Droid or iPhone?

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Thu Oct 29, 2009 at 11:44:37 PM EST
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Verizon's Droid is coming out to raves. Here are the top features. CNET and Gizmodo are among those quite impressed with the smartphone that runs on Google's Android 2.0 operating system. [More...]

My iPhone contract is up in June, but I have a Verizon phone number for my wi-fi laptop device. AT&T won't let me upgrade to the iPhone 3Gs until December, and I'm thinking, this would be fitting penalty for being greedy. Had I been able to upgrade to the 3Gs when it came out, I wouldn't even be thinking about the Droid.

There are millions of people in my category, who got their iPhones when they first came out, in June, 2007. I wonder how many will say goodbye to AT&T and it's mediocre 3G network, and switch to the Droid?

What about the rest of my AT&T contract? I'd switch it to a wireless card, which is $60 a month less than my iPhone bill, and swap my Verizon card for the Droid.

The only problem: I like my iPhone, and it has iTunes. Who wants a phone without iTunes? The days of having to carry both an iPod and a phone are so last year. But, the Droid has a 3.7-inch, 854-by-480 pixel display which is way bigger than the iPhone's 3.5-inch, 480-by-320 pixel display, and that means less scrolling when viewing websites. From the Gizmodo review:

The 3.7-inch display, packed with pixels, looks simply amazing. Text is ridiculously crisp, thanks to a 854x480 resolution that makes for 267ppi. Seriously, looking at my inbox is kinda making me drool. (The iPhone is 163ppi.) Besides clarity, touch response seems dead on. The keyboard works way better than it looks. It appears flat, but there's a slight bump to every key that, combined with the soft rubber texture, just works. It's way better than the Palm Pre keyboard.

So, Droid or iPhone, or are you sticking with your blackberry?

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Droid or iPhone? | 26 comments (26 topical)

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For you probably (hate to say it) the iPhone (none / 0) (#1)
by Key on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 12:13:21 AM EST

For you probably (hate to say it) the iPhone. But only because you love iTunes.

For me personally, I definitely prefer to have a phone WITHOUT iTunes or any other music player. I've had and Android phone for over a year (T-mobile G1). I love it and would never get an iPhone at this point.

Why? One example sums it all up. Google has just release (or will with version 2 of Android, which is what the Droid ships with) turn-by-turn voice navigation. It's got map view, satellite view, 3D view, street view.... And it's free with the OS. Apple has, um... well Tom Tom has just release their software for the iPhone, for $99.

Open source kicks proprietary software's behind. And there's no denying that the iPhone is about as closed as you can get.

I love my Android phone, and in 1 short year Google has released 2 major updates (and about to release it's third). For free.

But again, for you.... if you absolutely need/want music on your phone, probably wise to stick with the iPhone. Of course, that may change real fast, now that Google has also just stepped into the music space.....

I think you are right (none / 0) (#2)
by Jeralyn on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 12:41:34 AM EST

although I have an iPod touch as well. But I think the Droid and the open source stuff is the wave of the future. And the iphone sucks as far as internet usage goes, it's slow as molasses.


: 3GS is a lot faster on the internet (none / 0) (#14)
by ruffian on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 10:13:27 AM EST

That was a huge improvement. I admit my original one was hard to use at times. I skipped the 3G upgrade like you did, so I really notice a big difference with the 3GS.

: iPhone this year (none / 0) (#16)
by MikeDitto on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 11:36:07 AM EST

The new Apple tablet/phone/kindle-like combo tablet netbook gizmo next year? We know it's coming based on patent and regulatory filings. No clear idea what it will look like though.
Love my 3GS. My 3G finally gave up the ghost after having been waterlogged in DC this summer.

Also Integrates with Google Voice (none / 0) (#7)
by Dan the Man on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 08:58:15 AM EST

For those who have a Google Voice account. And since all my music files are mp3, who cares about Itunes.


Other options to consider (none / 0) (#5)
by robrecht on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 07:00:40 AM EST

iTunes is Apple's proprietary music format and some people love it. But the rest of us do just fine with mp3s on our computers/phones/mp3 players. I've never been an Apple person so I don't know what the best conversion approaches are.

The Android operating system and software have been making much progress so I will take a serious look at the Droid, but up until now I have been extremely well served by Windows Mobile (WM) operating system and phones. The iPhone 3G has pretty much caught up with the advantages that Windows Mobile has long had but it is still tied to AT&T's relatively poor 3G network. If you travel a lot, you'll really appreciate Verizon's 3G coverage. My phone is usually much faster than iPhone 3Gs because of Verizon's network. The best WM phones to look at on Verizon are the Touch Pro2, if you want an even better physical keyboard than the Droid or the Imagio if you are content to use an on-screen keyboard like on the iPhone. Both have WVGA screens akin to the Droid, whcih is basically twice the resolution of the iPhone's HVGA (Wide VGA vs Half VGA).

