Ahoy there! Ahead be some discussion of reading, but mostly my impressions of my new phone. For those who come here for romance, nothing but romance, and a side order of man-titty, this entry will be not so much of that, unless I download some man-porn apps, which I can do because I’m outside the limitations of the Apple App Store. Heh. I have, yes, already searched “porn” in the Droid Marketplace, aka, Droid App Store.
If you know me, or have been around me, or read what I say on Twitter every now and again, you know that I hate, loathe, abhor, and despise very few things. I hate emptying the sink trip while I’m cooking. I loathe clothing that itches and the feeling of foam against my skin (EW. JIBBLIES.). And I abhor AT&T Wireless. Two years ago I signed a two-year contract with AT&T and got the iPhone 3G. The iPhone is a wonderful device for texting and email and all kinds of activities and whatnot, but as a phone, it sucks out loud, long, strong, and forever. It is a horrible phone because AT&T in the NY Metro area (which includes New York City, southern Connecticut, Westchester, and northern New Jersey where I live) is so God-awful bad I can’t even begin to tell you. Hubby and I have a friend who lives in Pittsburgh who loves his iPhone, has no trouble, and thought we were exaggerating with our AT&T-complaints.
Then he came to New York. And I quote, “Wow. You were right. This sucks!”
I paid for 3G network access but rarely used it, because while I could get internet on 3G, voicemail messages and alerts would arrive hours, if not days, late. Calls would connect but my phone would not ring, and I’d experience dropped calls every 2-5 minutes. One 20 minute call with Hubby disconnected 6 times.
The problem is twofold: one, there are too many iPhones, which I believe from colloquial evidence occupies a unique area of the AT&T wireless spectrum and therefore is oversaturated, and not enough bandwidth. Two, neither party will really admit there’s a problem, and have now sold even more iPhones. I could buy some signal enhancer for my house and pay MORE for that plus an additional monthly fee, but my offense at paying extra for crap service was too great to even consider keeping the iPhone.
So a month before our contract was up, Hubby did a ton of research (he was switching from a BlackBerry, not an iPhone) and realized the Droid X from Verizon would probably be awesome.
And awesome it is. It’s big. VERY big. Here’s a comparison article that shows both dimensions and resolution compared to the iPhone 4.
Now before I get going on what I think, I want to be clear about one thing. Too many tech articles comparing phones presume that There Can Only Be One. It’s a phone, for God’s sake. It’s not the Highlander.
It’s like the ebook vs. paper crap: it’s another option for people, not The One Option To Rule Them All and Bind Them Forever. I like the Droid X because it works for me. Supremely well for me. So I’m not here to smack the iPhone (although I freely admit I’m here to smack AT&T upside the head for a shitty phone service) and proclaim the Droid X The Winner Of All and Sundry. I’m just saying I like it, and since this is a sizable investment of money and time (it’s a 2-year contract), I’ll tell you why in case you’re curious. Ok? Ok.
So the screen is big honking big huge mondo-big. That means it’s longer and while the iPhone fit in my pocket, the Droid X sticks out a bit above the pocket hem of my shorts. This doesn’t bother me, as most of the time I’d carry it in a jacket pocket or in a purse anyway. Hubby says the deeper pants pockets he wears are just fine with the Droid X. It’s not like trying to stuff a Zagats guide in your pants or anything. It’s just longer than the iPhone, which I’ve been carrying for 2 years.
Bigger for me is better because I have craptastic eyesight, and the large screen gives me more room to focus on. This is important because I’m cross-eyed and my eyes have to work a little harder muscularly to focus on stuff. The muscles around my eyes get very tired if I have to focus on a small space, and the size of the Droid X screen is wonnnnnderfully easier on my eyes. It’s easier for me to read, see email messages, scan web pages, and read the apps from arm’s length away. Love that.
