Just played with the Atrix

[DroidBabe]

I wasn't impressed. Why? Motoblur purhaps? I was looking forward to this phone on AT&T. Maybe it was just me?

BTW, how is the LED notification? Does it light up in different colors like the Blackberry when it has BeBuzz installed?

 

[cregal121]

it's not just you. i'm returning my atrix and sticking with my old iphone 3g for now. loved the android OS, but hated the phone.

 

[humjaba]

Don't let motoblur scare you. I installed LauncherPro over it and now I don't have to interact with it at all.

The LED only lights up green for me so far, but it's always in my pocket so the LED doesn't really matter to me.

I too came from the iPhone 3G and I could never go back to waiting 5+ seconds for each app to start (and no multitasking)

 

[shalemail]

I wasn't impressed. Why? Motoblur purhaps? I was looking forward to this phone on AT&T. Maybe it was just me?

BTW, how is the LED notification? Does it light up in different colors like the Blackberry when it has BeBuzz installed?

I am not sure why you were not impressed, I love this phone from top to bottom. If you tried the in-store demo, it's probably loaded up with crap and apps and stuff running the hell out of it.

I have green notification for charging, purple for yahoo mail, blue for handcent, red for gmail and that's all I have needed so far no app needed.

it's not just you. i'm returning my atrix and sticking with my old iphone 3g for now. loved the android OS, but hated the phone.

I am shocked to hear this, I have a buddy that has the iphone 3g and he's played with my Atrix and is counting the days till he can upgrade and get one...

Don't let motoblur scare you. I installed LauncherPro over it and now I don't have to interact with it at all.

The LED only lights up green for me so far, but it's always in my pocket so the LED doesn't really matter to me.

I too came from the iPhone 3G and I could never go back to waiting 5+ seconds for each app to start (and no multitasking)

See above I have multi - color leds for all my various needs.

 

[cregal121]

I am shocked to hear this, I have a buddy that has the iphone 3g and he's played with my Atrix and is counting the days till he can upgrade and get one...

i'm shocked myself. biggest issues for me were signal strength and wifi. cell reception on the atrix is horrid compared to the iphone, but i was willing to live with that because that could just be a factor of the area i live in. inability to consistently hold a wifi connection was the deal killer. that's inexcusable and an indication of poor build quality.

 

[shalemail]

i'm shocked myself. biggest issues for me were signal strength and wifi. cell reception on the atrix is horrid compared to the iphone, but i was willing to live with that because that could just be a factor of the area i live in. inability to consistently hold a wifi connection was the deal killer. that's inexcusable and an indication of poor build quality.

Mine locks in on wifi both at home and at work as well as the 2 or 3 friends houses I frequent that also have wifi, it's much better than my HTC Mytouch Slide ever was (it pics up the signal and holds it longer when I am farther from the source) ... maybe you checked out a lemon.

 

[UnCommonGrafx]

I find all this very interesting.
This is my first foray into the new phone technology. The Android technology seems to be leaps and bounds above what the iPhone offers and yet the above types of comments are seen often. (Bought the wife an iPhone 4 and was quite envious for a while.)

My biggest gripe is about the fcc (front facing camera) and no apps to use across platform for face to face chatting. Were I a deaf person wanting a vp, this would suck. Fortunately, I don't have that concern.

I installed a multi-colored led app this morn. Quite cool. What are the "This phone sucks" arguments for you guys? I'm curious because it seems to be a quite cool phone.

Hip me up as to what I'm missing, please.

 

[DT]

I wasn't impressed.

I guess I never understand this comment. Do you mean based on your expectations (which were what?) Or vs. an existing device you own?

I got mine (ordered online). Installed the battery, SIM, fired it up. Noted how quickly it started, the very good quality on the text. Fired up a few apps (they started instantly). Connected to our WiFi, no problem, connected to my Google account, ~30 seconds I've got all my calendar/contacts and Gmail.

Swapped out the launcher to LP+, installed a few of my fave apps, everything ran perfect, fast, looked good.

At this point, I don't expect any device to be such a massive improvement from the previous generation that I pass out from amazement.

i'm shocked myself. biggest issues for me were signal strength and wifi. cell reception on the atrix is horrid compared to the iphone, but i was willing to live with that because that could just be a factor of the area i live in. inability to consistently hold a wifi connection was the deal killer. that's inexcusable and an indication of poor build quality.

I believe it was your thread where I posted about using a static IP. Did you ever try it?

It sounds like a handshake/protocol issue with the implementation between your phone and router. FWIW, my Captivate and Atrix both acted a little cranky with my router (DIR-655), but both work great setup static, and work with dynamic allocation out and about at public APs, etc.

 

[DroidBabe]

I guess I never understand this comment. Do you mean based on your expectations (which were what?) Or vs. an existing device you own?

[\QUOTE]
Both. I have the G2 and it doesn't have motoblur. Which after playing with the device I wasn't a fan of because of that. (I know you can change it with a launcher or when it is rooted) The build quality is real nice though. That I like. I'm gonna play with it one more time before making a decision.

 

[shalemail]

I find all this very interesting.
This is my first foray into the new phone technology. The Android technology seems to be leaps and bounds above what the iPhone offers and yet the above types of comments are seen often. (Bought the wife an iPhone 4 and was quite envious for a while.)

My biggest gripe is about the fcc (front facing camera) and no apps to use across platform for face to face chatting. Were I a deaf person wanting a vp, this would suck. Fortunately, I don't have that concern.

