lapdock 500 - Motorola Droid Bionic

Im going to purchase the lapdock 500. The reviews on the 100 seem so-so, so Im hoping that the 500, being more xpensive, is higher quality, and works better. anyone have the 500, or expirence with both that they can share?

I can't provide a review yet, but it's on sale for $150 right now!!
I got this from slickdeals:
1. Go to Verizon’s site.
2. Click the big “Shop” button up top.
3. When the page loads, scroll down and click “View All” next to Accessories.
4. Click on the “DROID 4.”
5. LapDock 500 should be the first option, simply click “Add to Cart” from that page.
6. Go straight into your cart and you should see it for $149.99 rather than the $249.99.
7. Checkout and enjoy.
Good luck.

I ordered it from Amazon for $349, sooooo when I saw that deal, I about crapped! Gut on Verizon, ordered one, and have the one from Amazon all boxed and ready to go back!
For what it's worth, it's very nice, high quality, so I can't wait to get the new one here and start playing!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

So, I finally got mine.
The performance is ok... kind of like using a netbook. I wish the camera would work. Also, playing youtube is a little choppy. Perhaps it's not hardware accelerated or anything.
Does anyone know if there is any work being done on the webtop 3rd party people? Is there supposed to be an update for that soon???

So IMHO, if you are on the fence for getting this, I would vote NO.
I bought this for $150 during the recent sale and was very excited, especially because I denied on the Atrix lapdock deal in Dec. for $50.
Anyway, as noted earlier, the screen is not very good. I tried to watch streaming video and it not pleasant. The bad "refresh" rate or something resulted in a sort of jittery show. That defeated my primary purpose.
The touch pad was also poorly implemented. Pressing it often moved the cursor.
Another factor although not a huge one was the software/interface was not that intuitive or impressive. I'm sure that would have improved over time (updates and my own experience) but the effort didn't seem worth it. The device is also somewhat heavy. For $50, I might have kept it, but for $150 just wasn't worth it.
Good news, I returned it at the Verizon store without any restock fee or hassle.

I am thrilled that I got the 500 during the Verizon $150 deal. The 500 makes using the Bionic for any lengthy amount of time quite usable. It is not meant to be a substitute for a laptop or netbook. I feel it perfectly complements the Bionic by extending the capabilities of the phone. I would advise using a mouse with the 500.

I've had mine now for 2 days and have done nothing but mess around with it and honestly..imho i love it! Yea the sd card, ethernet, camera and monitor out dont work but there is an update so the bionic can use the 500 to the fullest so thats great news..there are as many cons as there are goods but the cons will get fixed thru updates except for the touchpad..that really did suck..but all else is great..the screen could be better but its still great..
Cons- cant use the pull out dock idk why just doesnt work well which has to do with the software so a update fix
Touchpad sucks- use mouse
Camera, ethernet, sd card and monitor out functions dont work YET but will soon
Phone has to sit flat and cant be moved or the lapdock will shut down- dont know why but once again an update fix
Pros- everything...surf internet fast, play your games on lapdock from phone, make calls from lapdock, 7 hours battery life, charges phone while using lapdock, good speakers, nice screen and just a lot if fun...better than carrying a heavy full on laptop for simple things...one of the better investments in my life funny thing is that i also got mine for 150$ but thru CL and brand new still sealed..the guy had no clue how much this thing was actually worth!
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

how would you compare it to the Bionic branded lapdock itself (anyone test out both of these)? i'm assuming all the missing functionality you speak of now is simply a USB device driver to be implemented in future patches..
IMO the lapdock can essentially replace your last full sized laptop, assuming your not a hardcore gamer, audiophile, A/V troll etc lol. i am all of the above, but seriously if your using a laptop for all that get a tower ffs. screen is acceptable, viewing angle is so so, webtop itself is unimpressive but 3.0 will change all that. only complaint is the keyboard, keys feel like cheap plastic and aren't very sensitive.

