DROIDICAL

What were my first impressions of the Droid after using it a week? Overall: still love it. Flaws? Of course there are. First week is still fairly honeymoonish. Playing with the new toy, liking the hardware learning the software, etc.

Connected to the Mainframe

It came to life after it first slurped in my Google account. It started talking. Since I was already using gmail for pretty much everything (but work) it brought the Droid to life. The gmail application is simple and works great. The other epiphany came when I started to check and make sure numbers from my old cell were in there. All my Google and Facebook contacts all sync’d from the get go. Looking for a friend’s number was bit overwhelming if you have a lot of emails and FB connections many of which you don’t really call regularly but thankfully there is a little feature to filter out contacts that don’t have numbers which helps. The amazing thing to me was how little I did to get this all setup.

Additionally I added the free Meebo app for instant messaging and hellotxt app for updating status across my social networks. Meebo is the cleanest of the free IM apps I tried out. Besides the clean UI I really liked that it seldom completely disconnected me if I started on wifi and then stepped out of range it would seamlessly switch to 3G. I found hellotxt app to be fine so far. I usually update through IM anyway so this is a nice step up.

It Knows Where It Is

As many reviewers have pointed out Android 2.0 is very much location aware. You see it below your google search box in the browser (with consent of course). GPS was not one of the things I just had to have, but it’s pretty darn cool to have it none the less. Maps is cool but the directions functionality available in the … ‘Car Home’ application (not sure if it’s just another part of Maps or a separate application). Just tell it where you are trying to go it searches for closest match lets you select and get voice turn by turn directions from where you are. I only played with it but thinking it’s gonna come in handy on our Thanksgiving trip.

Play Something For Me

Based the reviews out there I was assuming this would suck. There is no simple iTunes-like sync to/from your desktop (like contacts sync). This was the first ‘flaw’ or ‘not so user-friendly’ encounter I had. No clear obvious explanation of how to transfer songs to the card. When it was plugged in it showed connected by USB but it was only charging. I could not see the SD card mounted on the desktop. Opened the ‘Getting Started’ pamphlet (that you usually never read right?) and found in the last page ‘Other Tips & Tricks’ the very last tip #5… “Transfer files to/from your PC:” which tells you how to do it. If you click on the notification that the USB is connected … it will give you the option to mount your SD card. Once I got that I was able to figure out the rest. I would say this ‘works’ but isn’t really clean would expect that to work a little better. After I got some music on there I didn’t have any issues using the built in Music app or playing the songs uploaded (as some reviewers did). I found the interface to be nice and clean, easy to use… and sound quality is great. I also downloaded several apps for streaming the best of which so far is Pandora. I am hoping for Imeem’s to improve and let me play for my favorited playlists from Imeem.com (and not just songs).

Beyond Music I setup the YouTube app so I can plug in to my subscriptions and playlists. Nice. Search inside YouTube works pretty well. I also started browsing the Market Place for games that would interest me. HDOS and Robo Defense are definitely keepers for me personally.

Phone Home

For me the phone works great. Better signal and sound quality than my last one… just phone for phone. Contacts mentioned above works great for me. When I first started using it up to my face I assumed it did the screen lock which is good, but was surprised when it did the unlock as I brought my hand down (way cool). I was expecting I would have to unlock the screen to get to the interface so the first few times I was bumbling with it but then made sense and I just rolled with it. My only complaint about the use ‘as a phone’ is funny to mention, but I did notice it so I will say it. It’s been mentioned that the Droid is solid, made of quality indgredients… metal, glass, etc. which you can feel. If hadn’t been using my Droid for a while, like it was next to my desk, and I got a call… when I put it to my face it was (uncomfortably) cold. This could be just cause I am in the Pacific Northwest and the temps are cooler but I bet I am not the only person who notices that.

Not Recycling Yet

I am still within my 30 day return policy window but at this point I am still keeping it. As time goes on it will be interesting to see how things grow positively and negatively.  I suspect as time goes on it will be the Android OS that either wins or loses my loyalty and not so much the Droid device.