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Longtime Palm user, first time Android

BeeVee

BeeVee

Newbie
Hi all,

I was a Palm user since 1999 and had been happy enough staying on Pay as you Go with my Treo 680 until last week when I discovered I *really* needed the ability to look up maps on my phone. I was also fed up with trying to synchronise my Google Calendar with DateBk 6, although Pimlical has been very good.

So in a blur I checked out the various phone providers websites (here in France, where I live) and found that ordering a Motorola Defy on a year's contract was an acceptable monthly price (just!).

Now I'm trying to find my comfort zone with the device and downloading lots of apps to try and make it behave a little more like the Palm, with the new features I need to learn.

I am a fairly hardcore computer user (I don't have a Mac), so the lack of options on the Android is a bit shocking to me right now, but I want to get them...

B
 
Such as... having different sound levels for different alarms in the Calendar app (loud for alarm clock duties, normal for workday appointments, quiet for birthday reminders for instance), not being able to have a downloaded app as the home double tap function (I need a barcode scanner more frequently than the camera for instance) and a bunch of other stuff I can't think of right now. It's probably just me being picky, it just seems like every time I buy a new device I have to put up with less functionality together with a greater number of features.

B
 
Excellent, thanks for the pointer to the Defy forum. I'm sure it's just me being a grumpy old bugger, I just feel that because the functionality is all locked away behind a pretty interface I'm being artificially limited - it would be good to get an "expert mode" that shows all options no matter how confusing. I'm not in any way saying I'm an expert, just that I'd like to learn, and be able to control, more. :)

B
 
BeeVee said:
Such as... having different sound levels for different alarms in the Calendar app (loud for alarm clock duties, normal for workday appointments, quiet for birthday reminders for instance), not being able to have a downloaded app as the home double tap function (I need a barcode scanner more frequently than the camera for instance) and a bunch of other stuff I can't think of right now. It's probably just me being picky, it just seems like every time I buy a new device I have to put up with less functionality together with a greater number of features.

B
Click to expand...

Well you could always put a shortcut to barcode scanner on home screen?
 
There's an app called Tasker which could probably do what you want it to with the calendars and alarms etc. You can get it from the market, but the trial period is only 15 minutes, whereas it's 1 week from the devs website. I'd recommend doing a bit of reading about it before you dive in, it's pretty in depth.

And as Nightangel79 said, you can add the barcode scanner icon to a homescreen. If you hold your finger down on a blank space, you'll get the option to add a shortcut/widget etc.
 
Hi all,
Got a replacement Defy for the one that bugged out and found out on the same day that I could upgrade to Froyo, which I've done and the phone does feel snappier.

I read a lot of books and really appreciate the ePub format, but copying the files to the SD card through Motorola's Portal that only works through Internet Explorer for file transfer (rather than Firefox) is horrible and sloooow. Is there a faster way, through the USB or WiFi (I have Dropbox installed too) rather than what I am doing, which is to remove the SD card from the phone, plug it into my card reader and whack stuff across in picoseconds?

B
 
BeeVee said:
Hi all,
Got a replacement Defy for the one that bugged out and found out on the same day that I could upgrade to Froyo, which I've done and the phone does feel snappier.

I read a lot of books and really appreciate the ePub format, but copying the files to the SD card through Motorola's Portal that only works through Internet Explorer for file transfer (rather than Firefox) is horrible and sloooow. Is there a faster way, through the USB or WiFi (I have Dropbox installed too) rather than what I am doing, which is to remove the SD card from the phone, plug it into my card reader and whack stuff across in picoseconds?

B
Click to expand...


Use dropbox on computer. Then open it on phone and download...
 
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