Related

Nook Color vs. Elocity A7

Hey guys I just saw this
(Since I cannot post links go to BJ's website and look up "Elocity 7")
Its specs look pretty good plus it has an HDMI output and it already runs froyo. Do you guys think it would be work returning my nook color for one of these? Or do you guys think that the lack of third party support (meaning xda) means that in the long run the nook would be better than the elocity?
The reasons I was considering it was because of the tegra 2 chip, froyo, and the 1080p hdmi output(it would be nice to hook this thing up to our projector and watch movies off of it). Honestly I don't need those features but they would be nice. Thanks.
That thing is $369.99 according to Amazon.com. Also it is currently out of stock.
The NC is currently available at any Barnes and Noble at the cost of $250
tldr; NC is cheaper and available now.
The nookcolor has a higher resolution screen - something I would consider to be important.
sent from my NookColor using tapatalk
eggman618 said:
That thing is $369.99 according to Amazon.com. Also it is currently out of stock.
The NC is currently available at any Barnes and Noble at the cost of $250
tldr; NC is cheaper and available now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well at BJ's its only 299 which isn't too much more than the Nook.
msid said:
The nookcolor has a higher resolution screen - something I would consider to be important.
sent from my NookColor using tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I have to admit the screen on the nook is very nice... However while I do care about the screen quality I also have to take into account the rest of the features.
mytabletlife.com/2010/12/11/elocity-a7-finally-start-shipping/
I placed an order for one weeks ago from amazon. Hopefully it wont delayed any longer.
dreadlord369 said:
Well at BJ's its only 299 which isn't too much more than the Nook.
Yea I have to admit the screen on the nook is very nice... However while I do care about the screen quality I also have to take into account the rest of the features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While the Tegra 2 sounds nice, if the screen was on par with the NC I would flinch, but it isn't, so the "extras" cant make up the fact its not as readable as the cheaper NC Ereader. I personally have a TV with USB inputs, so HDMI out isn't the happnin feature it all cracked up to be. Once we are Froyo'd, CM6'd, and OC'd to 1.2, I think most of us will be happy as clams
That's just generally the tough call though. While the camera and HDMI are cool, they're not incredibly important. The tegra chip is huge though. If you go for the A7, you're getting a smaller battery and a way worse screen i'm sure. My thing is, I only want to do two things, play games, and read comics. Based on those two requirements alone can anyone suggest which would be better? I'm really torn on this. I think the Nook color is much better looking and the build quality is probably better, but i'm really not interested in reading ebooks at all, comics yes, books no. For me it's purely a tablet device. I know that there is a lot of progress being made on the NC...I guess what i'm asking is, can anyone confirm or deny that they feel the graphics hardware will eventually make me regret picking a NC over the A7?
For that price, you might as well just get Notion Ink's Adam tablet!
$375 for the Wifi only LCD version. Should be shipping out soon too.
Much better specs and a decent screen (10" 1024x600).
Dual Core A9 with Tegra 250, 1GB memory
I don't know about the OP, and i'm not trying to hijack their thread-just looking for similar input. I really like the Adam tablet, but I want a 7 inch tablet. So it's really between the NC and the Elocity for me. I have to decide if sacrificing build quality for a tegra is worth it.
BJs is selling it for $299:
http://www.bjs.com/webapp/wcs/store..._src=14110944&ci_sku=121648111&sc_cid=DF#more
Now, I have a little buyers remorse :T
800x480? What are they thinking, not even a contest IMO.
dvanburen said:
800x480? What are they thinking, not even a contest IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I thought about it. I ordered the Elocity, and then promptly attempted to cancel my order. The only category that the elocity beats the nc in my opinion is tegra, but that's because I don't care about BT, camera, or HDMI out. I prefer the build quality, size, bezel, screen, and battery on the NC. So that's the one i'm going with.
I was trying to decide on the same
I ordered the elocity:
Rationale for me is:
I own an iphone. It's biggest failing for me is the absence of flash.
I have owned but will be returning a g tablet from viewsonic that also is tegra 2 based.
The thing is fast and can easily run full screen flash video without a hiccup.
For me I want this device to be a:
internet and i mean full internet browser
an E-reader
mail and office device
and to have many apps like games news productivity....
The Nook color will not have a way of using another keyboard since no bluetooth or usb.
The processor is way underpowered for flash. Heck flash was stuttery on a galaxy tab.
As far as form factor the specs are near identical in size of A7 and nook
The single button for nook is also an issue unless u do a loto of hacking.
The A7 will have the ability to run honeycomb when it is out and so will have a longer practical lifespan.
The only things better on the nook are the screen though it is unclear yet if the elocity screen will be good or very good (videos of a similar device rebranded seemed to show good viewing angles) and 4 vs. 8 gb of storage (for me not a deal breaker with 16Gb sd cards costing 30$). now sure 800x480 is not as good a resolution, but this is a 7 not 10 inch tab so I am not sure it will make much of a difference. After all this is still better than DVD resolution so should be fine for reading and web.
As for battery life, I think the difference i s 4000 vs 3200 in favor of nook so not a huge difference real life we are looking at probably 1 hour difference, but A7 has ambient light sensor so could be better at battery saving
A7 has ability to output hdmi, so can bring hi def movies downloaded to people homes and watch on their TV
Has webcam to enable videochat
Has bluetooth for connectivity and most importantly the newes latest processor that ensures a much longer time before obsolescence.
Finally from what I read Elocity will have an open source ui which will allow people to really customize it
Yea I would say the biggest thing going for the A7 is the out of box stock froyo so it is easy to customize and things just work for it and the terga 2 is only the second most important. The Nooks processor should be able to watch hd video if it gets optimized.
but wont be able to run flash which for me is a deal breaker
for 399 would rather get ipad with 16gb bluetooth appstore bigger great screen better battery life
but no flash.....
xwint3rxmut3x said:
Yeah, I thought about it. I ordered the Elocity, and then promptly attempted to cancel my order. The only category that the elocity beats the nc in my opinion is tegra, but that's because I don't care about BT, camera, or HDMI out. I prefer the build quality, size, bezel, screen, and battery on the NC. So that's the one i'm going with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree... but BT would be the only thing I wish we had.
Having said that, I feel (IMHO) that Bluetooth is just around the corner. Someone will somehow find a way to use the Droid X drivers and get use of the SoC which presumably has bluetooth capability.
Who knows... maybe B&N might surprise us all and include it in their 2.2 update. Now wouldn't that be a nice belated christmas gift?
Canadoc said:
but wont be able to run flash which for me is a deal breaker
for 399 would rather get ipad with 16gb bluetooth appstore bigger great screen better battery life
but no flash.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My nokia n900 has an A8 clocked at 600mhz (while stock) only 256 RAM, and runs flash like a champ. NC may not run it out of the box, but with 2.2 around the corner, via a custom ROM or an official update from BN, this device will run flash, and it will run it well.
update: crap, BJs already sent out my A7 even though I tried to cancel my order. Well, now I have a boxed NC and A7 for xmas, and one of them has to go back. uggghhh
Canadoc said:
I was trying to decide on the same
I ordered the elocity:
Rationale for me is:
I own an iphone. It's biggest failing for me is the absence of flash.
I have owned but will be returning a g tablet from viewsonic that also is tegra 2 based.
The thing is fast and can easily run full screen flash video without a hiccup.
For me I want this device to be a:
internet and i mean full internet browser
an E-reader
mail and office device
and to have many apps like games news productivity....
The Nook color will not have a way of using another keyboard since no bluetooth or usb.
The processor is way underpowered for flash. Heck flash was stuttery on a galaxy tab.
As far as form factor the specs are near identical in size of A7 and nook
The single button for nook is also an issue unless u do a loto of hacking.
The A7 will have the ability to run honeycomb when it is out and so will have a longer practical lifespan.
The only things better on the nook are the screen though it is unclear yet if the elocity screen will be good or very good (videos of a similar device rebranded seemed to show good viewing angles) and 4 vs. 8 gb of storage (for me not a deal breaker with 16Gb sd cards costing 30$). now sure 800x480 is not as good a resolution, but this is a 7 not 10 inch tab so I am not sure it will make much of a difference. After all this is still better than DVD resolution so should be fine for reading and web.
As for battery life, I think the difference i s 4000 vs 3200 in favor of nook so not a huge difference real life we are looking at probably 1 hour difference, but A7 has ambient light sensor so could be better at battery saving
A7 has ability to output hdmi, so can bring hi def movies downloaded to people homes and watch on their TV
Has webcam to enable videochat
Has bluetooth for connectivity and most importantly the newes latest processor that ensures a much longer time before obsolescence.
Finally from what I read Elocity will have an open source ui which will allow people to really customize it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope it works out for you. Personally, after using my netbook off an on (only used away from the house) I find 1024x600 pretty small for web surfing, much less 800x480. Most phones run this resolution with a 3"-4" screen.
dvanburen said:
I hope it works out for you. Personally, after using my netbook off an on (only used away from the house) I find 1024x600 pretty small for web surfing, much less 800x480. Most phones run this resolution with a 3"-4" screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this little nugget on the elocity a7 website...this is in their FAQ....anyone want to take a shot at WTF they're trying to say? (or NOT saying)
"Q: If I add an emulator for Super Nintendo, is the screen capable of having multi-touch so that I can run with one hand and jump with the other?
A: Yes, you can install the Super Nintendo emulator, but some of the games may not work properly."
or how about this one?
"Q: Is the touch screen multi-touch?
A: The A7 Tablet supports Multi-Touch functions. The built-in browser and photo viewer support zooming in/out by two of your fingers. However, multi-touch functionality on many third party apps is not supported."
I think they are basically saying that it is application dependent, and not to come crying to them for support if/when third party applications don't work as expected.