The Droid X screen is not as clear or crispy fresh as the iPhone 4 screen, and I’ve seen them both. The new pixel-mania on the iPhone 4 is a beautiful thing. But the AT&T phone service? Hell to the no thank you. I didn’t even consider the iPhone 4 so long as it was connected to AT&T.
The Droid X also has a butt. The Droid X has back. Much back. It has a camera at the top which creates a bump at the top. The bump does not make it top-heavy at all, and it’s not going to tip back out of my hand when I hold it, but it is not a smooth and uniform back like other phones.
This took a little getting used to but it doesn’t bother me. It’s a phone. It’s not like it’s designer shoes or some other article I presume people are paying attention to design-wise. You can see a whole mess of photos of the Droid X from every angle at the Motorola website.
So what do I use my phone for? Reading, email, Twitter, web, amusing my children in line at the store, weather, and occasionally avoiding traffic, finding restaurants, and mad shopping.
To start with the Reading apps, there are a few that I’ve found. First is the obvious Amazon Kindle for Android. It’s a near replica of Kindle for iPhone, iPad, the dishwasher, etc. It works exactly the same, and it syncs wirelessly across all the Kindle places, including the dishwasher (what? My forks like erotica!). It features the same text options as the other Kindle apps, including sepia which I STILL haven’t figured out a reason for its use. The syncing across devices is excellent – I find myself wondering as I ponder where to purchase an ebook, “Am I going to want to read this on my phone sometimes, or just on the Kindle when I have more reading time?” If I want it everywhere possible, I buy it from Amazon, knowing that if the book is so great I can’t stop reading it, I will be able to read it on my phone in line or whenever I’m waiting for something. I don’t always carry my Kindle with me.
There’s also Aldiko, which allows me to search through free public domain book, O’Reilly books, All Romance eBooks, Smashwords, and High School reading lists. Shopping is easy, and the nice thing about Aldiko is that I can customize the day theme or the night theme to the text, font size, background and link colors that I want. Very spiffy! So big honking white letters on a dark grey background, here I come!
I can also customize the navigation, such as how I turn pages, and I can talk about books I’m reading via Aldiko from within a book – but I can’t mark a specific line and take notes on it, or Tweet a specific line like you can with Stanza for iPhone.
There’s a good number of questions answered in the support pages at Aldiko.com, with screenshots if you would like to learn more. I like Aldiko just fine, and will likely use it as much as, if not more than, Kindle for Android once I get it all set up the way I like.
The Droid X is also recognized by Calibre, which transfers the books to the Droid “Main Memory.” Note: I’m trying to transfer books that either have no DRM (Thanks Carina!) or that I’ve stripped (WOO Sexy!). I had no problems, but I’m also not going to tackle DRM books on the phone because if I can’t get a file type I know how to strip, I buy the book from Amazon and accept the DRM tradeoff for syncing across devices.
My problem with Aldiko and transferring books from Calibre is that Calibre says the books have been transferred to the main memory, but Aldiko won’t look anywhere but the ebooks/import file on the SD Card on the phone – so I can’t find the files I transferred. It seems that the Android defaults for Calibre call for an app called WordPlayer, which I am not using. So off I go to download it.
WordPlayer is free like the others, but it wants to connect to Calibre wirelessly, which I couldn’t successfully do. I couldn’t get WordPlayer to find the files I’d transferred using a USB cable nor could I get Aldiko to locate them either. I actually don’t know where the hell Calibre put them. And I don’t unfortunately have time to struggle with it endlessly. As usual, even DRM free books on multiple readers can give me fits.
My last attempt via Calibre worked in a round-about way. I selected the books I wanted to transfer, then selected “Save to Disk” in the Calibre menu bar. Then I saved the files as Epub documents in the specific ebooks/import files that Aldiko wanted. That seems to have worked. But that represented the better part of 45 minutes to figure out. In terms of ease of use, Kindle is amazing.
