The qHD Screen: A PenTile LCD?

[corneliusm]

Doesn't tegra support up to 12 megapixel stills? Its really stupid that they put a 5 mp sensor in there because they could have really easily done better.

EDIT: NVIDIA Tegra 2

It's highly likely that Moto just put in 5mp sensor to cut costs. After all, the phone is pretty feature-packed compared to its current competition.

 

[textiaac]

It's highly likely that Moto just put in 5mp sensor to cut costs. After all, the phone is pretty feature-packed compared to its current competition.

True, but as an android geek, i like cool stuff and big numbers.

 

[Jonneh]

This is just for my personal situation, but I happen to love flickr and traveling, so I already have a fantastic Panasonic Lumix camera that I absolutely adore. I don't care if my Atrix has a bad camera I do care if I'm going to be charged for tethering, though...I heard we can disable this after the first month's bill and keep the ability of using the laptop dock though? Is this true?


edit: However, that doesn't change the fact that I definitely agree that such a high-end phone should have a better camera by now.

 

[ka3yan]

I too have a really nice Panasonic Lumix FZ20. I know, kind of dated, but such a great camera. It's no pocket point and shoot though. I'm not even upset about the Atrix having a 5MP camera. The apple phone has a 5MP camera. I'm just wishing it took better pics. I was looking at engadget's review and looking at how purple the blacks are...me no likey!!

 

[Jonneh]

... I do care if I'm going to be charged for tethering, though...I heard we can disable this after the first month's bill and keep the ability of using the laptop dock though? Is this true?

Alright, just read the incredibly in-depth (best review ever, wow) review from Anandtech. After switching back & forth on trying to decide to get the laptop dock or not at its ridiculous pricing, I ended up saying "fine, I'll get it & the phone bundle for the $500 + tax". Then, the tethering charge was realized. I really don't want to pay any more a month than I already do, being a poor college student (also a cheap one. hate spending too much money). Like I said, I've heard you can pay the first month's bill with the tethering added, and then tell them you want to take tethering off, and you can keep your laptop dock and still use it with wifi from your phone...but, again, not sure if this is true or not. Can anyone confirm yet?

However, now I've read this part of Anandtech's review about the docks, specifically the laptop dock, and I'm beginning to think, with my current situation of being quite low on funds, maybe I just shouldn't even bother with that particular dock. I'd really be wanting it for college classes (typing up notes quite often), and heavy (preferably HD) youtube usage. Both of which the Atrix 4G doesn't seem to have quuuite enough juice to power the dock with, according to the review. I quote:

"Where the Firefox/PC experience breaks down is the minute you ask for more than a simple browsing experience. Typing in Google Docs is laggy. With a couple of browser tabs open I found that I could type three sentences before they'd appear in my document.

YouTube playback works, however anything above 360p begins to drop frames. While 480p is playable, anything higher is basically impossible to watch. Motorola preloads Flash 10.1.120.10 with hardware acceleration in its webtop Linux however there doesn't appear to be any way to force an update. You'll note that this is the same version of Flash that the Optimus 2X was running, although I'm not convinced that GPU acceleration is fully enabled under Motorola's webtop Linux. Monitoring CPU usage in Android shows that playing a YouTube video in webtop Linux eats up between 50 - 80% of the two ARM Cortex A9s. Hilariously enough, HTML5 video is unwatchable in Firefox on the Atrix 4G.

Light usage isn't bad, but open too many tabs and you quickly get a worse-than-netbook browsing experience on the Atrix 4G.

You can Alt+Tab to switch between windows when you're in webtop Linux however even bringing up the task switcher is incredibly laggy at times.

It's clear that the webtop app is Motorola's main reason for including 1GB of memory on the Atrix. The Android VM typically eats up around 40% of available memory, with Firefox another 16% during light usage. While Motorola could've gotten by with only 768MB, I believe the 1GB is probably perfect for the Atrix if you're going to be using it in webtop mode."