About to upgrade

I am about to upgrade my phone. Currently on a Touch Pro 2 and Xrom. This will be my first Android phone and obviously I am considering the Bionic. I know nothing about Android and since Microsoft seems to have abandoned the smartphone world and very few phones are on 7, it seems like a good time to make the move.
I have read the reviews, scoured this forum and it looks like the Bionic is everything it is supposed to be. I am a noob, just an old one, this phone is my b-day present to myself, will be 48 in a few days. I do have a few questions...
Is the Bionic really the shiznit phone or should I wait for a while for a better phone on the horizon?
I can get this phone for $220 bucks through Amazon or $250 through Verizon. Is there any reason to not get it from Amazon?
I am not quite ready to get into flashing new rom's on Android as I have a lot of learning to do first, but I hate bloatware. With the TP2 getting off the stock rom was a good thing, I can go two days on a battery charge, but is it as important with Android? I know the Bionic can be rooted and bloatware removed, but does it slow the phone down if it is left there?
Thanks in advance, this forum rocks!
I upgraded from the TP2. Couldn't be happier. Didn't have many problems with the TP2, but it's old and outdated. This thing is just a beast. You could wait for something better, but I decided that it was time. If something else comes out and I want it, I'll just use a different upgrade.
Thanks, actually I have had zero issues with my TP2 that I got right after it's release. I wasn't sure I wanted to give it up, but I will have it as a backup phone so that works out. My only apprehension is the Motorola phone, I swore I would never have another after the MotoQ that got replaced 4 times in 4 weeks before I demanded a Touch Pro 1 and Verizon coughed it up to keep me happy.
I like new and learning Android will be fun. I just don't want to go through what I did with the MotoQ, what a pc of crap that was. Motorola used to be awesome, but I haven't had a good Moto phone since the StarTac.
Regarding buying it thru Vz vs. Amazon....a couple things come to mind
1) Who has a better return/exchange policy? Vz has 14 days to return and $30 restocking fee. If the phone is defective in the 1st year I believe Vz would give you a Factory Refurbished Phone. How does Amazon stack up to that? Brick and mortar store gives you same day service, pretty important if you can't live w/out your phone.
2) Are you planning to get any accessories? I don't know if it's still going on but when I bought my Bionic with the HD Dock, the dock ended up being $54. Normally I get a corporate discount of 25% on accessories, but this must have been some other promotion. So you may want to shop your complete purchase and get a total out the door price.
I had some buyer's remorse initially with the Bionic but overall I love the phone. I came from the HTC Incredible. The colors were more vibrant on the Incredible, but the Bionic looks OK. Reds, blues, and greens all reproduce nicely, yellow and orange leave something to be desired tho. But if you spend any time at all outdoors, the screen on the Bionic is amazing...it's very visible outside, something I'm not used to with my Incredible.
So far my only serious complaints with the phone is the issues it has switching networks, this is a known issue as you're probably aware and should be fixed with an OTA. Also, I haven't heard this from anyone else so it may be an issue specific to my location, but I exchanged my 1st Bionic b/c the voice quality over 4g was horrible. I could hear fine, but others couldn't hear me very well. The new phone had the same issues so I leave 4G off unless I know I need it. It very well could be an issue with my being on the outer fringe of 4G reception but I'm not sure. When doing speed tests over 4G I was getting 20Mbps down and around 6-8Mpbs up...so it would seem like I have OK signal.
Testing the demo at the store the pentile screen was very noticeable for some of the things I wanted to demo on the phone. I still see it from time to time, but it doesn't bother me, the text is clean and crisp and easy to read so that's good enough for me.
I have a little heartburn over the HD playback capabilities. Being that the phone comes with an HDMI output and offers an HD Dock to connect to your HDTV, I expected a little more with HD playback. I was hoping to throw a bunch of 720P movies on an SD card for when we travel and be able to play back the movies at the hotel. However the only HD playback I've seen from the phone that's smooth is video shot thru the onboard camera. Now I'm trying to figure out how to convert my existing movies to playback better on the Bionic.
None of these issues were dealbreakers for me. I keep in touch with what's on the horizon as far as other devices and aside from 720p resolution screens coming out, there's nothing that's really going to make the Bionic seem outdated. The only other phone I considered holding out for was the Nexus Prime. I like the idea of a brick phone that's just a large touch screen and the function buttons are built in to the app instead of being phsyical buttons...but I'd rather wait until we have a plethora of Ice Cream Sandwich O/S phones to choose from...I didn't want to put all my eggs in Samsung's basket only to be left disappointed.
Also something else to consider regarding 1280x720 screen resolutions...all of Verizon's 4G phones have struggled with battery life, I'd have to imagine a 1280x720 screen is only going to eat that up faster.
I would recommend against the Bionic, but only because of the locked bootloader situation. Not being able to load what I wanted was the reason I left the iPhone -- I don't want to settle for a half-baked solution with a rooted-but-unlocked Bionic.
Overall, the phone performs well (with the exception of random data connection loss and battery drain). But, for $200 or more, I ought to be able to do with the phone what I want.
There is no difference in buying from Amazon or Verizon directly, except with Verizon you have 14 days to return it for a 30% restock fee, Amazon will let you have 30 days. After 30 days you get a refurb from Verizon for the remainder of a year.
I understand battery life, the TP2 I had to charge after about 8 hours until I went with a custom ROM. I don't see much that it can do that I want to do that I can't already do with my TP2, except a better camera and movie playback. I do take pics with my TP2, but I am not sure I would take or play many movies with the Bionic, so that isn't much of an issue. I have a real camera and blue ray players all over the house. I know I would miss my physical keyboard, and every new phone I have touched with a physical keyboard feels like lightweight junk and nothing has the solid feel I am used to. The current Droid phones from Verizon leave little to be desired, with the exception of the Bionic. At least I can say the Bionic has a good feel, I will just have to learn to type on the touchscreen. The screen is large enough that my fat fingers can, I demo'd the phone at a VZ brick and mortar. I will miss my Bing Navigation but can adapt to Google, my old 7 series BMW is not BT capable, but does have Navigation that works, though I am so used to my Bing voice app that I rarely use it. I may get the Nav cradle for the Bionic, it has some appeal.
As far as unlocked phones go, the current trend from Moto seems to be locked bootloaders. I do believe that the awesome people here will crack that code or Motorola will give it up. Though I don't really see much reason to upgrade, my phone is getting old and I am a tech junkie at times. I think the time is now.
I am still interested in other peoples opinions, your experience has value, at least to me.