There is one other reader I found but I am not going to mention it, as I don’t encourage piracy. This one reader has two databases of books to download from, but it appears that one of them proports to be open source, yet I know that the books within that database are under copyright protection. I was able to download Silhouette books and some JR Ward books as well and was never prompted for a payment method. I’ve alerted some folks about this reader and database but have not yet seen any removal.
That brings up my next point: freedom and risk. The Android Market is not as closely scrutinized as the Apple App Store, so there are porn apps and weird things up in there – and some amazing features, too. So on the one hand, you have to accept some risk. Each app you download will inform you what it is that you’re going to be able to do, and what the app will want to do, such as connect to the internet, share information about your purchases, etc. So as a rule I don’t download things that I haven’t read about online or researched in advance. And I do read the reviews of the apps themselves.
So there’s a pirate-y database of books, which totally blows, and on the other hand, there’s additional mail applications to try. The one I downloaded, K9, allows me to not only set a Send-From address (or, several if I want) but it also lets me customize the color of the LED light notifier at the top of the phone. WORD. If my phone is blinking pink, I know it’s email to a specific account. This degree of customization makes me freaking GIDDY.
Other apps that I adore include Key Ring, which allows you to scan and store all your retail discount cards, so instead of a keyring full of little strips of plastic, they’re all in your phone. This is also available for iPhone, too – woo hoo!
There’s a Gauge Battery Widget that allows me to see what percentage of battery remains, and thanks to Hubby’s thoughtful organization of his phone, I did my home screen layout similarly to his. At the top left I have today’s weather (91F? Are you shitting me?!) the time and date, and the battery meter. The benefit to apps running is that they’re giving me the information at a glance instead of my having to open them to see.
Plus there’s a “drawer” at the top, where if I swipe my finger down, I see what new email has arrived, what apps have downloaded, what new tweets are in, etc.
I do love the multitasking, and the degree to which I can run five apps at once and let them notify me when there’s new stuff. The downside is that they can hog battery life and so I run a free app called Advanced Task Killer, which lets me select which apps I want to stop running.
But the biggest thrill for me, honestly, is that it’s a phone. That works. Consistently. OH HAPPY DAY! COMMENCE SNOOPY DANCE! There’s not much more to say except I make phone calls from inside AND outside my house and don’t drop the calls – it’s just… refreshing, to be able to use the wireless cellular phone service I am paying for. Hear that AT&T? That’s the sound of no more of my money coming to you for wireless cell phone service. Go ahead, cry me a river about it, if you can place the call and get it to go through on the first try.
For me, the Droid X functions much better than the iPhone as a handheld computer for email and Twitter, because I don’t have to keep those apps open and refreshing to let new info come in. They sync faster and easier than my iPhone did – and after the iOS4 upgrade, my iPhone was pretty much unusable due to slowness and crashing. The bigger screen is easier for me to read and interact with visually, and I am reading on it more than I did the iPhone for that reason.
Plus, it’s a phone. That works. Can I say again how much I adore that part?
If you’ve got Droid questions, please let me know – I’m happy to try to answer them.
I love my Android phone. I have the HTC Eris. The Hubs is loknig at the X, I’ll send him this article, he’ll get a kick out of it. Thx for the review!
Hallelujah! A metro NJ/NY/CT resident admitting that AT&T blows chunks! That is the only reason I haven’t caved to an iPhone. Well, that and the insane amount of cash it would take to get out of my VZN contract.
My current contract for my CrapBerry is up in 2011 and I have been seriously considering a Droid. Thank you so much for the review Sarah. Updates would actually be appreciated.
Thanks for this! I just bought a Samsung Vibrant on Sunday and I’ve been staring at my iPod Touch’s non-Kindle collection going, “Okay, NOW what? I just downloaded the fourth in a series, dammit!” Gonna play with Calibre and see how it goes.
After 3+ years of not being able to use my iPhone as, well, a phone, I got a Droid too (Incredible). I live in the boonies and it’s so refreshing to be able to make and receive calls, receive voicemails the same day (rather than up to a week later), and have the phone ring when there’s an incoming call. Amazing. It does everything a phone should!
