So as many of you know there are two things that are certain when it comes to me and cell phones.  One,  I need the latest and greatest.  Two, I am very rough on my phones, and they usually last about a year or two max.  It was no surprise to anyone when my Samsung Omnia started to die after a year and a half (poor reception and battery sucked). So of course, I needed to start looking at a new option.  Since there is no way I will ever go back to the hell of AT&T, I am stuck with Verizon phones.  I am no a fan of Blackberrys (too business like for me), and I was tired of Windows Mobile devices (and Palm OS too).  So the Droid was a logical choice for me.  I did however hesitate for a bit, because Microsoft just announced the release of Windows Phone 7, which is based on the Zune software, and not Windows mobile.  However (as I will explain in my “Pros” section) I was tired of syncing everything.  Before I begin the first part of my “review” I want to make a few things clear.  I am NOT comparing the Droid to the iPhone or any other smartphone.  I am simply telling you what I like or dislike about this phone.  I am also aware that some of these items are (and have been) available on other phones (like the iPhone) for some time.  I am not acting like this is new technology, just what I enjoy.  Lastly, I am not making this a “tech” blog.  I will talk about features and what I like, but I am not going in to the resolution of t screen, or the speed of the processors.  There are plenty of other blogs and sites out there if you want that information.  So here goes, and keep in mind that I have only had the phone 48 hours.

The first thing I noticed when I unpacked the phone is the weight.  It seems a little heavier than my Samsung Omnia was, but that is to be expected since it has a slide out keyboard.  The other thing I noticed was the design.  It is very angular, which  I like.  I am so over rounded edges on everything, but really it is not that big of a deal.  When I turned it on, it scared the living shit out of me because it says “Droid!” in a creepy robot voice and this creeoy red eye comes on the screen.  After the shock of that, I was AMAZED at the screen.  It is a true HD screen and I can not wait to put a movie on it to test it.  The sound quality is amazing for a built in speaker.  The biggest thing I noticed was how amazingly fast it is.  To switch from apps or the contacts is super fast.

So enough about the the lame stuff.  Here is the Pros and Cons list.

Pros (basic funtions – not apps)

• Slide out keyboard.  You really do not know how much you miss one, until you have one back.
• Real headphone jack.  No more adapters or stupid headphones.  This has a standard headphone jack that lets you use your normal headsets and plug straight in to your AUX port in your car.
• Three home screens.  You can add widgets and shortcuts to 3 home screens that you can flick through.
• Sound quality.  I am not lying when I say you can listen to music without headphones and it sounds great.
• 5 MP camera with auto-focus and flash.
• 16 GB minSD card included with the phone.
• 4 “hard” buttons on the bottom that are not software driven, so you can use them even if the phone should get funky.
• A sensor that knows when you pull the phone away from your face, so the screen will come back on while you are in a call if you need to access it.
• Google voice search.  You basically tell it what you want and it will search your contacts, your software, and the web for what you are looking for.
• Car mode.  When you snap it in the optional car cradle (or manually hit the car button if you dont have the cradle) it goes in to a simple car mode.  It acts like a standard GPS with access to your contacts, maps, and phone.  Basically it is a screen with 5 or 6 large buttons you can easily push while driving.
• The touch screen is sensitive to pressure.  Gently hitting an icon has a different result than hitting it harder.
• INTEGRATION (more about this in the apps section).

Cons

• All the USB cables (home, car, connection) are all way too short.
• For someone with larger hands like me, I find myself accidentally hitting the hard buttons on the bottom when I am putting the phone down or just moving it.
• The software keyboard can be a little tricky to get use to.  I feel like I am always a little off and miss the key I am trying to hit.
• No outside access to the miniSD card.  Not a big deal, but it would be nice to be able to pop a new card in without having to remove the cover and battery.
• Dimming.  I may just be missing it, but there seems to be no way to really dim the screen to almost nothing when it is in the media cradle (you can dim it, just not as much as I would like when I sleep).
• No tethering.  This is not a huge deal for most people, but I like the option on my Windows Mobile device.  If you do not know what tethering is, basically it lets me use my cellphone as a modem for my notebook when I travel.

Apps (The top apps everyone should have)

• Google Sky – best app on the phone.  You can hold the phone up to the nighttime sky and it will show you where the stars are (and planets) to help you star gaze (free)
• Google Voice – forget paying extra for Verizon Visual Voicemail.  Google voice will do the same thing, PLUS send you an e-mail and text message with the voicemail transcribe to text (free)
• Keychain – You can scan all your stupid little store cards that you have on your keyring in to the app and then the store can scan the image on your phone.  No more carrying all those damn preferred shopper cards (free)
• Pandora 0 Listen to streaming music geared to your tastes (free)
• Qik – You can show live video feeds from your phone, or simply upload and share to facebook, youtube, and twitter (you can view this app on this site from the main menu) (free).
• Nesoid – play classic NES games on your droid (free)
• Whitenoise – Ambient sounds like rain and thunder to help you relax.
• AOL and Hi Yahoo – IM clients (free)
• Twitdroid – Twitter app (free)
• Facebook App (free)
• Parallel Kingdon – hard to explain.  It is like World or Warcraft except it overlays the “world” on top of your GPS location.  So you can fight people around you.  I actually killed a knight in Etters today.  I am really not in to these types of games, but it is amazing (free)
• Red Poker Club – Play online hold em against real people all over the world (free)
• Open Table – Uses your GPS to find restaurants near you, and you can click and make reservations without lifting a finger.

There are a TON more apps that I have downloaded, but I have not paid for a single one.  Some (like Google Goggles) I used just to see if they worked.

The one thing I want to stress is how integrated everything is.  I am a strong user of Microsoft products.  I have always used Outlook for my mail and calendar.  With the Google sync app on my Outlook, it syncs everything to my gmail account and it instantly appears on my Droid.  If you use yahoo, or msn, or any other free mail account, I would suggest switching to GMail before you get your droid.  It will amaze you  how it syncs.  I added something to my Google Calendar and by the time I grabbed my Droid, it was already there.

There are two things I would suggest to anyone who is about to purchase the Droid.  Spend the extra money and get the car kit (charger and mount) and also the Media Dock.  The media dock is sweet.  It charges your Droid, but basically turns the screen in to an alarm clock with MP3 player and weather station.

I have not had it long enough to judge battery life, but it seems pretty standard to far.

On a side note, because I dropped Broadband Connect, VZ Navigator and Visual Voice Mail (because of Google Voice) I am actually saving about $50 a month on my old bill.

I will have a lot more to say as I use it more, but if you have any questions you would like me to answer, please hit me up on facebook or e-mail me.