Atrix for College

[colin31]

Hey guys, I'm new here and all, and I'm about to get my Atrix in the next 2 weeks and I'm really excited to get it! College is coming up, and I have been looking at accessories. Ive looked at the "Lapdock" Accessory, and to me, it looks interesting and promising. I'm asking this: is it really worth the $300 price tag or should I just buy a Bluetooth Keyboard and just take my Atrix to class and type on it using QuickOffice or a similar app. Thanks in advance!
-Colin

 

[dalvik]

honestly, I would actually get a real laptop.... especially if I'm a college student...

 

[attweco]

honestly, I would actually get a real laptop.... especially if I'm a college student...

DItto that!!

If you are concerned about sharing files and syncing calendar and email between your laptop and your mobile, there are several options which you can use.

 

[colin31]

Thanks everyone, so, Cheap laptop/netbook instead of the lapdock seems to be the decision? I like the idea for the lapdock because it seems to keep everything together. From what I've seen, it(the lapdock) doesn't seem too special with features, and the webtop feature seems a little bit under-developed to me. Could this be fixed in a Software update, maybe Gingerbread?

 

[dalvik]

Thanks everyone, so, Cheap laptop/netbook instead of the lapdock seems to be the decision? I like the idea for the lapdock because it seems to keep everything together. From what I've seen, it(the lapdock) doesn't seem too special with features, and the webtop feature seems a little bit under-developed to me. Could this be fixed in a Software update, maybe Gingerbread?

the smartphone is still a smartphone - an advanced form of a phone. its mainly designed to access the most used features like banking, shopping, email, and web browsing on the go. it will NOT replace a fully functional laptop. so trust me, you'd better get something like an Asus Seashell netbook from amazon.com for around $300 or even less, rather than spending the same cash on unneeded/unnessessery, overpriced accessory, which btw has the very same functions as the webtop feature which you can actually have for free by applying a simple webtop hack from XDA and by using included hdmi cable connect it to any monitor or TV with hdmi input, absolutely at no cost....

 

[colin31]

Trevalkin: Yeah, I read about that Webtop Hack/Rom. I may or may not do that, because I'm waiting to: 1. get my atrix 2. Gingerbread update. 3. Google Talk with Video to come out. To be honest. I like the Idea of Rooting the atrix, i really do, but i'm not fully sold on the idea, it voids the warranty, correct?

 

[dalvik]

Trevalkin: Yeah, I read about that Webtop Hack/Rom. I may or may not do that, because I'm waiting to: 1. get my atrix 2. Gingerbread update. 3. Google Talk with Video to come out. To be honest. I like the Idea of Rooting the atrix, i really do, but i'm not fully sold on the idea, it voids the warranty, correct?

rooting the phone doesn't void the warranty, you can easily unroot it. I believe unlocking the phone and the bootloader may void the warranty, I had my phone rooted for only one reason to enable apps sideloading, but I eventually unrooted it and left sideloading enabled by previously activating it with another script.

 

[colin31]

Ah, ok! I believe Sideloading is what i'm looking forward to, a relative has a android on ATT and i can't find alot of apps I see on youtube. I'm going to read more into this Bootloader information and see if it's truely worth it. Some Research over at the XDA forums helped me find this about the Webtop: [MOD] Full Linux (Debian) inside WebTop! v0.2.5 [2011/05/27] [9.30 GMT +2:00] - xda-developers
Linux on the Webtop!

 

[dalvik]

yeahh that looks interesting, i may try that out.
btw sideloading will be enabled by default with gingerbread update....

 

[Nickerz]

Is "sideloading" the abilty to install any app in the Android market?

 

[TenshiNo]

Is "sideloading" the abilty to install any app in the Android market?

Quite the opposite. Sideloading is the ability to load applications that are not housed in the Android Market. If there is an application that is not appearing for you in the market, it's because your phone does not meet some requirement of the application or has been "filtered" out based on a request from your carrier.

 

[colin31]

yeahh that looks interesting, i may try that out.
btw sideloading will be enabled by default with gingerbread update....

Yeah, it's a neat concept, and it may eventually pay off for Bootloading, the Lapdock, and learning Linux commands! haha! Reguardless, I may just wait for gingerbread and see if they make any changes to the Webtop before I go Gun-ho and purchase that! But college is soon, so decisions will have to be made on time, right?

 

[dalvik]

Yeah, it's a neat concept, and it may eventually pay off for Bootloading, the Lapdock, and learning Linux commands! haha! Reguardless, I may just wait for gingerbread and see if they make any changes to the Webtop before I go Gun-ho and purchase that! But college is soon, so decisions will have to be made on time, right?

I would still get the real notebook. I see no benefit in getting a half functional lapdock. I just looked up on motorola site and it looks like you need a tethering plan in order to use internet on the lapdok via data connection. i might be wrong though, never looked too deep into that. https://motorola-global-en-uk.custh...id/64236/~/lapdock---webtop-data-requirements. so to summarize this, you pay $300 for a less-than-half-functional lapdok and on top of that you have to pay extra for tethering... might just as well get a fully functional real notebook and enjoy the FULL, REAL PC experience... with tethering, if you absolutely need that....
lol honestly man you'll thank me later for trying to save you some cash... lapdock is just a fancy but completely useless overpriced thing....

on a side note, there is a galaxy s II phone should be coming to AT&T (hopefully soon) under the name "Attain" I'd seriously look into that as well, if the Attain will attain the same specs as the original model, I might seriously consider that.