Now that I have an Android phone...

...I can understand the "Why would I want a tablet?" crowd a little better. I'm late to the smartphone party; my half-bright phone (SE Walkman 760) kept me happy for quite a while, with first a netbook and then the NC filling the gap between phone and PC. The other day, though, I snagged a used Xperia X10 on craigslist, and I'm starting to wonder how much use my NC will see aside from e-reading, which would be served as well or better by an e-ink device.
I mean, if the phone and the tablet are both in arm's reach, sure, I'll go for the bigger screen, but their uses are almost 100% redundant now. The only thing I couldn't see doing on the phone is reading comic books, which I rarely do on the NC anyway, and I could still read b&w comics on e-ink. Some games would be kind of pointless on the X10, but overall the two devices break even there, given the NC's bigger screen and the X10's better touch response. The same could be said for web-browsing; the NC's screen is a gorgeous klutz, as touch screens go. That trade-off doesn't apply to tablets in general, but the rest pretty much do; many phones are at least as capable as any tablet near the NC's price range.
The NC is a great platform for exploring ROMs and mods to a greater extent than I'd be comfortable doing on my phone--really, the NC has been a hobby unto itself in the time I've had it, but I think I've covered all the mods I care to explore. I may well sell it off and pick up a N2E or other rootable Android e-ink device (are there any others yet?) in the near future.
I started with the smartphone, then picked up my NC a year later. The Nook is very much my reader of choice. On long hauls, I'm OK with running down my Nook's battery, while keeping my phone for "serious" use.
Of course, the phone does SMS more cleanly. The phone is always with me, whereas the Nook is more for planned long periods of downtime. While I could do it all on my phone, the larger Nook screen has made reading and browsing more of something I enjoy doing.
- Bob
Battery life is the upside of redundancy, for sure, but for reading at least, an e-ink device would have substantial advantages over the NC in that department. Something like the STR that can be rooted to display pretty much any document format and has some limited browsing capability might end up absorbing more of my juice-intensive activities than the NC. It's also somewhat relevant, for me, that the STR would be more efficient in terms of my personal power consumption, drawing much less juice off the grid.
I'm not decided on shelving the NC--I've had the phone less than a week, so I'll see how my usage patterns shake out. Still, it's tempting to go e-ink. It would also give me a new device to mod
I use my phone on the go and my Nook at home. I like having a bigger screen to do my browsing, movie watching, book read etc.
I don't don't see why you would drop the nook for an e-ink as the nook can do almost anything while a stand alone reader does one thing.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
koopakid08 said:
I don't don't see why you would drop the nook for an e-ink as the nook can do almost anything while a stand alone reader does one thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What it can do is immaterial if I do not in fact use it to do those things--most of my uses for the larger display would be met by the STR, primarily reading and some browsing.
I don't know, though--I probably will end up sticking with the NC. A lot of my reading is at night, where the backlight is a plus, and every once in a while I do get into some dumb game on the NC (often sitting less than six feet away from a PC with probably 20 real games installed ).
Mainly, I just have more sympathy for the people who are baffled by the tablet phenomenon. A decent Android phone is an extremely capable device, and all a tablet really brings to the table are those extra inches.
Since I flash my phone quite often I try to keep the installed apps to a minimum while my nook is loaded to the hilt. Since it (the Nook) fits in my back pocket I take it everywhere so it keeps me from draining my phone's battery as well.
My $.02 with data being so expensive for phones now I actually save money by using the nook everywhere and not using phone data. I love my nook, I can hardly even stand browsing the web on my phone now that I have been spoiled with the nooks brilliant screen. I use my phone primarily when I am super bored in class and to keep updated on email everywhere. And my phone is a mytouch.4g so not a bad phone for comparison. I don't even understand the hype on the Amazon tablet except for the price, if you ask me the brilliant people that designed the nook color should be receiving all the press. Everything but dual core almost a year in advance, am I wrong?
Cant agree more, I found myself using nook more than my EVO.
ncmt4g64 said:
My $.02 with data being so expensive for phones now I actually save money by using the nook everywhere and not using phone data.
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Click to collapse
Would you please elaborate on that? I don't have a data plan for my phone because I have almost universal access to good WiFi networks, and it doesn't cost me any.
inportb said:
Would you please elaborate on that? I don't have a data plan for my phone because I have almost universal access to good WiFi networks, and it doesn't cost me any.
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Click to collapse
Right, you can always use both when there is wifi, I would choose nook everytime. But since I started using my nook so much, I reduced my phone data plan to 2.5gb instead of 5gb, mostly because I tend to hold off using my phone for internet and stuff especially on data since the nook is so much bigger and also my primary Android device now.
I watched about 4 hours worth of Archer on my NC while flying from Raleigh to Denver recently. Can't imagine doing that (enjoyably) on my phone. Video quality its pretty darn good on the Nook.
bagelicious said:
I watched about 4 hours worth of Archer on my NC while flying from Raleigh to Denver recently. Can't imagine doing that (enjoyably) on my phone. Video quality its pretty darn good on the Nook.
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Click to collapse
For frequent flyers who aren't trying to work on the plane, tablets are great, no question. Me, I take a 2-hour trip every month or two, and while it's not out of the question I would want to watch a movie, more often I end up reading or listening to music or audiobooks, and/or napping.
