Motorola Droid Review

The Motorola Droid is a beautiful partnership between Motorola, Verizon, and Google. It seems to be geared towards men 20-30 who love gadgets and gizmos.

I was lucky enough to purchase the Motorola Droid the first day it was available. I didn't have to get up and wait in line at 3am like some of the hardcore phone fans did, rather I strolled in with two kids in tow at 3:30pm on a Friday. I traded my much outdated Samsung 2001 something-or-another for the high tech gadget that has been heavily touted as the only real competition for the iPhone to date. I went for the Droid for two reasons. First I am so darn old school I still own a Palm Pilot which I have been carrying around to try to keep track of my schedule so an upgrade was a must, and secondly, I just didn't want the hassle of leaving Verizon, but wanted the coolness of the iPhone.

So how is the Droid world going. I love it. I love the touchscreen, the quick access to facebook, and the fact that I can get to my calendar without breaking out a palm stylus or cracking open a dog-eared paper planner.

The Droid is basically idiot proof to operated. I figured out the basics in half an hour. After I had the basics down I went to the app store or as I now call it the vast universe of wonderfulness. Seriously there is an app for everything. From Google maps to a camera that will put Dave Chappelle's face in every picture taken they make it. Most apps are free, but there are some more advanced apps that cost anywhere from .99 to 6.99. There are even apps that I can download for my toddler so I can give her my phone while shopping and she will stay calm instead of begging for just about every toy and snack we pass.

The Droid also has a built in navigation system based off of Google maps. The Droid finds your exact location and will navigate you via pictures from Google maps and a computerized voice until you reach your destination. I purposely missed a turn and the Droid got me back on track. This is a great feature for moms who have more field trips then they know what to do with and can't manage to print out a map for every event they go to. Let's not forget the paper savings.

Droid syncs your facebook account to your phones contact list. The time saved from having to enter in the names and phone numbers of everyone is enough to make me smile.

I have found a few Droid related downfalls. Nothing is perfect, but I really wish the camera was a little better. It needs a faster shutter speed because my pictures always manage to come out a little to blurry. Taking pictures of kids is not an easy task with the Droid. On the plus side it is nice to have a flash on my camera phone.

The battery life on the Droid is less then stellar. I have always found Motorola products to have short battery lives, but I figured that this would be the exception. I was wrong. I got about an hour out of the battery when downloading apps and about two hours with normal usage. The drain on the battery is not that unexpected considering everything the phone does.

I love my Droid and would actually recommend it to anyone who is thinking about it. It is nicely priced at $199 and the additional $30 a month for the data plan is well worth it. I do think they should spend a little more time and money marketing this product to women, because we need and will use a product like this. They are completely missing the boat because this can be a lifesaver for mom and a toddler distraction tool that is unbeatable for when you need your little one to just sit still.