Droid 3 - First Impressions

[ekyle]

Where can I check that. I have been going through the settings nad cant find it. Seems also that me using wifi a lot drains the battery... ohh well

When wifi is on 3G isn't and if you don't have an awesome signal using WiFi can actually save you some power. As for WWF, on the main screen towards the top, there a button with gears by the games that are waiting for you to move. It's the option on the bottom in that menu.

 

[boster]

I found out that I do have an upgrade discount, so I was tempted to get it right then and there. I know about the Amazon sale on the Droid 3, so I gave a meager attempt to haggle with the CSR by asking if they would price match Amazon price of $149 (I'm on a family plan) instead of $199 listed in-store. No dice (I'm not much of a negotiator anyway).

Suggest anyone who has a Costco membership to buy from them (at the store if they have them in stock, or online). Costco updates their cell phone prices every Wednesday. Right now they're selling the Droid 3 for $99.95.

That's common. I've purchased three phones from them and saved hundreds of dollars. At one point a few months (April?) ago they were selling the Droid X for $9.95. (Yes, $9.95.) The Droid 2 they generally had for $49.95 to $69.95.

My Costco doesn't yet have the Droid 3 in stock. I bought mine through a Verizon independent retailer, and they price-matched Amazon at $69.99.

-boster

 

[boster]

I got my Droid 3 yesterday. Upgrade from Droid 1. (Does "OG" mean "original"? I'm 46--too old to know all the cool acronyms.)

BATTERY: Drained pretty quickly and charged pretty slowly yesterday. Today it seems more in line with the OG Droid. Today, after 5.5 hours of mostly normal use (some phone calls, some browsing, a little gaming, some bluetooth, CDMA only, no GPS, no WiFi, live wallpaper, a couple installs and uninstalls) I'm at 70%. That fits with what I typically experienced with the Droid 1.

KEYBOARD: Much, much, much better than the OG Droid. I used to be an avid BlackBerry fan. BlackBerry probably still wins the award for physical keyboard, but this one on the Droid 3 is a great improvement.

CAMERA: Not as good as an actual camera, but good for a cell phone.

SPEED: Very good.

VOICE DIALING: Good so far. I use voice dialing a lot, and it was awful on all the BlackBerrys I ever had. It was really good on my OG Droid. It seems they've updated it for the Droid 3. So far seems at least as good as that on OG Droid.

DISPLAY: I can see what some are complaining about, but for my own purposes I call it a very good display. I'm quite satisfied.

A minor disappointment is that Android Market missed most of the apps I'd installed in the past. Apps I'd paid for were all accounted for, but that's about it. I had to search, find and install them all again.

All in all I love it.

-boster

 

[darrin2520]

I have had my Droid3 for most of the work week. I am very please with this phone so far. I am coming from a Droid 1 and there is not a single thing that this phone does not do way better. My observations to date are below:

1. The display is really growing on me. It is pixelated and it can be seen. The strange thing is that on complex graphics it is amazing. With solid colored backgrounds and white text it is not so great. Quadrant scores are really hard to read (scored 2500 btw). But all in all, I find myself just staring at the display in amazement. It is bright, large and readable in sunlight. I really like it.
2. The phone is very responsive. Apps load fast, scrolling is fast, everything is just fast.
3. Gingerbread and this phone feel very polished compared to my other Droid experiences.
4. I struggled with the default mail app, but I loaded K9 which is really good.
5. This phone just feels right when holding it. My hands are a bit bigger and I like the solid feeling this phone gives.
6. The keyboard is really a thing of beauty. To qualify that, I am coming from the original Droid, so it is a significant upgrade.
7. I have had one reboot (when trying out different live wallpapers) and I also did a restart of my own once when the phone was not responsive.
8. The battery is good, but I think this is a phone that definitely needs to be charged every night. Mine is off the charger for about 16 hours per day and it is between 20% and 40% by that time depending on usage.
9. The uninstallable apps are a nuisance, but not terrible IMO.
10. The dolphin browser is a great replacement browser in order to get away from uninstallable links in the default browser.
11. Coming from my Droid, I don't have any previous experience with motoblur, but I am far from hating it on this phone. Effects are fast, clear and non-obtrusive.
12. Audio is clear on both bluetooth and plugged in. The volume is not as loud as the original Droid. When running on a treadmill, I have my bluetooth headset up all the way and the volume up all the way for an audio book. It works, but it is maxed out.

That is all I can think of so far. All in all this is a great phone.

 

[darrin2520]

As far as 4g is concerned, yes it was definitely fast, but not without its problems. I have full signal/4g coverage at my house, and many a time the 4g would stop, suddenly switch to 1x, then 3g, then back to 4g. Wasn't a big deal to me since I used Wifi all the time, but for those of you who were thinking about using 4g for the majority of the time, it could become nuisance.

Am I missing something here?

 

[aostang]

Am I missing something here?

That was in reference to their Charge.

 

[rushmore]

I have had my Droid3 for most of the work week. I am very please with this phone so far. I am coming from a Droid 1 and there is not a single thing that this phone does not do way better. My observations to date are below:

1. The display is really growing on me. It is pixelated and it can be seen. The strange thing is that on complex graphics it is amazing. With solid colored backgrounds and white text it is not so great. Quadrant scores are really hard to read (scored 2500 btw). But all in all, I find myself just staring at the display in amazement. It is bright, large and readable in sunlight. I really like it.
2. The phone is very responsive. Apps load fast, scrolling is fast, everything is just fast.
3. Gingerbread and this phone feel very polished compared to my other Droid experiences.
4. I struggled with the default mail app, but I loaded K9 which is really good.
5. This phone just feels right when holding it. My hands are a bit bigger and I like the solid feeling this phone gives.
6. The keyboard is really a thing of beauty. To qualify that, I am coming from the original Droid, so it is a significant upgrade.
7. I have had one reboot (when trying out different live wallpapers) and I also did a restart of my own once when the phone was not responsive.
8. The battery is good, but I think this is a phone that definitely needs to be charged every night. Mine is off the charger for about 16 hours per day and it is between 20% and 40% by that time depending on usage.
9. The uninstallable apps are a nuisance, but not terrible IMO.
10. The dolphin browser is a great replacement browser in order to get away from uninstallable links in the default browser.
11. Coming from my Droid, I don't have any previous experience with motoblur, but I am far from hating it on this phone. Effects are fast, clear and non-obtrusive.
12. Audio is clear on both bluetooth and plugged in. The volume is not as loud as the original Droid. When running on a treadmill, I have my bluetooth headset up all the way and the volume up all the way for an audio book. It works, but it is maxed out.

That is all I can think of so far. All in all this is a great phone.

Agreed on the GB & Blur. Given all the horror reports about GB in general and how 2.3.3 and lower sucked real bad with dual cores, I expected bad things. Quite utterly the opposite in actual results with 2.3.4 and the D3

 

[ekyle]

My screen flashes on and off repeatedly if the screen is off and Navigation is runninb, sometimes. Usually when any sort of notification pops up. Probably a bug in the Google Maps software. It doesn't do it any other time.