Any Atrix Regrets?

[WilliamC]

I actually have a few, though I thought I wouldn't. There are a few things that are lacking on android that the iphone had. You can't play any sound at all while on a call. Sometimes I am on a call and need a meeting alarm to go off, the iphone did this without a hitch. I could even change the ringtones while on a call and preview them. I hate motoblur with a passion!
The pentile screen is very noticeable for me. I'm a videophile so I have a talent/curse for finding the smallest issue with visual displays. I think I could get used to the screen, but the alarm not sounding while on a call might be a deal breaker for me. I hate to say it, but I may go back to the iphone.

Regardless this phone is fast, everything is smooth and responsive

 

[acPIZZA]

I actually have a few, though I thought I wouldn't. There are a few things that are lacking on android that the iphone had. You can't play any sound at all while on a call. Sometimes I am on a call and need a meeting alarm to go off, the iphone did this without a hitch. I could even change the ringtones while on a call and preview them. I hate motoblur with a passion!
The pentile screen is very noticeable for me. I'm a videophile so I have a talent/curse for finding the smallest issue with visual displays. I think I could get used to the screen, but the alarm not sounding while on a call might be a deal breaker for me. I hate to say it, but I may go back to the iphone.

Regardless this phone is fast, everything is smooth and responsive

How many alarms do you actually have going off? So many that a call will F-U-up?

I don't know about you, but I'm not ever really on the phone for longer than 10 minutes...

(This may be a No0b question) Isn't there a notification bar icon, popup, anything if an alarm goes off and you don't answer it? This seems to be something obvious I feel they would have figured out by now...

 

[WilliamC]

How many alarms do you actually have going off? So many that a call will F-U-up?

I don't know about you, but I'm not ever really on the phone for longer than 10 minutes...

(This may be a No0b question) Isn't there a notification bar icon, popup, anything if an alarm goes off and you don't answer it? This seems to be something obvious I feel they would have figured out by now...

During work hours I may be on the phone for a long while. I have alarms set up for meetings that I need to be at. I use a bluetooth headset so I don't always have to be holding the phone. So, if I'm on a call, as I usually am, the alarm will go off silent. Also with call waiting, you only get one faint beep and that's it. I've gotten use to a beep per ring. I mostly don't have the phone next to me, so these sounds are what call my attention and let me know if I need to check my texts or check my appointments.

 

[attweco]

I'm finding Motoblur more of a hindrance than a help. I really do wish I could make it go away without having to attempt a load of workarounds(rooting, etc.) that a newbie, like me, is prolly better off staying away from, at this point.

I really dislike the color rendition of the display. It's overly contrasty, so that any area in shade is uniform pitch black. And reds are overly saturated, so that faces or anything containing red looks like boiled lobsters.

I'll mess around with my Atrix for a couple more days, but more than likely, I'm gonna return it and look for some other Android phone which isn't plagued by such a "helpful" overlay. I now fully appreciate why so many look for the "pure android experience"! I think I'm prolly one of them!!

Too bad the Nexus S isn't yet ready for ATT, coz that's what I am thinking about, right now.

 

[waltercln]

I'm finding Motoblur more of a hindrance than a help. I really do wish I could make it go away without having to attempt a load of workarounds(rooting, etc.) that a newbie, like me, is prolly better off staying away from, at this point.

I really dislike the color rendition of the display. It's overly contrasty, so that any area in shade is uniform pitch black. And reds are overly saturated, so that faces or anything containing red looks like boiled lobsters.

I'll mess around with my Atrix for a couple more days, but more than likely, I'm gonna return it and look for some other Android phone which isn't plagued by such a "helpful" overlay. I now fully appreciate why so many look for the "pure android experience"! I think I'm prolly one of them!!

Too bad the Nexus S isn't yet ready for ATT, coz that's what I am thinking about, right now.

after a few hours im sorta feeling the same, i have a feeling this motoblur f'ed up my gmail syncing and now it only syncs when i open the app. Also the battery life for some reason is not living up to my expectations, maybe i expected more but i feel it drains by 10% too fast. I Did some adjustments turned some things off etc, but i still feel like it's not meeting my expectations. this is day one and i haven't got a full day with it yet so I'll see how it does in the real world. I got 30 days with the phone so i'll see, battery life is a huge deal for me and it's a mega deal breaker. I got a full days worth and then some for the next day with the iPhone so coming to this is a major adjustment.

if this continues i just might head back to my iPhone. Everything was just a bit more easier and user friendly on the phone.

 

[Jonneh]

I'm finding Motoblur more of a hindrance than a help. I really do wish I could make it go away without having to attempt a load of workarounds(rooting, etc.) that a newbie, like me, is prolly better off staying away from, at this point.

I really dislike the color rendition of the display. It's overly contrasty, so that any area in shade is uniform pitch black. And reds are overly saturated, so that faces or anything containing red looks like boiled lobsters.