I’ve used Aldiko and Kindle also. Audible has a Droid app in beta right now, and I’ve also installed eReader and Kobo (but have only used eReader – it’s OK.)
Congrats on your new phone!
Thanks for the comparison. Hubby has recently moved from the iPhone to a Droid and is MUCH happier. But although he loves the Droid (and relies on it for work), I find myself wanting the teenytinyittybittiest cell phone there is—even if that means no Internet. Just a phone pls, k thx bai.
I’m not a Luddite though, I swear! I’ve had a Kindle for 2 1/2 years and I prefer it to paper books. (And I can access the Internet on it, albeit at tortoise speeds. Maybe having that portable I’net access if I need it is why I’m not feeling the need for a smartphone, or wanting to pay the extra $40+/mo. for a phone data plan.)
Smartphones have taken over the world, though. And they’re getting bigger and bigger, which that leaves me without many phone choices, arggh. Oh well. Someday I’ll give up my 20-year-old car, too. 🙂
Thanks for the info on the Droid X. I’ve been eyeing it. AT&T was my first. Horrible thing for your first time to be such a bad experience. I’ve been with Verizon and haven’t looked back. Although, I am stuck in the Windows world. I believe Windows smartphones are only smart in the same way that some people believe everybody deserves a trophy. So you may have sealed the deal for me a Droid X. Thanks.
I wouldn’t go to AT&T if they paid ME! I had crappy, crappy service and messed up bills and swore never again. I’ve just bought a PalmPrePlus. Lovely, lovely phone, clear sound, nice size, lots of nice apps BUT I have tons of Audible books that I’ve bought and NO AUDIBLE APP. AND, tons of Kindle books I’d like to also read on my phone but NO KINDLE APP.
HP has recently bought Palm because of the nifty new Palm webOS so maybe folks will start converting their iPhone apps into Pre apps. I hope so cause I fell in love with Palm and have been faithful through 3 upgraded phones. Maybe I should just work on being a phoneSlut and flit away…..after my two year contract is up. Sigh! Forced 2 year monogamy. Hey, I’m sure there’s a romance novel in that!
Welcome to the Android world!
I have a Droid Incredible and I love it. It’s not too big, it’s on the Verizon network and it does everything a smartphone should do and does it reliably.
Not only that, but it’s free of the Smug Mockneck Man telling me I’m holding it wrong.
Hubby and I just got HTC Evo’s (we’ve used Sprint forever and didn’t feel like switching service providers). I’m loving it. Also downloaded the free Kindle app and its pretty. I have a Sony e-reader, so I don’t get the benefits of syncing across devices, but I at least have the option now of some of the free Kindle books or things that aren’t available outside of Amazon.
I also downloaded the Borders e-book App, but have done zilch with it yet.
Other apps that I’ve downloaded and liked: Trip It (for organizing travel info, good for an upcoming trip), and RunKeeper (which tracks speed, time, routes, etc for running/walking/cycling…I’m also liking the built-in GPS service).
I will have to check out that Key Ring app.
I love how the thing syncs my contacts between phone numbers, facebook, twitter. I was shocked the morning after manually typing in a couple dozen phone numbers from my old phone (which had no features of any kind except number pad and voice calls), that all of a sudden all my entries had photos. And all of my facebook friends’ birthdays have magically appeared on my calendar (which I can get to from Google Calendar on a computer). I’m in heaven! (I’ve been suffering some serious multiple-personality scheduling problems for the past couple of years with paper vs Outlook vs online calendars and the day job/home computer/etc and keeping track of who goes where).
My only complaint is that the phone made me set up a gmail account instead of accepting my previous non-gmail Google login. So now I’m on gmail, 2xyahoo, home domain, writing domain, day job, etc…Email is still a nightmare.
