Time to get my geek on: Last week, I dove into the cellular world that is the Android. After a somewhat lackluster history with the Blackberry Storm and Storm 2, I gave into the allure of the Droid X. In the past, I have stood firm on my ground that I was a power/business user waving my Blackberry with its enterprise level security and amazing email technology in anyone's (read iPhone-ians) face. I long considered the iPhone and the Droid to be cute Gameboy-esque toys that would occasionally allow someone to place a call or send an email. This changed with 2 things: 1. Updates to the Blackberry OS from the Storm to the Storm 2 did nothing to fix its anemic browser. It's slow and nearly useless in how little it can handle most web pages now. Blackberry's OS 6 was developed to address some of these issues, but from my research, it's still behind the curve compared to the iPhone and the Android. 2. With the Froyo update (Android OS 2.2), Google upped the ante with improved enterprise level security as the Droid is supposed to now play nice with Exchange. My office uses Exchange 2003, and after a few updates and reboots we were able to get my phone syncing effortlessly with my office server (Thanks Chief!).
Now the Droid X is a damn sexy phone. It has all the standard smart phone features. It has a 8 MP camera and a video camera that will record in 720P. It has 8 gigs on the phone and comes with a 16 gig micro SD card. It also has a port for HDMI. It's huge with its 4.3 inch screen. The display is bright and is easier to read in direct sunlight then my Storm 2. The browser is fast and can play Flash! (UPDATE: I downloaded the Skyfire Browser and I've been impressed at how fast it loads and handles Flash content even better than the stock browser. Throw in that it can simulate a full desktop browser (not just an optimized mobile browser), and bam! I haven't found a site yet that I can't use.) The Droid OS is far more versatile than the Blackberry and powers up in seconds. With a huge library of apps, this has to be one of the best purchases that I've ever made. I even found an app that allows me connect to my office computer. The mobile wifi hotspot is a great idea, but with Verizon's 2 gig/month data cap, it may not be worth the cost. Fear not, tethering fans, as the Droid X will tether via bluetooth at no extra cost. I got this to work once, but since then my laptop has "lost" one of the drivers to properly run the bluetooth radio. I've tried to re-install the proper drivers several times, but it still won't install it. Perplexing to say the least. Also the OS does seem a bit quirky at times, but it's no worse than any phone that I've used before. When examined under Verizon's extensive network, this phone is the most powerful/useful work purchase that I've ever made. So sorry Blackberry, but I can't go back. And you can't make me either. Later kids!
