
IPhone to Droid X: Impressions of a Data Pig - cschanck
http://designbygravity.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/iphone-to-droid-x-impressions-of-a-data-pig/
======
mirkules
I just switched from iPhone 3GS to Android (Galaxy S). My first impression is
that it's not as polished as the iPhone, but the overall gain in functionality
is worth the switch.

IMO the biggest pros (that iPhone lacks):

\- Micro SD card storage

\- Mount the phone as a USB drive or as a modem (hallelujah, why did it take
so long for phones to get this?!)

\- Swype (reminds me of T9 on non-smart phones, sweet, although useless in
foreign languages)

\- Task management, like the OP said

\- Sweet AMOLED screen

\- Widgets, surprisingly useful

\- Mail client allows multiple attachments (why the iPhone doesn't have this
is beyond me), that aren't just pictures or videos

\- Access to filesystem (yay!)

Some cons (as compared to iPhone): \- Apps and the OS sometimes appear to hang
when loading or when pressing buttons (it would be nice to add "loading..."
screens)

\- CRAPWARE - why can't I remove useless AT&T apps I will never use? This is
where Apple has a definite edge. Plus they all get loaded during boot, which
is a major PITA

\- Lack of decent headphones (Samsung Galaxy S specific, I think).

\- Power button on the side (just a minor annoyance)

\- Android Market not as organized as the App Store.

~~~
felideon
You _can_ remove the AT&T apps if you root the phone.

<http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712546>

[http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/3319-stock-apps-that-
can-...](http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/3319-stock-apps-that-can-be-
deleted-post-root/)

[http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/1950-galaxy-s-has-been-
ro...](http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/1950-galaxy-s-has-been-rooted-
modacos-released-first-custom-rom/)

I'm very close to switching from an iPhone 3G to the Galaxy S (captivate), so
I'm glad to see someone confirming what I thought would be my impression: not
so smooth but more functionality. Not sure if I should wait a few months
though for an Android 3.0 lineup.

~~~
mirkules
Rooting your phone just to remove ads is like removing an engine from your car
just to get rid of hubcaps -- they should just snap right off.

But seriously, a new iPhone costs $199 with 2 year contract. My Galaxy S
(Captivate) cost $229 with 2 year contract. You would think that for a higher
price than the iPhone -- which is heralded as the end-all-be-all of
smartphones, and which doesn't have ANY bloatware whatsoever -- Samsung could
afford to not preload an otherwise awesome phone with so much crap.

~~~
felideon
I agree, I don't like the AT&T pre-installing crapware either, and it should
be easy to uninstall. Your gripe on that point is caused by AT&T, not Samsung
though (as coderdude mentioned).

I think on Verizon the Galaxy S doesn't have as much bloatware.

By the way, if you buy online from AT&T the Captivate costs $150 instead.

~~~
mirkules
Ah, didn't know about the online price. I couldn't wait for it to ship anyway,
I needed pretty much the same day (for travel). Still, I guess don't get it at
Best Buy ;)

------
sahaj
i just recently went from iPhone 2G to Samsung Captivate and i can not stress
enough just how easy navigating around android is. the back button, the search
button, and the notification bar are the killer features.

this author fails to find use of the search button, but for me this is an
essential item. you can be in any app (contacts, im, mail, etc.) and hitting
search will search that currently open app. if you hit the search button
again, you can search the whole phone. i don't think i could ever go to a
device that did not have this functionality.

~~~
sandipc
holding the home button for a second pulls up a sort of task switcher of
open/recent apps - once I discovered this a few weeks ago on my Droid
Incredible, I've been using it nonstop

------
dlsspy
The Mail reader that ships with Froyo is actually useful. k9 never seemed much
better than the useless junk that took up space in 1.5/1.6. With the exception
of not being able to move a message to a different folder, it's actually a
useful piece of software.

~~~
AndrewDucker
The built-in one doesn't support IMAP Push (IDLE). K9 does.

------
Terretta
Despite all the furor about iOS needing multitasking, this detail is glossed
over: on Verizon you can't look up something requiring data while you're on a
call.

This isn't an Android vs iPhone issue: on AT&T my HTC Aria can handle a call
while checking for directions on Google Maps just fine.

It's interesting how total failure to support the most common smartphone
multitasking scenario is glossed over as a "niggle".

"So where is that?"

"Let me hang up, check, and call you back."

~~~
htsh
I'm not sure if it's the most common smartphone multitasking scenario.

Considerably more common than that,I want to leave an application and come
back to it without navigating from the beginning. For example, if I'm in
twitter and I go to a link in the browser, I can come back to where I was in
twitter. And I can do this with the back button.

Do you really check for directions while on phone calls often? Perhaps it's
just me, but people don't call me for directions that much.

I do agree that the author's word choice of "niggle" is troubling and slightly
outdated, especially if you look up it's etymology.

