So yesterday I picked up my new Droid X. I don’t think it was a secret I hated the BlackBerry Curve 8530 with the blazing passion of a thousand vengeful Greek billionaires. (In defense of BlackBerry, it might have been me, not them. It was just bad chemistry between the OS and I, in no small part due to the fact Google owns my life.)
Of course, after 2 years with iPod Touches and 3 or so months with a BlackBerry, I now get to learn Android. Not a huge learning curve for me, probably due to a long-term relationship with iTunes apps, but a little bit. The awesome, friendly and knowledgeable Verizon rep walked me through the basics before I left the store. Ironically, the one thing we didn’t cover was how to answer a phone call. 
(I figured it out in a hurry when my sister called later in the evening.)
One thing the BlackBerry had that I loved (until one of the eleventy billion software updates they do a week broke it) was bedside mode. When I went to bed and plugged it into the charger, it changed the settings so only phone calls came through. The Droid X doesn’t have that (although there are rumors I can get an app for that), so I was awakened in the wee hours by a rather brilliant green flashing light letting me know I had an urgent email from Bed, Bath & Beyond offering me something-percent off of something. Thank goodness I didn’t get a text or the sinister “Droid” might have killed me.
Forgot to practice with the alarm clock last night, though I did set it to 6am. It didn’t make a noise, unfortunately, but the vibration woke me up. I had just figured out how to shut it off when my phone rang in my hand. It was my husband, calling me from downstairs because the forgotten but not dead BlackBerry alarm was going off in my purse. Today — figure out how to make the alarm make noise and kill the BlackBerry alarm.
So far I have mad love for the Droid X, although I hit 70% battery at 9:30am. Ouch. And it doesn’t seem to have a “ring”. It’s all music and sinister Droid voices telling me I have an incoming call. But no straight-up telephone ring.
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First off, learn to carry the charger cord around with you until you’re happy with how to keep the thing powered on.
Wi-Fi uses more power than 3G. There’s no need for Wi-Fi unless you’re out of range or browsing the web. Learn how to quickly turn on and off the Wi-Fi. Several apps, including the “Bar” that seemed to come standard with my Vibrant.
good luck!
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I was at 30% by 3:30, so now it’s sitting on the charger. Blech. Even though it’s a new toy, I actually had most of the apps I wanted downloaded before it went on the charger last night, so today was probably close to the regular usage I’m going to want from it.
Although, I didn’t actually use it as a telephone today. The BlackBerry’s battery hated being used a phone, so I shudder to think what’ll happen if somebody chatty calls me after 10am.
I haven’t used the wi-fi yet. Never used it on the BlackBerry, either, except for when we were at camp. There aren’t any towers up there, but the restaurant has wi-fi, so I’d shut the 3G off and check email and whatnot by wi-fi.
I really loved the phone, though, so I’m more likely to buy the extended battery and have a spare than return it. (I think, at this point, any phone that’s going to make me happy is also going to be a phone that noms battery like it’s a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie.)
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Just make sure you don’t have the Wi-Fi turned on by accident, because if it’s on but you aren’t connected to a network doesn’t mean your phone isn’t trying to see if there’s any network out there.
I use “Quick Settings” to get some shortcuts, but I’m sure there’s a better setup than that.
I just rooted my phone, but haven’t done anything with that ability as yet, aside from backing up everything – The backup will be used should I fail to properly install the latest Froyo (Android 2.2) that T-Mobile hasn’t shared as yet.
Have fun with the battery nomming!