Loving the Droid Pro

I’ve been a Blackberry user for the last 6-7 years – loved the email capabilities, but just couldn’t really use it for other things like productivity apps, internet browsing, or social networking.  Let’s be frank, BB’s are email devices, with “apps” being somewhat of an afterthought.  Or, at least, secondary.

So, I recently had the opportunity to get a new phone, and decided that I wanted to experience the whole Android phenomenon.  My wife has a Droid, and loves it, and everyone else I’ve spoken to has had great experiences.  The Droid Pro looked compelling to me, simply because it has a hard keyboard that is similar to the BB.  So, I gave it a try, and haven’t looked back.

The unified messaging is fantastic – all my email, text messaging, voicemail, social networking, etc. all delivered in one place.  Sure, it’s not exactly real-time, but I’m not exactly real-time anyways.

The available apps are really strong.  I use Documents-to-go for Google Docs access, Evernote for note taking, Mint.com for personal finances, RingCentral for business calls from the “office”, Skype and Trillian for IM/internet calls, Kindle for reading (I was really surprised how comfortable it is to read books on such a small device – I rarely use my 10” Kindle now), Andronos for controlling my Sonos whole-home audio, and a bunch of others.

I have to admit that I’ve not been very good with social networking with Twitter or Facebook, but with my Droid Pro I am able to update status across all networks with ease, and quickly keep track of all my relationships quickly and easily.

I use the Droid Pro as a Bluetooth network adapter for internet access when no Wi-fi is available, like on the train (where I am now).  Was easy to setup and works great.

And, most importantly, phone calls are clear and it’s reasonably comfortable holding the phone up to my ear.

The downsides of the phone are primarily battery life.  You definitely need the extended battery, and must turn of services like Wi-Fi and GPS when not in use.  The keyboard is a little clunky – it just doesn’t have the same usability as the BB.  And, I am constantly accidentally hitting the home or back buttons on the display when pressing the various hard keys in the top row.  And, I can’t type with nearly the speed or accuracy that I was able to on the BB.

My only other complaint is that the voice/data plans are too expensive in my mind, but that’s not really a problem limited to the Droid Pro.

The Droid Pro is easily the best portable device / phone / gadget I’ve ever owned.