Edit:
btw you can always install linux on a regular notebook computer if thats what you want lol

 

[Timelessblur]

rooting the phone doesn't void the warranty, you can easily unroot it. I believe unlocking the phone and the bootloader may void the warranty, I had my phone rooted for only one reason to enable apps sideloading, but I eventually unrooted it and left sideloading enabled by previously activating it with another script.

Why would your want to unroot your phone.

I rooted my Atrix for sideloading. Namely so I could install the Amazon AppStore. Since then I have kept it rooted because you never know when you will need it. I think the only App I really even use that requires root is the adblocking App. I could never get the wifi teathering App to work with my computer (Windows 7 has issues with AdHoc networks)

Yeah, it's a neat concept, and it may eventually pay off for Bootloading, the Lapdock, and learning Linux commands! haha! Reguardless, I may just wait for gingerbread and see if they make any changes to the Webtop before I go Gun-ho and purchase that! But college is soon, so decisions will have to be made on time, right?

I will be blunt,. The laptop dock for the atrix was a complete gimic and sure as hell over priced. I would get a full fledge laptop for college and use that.
I am currently back in school and I just bought a new laptop for school and been using that as my main computer. Atrix stays in my pocket while I am in class. I do like my Atrix though. great little phone. Biggest pain in the ass is Android does not play nice wiht 802.x Enterprise networks so I have yet to get the campus wifi working nor has any of the other android owners. The blackberry and iPhone people can do it no problem. Android well it sucks and refuses to work.

 

[dalvik]

Why would your want to unroot your phone.

I rooted my Atrix for sideloading. Namely so I could install the Amazon AppStore. Since then I have kept it rooted because you never know when you will need it. I think the only App I really even use that requires root is the adblocking App. I could never get the wifi teathering App to work with my computer (Windows 7 has issues with AdHoc networks)

I unrooted my phone shortly after I noticed that it started experiencing frequent reboots especially during the phone calls, i used gingerbreak to root and gladenable to sideload. when you unroot with gingerbreak it still retain the sideloading unless you do the manufacturer reset. I did not need rooting for anything else but sideloading. I'd leave it if the phone wouldnt reboot by itself. but like i said, sideloading is still enabled and that is all i actually need.

 

[colin31]

Why would your want to unroot your phone.

I rooted my Atrix for sideloading. Namely so I could install the Amazon AppStore. Since then I have kept it rooted because you never know when you will need it. I think the only App I really even use that requires root is the adblocking App. I could never get the wifi teathering App to work with my computer (Windows 7 has issues with AdHoc networks)



I will be blunt,. The laptop dock for the atrix was a complete gimic and sure as hell over priced. I would get a full fledge laptop for college and use that.
I am currently back in school and I just bought a new laptop for school and been using that as my main computer. Atrix stays in my pocket while I am in class. I do like my Atrix though. great little phone. Biggest pain in the ass is Android does not play nice wiht 802.x Enterprise networks so I have yet to get the campus wifi working nor has any of the other android owners. The blackberry and iPhone people can do it no problem. Android well it sucks and refuses to work.

Thank you all! Timelessblur: I thank you! Thank you for the insight, you have helped me, definitely. I'll be using the Sideloader ALOT once Gingerbread comes out!
Trevalkin: Thank you aswell! I checked out the SGS2, but to be honest, i'm not a fan of Samsung's interface. I just seem to like the Atrix, I like Motoblur's look, and I'll probably regret that once the phone runs slower, but I have a big liking towards the Atrix.

 

[Nickerz]

...I checked out the SGS2, but to be honest, i'm not a fan of Samsung's interface. I just seem to like the Atrix, I like Motoblur's look, and I'll probably regret that once the phone runs slower, but I have a big liking towards the Atrix.

Another con about Samsung devices is they put the microSD card behind their battery (non "hot-swappable"), so it makes it inconvenient to simply pull out your card and put it back and then wait for the device to reboot before you can use it. Just my two cents.

 

[peanuts154]

I'm with everyone that says you should get a notebook. If you want a cheap notes-taker, check out woot.com today. $220 for an off-lease refurb IBM.

 

[dalvik]

I'm with everyone that says you should get a notebook. If you want a cheap notes-taker, check out woot.com today. $220 for an off-lease refurb IBM.

I think asus clamshell on amazon is more appealing for the price of $260 it comes with windows 7 Starter but you can load win 7 pro on it. or ubuntu.. I'm eyein one myself. after having owned two android tablets (archos and asus transformer) and returning both of them I realised tablets are not my thing... I do everything I need exactly the same way on my Atrix with more portability than with a 10 inch tablet....

 

[Nickerz]

...after having owned two android tablets (archos and asus transformer) and returning both of them I realised tablets are not my thing... I do everything I need exactly the same way on my Atrix with more portability than with a 10 inch tablet....

I'm another one that doesn't understand the tablet market. The size especially, just doesn't seem practical. Maybe that's why we're starting to see smartphones get bigger? At least the BlackBerry Playbook is 7" but then doesn't do email??

OP:
Like others stated, about the same price as the LapDock, you may be better off getting a netbook which will allow more productivity and is even smaller in size. The LapDock concept is interesting to me and I hope Motorola improves on it even more in the near future!