The very best WM phone coming out is the HTC HD2, which will be available soon on T-Mobile's crappy network. Not sure if it will come to Verizon, but it surely won't come to AT&T because it is just way better than the iPhone on account of it's 4.2 inch WVGA screen (vs 3.5" iPhone). If, and it's a big IF, the HD2 comes to Verizon it will be way better than any other option out there.

The iPhone's biggest advantages, aside from iTunes for those who do not know about mp3s, is that it has a really easy user interface. Windows Mobile has traditionally been for nerdy geeks, but it has become pretty much as user friendly as the iPhone recently. It is still a much more powerful and customizable operating system for the nerdy geeks among us who want to dig into it. The iPhones still doesn't even have a user swappable battery so the so-called power users will need some type of battery sled or other portable recharging solution.

To summarize, I'll look at the Droid, but will probably get the Touch Pro2 for it's superior keyboard and mature operating system. If there are rumors of the HD2 coming to Verizon, I will wait for that--no brainer.

It's not a proprietary format at all (none / 0) (#17)
by MikeDitto on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 11:38:27 AM EST

All music on the iTunes store is MPEG-4 lossless audio, no copy protection. You can right-click and convert to MP3 if your player doesn't support MP4.


You are mistaken re lossless (none / 0) (#20)
by fuzzyone on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 12:58:06 PM EST

The iTunes format is far from lossless. iTunes now sells two flavors of music. iTunes and iTunes plus. Regular itunes is copy protected and is 128 kbps. iTunes plus, which is generally more expenseive, is 256 kbps and is DRM free. (It is easy to bust the protection on the regular iTunes files but they are not lossless.)


: You're mistaken re music at the iTunes Store (none / 0) (#28)
by Farmboy on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 06:25:50 PM EST

None of the music sold is copy protected, and all of it is encoded at 256kbit/s.

iTunes phone interface is not just MPG4 fileformat (none / 0) (#27)
by robrecht on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 06:21:41 PM EST

I was not merely speaking of the music file format, but rather the whole iTunes interface. Witness the difficulty Palm has had trying to interface with iTunes from their newer OS on the Pre. Basically, they try to represent the Pre as an iPod to get it to work with iTunes, but Apple has once again (just the other day) updated iTunes to once again break this kind of interface.


WinMo (none / 0) (#21)
by BigElephant on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 01:59:35 PM EST

Windows Mobile is the definition of the ugly workhorse. I've looked at getting an iPhone. It does have a great app store, and great web browsing experience. No question. But I have an old Treo 700wx on Sprint where I pay $49.99 for an unlimited data plan (old legacy plan). And I still haven't been able to find any iPhone user that can do the three most common things I do, as I fast as I can do it on a 700wx (not to speak of a newer device like the Intrepid):

Check and respond to my corporate email (via Exchange).
Check and respond to my gmail email. (use their mobile site, which is extremely fast).
Read the top news stories of the day. Again, the mobile sites just load up way fast on Sprint's network (Google News).

While I'd love a better "looking" experience, and the app store seems geniunely useful, I just don't think there's enough value to justify the cost to me... yet (the delta is about $50/month).

And I really dislike the iTunes desktop client on Windows. Maybe it's great on a Mac, but horrible on a PC. I'm one of the few Zune users in the world. I have the 120GB version as I like to have all of my music in my device (I hated having to decide which music to sync to my device on any given day). The Zune desktop client is an impressive piece of work, even if I'm the only user :-) But I would like to get rid of my standalone MP3 player, but I don't see anyone making a 100GB phone anytime soon.


the iPhone is perfectly capable of doing all (none / 0) (#22)
by iceblinkjm on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 03:28:33 PM EST

those things you listed. Gmail is available via Mail. Exchange has been supported since OS 3.0. There are several news readers available through the app store if you want to go that route which is redundant since you are getting the web through the iPhone as though it was a desktop since your using the same browser. Internet on winmo phones is GPS/WAP based which is not really the "internet". I know Verizon and Sprint like to act like their networks or faster and better and they might be due to the fact that they filter and streamline the web for use on their very incapable networks. Marketing and IT are rarely on the same page.