I installed a multi-colored led app this morn. Quite cool. What are the "This phone sucks" arguments for you guys? I'm curious because it seems to be a quite cool phone.

Hip me up as to what I'm missing, please.

Which "multi-colored led app" did you use?

 

[cregal121]

Mine locks in on wifi both at home and at work as well as the 2 or 3 friends houses I frequent that also have wifi, it's much better than my HTC Mytouch Slide ever was (it pics up the signal and holds it longer when I am farther from the source) ... maybe you checked out a lemon.

well, i've already exchanged for a new atrix and still have the same issue so yea... the most frustrating part about it is that every other device (iphone, laptop, PS3) connects without any hiccups whatsoever.

I believe it was your thread where I posted about using a static IP. Did you ever try it?

It sounds like a handshake/protocol issue with the implementation between your phone and router. FWIW, my Captivate and Atrix both acted a little cranky with my router (DIR-655), but both work great setup static, and work with dynamic allocation out and about at public APs, etc.

whoa, totally missed that (probably too frustrated at the time!). any quick info you could provide on how to set a static IP up? never done that before. also, doesn't that mean the phone's wifi can only connect with that one router?

 

[dressagerider]

i'm shocked myself. biggest issues for me were signal strength and wifi. cell reception on the atrix is horrid compared to the iphone, but i was willing to live with that because that could just be a factor of the area i live in. inability to consistently hold a wifi connection was the deal killer. that's inexcusable and an indication of poor build quality.

Are you sure you are talking about the atrix? It seem like you have unknowingly tried a different phone.

I have had the exact OPPOSITE experience with the atrix. For a long time I had an iphone 3gs, then had an iphone 4 but took it back within my trial time and now have the atrix.

My signal strength is loads better than with the iphones. I no longer have to sit in one spot in my home to get service like I did with my iphone. The call quality is excellent and even my friends have noticed the difference when speaking with me now. The wifi in my home works flawlessly on the atrix and the iphones constantly were being kicked off the wifi connection. My daughter's itouch also has hiccups with the wifi in my house and in other places.

My husband still has an iphone as he is not due an upgrade yet. I see the difference in how much better the atrix is on a daily basis. The atrix is much better.

Maybe you got a lemon or just don't know how to use the phone??

 

[DT]

well, i've already exchanged for a new atrix and still have the same issue so yea... the most frustrating part about it is that every other device (iphone, laptop, PS3) connects without any hiccups whatsoever.

whoa, totally missed that (probably too frustrated at the time!). any quick info you could provide on how to set a static IP up? never done that before. also, doesn't that mean the phone's wifi can only connect with that one router?

OK, just to test it out, open Wireless (from Home >> Prefs). Go into WiFi Settings, you'll see the normal standard config, your network listed, etc. Hit the Menu hardkey (lower left), and you'll see an option for Advanced. That's where you can select static and enter some static info.

Generally, you'll be using an internal/NAT address, so pick one, you're probably used to seeing these, something in the 192.168.x.x range.

For example, 192.168.0.168 (assuming it's not in use, you'll need to check your other devs, probably right from the router web interface if you're familiar).

Gateway will be the IP of the router, the subnet is to determine internal vs. routed IP, but it's usually just the last octet. For DNS just use Google's, it's effective and simple to remember and enter. So a whole example:

192.168.0.168 IP
192.168.0.1 GATEWAY
255.255.255.0 SUBNET
8.8.8.8 DNS 1
8.8.4.4 DNS 2

Once you setup for static, it will remain static unless you go back in and choose dynamic. Alternately you can use an app, and one of my faves is this one:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.monkelabs.ipmanager

Where you can easily set different profiles using static or dynamic, and they provide a widget to easily switch between configs.

Good luck!

 

[cregal121]

wow,thanks for all that! i'll give it a shot when i'm home later.

 

[instrucrat1]

I have green notification for charging, purple for yahoo mail, blue for handcent, red for gmail and that's all I have needed so far no app needed.

How did you selected various colors for various notifications?

 

[Jeremy81]

i'm shocked myself. biggest issues for me were signal strength and wifi. cell reception on the atrix is horrid compared to the iphone, but i was willing to live with that because that could just be a factor of the area i live in. inability to consistently hold a wifi connection was the deal killer. that's inexcusable and an indication of poor build quality.

I've found reception far better than the iPhone. The small town I live in has excellent coverage but the surrounding areas are very spotty. I've found that I don't lose coverage like I did with the iPhone when traveling through these areas. In fact data coverage in these areas was very slow to not working at all but I've found that where my data wouldn't work before it now zips along even though it's just EDGE. I took a 3 hour trip last week and the data coverage worked the entire way which has never happened before. As for Wi-fi my house is nearly 100 years old with plaster walls and I can still get Wi-fi coverage even if I'm outside in the driveway.

 

[shalemail]

How did you selected various colors for various notifications?

Each app has an option in the settings that allows you to choose the color and blink and all that, except for Yahoo mail which I think just defaults to blink purple.

 

[cregal121]

Good luck!

thanks, DT! i'll admit, wifi is noticeably more solid with the static IP setup. it still fricken disconnects every once in a while, but at least it'll reconnect fairly quickly afterwards. before when i was using dynamic IP, the phone would not be able reconnect; it would just hang at "obtaining IP address..."

i still think it's beyond pathetic that this phone needs this much TLC just to hold a simple wifi connection, but at least i'm now considering hanging onto the phone a little bit longer.

thanks again!