It would help you to read my index page
first, so you understand what lead me to here.
I got tired of waiting for the Nexus One and bought a Motorola Droid in Mid-April.
Then late in April, Google announced that the Nexus One would NOT be coming to Verizon!
As soon as the HTC Droid Incredible came out, I traded up from the Motorola.
Up front I want to suggest that we give a pet name to the "Verizon - HTC Droid Incredible". This suggestion is because
of the confusion surrounding the name "Droid" and how it has been transposed with Android. My idea is to call
this device the "Di". Here after in my writings, I may refer to it that way.
Purchase Experience, Delivery and Setup:
Pretty seamless. I picked up at the store. Victor (my dealer) did most of the work.
Setup was strait forward. It helps to have your
Gmail password memorized. Face Book and Flickr too.
Calling Experience:
Good. I wish the audio quality where better. I am picky about that. Most people would not notice.
Apps:
Wow! Some really good ones!
I started to review a few here, but that is a mistake. It is sufficient to say: Get an Advanced Task Manager to help you control battery use. If you need documents like I do, get "Documents To Go Viewer" by data viz. For more info on apps,
see my Android Apps reviews.
Accessories:
None available to me locally. I had to order online.
The Body Glove with Snap On Cover and Belt Clip is well worth it, as I like the belt position.
For a screen protector, I cut down (slightly) what I had left from the Motorola Droid.
I would like a Dock that interfaced to a standard keyboard, and could be used without removing the Body Glove.
Drop-in preferred.
By the time I got ready to order a DC charger, Verizon was out of stock. That was probably a good thing
as I think they are over priced. I worked in the retail electronics trade for years, so I know about what
their mark up is. Since there were no OEM's available, I picked up a "store brand" at Wally World. I also
needed another PC cable but settled on an AC charger to fill that need, also from Wally World. If you buy
off-brands, be careful. Try to steer clear of white box items where the only English is "made in China".
Mine was marked for use on Motorola Droid, and a bunch of other models (LG and Sanyo too).
SKU 04204 has been reported as not so good on the
Motorola, but on my HTC I've not had a problem. Maybe it's because I turn it off to charge it.
Update: Late May 2010 - My local dealer
Z-Wireless,
is now stocking more accessories.
Any Problems Encountered?:
Not a problem per se, but I wanted, BADLY, to reduce the number of devices I carry.
This has not worked out in practice. I hope to work out these (software?) concerns eventually.
1. The accelerometer is not sensitive enough to be used as a pedometer. I've tried
numerous apps but finally gave up, and went back to my sportline 304 ShrinQ Pocket Pedometer.
2. I am also still carrying about an MP3 player. At least until I have time to hunt down an app with a big pause button
that's easy to punch. I want to be able to pause, not mute, audio quickly, without hunting for the right pixel to tap.
This has become so drawn out and tedious to work around, that I'm setting up another
web page to document it.
3. Then there is my Palm TX PDA. It holds my Calorie counts and data for Geocaching.
These are both data bases that I could almost implement on a spread sheet with "Documents To Go".
And yes, I've tried several Android apps to replace them, but so far, I am not satisfied.
The Camera:
It's very nice for a camera in a cell phone. Don't expected it to be on par with a Sony Alpha SLR.
It's better than my old Sony DSC-W40, unless I want to monkey with the settings like white balance.
I like using the optical mouse button as the shutter release (Seems a bit odd though).
Customer Service Experience:
No problems before Android 2.2 update, Froyo. (See below!)
Closing thoughts:
I do believe that when choosing a phone, choose the carrier first. Caveat Emptor.
Great things ARE going to happen in the next year or two with Android, new devices and better software.
Bottom line:
Simply the BEST Android smart phone I can get, right now, on Verizon. Unless you own a Nexus One, a Sprint Evo 4G or
something else that has not been released as of this writing, it doesn't get any better. I give it 4.8 out of 5 stars.
Updates:
06/09/2010 The Droid Incredible has been rooted by Shadowmite.
07/16/2010 A new tool was released called unrevoked3
to flash a custom recovery image to your Droid Incredible. I do not plan to try this. Seems dangerous to me.
AND...
The upcoming
720p video update was written about by Kyle Gibb of Android Central.
AND...
The Android Market now officially has more than 70,000 applications according to Google.
07/19/2010 I saw that my local dealer has pulled signage for my beloved Incredible.
It is so sad that after only two months, it is on the way out. HTC missed the boat when it came to
screen problems causing shipping delays. I'm sure that sales of this Droid are not what they could be, and now,
there are a slew of other Android devices competing with it. A sad day and I feel like a wake is in order.
08/31/2010 Froyo. Love Froyo! (That's the Android update to version 2.2.) For me, the update went smooth,
a little slow, but I expected that. Booted the phone, all was OK. It seems faster, even faster to show
me my typing errors. Thumbs are poor I/O devices. Can't wait to explore for new things.
09/01/2010 Now every time I plug my phone to my PC to charge; it hijacks my PC web browser and wants
me to install the V Cast media manager on my PC. Please note that I do not want to even install the
dreaded "V Cast media manager", let alone use it. <rant mode on>
Now, before I proceed, just know that my phone is not rooted and I generally know what I'm doing
around a computer. Heck, I first wrote programs back in 1971, and was first published in about 1979.
So, what did I do to fix it. OH! Let me count the ways! I tried the FAQ on line. Called the Automated system
using *611 then after I got hung up on; I dialed 1-800-922-0204. Several calls later one guy said to install
the program so the service pack would update. I installed it, with out any help, even after re-booting. So,
I un-installed it and rebooted again.
Now I'm back to a browser pop-up wanting me to install the V Cast media manager. More phone calls.
I even offered to wait for a call back from an engineer, or programmer. I almost pleaded for this. Then,
the 6th person I talked to want me to delete cookies and block pop ups in my browser. And if that didn't work,
I said? She said to call Microsoft since it was then an operating system problem. I asked her if she understood
how LAME that was. I got no response. What else can I say about such poor Customer Service!
<rant mode off>
I did find a fix. After searching many forums, I found that I was not alone. Thanks to kayst,
on androidforums.com, I offer their words:
I found this solution on the forums here, but have not tried it because I haven't gotten a popup.
Dial ##7764726
Hit Call
Type Password 000000 (that's 6 zeros)
Hit Feature Settings
Choose CD ROM
Click Disable
Hit menu, commit modifications (it will say no item changed)
What does this tell me? Something in the update turned on the bit that enables "auto-mount the phone as a
(USB) drive" on a connecting PC. I suspect that Verizon inserted their desire to push the V Cast software.
Who wrote the offending code? Maybe Verizon, or HTC or maybe Google (Android). I blame Verizon!
09/09/2010 When I loaded Froyo (Android version 2.2) I noticed some new apps. Maybe they were there
before and I just didn't notice. Let me know if I've goofed, OK?
* App Share - I haven’t used it. Many reviewers are raving about this though.
* Amazon - I haven’t used it. (I'm cheep.)
* Call History - Gee wasn't this here before? Maybe it's just a new icon shortcut thingy.
* Search People - Same as Call History, above.
* Setup - Cool! Good for a new user, after that; worthless.
* VZ Navigator - Pay extra that I don't have nor want.
* Skype mobile - I haven’t used it and don't plan to.
* Videos - Just a front end for all your video content, as far as I can tell.
* News - Cool. Useable.
* News and Weather - Pretty weather screen, but it takes up the whole screen.
Tap on the temperature then on chart. The news execution is so, so.
The "Kansas Guy . com" web site.
