I don't know much about your problem, but about the emulators, I tend to agree they are a pain. You might try using the Genymotion (
http://www.genymotion.com/). I haven't tried them yet, but plan to as soon as I have the opportunity. Several other posters here swear by it. Using an emulator is an invaluable tool, as it can lead to more diverse
testing of screen formats, speeds, connectivity, and models than if you test only on your own hardware...