After playing with my Droid for most of today it is a big change from the PPC platform I have been on for the last 5 or 6 years. The browser is incredible on the big hi-res screen and fast, a huge improvement from my i760. On screen keyboard in landscape is better than slide out keyboard but it nice to have the slide out when you need to see the web page not just the single field you are typing in. I still like the i760 keyboard better than either on the Droid but I think I will get used the on screen keyboard quickly. I am generally happy with the Droid but am still looking for some solutions.
The phone seems to be missing some functionality I have become accustomed to in the PPC world. Some of this may be available with an application I haven’t found yet so any advice is appreciated.
No Speed Dial – Holding down 1 calls voicemail and it can be customized to dial the phone number and enter the password but pauses are “,” not “p” so I had to change many of my phone numbers with extensions in outlook. I could not find a way to attach any other phone numbers. You can add speed dials to one of the today screens but I liked the ability to hold a number on the dialer to access speed dials.
No native sync for Contacts or Tasks to Outlook. Contacts worked reasonably well with CompanionLink ($40) but it seemed to lose Car Phone number and Business 2 number fields from Outlook. CompanionLink syncs to gmail contacts which sync very well to the Droid. Tasks get synced to the gmail calendar instead of a separate Task tool. I didn’t try the Task syncing so I would be interested to hear how it worked for others.

1. No Slingbox application – It is a shame it would be incredible on this screen and speed.
2. No Scrabble
3. No Phone Alarm – There are profile managers but I haven’t found anything nearly as comprehensive as Phone Alarm.
4. eWallet – There is SplashWallet that has gotten mixed reviews and may or may not import ewallet data smoothly.
5. PocketPlus – Tabs\Task Manager Looking for a way to add tabs to the 3 today screens (have spend much time looking). There are plenty of free Task Managers but I don’t understand how to close an application without opening a Task Manager application. I think there should be close button to close the current application but I haven’t found out how.

I am looking at Keepass and I'll let you know how it works. The Android version only uses the database version of an earlier desktop release, not the current version, and unfortunately, there is not a synchronization solution, you will just need to remember where you made changes and copy the file in the appropriate direction. On the other hand... It is free. The desktop version is supposed to import eWallet, I'll know today.

Alan

eWallet is a must have. That is one of the reasons i always migrate back to PPC world.

Hope to see something that is about the same that will sync with the droid.

Just loaded up Keepass 1.6 on my desktop withthe eWallet import plugin, and keepass Droid on my Droid. Works fine, although as I said above, there is not yet a synchronization solution. You can synch the desktop to online repositories with a plugin (built into v2, but the Droid version doesn't support the 2.x database), but nothing yet for synching from the Droid, so for now, just file copy.

I am sure a synch solution will be developed soon. If no one else does, I will.

Alan

Thanks Alanb
Heh. i'm tryin gto figure the program name. Keep Ass or Kee Pass

4 eWallet: Geowallet is a fairly decent wallet app to0, but again no sync solution there. I just started using it today, with no trouble. I have not tried the GPS part of it though.

5 PocketPlus – Advance Taskiller has a close button I beleive. I have not used it because i just put a "Running Services" short cut on my Home screen, and i am happy with that so far. Taskiller adds some additional functions i understand, but i am not sure.
As for the tabs, you can add a folder to the Home screen (long press) and then manually place just about anything in there (drag it into the folder tray, or over top of the folder icon on the home screen). Each folder holds 16 (4x4) shortcuts. I have two set up since i loved me the tabbed features. I am fairly happy with that solution so far.

I also am looking for something to import my ewallet to droid also

Keepass works. You need to import from the desktop version (v1.6, not 2.x), then copy the file to your SD card for the mobile version. App is not quite as mature as eWallet, but pretty good. I actually like the desktop app a lot. Only issue is no sync solution, so you need to remember to copy the file in the right direction after any change.

Alan

i have tried the KeepASS on my PC and on my PPC. it is as good as Ewallet -since it's free.

As alanb said, install the 1.6, export your ewallet file, import to 1.6. Not sure if you can then update to 2.x, i don't see why no though unless the Droid vs won't work with 2.x. The PPC version says it will.
Be sure to DELETE the Ewallet Exported TXT file as it is not encrypted or PW protected and will have all your PW's visible.

In 2.x they changed the database structure, and the Droid version doesn't support the new structure yet. When it does, there will apparently be sync options available.

Alan

Cool, thanks Alanb..

great info- thanks. I started converting ewallet to keepass last night.

I got my desktop all set, and the android app installed.

How are you moving the database off your PC to the droid- usb cable?

I was hoping to stuff the database up on a cloud someplace so I tried mesh. But I'm new to android so i can't figure out how to "save as" when I download the database off the mesh website. It Downloads fine but doesn't give me an option of where. I guess I need to download a file browser from the app store and see where it's going....

