3-4 hrs of batt life on droid — BS! If that were true, everyone would be returning the phone. The review is wrong!
The 256MB of RAM will hold hundreds and hundreds of apps — plenty for almost anyone. I have about 150 apps, and have 172MB of space remaining!
That’s the point — I know it is capable, but AT&T doesn’t allow tethering — and promises are cheap. I was tethering over a year ago on my G1, and I am tethering whenever I like on my droid (I only use for emergency — I don’t abuse the privilege). I don’t live on “promises”.
It doesn’t have 5MP or a flash, does it?
Open source isn’t “so what” if you have used it. Try getting out of jail and trying it.
Android market has all the apps most people need. iphone has many duplicates, plus your apps cost more. Most Android apps are free. I have only had to pay for say less than 5 apps out of 150 that I wanted.
I noticed you didn’t comment on the user removable battery — what a concept!! Personally, I wouldn’t buy an iphone for that reason alone (along with the crap network it is on)
Let the phone and carrier wars continue!
That review specified IF you used applications in MULTITASKING mode, or played music (for some reason the screen stays on???), or used it for constant navigation, then expect only 3-4 hours of battery life... otherwise the talk time is a good 6-7 hours. The iPhone's talk time was about 5+ hours on 3G but 12 hours on the less demanding 2.5G.
Ars Technica is seldom wrong on technical reviews. Other reviews have noted the same concern about battery usage when Multitasking. You don't get something for nothing web.
It doesn’t have 5MP or a flash, does it?
Nope, so far, I haven't needed more than that... but it's low light capabilities are very good. I have a 10MegaPixel camera I keep handy for taking pictures. Does your Droid have a glass lens like the iPhone, or is it plastic like most other cellular phones?
Android market has all the apps most people need. iphone has many duplicates, plus your apps cost more. Most Android apps are free. I have only had to pay for say less than 5 apps out of 150 that I wanted.
Most of the apps I have are also free... and the most I have paid for an app is $2.99 and the rest were 99¢, not exactly going to break the Swordmaker bank.
I noticed you didn’t comment on the user removable battery — what a concept!!
Sorry... missed it. In two years of using my iPhone I have never needed to swap a battery. In fact, in twenty years of using cellular phones, I have NEVER needed to swap a battery. When batteries got too weak to hold charges, it was usually time to get another phone with better capability anyway... so I did. However, my original iPhone, with its original battery from June of 2007, is still going strong being used by one of my daughters, and, near as I can tell, lasting about 80% as long as it did when it was new. two and a half years ago. So why would I worry about a user swappable battery?
I have used the original iPhone to surf the Internet for as much as 8 hours (using EDGE) in one day. The best I have been able to do surfing with 3G is about 5 hours because 3G uses more energy than EDGE... if I anticipate a need for longer, I switch off the 3G and use the 2.5G EDGE.
If I needed more time, there are several solutions, such as the Tekkeon MP1200 MyPower iPhone Battery Sleeve, that adds only about an eighth of an inch of thickness to the iPhone temporarily while you use them and extend the time by several hours, that I could get. But, as I said, I haven't ever felt the need.
That’s the point — I know it is capable, but AT&T doesn’t allow tethering — and promises are cheap. I was tethering over a year ago on my G1, and I am tethering whenever I like on my droid (I only use for emergency — I don’t abuse the privilege). I don’t live on “promises”.
That IS the point... the bandwidth being consumed by iPhone users, some 18 million of them on AT&T, is already adversely impacting the networks capacity to handle data, especially in heavy urban areas, which is really making the AT&T network drop calls even more, just to handle the iPhone's need for data. If a lot of them tether their much more data hungry notebooks to their iPhones, then the network will be far worse off. AT&T was not expecting what the iPhone was capable drawing on its own... in fact, no one was expecting it.
So far, the Droid is selling well—news today puts the number at 700,000 since it was release on October 30th, and I'm very glad for Verizon's users because they need something that is like the iPhone—Verizon's data network has yet to feel the impact of lots of data hungry users impacting their network. Wait until they do. Verizon is not known as a company that gives anything away for free.... nor is AT&T. I suspect they, too, will regret allowing tethering.