~~~
nfg
> "niggle" is troubling and slightly outdated, especially if you look up it's
> etymology.

Could you expand on this? I can't find anything other than it dating to the
1500/1600s, probably from Norwegian "Nigla" (to be penurious) or cognate with
"Niggardly". As with "niggardly" I don't think there's any racial connotation
to the term other than its sound?

~~~
htsh
The word "niggardly" and it's cognates are not preferred language not just due
to their phonetic similarity to a word which unfortunately has awful
connotation, but also because sophomoric racists have unfortunately
appropriated these terms to have this sort of racial meaning. I should have
said "recent etymology" above.

For this reason, magazines and newspapers avoid the term:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%2...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%22niggardly%22)
(see the bottom)

I might be dating myself here, but "niggardly" and "niggle" used to be used
quite often to imply racial meaning even if none technically exists. Perhaps
we shouldn't avoid the term just b/c some ignorant folks used them in racist
ways, but in this case I don't see the harm in avoiding it considering there
are so many other ways to say the same thing. Unfortunately, once racists use
these words to mean something other than their dictionary definitions, you run
the risk of raising eyebrows amongst people who may have experienced these
terms in these secondary contexts.

In England, this is likely a different story.

And would you really use "niggardly" to describe something in America in 2010?
Really?

~~~
p01nd3xt3r
The fact that you got down voted and he has 12 up votes (currently) has really
kind of changed how I see the hacker news community. Socially I always knew i
didn't "fit in" with the people on this site but the one thing that connected
us all was learning about technology and a love for sharing what we learn.
Because of that I thought that there was enough general respect amongst us all
not to use a word like "niggle" or "niggardly" and certainly not to defend
it's use. I know you all wont agree with me but lets be honest for a minute; I
am a black male and if you were in a conversation with me face to face you
would not use that term because if you did we would have a problem.

~~~
htsh
Yeah, same sort of amazement here that people are upset at me for pointing out
the controversy (and that you're getting down-voted as well). I am a brown
male who grew up in Jamaica, Queens and then New Jersey and saw a lot of
interesting mixtures of culture growing up. It was mostly good but I realize
that I've seen more racism up close than most of my friends.

I honestly don't blame them though -- they are right by the books and I
understand this stance if you've never seen or experienced the words used in
that way.

Though the definition has nothing to do with race, but once you know racists
have associated the two, what I don't get is why would you get upset at the
person that tells you and shows you that racists are doing this?

Check out the dude below -- he's all worked up and offended that I pointed out
that people are doing this. And he's offended at me for saying it's troubling
and wise to steer clear of that mess. At least he agrees that they are morons.

And yeah this is definitely a bit disturbing. I don't think it's outlandish at
all to avoid certain language once racists start using it to hurt people. If
he's fine using word that we've experienced racists use to describe African
American babies, that's his call. I don't understand why anyone would be
offended or flabbergasted that the word itself has some controversy around it.
It's not like there aren't other words to use.

~~~
confuzatron
* Check out the dude below -- he says he's actually offended that I pointed this out*

You're right. Being offended by words is absurd. Doubly-so when they are not
even uttered with an offensive meaning. This may be too subtle, so I'll
clarify: I was taking the piss out of your position.

~~~
htsh
No, no need to clarify your position. I understood it the first time, though I
wish you'd go back and read what I wrote such that you could at least
understand mine. I said that I find the word "troubling" b/c of how racists
are using the term & that many newspapers and magazines are avoiding it for
the same reason. I didn't write the wiki page or create the controversy, I
just pointed it out to you and said I'd avoid it altogether. Apparently that
offended you.

I see your argument though and I'm somewhat sympathetic to it. It reminds me
of a recent south park where they talked about another word with a lot of
controversy around it as it's recent usage is different from it's dictionary
definition. I'm all for people using the words they want to use, but I don't
think I've done anything wrong by pointing out that ignorant people are mis-
using the words to hurt people. And I'm perfectly willing to accept that there
are different opinions on this. I think what you don't get is the subtle
difference between something troubling me enough for me to find it wise to
avoid it and me being offended by it.

------
tocomment
Somewhat related, any advice on whether I should get an HTC Incredible, or a
Droid X? (or something else?)

~~~
sandipc
I have an Incredible and have used an Evo in person - I haven't seen the X
yet. I would say go check out the size of the Evo/X in person and see if that
size of a phone is too big... it was for me. The pixel density of the Evo
screen was also lacking a bit, and I understand the Droid X is similar in
resolution and screen size. I hear the X has the best battery life of the
three though.

------
noodle
related question for those who have experience: what do you think is the best
phone and carrier combo on the market right now (or that will be on the market
soon)? i'm about to be a free agent and i want to get myself into the best of
whatever is out there.