: It's not that you can't... (none / 0) (#26)
by BigElephant on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 05:26:08 PM EST

But it's a matter of speed (that's why I said: "as fast as I can"). The Outlook client on WinMo is really easy to navigate, and makes Exchange based mail extremely easy to get at. The iPhone seems to treat it like an afterthought. For example, accessing my corporate global address book to forward an email is cake on my WinMo device. I've asked my colleagues to do it w/ their iPhones and it usually turns into, "Let me get my laptop" :-)
Note, neither Verizon nor Sprint "streamline" the web. They both have phones that have Webkit based browsers. Both providers have stronger infrastructures that ATT, although ATT has certainly made some improvements in recent years.
Oh, one other thing I forgot... I have hot keys to start/switch to every app I use on my phone. So with one button press (actually two keys, as I hold down the function key) I can start up any app from any screen. And since WinMo multitasks, I can be flipping through apps as fast as I can touch the keyboard, with virtually no lag.
Again, I'm not saying WinMo is superior to the iPhone OS (I'd love the iPhone's web browser, app store, and capacitive display). But when it comes to day to day raw productivity, it's still hard to beat. It's ugly, and is absolutely no fun, but it gets the job done.
And additionally, I can crank out custom apps using the compact framework in an afternoon and have them distributed to my team that day. Try that with the iPhone. :-)

If you ever intend to go back to Mac, the iPhone (none / 0) (#6)
by andgarden on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 07:15:21 AM EST

Actually, unless someone leapfrogs the iPhone, the iPhone. David Pogue has a pretty funny related video this week (click "the baiting game" on the right column).

That is a key point (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by ruffian on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 08:59:26 AM EST

I have Apple computers too, so the smoothness of the integration with my whole system makes this a no brainer. I never considered a PDA until Apple made one.

Think of it as a computer with a phone app and the choice is clear.

If you like the consumer products delivered under lInux and other open source systems, by all means go Droid. I like a little more standardization, it the standards are to my liking, as are Apple's.


I am the opposite (none / 0) (#10)
by eric on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 09:26:39 AM EST

I dislike Apple computers very much. I am a PC guy. BUT, I have to admit the iPhone is really fantastic. The most impressive thing how well the iPhone works with our PC computers at work. The integration into the Microsoft Exchange Server is impressive.

iTunes, however, is still terrible.


I'm kind of iTunes neutral. (none / 0) (#15)
by ruffian on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 10:16:40 AM EST

I like it OK, but it is not a good enough reason to stick with the iPhone if I did not love the iPhone itself. I have all my music in iTunes, but the vast majority of it is mp3 files I could import into any other system if I wanted.


I prefer itunes simply for the reason (none / 0) (#23)
by iceblinkjm on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 03:34:31 PM EST

that it has enabled a lot of bands who might not otherwise be heard or seen. Indie rock would be absolutely nowhere without it and I am grateful for it.


: I didn't realize that (none / 0) (#24)
by ruffian on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 05:04:15 PM EST

Great point.

You saved my spouse from buying (none / 0) (#9)
by Militarytracy on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 09:22:13 AM EST

a new mp3 type thing when he was getting ready to deploy. It was on sale at the PX, great price. I told him that because all of his classes, work info, and all of his music was on apple he was just trying to screw himself. He thought about it for a minute and put it down :)


My wife (none / 0) (#11)
by eric on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 09:28:20 AM EST

ditched her iPod for a Sony mp3 player and is VERY glad she did. It is so much easier to put music on the Sony - no need to use iTunes. Of course, if you have all your music in iTunes already, I suppose you are trapped.


: He has his whole life on apple systems (none / 0) (#13)
by Militarytracy on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 09:30:09 AM EST

I still have my iPhone 3G (none / 0) (#12)
by Carolyn in Baltimore on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 09:28:34 AM EST

I drooled over the GS but it wasn't worth the switch. At this point my ATT contract is up in August and I could upgrade in December. But in June will be a newer iPhone so I will wait.
In the meantime I'll look at the Droid but I'm very happy with the iPhone. I have Macs at home, share iTunes with my kids, I have 10 screens of apps.
Before the iPhone I had a Treo700P which was great but clunky in actual use on the internet. The iPhone is easy - I actually went without a laptop for many months and it was great.
Google Voice and Navigation will be on the iPhone, Wave already is and I can access Voice now.

So while the Droid is interesting because I'm geeky that way - I think the 4th generation (next)iPhone is my replacement for my 3G.

Tell AT&T (none / 0) (#18)
by Samuel on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 12:09:52 PM EST

They'll probably bump up your upgrade schedule if they're facing losing a customer. If the first few people say they "don't have the capability" to do that just keep on asking or request their "customer retention" department.

I've never used an Android phone but you should at least wait a few weeks before buying a new direction motorola smartphone since getting the OS to jive with the hardware isn't necessarily easy (moto is releasing something like 10 android handset worldwide int he next few months).

This (none / 0) (#19)
by rdandrea on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 12:45:32 PM EST

is a funny commercial

: Ha! Very good! (none / 0) (#25)
by ruffian on Fri Oct 30, 2009 at 05:05:37 PM EST

Droid or iPhone?

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