So, Sarah, still liking Double Twist? I should have mentioned for the books you can’t find on your main memory, Astro File Manager. It will find anything on your Droid. Anything! Also, eReader has an app that works and B&N (who owns eReader and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they’re so far behind since eReader has one) will be releasing their reader app shortly.
If you’re into movies, I use the IMDB app, Seesmic to tweet with, the youtube app and the Borders reader.
Did you ever try Dolphin yet?
I’m glad you’re liking your Droid. My EVO has been awesome though it took some getting used to switching from a Windows based phone. I’ve been with Sprint though since before they even offered to the general public and were only a business provider with two different phone options so for me, the iPhone was never an option. I figured if I waited long enough, Sprint would come up with something. And they did with HTC.
Good luck and if you have questions, let me know. I’ve had mine about two months now. OH! And you can get a 16G memory card on eBay pretty inexpensively. I’m trying for a 32G, but they’re still pricey. Gives you lots more room though. I’ve loaded oh…6-7 movies as well as lots of books so I’m never bored waiting while the trains go through town. ;o)
Thanks for saying this. It’s not just articles, it’s users too. I feel like I get a whole lotta flack being an iphone user, and I know there are plenty of iphone-asshats running around with supercilious superiority as well.
I’ve never had a beef with AT&T, but I’m thinking it’s because I really don’t like talking on the phone—I’m an inveterate emailer and texter. I’m glad there are a number of decent (though still expensive) options out there.
@Cate, I feel your pain. I just moved to a smart phone last month. I resisted it for as long as I could, but in the end I didn’t feel like I had much choice.
Surprisingly, I’ve liked it more than I thought. I went Droid, but with the LG Ally. I’m not totally thrilled with the Ally and wouldn’t recommend it especially (bad sound, not fully bluetooth capable) but I love the slide out keyboard. I thought seriously of switching to the X and I could have last week, before my first month was up. But I decided not to invest in it right now. I can upgrade phones in a year with Verizon.
Oh, and after years of AT&T (ported over from Cingular) I am not missing it AT ALL. One reason for the switch was that ATT was going to raise my rates $20 a month just because…no other reason. Mandatory $20 a month raise when I renewed. Instead, I switched to Verizon, got a $100 rebate on the phone and $100 for switching. Score.
I think I kind of have a visceral objection to the iPhone and iPad and i-whatever because I get so tired of it being jammed down my throat all the time as the Best Evah. and I watch my friends’ i-devices having tech issues (one of them literally melted) and wonder, this is better than PC, how?
I’m a carry-an-ancient-cellphone-only-for-emergencies person. (Though I am myself not ancient. Just cheap.)
But allow me to say that your post is awesome and made me giggle!
Welcome to droid!!! I got an HTC Hero earlier this year and I LOVE it. Like another poster, I recently downloaded Border’s reader but haven’t done anything with it. Sarah, would you care to check it out for us? I’m curious, as I believe it reads DRM ePub books from Borders ebookstore, if I will be able to import the DRM ebooks I have backed up on my computer, currently being read on my Sony. That would be a TOTAL win if my phone could read ePub.
I really love the Aldiko reader, but the only way I’ve found to put books on it is to physically connect it to my PC and put the books in it’s superspecial import file (which, by the way, I had to create – it took me a while to figure that out…)
For more free fun apps – Wheres My Droid will make your phone ring loudly until you find it, even if you’ve turned the ringer off. Weather bug (weather radar! on my phone!) Ring droid will make a custom ringer out of any music you put on your phone (and it reads iTunes format!) I love my droid!
Must say a good word for AT&T. Mary C. in their fraud department is awesome. Yes, dammit. The bloody box the iPhone should have been in was delivered empty and – thank you – according to Mary its activation had nothing to do with me! At last! Someone could access the right data to believe me.
And, er, I do live in an area where AT&T reception is decent.
After the latest fiasco of no email, I got rid of my iPhone. I’m still with AT&T b/c the service where I live is good, but I am utterly unsold on Apple products. The ‘geniuses’ in the store were consistently snotty—I work in IT and am not an electronics moron but was treated like one every time I tried to explain that my phone didn’t work. It was always something else – not the phone.
