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I just got a Droid 2 Global & I hate it!

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evanzoo

Lurker
I just upgraded from an LG EnV2 to a Droid 2 Global. So far I hate it! I don't like the touchscreen & the keyboard isn't very easy to use either. I mostly use my phone for texting & email. I thought I would like having the internet on it, but it's small & difficult to navigate the internet on the Droid.

Has anyone else hated the Droid to begin with, but ended up liking it? Should I just give it more time?
 
I started out loving my Droid (I know that doesn't help much). I came from an LG Dare (enV before that). You'll soon learn that you can type much faster on the Droid's screen than they LG's screen. I will have to agree that the enV2's keyboard is nice, but it's one of those things you'll get used to as well. I used my iPod Touch prior to my Droid for internet, so the Droid's browser was very familiarly to me.

Don't forget that you have 30 days to figure out if you like the Droid2. They charge a restocking fee but it's better than being stuck with a device you don't like. They Droid X has a larger screen if that would help for internet browsing, but you'd lose the keyboard.
 
Let me first say that the D2G is my second smart phone. My first was a iPhone 3G. Let me first say that what ever phone you came from, you have to get used your new phone. I do like my D2G, although it has a keyboard, I rarely ever use it. I use the virtual keyboard like I did with my iPhone, and now I use swype which IMO is much better. For longer messages, voice input. It isn't perfect, but it's faster for me. If the size of the keyboard and you don't mind using a virtual keyboard, I suggest you look into the Droid X.
 
My D2G is my first Android phone.. Other than some relatively minor (to me) issues, I love it. Took some getting used to, and still does as I'm still learning, but it's great.

My previous phones have been Blackberry, Apple, and Windows Mobile (6.5 and below) based.
 
Give it some time.

You're just used to how a regular boring phone like an enV works, and with all of this new technology and power, it takes some getting used to.
 
I came from an LG Voyager to original Droid (and now D2G) and I was very unimpressed with the physical keyboard. However, over about a week I was completely used to and I almost never use the virtual one unless I just need to fire off a small text. I would give it some more time, honestly. The size of the internet pages could be tweaked a little if you're having a hard time reading the text (you can increase font size in settings I believe) and using the phone horizontally. I always look at web pages horizontally but some people only look at it vertically (like my girlfriend, who hates tilting the phone sideways for some reason).
I would also agree the physical keyboard isn't as good as an Envy or Voyager even, but the Droid 2 keyboard is so much easier for me to use than the original Droid and I don't have to think about where all the buttons are anymore, my fingers just fly.
 
I came from an enVtouch to a D2G, and find Swype to be faster than the enV's onscreen keyboard. Also, smart keyboard is an alternative to the stock multitouch keyboard that has larger keys with bigger spaces in between them, it's easier to use. The D2G's touchscreen is MILES ahead in terms of quality, clarity, color, and responsiveness, I don't know what rocks you're smoking haha. It's also odd to me that you say the web experience is small and difficult to navigate. I don't know about the env2, but the enVtouch's web browser was terrible. Clunky, unresponsive, and often buggy. I think once you get used to it, you'll love it. The physical keyboard on my enVtouch was better, but I'm used to the D2Gs, and as others have stated, I use swype almost exclusively.
 
I just got a Droid 2 Global. Switched from a Blackberry curve. I think I'm gonna love my droid. Battery life is poor - it runs low for my by about 4 pm, even though I use an app killer every four or five hours (apparently I should us it more often). Any hints on extending battery life?

My D2G does not audibly say "Droid" when I start it up like the commercial shows. Anyone know how to turn that feature on?
 
tawald said:
I just got a Droid 2 Global. Switched from a Blackberry curve. I think I'm gonna love my droid. Battery life is poor - it runs low for my by about 4 pm, even though I use an app killer every four or five hours (apparently I should us it more often). Any hints on extending battery life?

My D2G does not audibly say "Droid" when I start it up like the commercial shows. Anyone know how to turn that feature on?
Click to expand...

The task killer is most likely hurting your battery life more than helping.
 
tawald said:
I just got a Droid 2 Global. Switched from a Blackberry curve. I think I'm gonna love my droid. Battery life is poor - it runs low for my by about 4 pm, even though I use an app killer every four or five hours (apparently I should us it more often). Any hints on extending battery life?

My D2G does not audibly say "Droid" when I start it up like the commercial shows. Anyone know how to turn that feature on?
Click to expand...

you have to set your "notification ring tones" to
settings>sound>notification ringtones>droid
and read up on battery life through these forums, they have been very helpful, i have droid x and i love it but my battery life isn't that great i have done many of the suggestions so my next step is to get my battery tested.
 