ncmt4g64 said:
My $.02 with data being so expensive for phones now I actually save money by using the nook everywhere and not using phone data.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, $$ is still my primary concern, I'm no luddite (if that's not obvious from running a hacked nook), but the required data plans for phones add up to hundreds, sometimes thousands a year (eg; family). Personally, I'd rather spend that money on other areas (travel / retirement), so I'm seeing how long I can go for feature phone + nook.
NCKevo said:
I'm seeing how long I can go for feature phone + nook.
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Click to collapse
That's what I was doing when I picked up the NC in May; no way was I getting a smart phone on contract. Since I ditched my contract, though, getting a smartphone actually lowered my phone bill, or at least forced me to look into my options and discover it could be lower. I was doing AT&T/GoPhone's $50 prepaid unlimited they introduced this summer, but they blocked my data when I got the X10, so I'm looking at what I can do, and they'd introduced another new plan last month, with 250 min. and unlimited texts for $25. I don't have to carry any data, but I got a 10MB/$5 "emergency" plan in case I need a map in a tight spot...or want to check Facebook at a bus stop
At any rate, I'm in love with my NC again, mostly because I found an app that handles both epubs and pdfs really well (Mantano) and another one that can read my rtfs (CoolReader). I'm still taking Mantano for a test drive, but I expect it will replace Aldiko and ezPDF. I swear I have about ten reader apps
You guys looking for cheap smartphones. Check out Virgin Mobile. $35 a month unlimited data, and texting with 300 minutes. It's on Sprints network so depends where you are but I have great coverage everywhere I go. Also its prepaid so no evil contracts!
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Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk
If this post helped you don't forget to say thanks!
Taosaur said:
Battery life is the upside of redundancy, for sure, but for reading at least, an e-ink device would have substantial advantages over the NC in that department. Something like the STR that can be rooted to display pretty much any document format and has some limited browsing capability might end up absorbing more of my juice-intensive activities than the NC. It's also somewhat relevant, for me, that the STR would be more efficient in terms of my personal power consumption, drawing much less juice off the grid.
I'm not decided on shelving the NC--I've had the phone less than a week, so I'll see how my usage patterns shake out. Still, it's tempting to go e-ink. It would also give me a new device to mod
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you'll find that once the novelty wears off you won't want to deal with the tiny screen unless it's your only option (ie at the dr, lunch etc.). I use my fascinate for phone calls, wifi hotspot and personal email and gchat at work (blocked on my work laptop) or when I have nothing else. The 7"screen is the right compromise between comfort and big enough text to be comfortable for extended use where the phone isn't, even with the beautiful amoled screen on the fascinate. I use the NC at home for most browsing and reading (and for tracking my fantasy football team on sundays).
Taosaur said:
At any rate, I'm in love with my NC again, mostly because I found an app that handles both epubs and pdfs really well (Mantano) and another one that can read my rtfs (CoolReader). I'm still taking Mantano for a test drive, but I expect it will replace Aldiko and ezPDF. I swear I have about ten reader apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy hell! I LOVE mantano! It's an immediate new favorite over aldiko and already has all the things I loved about aldiko, but it handles the PDFs soooo much better. The hint on using coolreader for rtf's was also good, as i gave up looking for something that could handle that format.
Now i'm going to go whole hog and couple mantano to calibre and be in heaven...
A hundred shiny new internets to you for such a great find, sir!
koopakid08 said:
You guys looking for cheap smartphones. Check out Virgin Mobile. $35 a month unlimited data, and texting with 300 minutes. It's on Sprints network so depends where you are but I have great coverage everywhere I go. Also its prepaid so no evil contracts!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I considered them (and could have sworn it was $25 when I looked at it), but the only Android they had was the LG Optimus V, which didn't look so hot, and while their service is decent right where I live, it's extremely spotty everywhere else I go. "Unlimited" sounds great, but "enough" is just as good for all practical purposes, and the aftermarket for AT&T phones is quite solid.
skwalas said:
Holy hell! I LOVE mantano! It's an immediate new favorite over aldiko and already has all the things I loved about aldiko, but it handles the PDFs soooo much better. The hint on using coolreader for rtf's was also good, as i gave up looking for something that could handle that format.
Now i'm going to go whole hog and couple mantano to calibre and be in heaven...
A hundred shiny new internets to you for such a great find, sir!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mantano CS/development is very engaged, too, and making constant improvements. They're active in this thread over on mobileread: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131997
I wish I could find a rtf editor for Android. I don't have a keyboard for the NC right now, but it is my preferred medium for word processing, and I'm thinking about doing NaNoWriMo this year, so it would come in handy when I'm on the road around Thanksgiving.
Taosaur said:
I considered them (and could have sworn it was $25 when I looked at it), but the only Android they had was the LG Optimus V, which didn't look so hot, and while their service is decent right where I live, it's extremely spotty everywhere else I go. "Unlimited" sounds great, but "enough" is just as good for all practical purposes, and the aftermarket for AT&T phones is quite solid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it was $25 and I'm still grandfathered into that price. They do have other Androids now the Moto Triumph looks pretty good but they also got some HTC phone and the optimus slider.
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Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk
If this post helped you don't forget to say thanks!