Did you reboot? Daily.
Do you turn it off all the way? Repeatedly.
AT&T has a tower down. For six months?
Turn off the bluetooth and 3G, turn down the screen. Um, isn’t that called ‘functionality’?
So yeah, I’m pretty sure the Emperor has no clothes. I love this clip:
i think that is the LG way. Currently, I’m on a family plan with AT&T, so i can’t switch companies without paying for it myself (which i can’t afford to do). Back in October, I bought an LG Neon (unfortunately i didn’t do enough research to find out how sucky it is as a phone.) I could access the internet, although I couldn’t get this site on it, and texting was ridiculously simple (it too had a slide out keyboard). Just after my 30 days was up, the phone aspect stopped working properly—when i would make a phone call it wouldn’t ring on my end, and i would have no sound for 30 seconds to a minute, which lead to everyone from my mom to 911 hanging up one me. When I took it to the store (2 days after the return period ended), they switched my SIM card for free (since i had no service whatsoever) and told me to call the Warranty People. About a month later, the trade in arrives. This time, it worked well for a total of 2 months before it started doing the same thing as the old one. Of course i didn’t have the money for another new phone for 3 months, so i lived with the craptastic service until about a month ago. Now, I have a Pactech Link, which is omg amazing, although because I am still on AT&T I still have the issue of dropped calls.
Also, apparently AT&T is stuck in the year 2000…I’ll be moving in a month, and I need to get DSL service. Guess what, AT&T only offers dial-up internet for my area. what the hell is wrong with them? Comcast, Verizon, etc. all offer DSL for my area, so why not AT&T?
I’ve had my HTC Hero for about two months now, upgraded from a phone that did nothing but make phone calls. I am still way behind on the learning curve, LOL. The website Phandroid.com was helpful in learning the basics, as they have forums for each specific phone.
I must look into the Key Ring app. Two that I have downloaded and recommend are the Dolphin browser and the Handcent texting app.
I tried to get the Kindle app the other day and it wasn’t available. Must try again. The screen is so teeny tiny on the phone that I don’t see using it over a paper book, but hey, having an emergency book back-up system would be nice. I got stuck at a longer than expected child’s dance audition the other day with nothing to read, teh horrors!
*sob*
Am I the only person who lives in the fabled Verizon Wireless dead zone?
I had Verizon when I moved out here with my Kyocera 7135 Palm phone. No mothership. No phone battery because it kept trying to find the mothership.
And then came the day when the transmission dropped out of my car leaving me at the side of the road between a cow crossing sign and a tractor crossing sign. With crappy signal, and no battery.
Long story short – research reveals that the only company that does get service in my area is ATT. And it still sucks. We have a cell phone signal amplifier in the house. It makes it so the phones at least work in our living room… if you stand near the window… while pointing the phone in the direction of the signal unit.
Needless to say, we’re screwed when the power goes out. (The cell phone signal amplifier relies on electricity).
And the kicker? Verizon provides my land line service. People who walk into my house with Verizon phones soon realize that they have to go out to the back of our back lot, stand on a boulder and imitate the freakin’ Statue of Liberty to get a call out…
Verizon Wireless Blackberry services do work, though. Just not the DAMN PHONE.
I would go back to Verizon Wireless in a New York Minute if I could get decent service out here. Hell. I’m tempted to call the company and tell them they can put a tower in my yard (there has apparently been some resistance to this by other people in the area).
I love living out here. I’d rather live out here than in the city. But I want my amenities, too. Is this too much to ask? Is it?
Even my dad has a Droid! (He’s still trying to figure out how to stop it from saying “DROID…” every 5 minutes throughout the night.)
All you people enjoy your lovely Droids that actually work as phones. I’ll just sit out here like the little match girl who is going to freeze to death because her iphone dropped the call.