Get the BP7X battery from Motorola for $50. Be aware it makes the back of your phone thicker, and comes with a replacement battery door that only comes in grey.. If you have a case, you may have to remove the battery door to get a proper fit; This works perfectly with my Seidio Innocase. My battery is good for 2-3 days with light use, or a full (10hr) day of MP3s and some light web surfing will leave me with 10-20% when I get in my car. Also, stop using a task killer. If you're using it to kill all the stock bloatware, that stuff starts right back up in a minute, and takes MORE battery every time it restarts. Get Autokiller. It automatically kills empty/unused/background processes when your free memory reaches certain user defined levels. I have mine set to aggressive, and my free RAM almost never drops below 200MB. For example, when you quit a game, it stays in the background. It's ok for Autokiller to kill this, because it won't restart until the next time you click it. Also, get SetCPU, it allows you to set your minimum and maximum CPU speed on predefined profiles. I've got mine set to 300min 600max when the screen is off, or when the battery temp exceeds 42C. Finally, get titanium backup. You can use it to freeze all the stock bloatware (kindle, amazon, blockbuster, etc etc) that comes on the phone. It essentially hides them from your system, so they can't run. This will make your phone run much quicker, and your battery life will be better. However, when an OTA update comes out, you can simply unfreeze them, and your phone is factory new, and your OTA update works (I just did this last week with the latest one). Oh, and I use QuickSettings (free) to turn off my wifi/gps/3g whenever I'm not using them, as well as manually set my screen brightness.

You could also look into flashing the Fusion ROM (just search for it, it's everywhere) to your phone, but I'm not doing that because there's no SBF (backup file) for our phone yet, so if you brick it (unlikely, but possible), you're essentially screwed until that's released. We can only hope it's soon.

Hope some of that helps.
 
Android does have a bit of a learning curve... I came from WM7 phones where we used to cook our own roms and it took me a bit to get used to the open freedom of Android... I usually suggest devices with overlays for those new to it (Incredible/ Ally)... Coming from a regular phone and jumping to the D2G can be overwhelming... For texting and web you may have enjoyed a more social device like the LG Ally for getting into Android...
 
i don't have a droid 2(just lurking around out of boredom lol) but I did have a droid(not much difference to me)

AS it has been stated
1)you do have 30 days--If you can live without a keyboard, try a Droid Incredible(Android phones with Sense are a lot better to most people)
2)And android does have a learning curve...harder than iphone, easier than a blackberry(i still can't figure out a blackberry)....I'd just keep using the phone right up until the day before you have to exchange/return it

Also, i really don't believe task killers are bad. I never had a bad experience using them on any android device i've owned(OG Droid, Eris, Captivate, Xperia X10, Backflip, Hero, Evo, Mytouch 4g or incredible)....People say that Android kills off applications on it's own when it needs to but i don't feel like waiting around and dealing with lag waiting for the system to kill the app off(i've went a whole day without one and i didn't see a benefit in not using one)

I wholeheartedly recommend a task killer
 
I'm no Android pro... But none of the phones you listed ran Android 2.2 (at least, stock.. I dunno what you may have done to them haha) right? It's only in Android 2.2 that task killers have become obsolete. Instead of a task killer, use a minfree type app, like AutoKiller to set your minimum free levels of RAM (My free RAM almost never drops below 200MB), but it uses the Android system to kill processes, and ONLY processes that won't immediately restart (which is the problem with standard task killers).
 
NiceGuysFinishLast said:
I'm no Android pro... But none of the phones you listed ran Android 2.2 (at least, stock.. I dunno what you may have done to them haha) right? It's only in Android 2.2 that task killers have become obsolete. Instead of a task killer, use a minfree type app, like AutoKiller to set your minimum free levels of RAM (My free RAM almost never drops below 200MB), but it uses the Android system to kill processes, and ONLY processes that won't immediately restart (which is the problem with standard task killers).
Click to expand...


Mytouch 4g and Incredible and Droid X all have 2.2 right of the box and I still see the need for a task killer for those devices
 
I have owned most of the ones Verizon has carried and TK`s seemed to have a purpose on Android 2.0 and 1.6... After 2.1 though they dont seem to do as much and do seem to use battery faster than what they help... Android is just gonna open back up what it thinks it needs to anyway...
 
carmendiva said:
Mytouch 4g and Incredible and Droid X all have 2.2 right of the box and I still see the need for a task killer for those devices
Click to expand...

Android 2.2+ manages apps the same way Windows Superfetch does. It will load the most used apps into memory as a caching feature. If you're using a task killer to kill them off, then the OS turns around and reloads them into memory, costing battery life and potentially performance.

"Low" memory in 2.2+ just means there are a lot of apps cached. If you need that memory for something, Android happily drops an unused cached program to free up the RAM for the app that needs it. Remember, free RAM is wasted RAM, as it's not doing anything. There's zero overhead to load an app into that unused RAM for faster launching.
 
i've owned many android phones, look at my list. the droid 2 global is by far one of the most responsive ones ive used.
 
trophynuts said:
+1 to that. I wish people would stop drinking the Task Killer kool aid.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree, most of them suck. There is one that is the best and does not hurt your battery or your system processes by default. It's made by rythem. I have no problems with that app and my battery on my Milestone can last 3 days or more depends on usage.
 
The only ones that seemed to need the TK were the old Devour and Eris for speed purposes... Now with 2.2.1 and 1ghz cpus the TKs dont seem to help anymore... But, I have only tested Verizon models and messed with a friends Evo... Cant speak for the others...
 
The Env is a TOTALLY different phone. There is a large learning curve on android phones because of all the things you can change, modify, and tweak in the settings and apps. Sorry you don't like it. I loved my D1 and my D2 is very nice.

You probably should have tried the phone out at the store and you would have figured out that you didn't like the screen right off the bat. Internet on the phone is never what people think it will be. That's why there is a zoom button.
Should probably swap for another phone if you are within 30 days.
 
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