done
alex94kumar said:
Didn't Samsung succumb to internet users when it offered a "developer version" (unlocked bootloader) of the GS3 on verizon (for way more money, of course)? If I'm correct, then it can be done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and they offered it for 600 USD I believe, which is actually still cheaper than the S3's unsubsidized price over here. So I'm already taking into account that I need to spend that amount of money, as long as they give me the chance
But I think more people want an unlocked S3 (which already existed for Europe anyway) than an unlocked Photon Q, so the power of the internet may be smaller here. Ah well, if I get data to work, I'm fully happy with my Droid 4!
No microSD cards, non-removable batteries and now embedded SIM cards. Are we noticing a trend yet?
Tappin' and talkin' with Tapatalk.
This one takes a microsd, but yeah there's definitely a trend...
my guess is the trend is actually carriers trying to hold on to the old way of doing things. they don't like device hopping and by forcing you to buy a new phone, they are able to bring in additional revenue.
I hate how we're basically the only market that's this way. meanwhile the rest of the world is "free to roam" and prices remain competitive.
Me too
640k said:
my guess is the trend is actually carriers trying to hold on to the old way of doing things. they don't like device hopping and by forcing you to buy a new phone, they are able to bring in additional revenue.
I hate how we're basically the only market that's this way. meanwhile the rest of the world is "free to roam" and prices remain competitive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate how the phones seem to be built to break after 2 years. My mom got a phone 13 years ago that is still kicking..its even been dropped in a drink cup....6 years after the cup incident the pixels in the display are finally going out. She loves that thing and is very upset that she has to get a new phone, I am very surprised it's still working. She's even using the original battery! As for me, I love the keyboard on my D4, and now that I have my much-beloved FM radio on it, I probably won't upgrade again, it's just too expensive to. I will just surf ebay and get other D4s. :silly: Anyone else notice that as Verizon gets bigger, the more expensive, dumber and ruder they become? I wish we had more competition.
I have noticed that trend too, and I don't like it. If they wanted to keep things like they were, they would still be making indestructible bricks like what my mom is using. I like the thinner phones, yet I want to be able to rip out the battery if I get frustrated, and I hate needing a SIM card
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rooted Moto Droid 4 with Spirit FM
Stock Samsung Galaxy S (Samsung Facinate)....Why does it have 2 names?
KrellaKrentoshi said:
I hate how the phones seem to be built to break after 2 years. My mom got a phone 13 years ago that is still kicking..its even been dropped in a drink cup....6 years after the cup incident the pixels in the display are finally going out. She loves that thing and is very upset that she has to get a new phone, I am very surprised it's still working. She's even using the original battery! As for me, I love the keyboard on my D4, and now that I have my much-beloved FM radio on it, I probably won't upgrade again, it's just too expensive to. I will just surf ebay and get other D4s. :silly: Anyone else notice that as Verizon gets bigger, the more expensive, dumber and ruder they become? I wish we had more competition.
I have noticed that trend too, and I don't like it. If they wanted to keep things like they were, they would still be making indestructible bricks like what my mom is using. I like the thinner phones, yet I want to be able to rip out the battery if I get frustrated, and I hate needing a SIM card
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rooted Moto Droid 4 with Spirit FM
Stock Samsung Galaxy S (Samsung Facinate)....Why does it have 2 names?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+10
I have been trying to point this out to eveyone I work with especially with all of the HTC devices every time a new ver of the evo is coming out all of sudden the old ver starts to fall apart physically and software !! coincident? i dont think so!!!
I do like my D4. Its been the first DROID phone I've been happy with since the 1. Some other slider is going to have to have some prett decent features to get me to switch. Like a better screen and battery life that lasts days.
What should I do now?
Am one of those who'll want a physical keyboard on Android for sure.
Last year waited so much for Droid 3, but bad reviews didn't let me go for it. Early this year got Xperia Pro, which was working very much fine, and then few weeks ago, STOLEN.
Now on a prowl for another Android + keyboard handset. Found Droid 4, but thanks to GSM radio still off (am from India and on GSM) have been more than eagerly waiting for ICS on Droid 4. Now that it is just rolling out, come across Photon Q.
Very much confused which one to go for, Droid 4 or Photon Q?
# Droid 4 has higher battery life among the two (of the data in hand at present), with ICS so late, Jelly Bean would be light years away.
# Photon Q will launch with ICS, so have a chance for Jelly Bean. But battery life doesn't look promising (reviews after the launch will give exact idea). Apart from that, Photon Q looks better with better processor and bigger screen.
Please advice which one should I really go with.
Thanks!

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