Motorola DROID goes on sale a little early at Best Buy Mobile

Looks like the DROID invasion is starting a little early -- we were just sent these pics of Motorola's beastly Android slider on sale at an unspecified Best Buy Mobile somewhere deep within America's heartland. Or perhaps it's lurking around the fringe of our nation's coasts. In either case, we're told BBM reps can sell you a DROID as of today, so it might be worth checking out if you're not psyched to hit up your local Verizon store at 7AM tomorrow. And do let us know if the DROID ERIS is available, will you?

P.S.- Just got a tip that Wal-Mart is now selling 'em early too. The DROIDs are loose, people. Gather your valuables.

P.P.S.- Target Mobile Solutions, which operates kiosks in California Target stores, has opened the floodgates too -- but the catch is that you'll be paying $249.99 for a new activation, $50 more than Verizon after rebate. Thanks, Tony! (Update: we're hearing it's back down to $199.87 now -- nice!)

[Thanks, Mike and Jesse]

[0crabby0 Posted Nov 5th 2009 8:11PM]

I don't know...

This phone might be the answer - But I'm still waiting to see what Jitterbug has in store this Winter
The new Jitterbug J model comes in either White or Graphite Gray...lol

Just kidding, but the Motorola Droid looks like it's from the 80's.

[hookerpuncher Posted Nov 5th 2009 8:43PM]

Can we just setup something to locate the stores that are selling them? Instead of reading every single comment?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 5th 2009 9:12PM]

I just got back from Best Buy. They wouldn't sell it to me right there and then, but they did let me play with one. Enough has been written elsewhere about it, but my first impression of the keyboard wasn't great... then I tried it and I can see getting used to it fairly quickly.

I was a bit worried about how some were claiming it was jumpy and not very responsive, but the lag I witnessed was comparable with what I've found on the iPhone and iPod touch.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 5th 2009 9:32PM]

I just picked up a Droid at my local Walmart in Apex, NC for the $188 price. The reps didn't know anything about not selling it before tomorrow, and they had 3 in stock ready to sell. They even had the dummy demo unit out on display with SKU, etc.

So far, I'm falling in love with this geek phone pretty fast. Coming from a trial run of the HTC Hero on Sprint, and this Droid is friggin' fast. The physical keyboard is ok -- I can deal with it, as I've always preferred a physical keyboard over virtual, but the space they wasted on d-pad is a shame -- if they tossed that and properly centered and spaced out the keys, it would rock.

Screen is fantastic. Wow -- like, drippin' droolin' goodness.

[marcussafar Posted Nov 5th 2009 10:27PM]

They had the phone at my Walmart for purchase also. Can't get the phone early at my Best Buy though because they can't even sell it through their system. Couldn't buy it at the Walmart for me because they don't support early re-contracting.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 5th 2009 11:27PM]

Picked it up at Walmart and took it to Verizon to have my contacts swapped over. The Verizon reps weren't super happy I had one already.

Anyone else's Droid really quiet? I can't seem to make the volume go up to any reasonable level

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 12:08AM]

I thought Wal-Mart officially took the hyphen out of their name.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 12:29AM]

As of 12:21am Verizon does not have an option to upgrade to the Droid online!!!!!

[kyphem Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:38AM]

I have used the phone and its as laggy as the Hero! Sorry but this is not good enough. Just like the stupid G1 I am disapointed.

[draymis Posted Nov 7th 2009 8:58PM]

I tried out the Droid today at my local Verizon store, and was disappointed. The interface was, to be blunt, ugly, compare to the iPhone. It honestly looked worse than many recent Windows Mobile devices I've seen... and that's not a good thing.

The phone's response seemed slower than the 3GS, and scrolling down a webpage would jerky, vs. the fluid 3GS.

Also, CNN.com videos would not load via the browser. I tried three different phones, and neither I, nor the staff could get it to play any videos from CNN.com.

From what I've read & seen, the launch of the Droid is nothing like the launch of a new iPhone, which usually jams Apple/AT&T retail stores. Most Verizon stores seem to be seeing a minor uptick in traffic, if any.