I'll mess around with my Atrix for a couple more days, but more than likely, I'm gonna return it and look for some other Android phone which isn't plagued by such a "helpful" overlay. I now fully appreciate why so many look for the "pure android experience"! I think I'm prolly one of them!!

Too bad the Nexus S isn't yet ready for ATT, coz that's what I am thinking about, right now.

Get rid of your motoblur by downloading a free app called "ADW Launcher", or even another free app called "LauncherPro". As I said, both are free, and they replace motoblur. Your homescreen experience will be entirely different.
As for the other stuff, wow...if you what you say about the screen is true, if it's that bad, I may not pick it up tomorrow after all...especially if the alarm issue someone else was talking about above is present as well. :\ I wonder if these things could be fixed somehow.

 

[acPIZZA]

During work hours I may be on the phone for a long while. I have alarms set up for meetings that I need to be at. I use a bluetooth headset so I don't always have to be holding the phone. So, if I'm on a call, as I usually am, the alarm will go off silent. Also with call waiting, you only get one faint beep and that's it. I've gotten use to a beep per ring. I mostly don't have the phone next to me, so these sounds are what call my attention and let me know if I need to check my texts or check my appointments.

Well, if that is the case then I feel you. I have always had a provided work cell phone (and if I didn't like the work cell, I would always go to the provider and get a different phone at upgrade cost).

I insist, and intend on keeping my work cell and my personal separate.

 

[hotleadsingerguy]

Its not gonna be for another few week until Adobe makes a Flash compatible version for Tegra 2 phones. Hence why the Xoom isn't flash compatible. Firefox will work or DolphinHD should do fine.

lol what are you talking about? The reason it doesn't work with the Xoom is because it doesn't work with Honeycomb yet.

For anyone reading this: Flash works *perfectly* on the built-in browser and Dolphin too. This thing has *NO* problem streaming flash video. Perfect for phone work.

 

[tekhna]

Does LauncherPro or ADW actually replace MotoBlur, or does it skin over it? If MotoBlur is in the background running and sucking up resources, that sucks.

 

[hotleadsingerguy]

Get rid of your motoblur by downloading a free app called "ADW Launcher", or even another free app called "LauncherPro". As I said, both are free, and they replace motoblur. Your homescreen experience will be entirely different.
As for the other stuff, wow...if you what you say about the screen is true, if it's that bad, I may not pick it up tomorrow after all...especially if the alarm issue someone else was talking about above is present as well. :\ I wonder if these things could be fixed somehow.

I'm a pretty big videophile and the screen *really* isn't as big of a problem as a few people have been saying. I'm coming from an iPhone 4 and although there *is* a slight difference in quality...there's a reason I use the word "slight". The screen is easily one of the best I've ever seen on an Android handset.

And I'm completely with you for a Launcher. Motoblur isn't really much of a problem (just remove the widgets and use it like the standard Android homescreen), but I still installed LauncherPro. Usually, the reason people don't use Motoblur is because it's slow. In the case of the Atrix, however, there's no slowdown to be had. Flipping through pages or the app drawer is *instantaneous*. Literally the fastest Android handset I've ever seen in my life. I just like the customization that LauncherPro affords, while retaining the incredible speed.

As for the Alarm "problem" the reason is simple: when you're using a Bluetooth device all sound goes through it. If you were in the middle of a call you don't want the alarm blaring into your ear (at least most people wouldn't). It's turned off because a *vast* majority of people would hate for it to interrupt the call in place. There's a setting to always vibrate alarms...which would mean even if you're on a call when the alarm is meant to go off...it'll at least vibrate. That's about the best I would hope for.

 

[Jonneh]

Does LauncherPro or ADW actually replace MotoBlur, or does it skin over it? If MotoBlur is in the background running and sucking up resources, that sucks.

The way I understand it, yes, motoblur is still on the phone and is not, technically "replaced", but I've read it doesn't really "take up resources" very much. I could be way off though, as i'm still quite new to Android, so hopefully someone can chime in on this here.

I'm a pretty big videophile and the screen *really* isn't as big of a problem as a few people have been saying. I'm coming from an iPhone 4 and although there *is* a slight difference in quality...there's a reason I use the word "slight". The screen is easily one of the best I've ever seen on an Android handset.

And I'm completely with you for a Launcher. Motoblur isn't really much of a problem (just remove the widgets and use it like the standard Android homescreen), but I still installed LauncherPro. Usually, the reason people don't use Motoblur is because it's slow. In the case of the Atrix, however, there's no slowdown to be had. Flipping through pages or the app drawer is *instantaneous*. Literally the fastest Android handset I've ever seen in my life. I just like the customization that LauncherPro affords, while retaining the incredible speed.

As for the Alarm "problem" the reason is simple: when you're using a Bluetooth device all sound goes through it. If you were in the middle of a call you don't want the alarm blaring into your ear (at least most people wouldn't). It's turned off because a *vast* majority of people would hate for it to interrupt the call in place. There's a setting to always vibrate alarms...which would mean even if you're on a call when the alarm is meant to go off...it'll at least vibrate. That's about the best I would hope for.

