HTC EVO 3D used as a computer?

[fattank]

I was thinking maybe it'd be possible to use the 3VO as sort of a mini-laptop. Like a netbook. With a 4.3" screen. Eh? Here are some things to keep in mind or mull over:

• Resolution is now nearly as good as some netbooks (better than others -- remember the old QVGA netbooks?).
• [A] Case will/may come with a kickstand
• "Bluetooth keyboards" (never used them -- do they work well with Android? With the EVO? Some are highly portable and even come with a pointer/mouse!)
• Possibility to sideload Ubuntu (as has been done with the HD2), given bootloader is unlocked (Ubuntu is a full desktop OS including the latest OpenOffice/LibreOffice fully comparable to and compatible with Microsoft Office for most use).
• Likely no GPU support (including video acceleration, 3D, etc) due to lack of Qualcomm drivers for non-Android GNU/Linux.
• SMS/MMS/data/Wifi likely to work, calls can be received but sound system may have difficulties).

What do you think? I've known HD2's to be used like this (though in my experience without a Bluetooth keyboard -- instead, a USB keyboard with power supply).

For productivity, this thing might be pretty darn cool. If we're getting it anyway, it might not hurt to spend just our $50 (after Evo 4G trade-in) instead of buying a more expensive netbook or tablet.

 

[Groty]

Why not just get the Atrix?

 

[novox77]

Glad to hear others interested in this option.

Evo 4G running CyanogenMod 6 or 7 gives you BT HID support, so you can pair a mouse and keyboard to the phone. And most recent kernels for Evo 4G support HDMI mirroring (which actually is a stock feature on Evo 3D) so you can output audio/video to a TV or monitor with speakers.

Unfortunately with the Evo, the HID support is not quite there. You don't see a mouse cursor so you're really using the mouse to scroll through the objects on your homescreens. Moving your mouse right some arbitrary amount will highlight the icon/widget to the right of the currently selected item. A click is the same as a tap. And right click doesn't seem to work. And unless a game is programmed to use a bluetooth HID device, the mouse/keyboard won't work.

People have successfully paired and used their Wiimotes and played games via emulator on the Evo 4G, while it outputs to a TV.

With full HDMI mirroring stock on the Evo 3D, I'm also hoping for full BT HID support as well. After all, why offer the full mirroring if you still have to look down at your phone to interact with it? With a mouse cursor, you can keep your eyes on the big screen.

I've seen ubuntu on Evo as well. Not practical to use with the phone screen, but makes perfect sense on a 1080p TV screen.

But there's the issue of battery life. You'd have to keep the phone plugged into a charger (unless you have the proper MHL setup and can use the TV). Ideally, you'd be able to power the phone through the charger port WHILE the battery is removed. The phone will get hot, and I wouldn't want the battery cooking in the chassis.

It's stuff like this that makes me eager to root the phone

 

[novox77]

Why not just get the Atrix?

Gimmick.

Do I have the choice to use that dock to mirror the phone's A/V onto the dock? Do I have the choice to run the OS of my choice when the phone is docked?
Why would I pay extra for a screen when I have plenty of monitors to use for that purpose?

Oh and it has a PenTile LCD screen and an encrypted bootloader

I'll take full HDMI mirroring over a proprietary docking station any day.

 

[yourfriendmat]

Gimmick.

Do I have the choice to use that dock to mirror the phone's A/V onto the dock? Do I have the choice to run the OS of my choice when the phone is docked?
Why would I pay extra for a screen when I have plenty of monitors to use for that purpose?

Oh and it has a PenTile LCD screen and an encrypted bootloader

I'll take full HDMI mirroring over a proprietary docking station any day.

Someone doesn't like the Atrix! lol For whatever reason, it made me laugh out loud with shock (LOLWS?) when I saw that you called something a gimmick. I always thought you were so open-minded

 

[Kurakka]

I really wanted to like the Atrix. I really wanted it to be awesome, but as novox77 pointed out its mroe gimmick than anything. I am really glad HTC opted to allow for the mirroring mode, I will very much enjoy being able to use that function.

 

[novox77]

not a fan of the Atrix

Actually, I only said "gimmick" cause this is the Evo 3D forum, where that word is thrown around quite a bit. When I first saw the docking capabilities of the Atrix, my first thought was "promising." But when I read more about the actual implementation, I was turned off.

Those who are familiar with my posts regarding HTC's bootloader policy should know my distaste for Motorola's bootloader policies.

And PenTile is my favorite screen pet peeve

 

[kenn]

The New Features of Android 3.1 and Ice Cream Sandwich

According to this article (one of many), one of the features of Ice Cream Sandwich will be for Android devices to act as a USB hub in that devices "such as mice and keyboards" can be connected. I'm assuming this is their move toward making all Android devices capable of being a portable computer...