Yeah, today I am moving it through the USB cable. Thinking the best thing might be to just send it to myself as a Gmail attachment whenever I make a change, and then download the changed version to the other device. That way, if I forget which device I changed on, it doesn't really matter since I'll be downloading the most current from the cloud anyway.

I'll look at Mesh. Didn't know about it.

Alan

mesh is basically just a freebie website from MS to store your junk in the cloud. mesh.com from a pc or try m.mesh.com from the droid for a mobile view.

It also has connector software for windows pc's, macs (might be in beta still), and winmo phones that keep folders in sync, but after i used it for a while i gave up on the bloatware of it and just use the cloud function. For ewallet I just always uploaded the latest file up to the mesh cloud. So no matter what device I was using if I wasn't sure it had the latest I would just download off the cloud to ensure i had the latest.

ps- for those that didn't know- when you download files from the browser (like off of mesh above)- they get saved to a Downloads folder on the sd card.

(THANK goodness for Astro!)

I've finally had some time to really play with the device. I ran the NYC Marathon a couple of Sundays ago, and have finally caught up on all the stuff waiting for me back home.

Initial thoughts: Big device. Maybe not as big as my old i700, but have you all gone back to see the size of the Touch? Big difference. Honestly, I think it could be a little smaller...take off the D-Pad and replace it with arrows. However, its not too big--essentially same as the iPhone.

Love the rubber backing on the battery cover. For those that like to go naked, it won't slip. Rarely will you see a naked iPhone, and that is one of the big reasons.

Charging cord too short. Really, its not very practical...

I actually like the SD card hidden. Now that they are big in memory, I rarely switch them out. And I can't tell you how many I have lost due to ejections from dropping the phone, being in my briefcase, etc...

Set up was super easy. But I use Google---I have a Gmail acct, and had already set up Google sync to sync my work Outlook calendar to my Google calendar. Same for contacts. So that worked well for me. Email set up easy. I went ahead and sync'd to my company's Exchange acct as well. No problem.

(the problem is that unlike the iPhone exchange interface, I can't access folders off the Droid like I can on the iPhone. Basically I can just pull off email and send it, not have true exchange access to my folders. Same with Yahoo)

Most of my comparison will be to the iPhone. I have a 3GS on AT&T---its main competitor.

Screen--flippin' gorgeous. Big difference to anyone who looks at it. Even if you adjust iPhone's brightness, the Droid is superior. Wow.

OS--honestly, I don't think it is hard to figure out. It may be a little tricky to a dumbphone user, but then again, any smartphone is tricky to dumbphone users. Even an iPhone. I gave it (the Droid) to my 13yo son to play with (who has an iPhone). He was navigating, downloading apps, checking YouTube, checking ringtones, etc... right off the bat. And he's not a tech geek like his old man. Even my wife could get her way around to find a contact and dial them.

Speed---again, wow. Side by side, 4 bars on each device (iPhone 3GS and Droid). Pulls up webpages and YouTube much faster. Google maps is faster. That's the network you say? Same games like PapiJump is faster on the Droid... (plus that's one of the advantages of the Droid, right---being on Verizon)

Apps---they have a lot, but honestly, the iPhone is way ahead there. Way ahead. But that should improve with time.

Keyboard ---love having it, but I can't seem to type very fast on it. Maybe I've gotten used to screen typing, but I can't build up speed. I typed much faster on my TouchPro's keyboard.

Buttons---seem fine to me. I agree the power/sleep button is a little cumbersome, but its tolerable.

I like having the blinking light notifications. I miss that on the iPhone. And they are not too bright/big. (it won't light up the room at night like some of my other devices did)

Media---again, much better on the iPhone (if you are an iTunes/iPod user---but who isn't?) I haven't taken the time to load one of the mentioned media browsers/sync'ers, but who wants to do that? Most just want to sync it to their iTunes. That is a big drawback IMHO. If people want this as an iPhone alternative, they want their media with them. I think VzW should make it clear how to download a program to move all the media to the Droid. However, since most people use iTunes, they need a way to get iTunes media to the Droid....

Overall, I think this phone is a big winner. It is fast, has a fabulous screen, and has VzW's network. How I miss the network! I'm going to test it further--only doing freebie apps right now. In comparing the two, I really found that the Droid is very much like the iPhone---more so than any other device I have used. Probably because Android is the closest to the OS of iPhone, and it can match the speed/screen. (I haven't played with a Pre, but equus can comment on that.) I like it, I would recommend it, and am excited to see the evolution. It should far surpass some of VzW's recent offerings, because people are looking for iPhone-like devices, not business driven Blackberrys.

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Jeremiah 29:11

you can browse folders- just navigate to them and then hit refresh from the menu once inside- they dont push.

seems limited to the stupid 30 days of the inbox though- anyone know is that a limit of exchange active sync or the OS? (I've been using good mobile messaging on Palm and winmo for many years and it was way better than any exchange silliness- sadly their android client isn't equivalent- that would download all messages and push any folder that i asked it to)

but i can't find anyway to MOVE a message. Again is that EAS or the software on the droid doing that? anyone know?