Oh wait… I said
Sorry. As you can tell, the whole Verizon’s one dead zone is my house thing is a bit of a sore spot with me…
Thanks so much for this article! Here in Northeastern Nevada, our choices are only AT&T and Verizon. I switched to Verizon and have been much happier. Customer service is remarkably better!! I will consider a Droid for my next phone for sure.
No Smartphone here, but I live in the Greater LA area so while officially there’s great AT&T service I live in the boonies of LA so it’s actually terrible. Had to switch to Verizon to be able to make a cal within 2 blocks of my house. So good luck to you with your new phone! Make lots of calls.
When I got my first cell phone it was with Southwestern Bell Cellular which became Cingular which is now AT&T. Everytime that the name has changed- the customer service has become more difficult to deal with. Not sure if it’s because of internal issues or changes in policy but I can totally understand where you are coming from. I have a Samsung Eternity and don’t use the internet much but can see myself using it more in the future. Have never really been that impressed with Apple products and the Iphone is no exception- I have friends that have it and I’m just not that impressed. I am however impressed by the photo’s of the droid and will look into that for my next upgrade. Thanks for the post!
@Nadia (from a fellow Hero user) that screen may be small, but Aldiko reader on your phone uses every millimeter of the screen! No annoyingly huge margin like on my Sony reader. I’ve been impressed with Aldiko and that’s what I use when I’m out and about. I don’t carry a purse, but my phone is always in my pocket. It’s hard to beat the eink on the Sony for readability, but the convenience of a book in my pocket is awesome!
I haven’t checked out the Kindle app or the Border’s app, but I’ll get around to it someday!
I’ll happily try the Borders app, though the Borders ebookstore is so sparsely populated, if it were a town it wouldn’t have wireless service. Or streetlights. There’s only a handful of Nora Roberts books in there. WTF is that about?
Where I live (Colorado Mountains—way, way up) Verizon is the ONLY carrier that gets any kind of reception at all, and it’s spotty at best. I’ve got the Droid Eris (wouldn’t buy it again) and am still figuring out apps, since my other phone didn’t have any of them. I have the Aldiko for downloading books. Seems to work OK although I’d rather use my e-reader for books.
Biggest grumble – it’s supposed to link contacts to Facebook. Nobody can figure out why my phone won’t do that. Not really a big deal, but I’d like to see their profile pix in my “people” list so I can tell who’s who more easily. Even the manufacturer couldn’t explain beyond, “it’s a facebook interface problem, not a phone problem.” Yeah, right. Hubster’s identical phone links just fine.
Most frequently used app: GroovyFish (although it’s my grandson who uses it).
Thanks for the review. Just sent it to my DH. If I get the phone I’ll have to take you for drinks to get a tutorial on how to put my books from my Sony library. Why am I so challenged that way?
I took a few minutes to look at the Kindle and Borders reader apps for my droid phone to compare to my regular reader app, Aldiko.
The Borders app was not so good. Two big problems for me. First, I couldn’t find any way to load non-Borders books into their reader. Not a total shock, but I’d had hopes, with it being an ePub reader, of using it to read DRM books that Aldiko can’t handle.
The second problem with the Borders app was a lack of in app brightness control. Holy burnt retinas – even on night mode.
I can’t find anything in the app or in the Borders ebookstore to help me figure either problem out. So, I think I’m done with the Borders app.
The Kindle app has the same “I only read books from MY store” issue. It DOES have in-app brightness control.
So my ranking would be Aldiko then Kindle, and I won’t even put Borders on the list due to eye strain.
I only spent about 20 minutes total tonight. (I’d already downloaded the apps) Maybe there is better stuff I’d spent more time, but I don’t think so. Any other opinions?
I LOVE My DROID!
But, when does DROID get a TBR app?
http://itunes.apple.com/app/tbr/id362964263?mt=8
Just curious if the verdict’s changed at all on the droid x after a few weeks and its shiny-newness has worn off. Still a good e-reader alternative?