I've been wanting this for a couple of years now. It makes no sense NOT to... I'd love to have a very fast phone that I can just USB/HDMI plug into a monitor/keyboard/mouse combo and then be off and running as a desktop would be... HDMI Mirroring is a good start.

The Atrix is an interesting idea, but locking it into a proprietary display was idiotic, at best. They SHOULD have created a custom port on the phone to connect a usb mouse/keyboard and an HDMI port. Then you just needed the special cable from phone to said devices...

 

[novox77]

I wanted USB host mode yesterday Apparently some Android devices could act as a USB host. Standardizing this would be great.

 

[EarlyMon]

Still - 3D fan calling dock gimmick is ... is ... ummmmm.... ironic?

I think the dock answers a need, is straightforward, simple, works well for what it is - so far, I've objected to the price.

I think idea of phone as computer is an idea whose timing is rapidly approaching. Pair that display port with a little pico projector of some sort, input devices - and correct me - but isn't one of the features of Ice Cream that mouseovers actually work now in Flash? (Or is that Honeycomb 3.1 - I get confused.)

The day is coming soon.

 

[shadders139]

using the phone as a net book of sorts was part of my justification to myself for getting a dual core phone! although i thought pairing a bluetooth keyboard onto the phone would be a simple process, and didn't realise it was so difficult?
there are already word processor apps so there are alternatives to the hassle of loading ubuntu

 

[ovrrdrive]

Still - 3D fan calling dock gimmick is ... is ... ummmmm.... ironic?

I think the dock answers a need, is straightforward, simple, works well for what it is - so far, I've objected to the price.

I think idea of phone as computer is an idea whose timing is rapidly approaching. Pair that display port with a little pico projector of some sort, input devices - and correct me - but isn't one of the features of Ice Cream that mouseovers actually work now in Flash? (Or is that Honeycomb 3.1 - I get confused.)

The day is coming soon.

I haven't done any reading at all on the atrix and the dock but I agree it's a very promising idea. It really caught my attention for afew moments but I'm stuck on sprint for a few years min so i didn't give it too much time. If it ends up working as I envision it someday I really hope that option is available on an evo. Hopefully the novelty wears off though and the price drops. I don't think a screen and keyboard should cost more than $150-200 tops.

 

[iwillfearnoevil]

seems to me the idea loses its steam when i realize you have to carry around mouse, keyboard, hdmi cable, and wall charger.

 

[rivera02]

Glad to hear others interested in this option.

Evo 4G running CyanogenMod 6 or 7 gives you BT HID support, so you can pair a mouse and keyboard to the phone. And most recent kernels for Evo 4G support HDMI mirroring (which actually is a stock feature on Evo 3D) so you can output audio/video to a TV or monitor with speakers.

Unfortunately with the Evo, the HID support is not quite there. You don't see a mouse cursor so you're really using the mouse to scroll through the objects on your homescreens. Moving your mouse right some arbitrary amount will highlight the icon/widget to the right of the currently selected item. A click is the same as a tap. And right click doesn't seem to work. And unless a game is programmed to use a bluetooth HID device, the mouse/keyboard won't work.

People have successfully paired and used their Wiimotes and played games via emulator on the Evo 4G, while it outputs to a TV.

With full HDMI mirroring stock on the Evo 3D, I'm also hoping for full BT HID support as well. After all, why offer the full mirroring if you still have to look down at your phone to interact with it? With a mouse cursor, you can keep your eyes on the big screen.

I've seen ubuntu on Evo as well. Not practical to use with the phone screen, but makes perfect sense on a 1080p TV screen.

But there's the issue of battery life. You'd have to keep the phone plugged into a charger (unless you have the proper MHL setup and can use the TV). Ideally, you'd be able to power the phone through the charger port WHILE the battery is removed. The phone will get hot, and I wouldn't want the battery cooking in the chassis.

It's stuff like this that makes me eager to root the phone

Phonescoop.com lists HID under supported bluetooth profiles for the evo 3d. I'm hoping this is accurate..

 

[viber]

If you use all of Google's cloud services, a phone could replace a PC for many of the everyday functions like storing pics/music, making spreadsheets and docs and presentations.

Look at the Google Chromebook as an example. Android could easily do something similar.

Keep an eye on the Photon. With a faster, leaner Blur, and a dock and cloud services, I could easily dump my laptop for 75% of my needs.

 

[fattank]

seems to me the idea loses its steam when i realize you have to carry around mouse, keyboard, hdmi cable, and wall charger.

What about those amazing foldable BT keyboards with integrated trackpad? After that, all you need is a single cord (MHL cable) and you're good to both charge AND display.

