Joined the Android clan today

[jrp]

I picked up an htc Desire from US Cellular today. Still getting my feet wet, but it seems sweet so far. Got one email account, facebook, and gmail set up so far.

The screen is bright and responsive, but not great in full sunlight (which one is?). The onscreen keyboard will take a bit, but I think I'll like it. Call quality seems very good. Haven't messed with much else and have to go back to work.

 

[Ronnie-]

I picked up an htc Desire from US Cellular today. Still getting my feet wet, but it seems sweet so far. Got one email account, facebook, and gmail set up so far.

The screen is bright and responsive, but not great in full sunlight (which one is?). The onscreen keyboard will take a bit, but I think I'll like it. Call quality seems very good. Haven't messed with much else and have to go back to work.

Enjoy! The more you use it, the more you will like it. The Desire is a great device.

 

[TNGTony]

I went from "I don't need all that" to "How can anyone live without this?" in a day! Love my Droid! I have giant fingers and was able to figure out the OSD Keyboard no problem. Took a little practice, but I got it!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Welcome to the world of Droid. You'll love it.

 

[HIFI]

I went from "I don't need all that" to "How can anyone live without this?" in a day! Love my Droid! I have giant fingers and was able to figure out the OSD Keyboard no problem. Took a little practice, but I got it!

+1

 

[tigerprowler]

You should download the MSN Talk app, and join our satguys group. That would be cool.

 

[am7crew]

to keep your phone snappy and not lagged down get this app: Advanced Task Killer Free. Its task manager to 'really' close apps which keeps your phone fast and your battery lasting longer

 

[TNGTony]

What he said. I should have mentioned that. Some apps do not shut down. They just go to the background and use up resources and battery power. Advanced Task Killer will kill all these apps at the touch of a button.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

to keep your phone snappy and not lagged down get this app: Advanced Task Killer Free. Its task manager to 'really' close apps which keeps your phone fast and your battery lasting longer

Of course there is huge debate about whether task managers are needed in Android; with more evidence pointing to them not being necessary. Android managed memory very differently than a PC does; it is smart. There are numerous posts on this debate on the Android blogs. With some of the biggest names saying task managers are NOT needed in any way, shape, or form.

That said, there was one time when I thought the Task Killer was essential: when I installed a beta launcher replacement app that was putting me in a force close loop, ATK enabled me to kill the process.

But I don't think the task closer speeds up the phone or preserves battery life. Battery life is going to be impacted by a lot of things: whether the gps is on; the frequency with which running apps sync for data (i.e., rss crawlers, google news and weather; email syncs); screen brightness; running wifi when you don't need it; etc... You just need to find you own happy place.

I use the Power control widget, to easily enable/disable gps, wifi, bluetooth, and screen brightness. One push and the screen goes to full brightness for when I am outside, one more touch and it does to a more dim setting inside.

 

[jrp]

Of course there is huge debate about whether task managers are needed in Android; with more evidence pointing to them not being necessary.

I've been reading some that over on Howard Forums.

I've been a Mac user since 1985 and you couldn't make me switch to a PC (reminds me of the old Tareyton ads!). I've wanted an iPhone since they first came out, but semi-rural Iowa is no place to rely on AT&T. That said, after one night of playing with the Desire, I think I made the right choice.

I did notice you can't sort contact by last name. What's up with that?

 

[SatinKzo]

only time I have ever used a task killer on my android phone is when I had a development app on it, no well written app from the market has ever caused me to use the task killer. I just don't see the need for them unless you like to kill off some of the bogus provider/phone specific apps that run.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

only time I have ever used a task killer on my android phone is when I had a development app on it, no well written app from the market has ever caused me to use the task killer. I just don't see the need for them unless you like to kill off some of the bogus provider/phone specific apps that run.

That was exactly the situation I had to use it in; I had a beta of Helix Launcher, and it went loopy.

Bugless beast eliminated a lot of the Verizon bloatware, so that isn't much of an issue either for me.

 

[Ramy]

Welcome to Droid!

 

[Hall]

Why did you guys bring up "task killers" ??

It will never end...

Let me add to it...

For those who say "Android is Linux based, it's not Windows, it doesn't need it", please tell me why my (rooted) phone has multiple apps running that I didn't launch ? And why are they still running -- apps I never launched -- 24 hours later ? Don't tell me how good it's memory management is.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Why did you guys bring up "task killers" ??

It will never end...

Let me add to it...

For those who say "Android is Linux based, it's not Windows, it doesn't need it", please tell me why my (rooted) phone has multiple apps running that I didn't launch ? And why are they still running -- apps I never launched -- 24 hours later ? Don't tell me how good it's memory management is.

SOmewhere in the first few posts was something about task killers.... and I responded. My bad.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

For those who say "Android is Linux based, it's not Windows, it doesn't need it", please tell me why my (rooted) phone has multiple apps running that I didn't launch ? And why are they still running -- apps I never launched -- 24 hours later ? Don't tell me how good it's memory management is.

That part has always confused me, but I think I am too Windows-centric in my thinking. From what I have read, they are technically "in memory" but not necessarily active. But I just don't understand the technology enough.

 

[JAG72]

For those who say "Android is Linux based, it's not Windows, it doesn't need it", please tell me why my (rooted) phone has multiple apps running that I didn't launch ? And why are they still running -- apps I never launched -- 24 hours later ? Don't tell me how good it's memory management is.

It all comes down to how well the apps are written. If the apps are written poorly any OS will need to be able to kill processes.

 

[jrp]

HEY! Isn't this thread about me?

Honestly, keep it going. I've got a lot to learn and the more you talk about, the shorter my learning curve.

 

[BlackHitachi]

Why did you guys bring up "task killers" ??

It will never end...

Let me add to it...

For those who say "Android is Linux based, it's not Windows, it doesn't need it", please tell me why my (rooted) phone has multiple apps running that I didn't launch ? And why are they still running -- apps I never launched -- 24 hours later ? Don't tell me how good it's memory management is.

It all comes down to how well the apps are written. If the apps are written poorly any OS will need to be able to kill processes.

:up This is correct!

 

[jrp]

Drove to St. Paul and back yesterday (4 hours each way). Tried out the navigator even though I knew where we were going. I liked the google navigator better than the included US Cellular Your Navigator even though the US Cell app had a better voice. The USCC app wouldn't take my home address, even when typed in. The google app took it by voice on the first attempt.

Noticed right away that, if you are going to use a navigation program, you will need an in-car charger.