Would you recommend the D3?.

Ok so right now am looking for a phone to buy.
And had the droid x
And droid charge.
So my question is would anybody recommend the d3?
And how is the development for the d3 look in the future?
I heard about motorola unlocking the bootloader but when the day comes, will they only provide it with the new phones? Or would it be like an update?
Absolutely would recommend!
I wholeheartedly recommend the D3 - especially if you are looking for a physical keyboard.
Development is well under way and there are now at least 2 full working ROMs. I've tried both Steel Droid and Monster and both are great - i find monster to be faster and thats my preference.
When I first got the phone, I was pretty bummed that the locked bootloader had put a huge damper on development. Ever since root has been acheived, however, things have been much better and you could not pry my D3 from my cold dead hands.
I hear that Blur is much better than previous iterations, but I use launcher pro so I don't use blur at all.
heres a link to the ROM, Mods and Themes thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1289611
As much as I like my D3, I would not recommend it to anyone looking to get a new phone. unless you absolutely need a keyboard, I would wait for either the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus. Both will have better hardware and FAR better screens and will be LTE.
I got a D3 yesterday, after having the D1 the last two years. After about 20 hours using it, I love it. I really dig how fast it is, and the larger screen is nice too.
As soon as I got it home, I rooted it and ran the scripts to remove the VZW apps. I really don't see a need to flash a ROM since this D3 runs so smoothly already. I'd like to edit some PNG files here and there, and that will probably be about it for me. I remember the constant flashing of ROM's, SBF files, and themes on my D1. This time around, I'm really not looking forward to that. It feels to me like VZW and Motorola did a great job with the device as is once you skim off the bloatware.
Like SrulDog, I switched to LP immediately. I've been using LP since about the time it was released, so I am very comfortable with it. It runs great on the D3 too.
I say go for it. I don't know how it compares to the Droids you have owned, but I know it is much better than the D1.
-Mike
kishin14 said:
As much as I like my D3, I would not recommend it to anyone looking to get a new phone. unless you absolutely need a keyboard, I would wait for either the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus. Both will have better hardware and FAR better screens and will be LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure the screen looks crap sometimes. But I'm standing in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather right now and I can see every detail on it. Try that on an AMOLED.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
I have had this phone for a couple weeks and I am enjoying it. I had an OG Droid that the screen crapped out on me so this was nice because it works! I am used to the hardware keyboard on a Blackberry Tour/Bold 9650 but that's personal preference. I am getting used to this one though and I can fly on it so I guess it's pretty good for a keyboard.
A couple things I have done are root, freeze a few apps like VCast and run Autokiller at Strict, and the phone is as smooth as butter now. It has the same hardware as the Bionic really so I mean it's as high end as you can get. If you want 4G then as mentioned you should wait, but I have been getting great 3G speeds and yes I have to wait for the Market apps to download a little but it's a lot faster than it has been in the past with my OG Droid.
Well 4g isent really a biggy for me.
More like.batterry life and great rom features really
Androidsims said:
Sure the screen looks crap sometimes. But I'm standing in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather right now and I can see every detail on it. Try that on an AMOLED.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
/droid3
Great responses here! This is why I love XDA! To answer the question…yes, I would definitely recommend getting a DVD for all the reasons given above. Dev work is going well, CM7 is on the way, and we MAY have an AOSP rom by the weekend (permissions to port pending). The physical keyboard is outstanding, and the screen is good. Even though colors are a bit washed out, being able to view the screen in direct sunlight, with no issues, is a massive bonus. If you don't need the keyboard, and can wait a little while, I would jump all over the Nexus Prime/ galaxy Nexus/ whatever they're calling that 4.65" piece of sexiness! Either way, you'll end up satisfied imo.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
The biggest bugger for me is the lack of RAM. Phone would have been a whole lot better if it had 1GB ram instead 512MB only. The screen is a letdown IMO, but indeed is great in the sun and also better on the battery.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
Aside from the occasional issues from being in Australia, I must say I recommend the Droid 3. It's excellent!
I still fail to see what the lack of ram is holding us back from. But I've already convinced pne person to buy this phone, and they text me damn near everyday to thank me.
sent from my MONSTERDroid3 from the XDA app
Two years ago the Milestone was an awesome terminal for its time.
Nice design, perfect size, one of the best display ever seen, incredibly good audio quality and decent CPU power.
The only drawbacks were the horrible battery life, the cheap keyboard and the crap camera.
The D3, although can't be considered a bad phone, is the shadow of what the MS1 was.
The performances (I mean the real ones, not the benchmarks) aren't on par with one years old phones, the crap camera and the poor battery life are still there, the keyboard is improved but is still built like a toy, while the phone grown more than the display, the display went from the best available to the worst ever seen, the signal sensitivity went from the top to the "below the average". The audio quality, while better than the HTC phones is not on par with the motorola ancestors.
As I already said, my Desire Z (aka G2) was a better phone in any area, excluding the audio level and the lack of the numeric ROW.