(Of course you could also just bring the HDMI cable -- the phone should still last you the workday without a charge!)

 

[bradleyw801]

You are talking about something like this: Use your EVO as a "Desktop PC", Now With CM7 Goodness!!! - xda-developers

Right?

 

[novox77]

You are talking about something like this: Use your EVO as a "Desktop PC", Now With CM7 Goodness!!! - xda-developers

Right?

Exactly. With Evo 4G, you need CM7 (cause it appears to be the only ROM to support BT HID devices), and you need a kernel that supports full HDMI mirroring.

We're hoping Evo 3D has this stuff out of the box and BETTER HID support w/ mouse cursor.

 

[elfaure]

Phonescoop.com lists HID under supported bluetooth profiles for the evo 3d. I'm hoping this is accurate..

Yes this is accurate. Typing this reply on my old BT Freedom Universal 2 keyboard that I bought for my blackberry before I got my awesome 3VO.

A bit tricky but I was able to pair and connect with my KB under the HID but not SPP profile. Unfortunately Freedom does not have a driver for this KB and Android, so none of the special Fn keys are supported but basic typig works pretty well. And Keypro won't work because it only supports SPP not HID. Alas, if I wanted to fork more $ I could get the Freedom Pro KB which they do have an Androld driver for but I am pretty satisfied with this setup for now and my limited typing requiremens. I also setup Wifi Keyboard with my PC so I can text and type3 on the phone from the office PC.

Next step is the mouse then mirrored HDMI out to a TV, monitor or display port. Regarding Atrix, Photon, and Motorola (and Motoblur ha) I am very glad I did my research and did NOT gubuy into this GIMMICK. I have been a long time fan of Motorola phones, but hTC and Androd can't be matched. Sense 3.0 is sooooooooo sweet.

 

[novox77]

Next step is the mouse then mirrored HDMI out to a TV, monitor or display port. Regarding Atrix, Photon, and Motorola (and Motoblur ha) I am very glad I did my research and did NOT gubuy into this GIMMICK. I have been a long time fan of Motorola phones, but hTC and Androd can't be matched. Sense 3.0 is sooooooooo sweet.

Welcome to the forums!

Definitely post your results with the mouse. Do you get a cursor? Does your right click button work? etc.

 

[Matlock]

What about those amazing foldable BT keyboards with integrated trackpad? After that, all you need is a single cord (MHL cable) and you're good to both charge AND display.

(Of course you could also just bring the HDMI cable -- the phone should still last you the workday without a charge!)

This made me think of eventually how TVs will all have Bluetooth capabilities and will be able to integrate everything from our pocket(not literal) to the TV.

EVO mirrored to the screen by Bluetooth and controlled from a LapMouseBoard(will work on the name later lol) setup. The technology is there, only waiting for our lovely Rocket Scientists to let us have some of the goodies. Like on NCIS: LA with our bad-ass touchscreen monitors with multi-touch. GIMMIE! I want one!

 

[mrmr43]

I am new to everything, I have searched and can't find an answer. I want to be able to use my phone as my main source of everything electronic.

I live in the country with satellite internet which is really slow and can't play ps3 online.
I also have direct tv and hate paying $300 a month for only a few channels that I watch and of course ESPN and NFL network. So i was going to get netflix and see if you guys know of a way to get other channels...that way i might be able to cancel my direct tv all together.

Any way to do this and get the channels to my tv and still be full Hd on my led tv? I have a HTC mhl adapter. But just about everything is far from hd quality.


How can i use my phone as a little computer to play my ps3 online? And still have a reliable phone...I unlocked my last 3vo and ended up bricked.

You guys are smart how can I do this if it is possible?
Thanks!

I tried to make this a new thread but its gone and not sure where it belongs.

 

[wake69]

You want to Go from a semi reliable 3meg Internet to less than a meg? And as for the mhl adapter, how old is youth tv?

 

[mrmr43]

I dont know all the specs.
Im told our satellite internet is only a small step above dial up.
And its pretty slow.

I cant play ps3 online with the internet i have, but have read where other people tether their phone and can play MW2 and black ops no problem. Id like to find a way to play online since 99% of games are online oriented nowadays anyways.

My tv is a Samsung 55 LED, so it shouldnt be outdated.

oh, and I got netflix last night, hooked it up to my other HD tv,its an LG, and tried to watch Family Guy, it looked like crap, is that normal? Netflix FAQ said quality has to do with internet quality.

 

[demono69]

Welcome to the forums!

Definitely post your results with the mouse. Do you get a cursor? Does your right click button work? etc.

The mouse only highlights, no cursor ;(

Anyone find a way to get the arrow pointer on the EVO 3D?