Any droid users?

[mkiker2089]

I'm new to the world of droid and I must say it's taking some getting used. With Mac it's like Windows but just designed a little different. Still ergonmic but it's own take. Droid is a whole new world. The entire app store concept for example. Why can't I just download what I want. even getting the app stores themselves are a pain.

I have a Kindle and a Google TV each with each others app store.

[Steve T Power]

Android as an OS is pretty fantastic - I've been there for about 2 years now... The thing is you NEED horsepower to run it (like a Galaxy tab 10.5 or a Transformer Prime in the tablet arena) or a damn snazzy phone (Samsung's just released Galaxy S3 is amazing...I'm running the 1st gen Galaxy S).

As an OS, Android is flexible, customizable, and as simple or complex as you, as a user, can make it. I liken it to an open environment like Linux (or even windows) vs. iOS's more Mac-like closed environment... One is infinitely more beneficial to advanced users who want to play under the hood, the other is the most user friendly and "working" OS in existence...

The downside is that it's all built on a Java core (which is a hog) and applications are willy nilly for functionality, bugs, crashing, and the lack of unified standards (like on a closed platform like iOS) means there'll be no real improvements on that front.

Downside #2 - Droid's marketplace blows, partially because of the open standard, and because Apple's iOS is just so damn easy to develop for, is a uniform standard, and has so much more market penetration...

Also - the Kindle Fire is WOEFULLY underpowered as a Droid tablet - it was basically designed as an e-reader with some droid functionality built in to serve as a low-budget entry level piece of tech to get Kindle into the insanely lucrative tablet market.

[mkiker2089]

The thing that held me off is that I have no desire for my phone to be smart. I understand why people do but I'd rather have a dub phone for emergencies and a tablet for when I want to carry a computer.

I expected the Kindle to be underpowered but it really doesn't act like it is. I don't multitask with it though so basically the system is free to kill background stuff as it needs to. I'm told that droids are better at killing things than windows, but windows is better at handling prioritized threading so it balances out.

There's a lot I still have to learn. One thing is that I miss the x button to close an app.

I'm thinking of buying another tablet but I can't really justify it. There's the Nexus which is of course the elephant in the room, but there's a 10" model for 249 that I'm not sure on. I can't recall the specs exactly but it's a dual core in exchange for the larger screen.

[Steve T Power]

The thing that held me off is that I have no desire for my phone to be smart. I understand why people do but I'd rather have a dub phone for emergencies and a tablet for when I want to carry a computer.

I expected the Kindle to be underpowered but it really doesn't act like it is. I don't multitask with it though so basically the system is free to kill background stuff as it needs to. I'm told that droids are better at killing things than windows, but windows is better at handling prioritized threading so it balances out.

There's a lot I still have to learn. One thing is that I miss the x button to close an app.

I'm thinking of buying another tablet but I can't really justify it. There's the Nexus which is of course the elephant in the room, but there's a 10" model for 249 that I'm not sure on. I can't recall the specs exactly but it's a dual core in exchange for the larger screen.

I've seen apps as simple as Kobo reader (Canada's Kindle) choke and die on a Fire, and response times make my two year old android phone look blazing fast... In other words, try a Galaxy tab or a Prime and get back to me

Droid tries really hard to manage efficiently, but unless you're running ICS, which will also choke on a Fire, it fails horribly - another feature iOS really trumps Droid on... But again, iOS has no trouble in the horsepower department anyway... I've had upwards of 7-10 programs running simultaneously on the iPad 2 without so much as a hiccup.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the elephant in the room - an iOS tablet chains you to motherf%#@!ing iTunes - which is SATAN!

[mkiker2089]

I won't buy Apple anything because I think Apple cheats it's customers. I realize that paying a premium for something guaranteed is a given however the prices Apple gets by with are just insane at times. It makes me feel dirty just to think about it. They have become a little more competitive lately but they have little incentive to since some people will buy anything they sell no matter what price or how useless it is.

I ordered the Google Tablet. I debated on a few brands but decided to the safe route and get the one that I know will come with 4.1 on it.

I've been told that 4.1 should work rather well on the Kindle Fire but I like the Amazon droid software. The Kindle isn't a computer and I knew that buying it. It is VERY user friendly (other than forcing the Google Play store on it, that wasn't friendly at all) and it just works. I also like the Amazon structure. If I ever give in to the Prime system, well I won't so why go there.
Anyway it's launcher is clean and easy to navigate. I could give it to anyone and teach them in an hour how to use it. I had the Go Launcher on there to play with widgets since I like them on my Google TV but I kept going back to the stock launcher.

I'm surprised Kobo would choke on a Fire. I've used it's Kindle software just fine and even downloaded the Nook software. It's not as smooth as the regular Kindle but if I didn't have a Kindle proper I wouldn't know. I haven't seen it "choke" exactly but it does occasionally have a delay or just down right ignore inputs.

Any must have apps to check out. Mostly the Kindle is for games now and the Google TV for weather and internet TV. I'm really trying to move away from Windows but it's very tough to do. Windows XP and 7 just work so darn well for me.

[Kenneth Morgan]

Can't remember owning a droid before. Very interesting.

Oh, wait, you mean the other kind...

[stypee]

A what user?