From my point of view was a boring phone, everything worked from the beginning, good battery life, great photos, super stable system, good keyboard, and fantastic tethering capabilities.
The display was also good, not as the one on the Milestone 1, but light years better than the Droid 3's one.
All in all I suggest to buy the D3 only if you can get a very good deal.
If you like a ready to go smartphone, a DZ/G2 is still a way better choice, especially considering its today average price.
gravenimage said:
I still fail to see what the lack of ram is holding us back from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x2.
i think people come from older phones and get hung up on the numbers when with a better processor and other amenities a 'low' RAM really isn't a factor and can actually make the phone faster with everything cached and saved to the system memory. I don't even check the RAM since i've never had an issue with slow or choppy speed.
Also i go a whole day with my phone and end with 30% battery at the end of the day. i use it heavy while im out, not as much when home from work but even then i come home with 50-40% battery. I'm not sure what you guys are doing to get poor battery life.
kern417 said:
x2.
I'm not sure what you guys are doing to get poor battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually just using it on modern networks.
The motorola basebands are usually poor (especially on the erly releases), and the power drain has a lot of variation depending on the generation and the make of the BTS/node-b, whatever.
Just for example when I got the milestone 1, with the initial firmware tha battery lasted less than six hour with a vodafone SIM, and almost a day with a three SIM.
The Solutor said:
Usually just using it on modern networks.
The motorola basebands are usually poor (especially on the erly releases), and the power drain has a lot of variation depending on the generation and the make of the BTS/node-b, whatever.
Just for example when I got the milestone 1, with the initial firmware tha battery lasted less than six hour with a vodafone SIM, and almost a day with a three SIM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idk I hear people on Verizon say the same thing and we get pretty good service just about everywhere. sure at my old job where I was tucked in the basement my phone would die quickly but I couldnt blame that on the phone or the software, like you said it's the radio trying to get signal. I think it more depends on the user and how they use the phone/what services they run.
I had installed Juice Defender originally because i thought it would increase battery life, but i turn my screen on and off so much that it actually drained more battery from turning data off and on all the time, so now i only use it to automatically enable wifi when i'm home and turn off data while i'm asleep. maybe something like that could help you out?
All in all I think the D3 is one of the best Android options out. Plus i'm petty and like the fact that not everyone around here has one since it didn't seem to get a bunch of publicity...people still ask me 'What phone is that???"
kern417 said:
I had installed Juice Defender originally because i thought it would increase battery life, but i turn my screen on and off so much that it actually drained more battery from turning data off and on all the time, so now i only use it to automatically enable wifi when i'm home and turn off data while i'm asleep. maybe something like that could help you out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I bought the MS1 "wi sync plus" was the program that saved the ms1 form a jump out of the window.
Btw i never tried any wi sync+ clone, like juice defender.
I'm about to purchased D3 today. Too bad it's hard to find one here. Already ask the seller to check with the supplier if there is any. I only found Motorola Atrix at one single shop here.
This is definitely my choice right now. In my opinion, 512MB RAM is enough for a dual core 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC processor. PowerVR SGX540 is just nice, too bad that it only support OpenGL 2.0 and not DirectX as in Playstation Vita with PowerVR SGX543.
QWERTY keyboard has improved a lot this time. It had HDMI Type-D, Physical Button for Camera & Sound Volume & Micro-USB. I really hope it will get ICS update when it release and capable of USB Host. Another thing is that Motorola had been bought by Google, I believe Motorola will have latest update every time new Android version released. I hope so
One thing that make me stay away from Samsung Galaxy S2 is that it had one single port Micro USB for everything(HDMI through MHL, USB data, USB Charging, USB Host)
If i use HDMI output, then I cannot use USB Host at the same time. I wonder if the USB Host adapter connected to USB Hub, can it handle and recognize multiple device such as keyboard, mouse,game controller,USB Pendrive etc?
Yeah, but the way I understand it, even the phones that have 1gb of RAM right now (Atrix, Bionic) dont really have 1gb because 512mb is locked to be used with Webtop. And so far as I have been able to find, no other phone has more than 512mb right now. Can anyone confirm?
This mattered to me because I have an Atrix right now on AT&T and I absolutely love the phone, but can't take the ****ty service everywhere anymore, have to switch to Verizon. I had basically three phones I was looking at in the Amazon penny sale, D3, Bionic and the new Samsung qwerty, Supernova or something. So, if the above is right, the D3 I'm getting is essentially the same phone as my Atrix now without Webtop (don't care) or 4g (not here for years, boucou wifi) but with a physical kb, which actually makes it way better. I actually really, really like Gingerblur, and if it's slow I dig Launcherpro, so I should be good, yeah?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
This. Coming from an Atrix getting HDMI mirroring will be a big deal to me; I didn't buy any docks and haven't rooted or reflashed other than official 2.3 update, so the only thing I ever get over HDMI is the media player interface. Which is cool, but I want something else.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Streak 7 worth it at this point?