Thanks for clearing this stuff up for me
I'll check the screen out tomorrow on a display device before buying just incase I hate it for whatever reason.

 

[attweco]

No launcher can remove the way Moto has screwed with Gmail, calendar, and so on. It's such a step down from what Google designed for these functions.

Another concern is that, for websites with pop-up type windows, the browser literally glues the pop-up window onto the main window, below, and you cannot switch between them or separate them. There's one site I need to be able to access, and this unpleasant discovery is prolly the dealbreaker for me, now.

The WebOS browser is a vast improvement over this one. This really makes me sad...

 

[textiaac]

No regrets, the atrix is awesome.

Sent from my Atrix 4G using Tapatalk Pro.

 

[ranphi]

waltercln - you might check and see what battery mode your Atrix is currently set at. If it's on the default setting of "Nighttime Saver" then it looks like from what I can tell that it stops (or at least reduces) the number of times that the Google apps sync during night hours.

To check: Settings: Battery Manager: Battery mode

Maybe that's what's causing your gmail sync issues?

after a few hours im sorta feeling the same, i have a feeling this motoblur f'ed up my gmail syncing and now it only syncs when i open the app. Also the battery life for some reason is not living up to my expectations, maybe i expected more but i feel it drains by 10% too fast. I Did some adjustments turned some things off etc, but i still feel like it's not meeting my expectations. this is day one and i haven't got a full day with it yet so I'll see how it does in the real world. I got 30 days with the phone so i'll see, battery life is a huge deal for me and it's a mega deal breaker. I got a full days worth and then some for the next day with the iPhone so coming to this is a major adjustment.

if this continues i just might head back to my iPhone. Everything was just a bit more easier and user friendly on the phone.

 

[thebizz]

The way I understand it, yes, motoblur is still on the phone and is not, technically "replaced", but I've read it doesn't really "take up resources" very much. I could be way off though, as i'm still quite new to Android, so hopefully someone can chime in on this here.

No blur isn't replaced but the services still run no matter what blur will always be their and running until you root and remove blur. And from personal experience it is a resource hog try booting up your device to 28kb of ram out of 512

 

[dominicanyorkjl]

best phone ive had

 

[tjb433]

Just another opinion, the screen is great, coming from an iphone 3gs it is a HUGE improvement. I would say the iphone 4(girlfriend has one) is a little bit more clear, but not much. Having the extra real estate and unlimited comstomization is well worth the difference to me. I dont like the minimum brightness tho, its too bright, i often set my phone in a dock in my car while driving to listen to pandora, and it is brighter than i hoped on its lowest setting.

Also for most installing a launcher like launcherpro will rid you of your hatred for motoblur, u can still tell its there but its nowhere near as prominent.

 

[Terrigno]

ADW Launcher is a lot better, so is LauncherPro. I have the paid version of ADW and its even quicker scrolling through screens. You can customize everything down to the icon sizes. When you install ADW or LauncherPro, you will immediatly notice the widgets seem bigger off the bat. MotoBlur doesnt take full advantage of the full screen and sets the widgets in a smaller state. Like as if the colums and rows on the homescreen or a little bit smaller.

Install either or launcher and delete everything off of motoblurs screen. Then download an app called Home Switcher for Froyo from the market. That switches between homescreen launchers. Then you can set either launcher as default when you restart the phone.

After owning the Dell Streak, its hard to look back at this smaller screen. But the snappyniess is wonderful! No lag at all!

 

[tb123]

From what i have been reading here people are nick picking about the small stuff.. Alot of whiners no phone is ever going t0 be 100% perfect for anyone. The screen is stunning unless you have a microscope to look at every inch of it to see every pixel . Its like people who say they can tell a difference with a 10 dollar hdmi cable and a 150 dollar cable you can't with the human eye. The phone is fast packed with alot of features the motoblur is good i think it is way better then the captivate i have here and a 1000x better then my iphone 3g

 

[WilliamC]

From what i have been reading here people are nick picking about the small stuff.. Alot of whiners no phone is ever going t0 be 100% perfect for anyone. The screen is stunning unless you have a microscope to look at every inch of it to see every pixel . Its like people who say they can tell a difference with a 10 dollar hdmi cable and a 150 dollar cable you can't with the human eye. The phone is fast packed with alot of features the motoblur is good i think it is way better then the captivate i have here and a 1000x better then my iphone 3g

You realize everyone has different requirements for a phone. While to you it's small stuff to someone else it may be a big deal. Might want to think twice before calling people whiners simply because they find things they don't like with a phone THEY paid for. When you pay for their phone feel free to call them whiners. I don't need a microscope to see the fuzzy text or the dithering pattern. The screen on my sisters mytouch 4g looks a lot better than this.

I'm glad you like motoblur... that's great you are happy with the phone. A few others have some issues and it's their right. This whole thread is asking about regrets. So think twice before you post things calling people whiners because they found a flaw in your precious phone.

I'm not looking for a 100% perfect phone and I doubt anyone else is. We are all looking for a phone that has the features we need most.