I bought one a while ago when there was a sale on them, but ultimately returned it because I didn't really have a use for it at the time and was kinda strapped on cash. Anyway, considering getting another one, primarily since it's the only decent 7" tablet I know of with a full-size SD slot (which would make transferring videos a breeze - my primary use for it).
Is it still worth it, though, considering the low screen resolution? There's the Huawei Mediapad / T-Mobile Springboard, which in comparison runs for about $100-$150 more, and has a 1280x800 screen, in addition to HDMI-out without a dock (and possibly phone call support with ICS, although I can't confirm that on the Springboard at least). Of course, that $100-$150 extra may not be worth it, or could be put toward something else.
I mean, the two primary uses of the device would be watching videos and reading books...would a higher resolution really be that beneficial? Most of the videos I'd plan to load onto the device would be like 620x350 or something like that - all below 800x480; being able to load 720p files and have them hardware-accelerated would be nice, though.
magus57 said:
I bought one a while ago when there was a sale on them, but ultimately returned it because I didn't really have a use for it at the time and was kinda strapped on cash. Anyway, considering getting another one, primarily since it's the only decent 7" tablet I know of with a full-size SD slot (which would make transferring videos a breeze - my primary use for it).
Is it still worth it, though, considering the low screen resolution? There's the Huawei Mediapad / T-Mobile Springboard, which in comparison runs for about $100-$150 more, and has a 1280x800 screen, in addition to HDMI-out without a dock (and possibly phone call support with ICS, although I can't confirm that on the Springboard at least). Of course, that $100-$150 extra may not be worth it, or could be put toward something else.
I mean, the two primary uses of the device would be watching videos and reading books...would a higher resolution really be that beneficial? Most of the videos I'd plan to load onto the device would be like 620x350 or something like that - all below 800x480; being able to load 720p files and have them hardware-accelerated would be nice, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it is worth the $300 price any longer, but if you can find it for $100-$150, then I say it would be worth it.
At this point I wouldn't buy one that didn't come with a warranty. Parts are too difficult/impossible to find.
good luck,
otnos said:
I don't think it is worth the $300 price any longer, but if you can find it for $100-$150, then I say it would be worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DCoop said:
At this point I wouldn't buy one that didn't come with a warranty. Parts are too difficult/impossible to find.
good luck,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case, any idea where I could buy one with a warranty for around $200? Or a 4G T-Mobile version with a warranty for around $300?
EDIT: Anybody know if this site is legit, at least with the 1-year warranty?:
https://www.blinq.com/#computers-ne...d-2-2-froyo-16gb-tablet/51763?source=googleps
magus57 said:
In that case, any idea where I could buy one with a warranty for around $200? Or a 4G T-Mobile version with a warranty for around $300?
EDIT: Anybody know if this site is legit, at least with the 1-year warranty?:
https://www.blinq.com/#computers-ne...d-2-2-froyo-16gb-tablet/51763?source=googleps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seeing as they are discontinues it's a pretty long shot as to finding one with a warranty for that money. The fact it has a warranty and that new is gonna drive the price up to 250 or 300
blinq.com got really good reviews over at Amazon, so they are legitimate. The Dell 7's they have are used but they do come with a 1 year warranty. Having said that, and having had a Streak7 for 4 months, I'd recommend looking for something else. I just checked my local Craigslist and saw a brand new HP Touchpad 32Gig for $250. I'm sure it could be bought for less if you had cash.
I really grew to like my S-7, I had an ipad2 for several months and it doesn't compare of course, but for what it costs (I got my Streak 7 for $150 used) it does a great job. Yes the screen isn't great but you adjust to it, but it certainly wasn't worth the $300-400 it originally cost. If Dell would upgrade the screen and processor it would be a winner. I love the 7" screen and that's what I'm going to buy in the future, something with a really nice 7" screen and a new processor. I use mine most of the time in a car or airplane and the 7" is so much better in size for those applications.
I dropped my Streak onto a tile floor from my desk and it cracked the glass that covers the screen. The screen itself is perfect, just the glass covering is cracked. It's hard to find another glass that covers the screen, there aren't any in the US, the Chinese want $90 to deliver a new screen with glass, and mine only cost $150 to begin with. So the difference as far as my monetary loss between not buying or buying the screen is $60. So I could write off the $60 and put the $90 screen cost towards an HP or other tablet.
Good luck with what you decide,
Find something else. There isn't much development for the streak 7. Only one ROM out there if you like to play around with stuff like that. the battery is pretty weak. 4 hours our less and then you're scrambling for a charger if you're doing anything important. I have had my 4g version for about a year and the headphone jack is acting up. I tried to clean it andit still usually only likes to play out of the right ear. I have to jiggle it around and then not move it. I like to use my Bluetooth headphones most of the time, but that runs the Barry down even faster. I am going to try and find something else soon. But I do like the 7 inch form factor. Not to big, not to small.
Battery life isn't bad after a custom rom and a few tweeks.
Get ICS B4 or HoneyStreak R8, get SetCPU and set up some profiles to slow down the processor when screen is off.
I usually get about 48 hours of standby time, and 5-8 hours of video watching.
giveen said:
Battery life isn't bad after a custom rom and a few tweeks.
Get ICS B4 or HoneyStreak R8, get SetCPU and set up some profiles to slow down the processor when screen is off.
I usually get about 48 hours of standby time, and 5-8 hours of video watching.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it not already have deep sleep at kernel level?
Looking into buying since rez isn't an issue and many other tablets that are of same price range have no development know not much here but least a few ROMs and Kernel.
It'd just be used when mobile as carry a 19" workstation anyway.
Main device would still be SGSII.
Sent from the valley of the shadows......

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