So, now I'm leaning more towards not bothering with the extra expense of the laptop dock...but I wish I had the financial freedom of not worrying about the extra expense and that I could just buy it right now like some of you have done! =)
So, as of now, I'm super undecided. Leaning towards the regular dock, vehicle dock, and the phone...only. And not adding any dumb tethering fee to my bills. :-\

 

[nyc_rock]

Alright, just read the incredibly in-depth (best review ever, wow) review from Anandtech. After switching back & forth on trying to decide to get the laptop dock or not at its ridiculous pricing, I ended up saying "fine, I'll get it & the phone bundle for the $500 + tax". Then, the tethering charge was realized. I really don't want to pay any more a month than I already do, being a poor college student (also a cheap one. hate spending too much money). Like I said, I've heard you can pay the first month's bill with the tethering added, and then tell them you want to take tethering off, and you can keep your laptop dock and still use it with wifi from your phone...but, again, not sure if this is true or not. Can anyone confirm yet?

However, now I've read this part of Anandtech's review about the docks, specifically the laptop dock, and I'm beginning to think, with my current situation of being quite low on funds, maybe I just shouldn't even bother with that particular dock. I'd really be wanting it for college classes (typing up notes quite often), and heavy (preferably HD) youtube usage. Both of which the Atrix 4G doesn't seem to have quuuite enough juice to power the dock with, according to the review. I quote:

"Where the Firefox/PC experience breaks down is the minute you ask for more than a simple browsing experience. Typing in Google Docs is laggy. With a couple of browser tabs open I found that I could type three sentences before they'd appear in my document.

YouTube playback works, however anything above 360p begins to drop frames. While 480p is playable, anything higher is basically impossible to watch. Motorola preloads Flash 10.1.120.10 with hardware acceleration in its webtop Linux however there doesn't appear to be any way to force an update. You'll note that this is the same version of Flash that the Optimus 2X was running, although I'm not convinced that GPU acceleration is fully enabled under Motorola's webtop Linux. Monitoring CPU usage in Android shows that playing a YouTube video in webtop Linux eats up between 50 - 80% of the two ARM Cortex A9s. Hilariously enough, HTML5 video is unwatchable in Firefox on the Atrix 4G.

Light usage isn't bad, but open too many tabs and you quickly get a worse-than-netbook browsing experience on the Atrix 4G.

You can Alt+Tab to switch between windows when you're in webtop Linux however even bringing up the task switcher is incredibly laggy at times.

It's clear that the webtop app is Motorola's main reason for including 1GB of memory on the Atrix. The Android VM typically eats up around 40% of available memory, with Firefox another 16% during light usage. While Motorola could've gotten by with only 768MB, I believe the 1GB is probably perfect for the Atrix if you're going to be using it in webtop mode."


So, now I'm leaning more towards not bothering with the extra expense of the laptop dock...but I wish I had the financial freedom of not worrying about the extra expense and that I could just buy it right now like some of you have done! =)
So, as of now, I'm super undecided. Leaning towards the regular dock, vehicle dock, and the phone...only. And not adding any dumb tethering fee to my bills. :-\

I think thats the smart way to go. No review I have read has recommended the laptop dock. ATT can do whatever it wants, but to charge people extra for "teathering" is really stupid. First off, you are not "teathering" anything. You are simply using your own phone connected to a screen/battery/keyboard. An add on that is worthless without the phone. I guess it all depends on how you look at it, but you are still using your phone. This is not a seperate device that requires a data connection. Additionally, as I mentioned before, the software performance on the dock is less than stellar. I think, with this pricing, ATT/Moto will not be selling a huge amount of these. I think the right price is probably about 149 max. Remember, it has nothing in it other than a battery.

 

[Lason]

Im staying away from the laptop dock in hopes a 3rd party comes out with cheaper yet just as nice version. I have heard of some issues with the laptop dock also like the speaker phone quality being cause by having the phone behind the screen. I think a better all around design would have been to have the phone dock in the trackpad area and the screen function as the track pad. That in itself would cut cost on having to put a track pad in the laptop and speaker phone volume would be better. Also wouldnt have a phone clumsily dangling off the back of the laptop.

For now Im getting the phone and desktop dock. I may get the HD package instead of just the dock and also may get the car dock but I want to check it out first. I anything I have a nice windshield mount phone holster I can use.

**EDIT** I didnt mean to go off topic. The review of the display bummed me out a bit, I was hoping to have a nicer display like my wifes iPhone 4.

 

[corneliusm]

**EDIT** I didnt mean to go off topic. The review of the display bummed me out a bit, I was hoping to have a nicer display like my wifes iPhone 4.

I think we've been off-topic for a while. Everyone's been using this thread to rag on the camera.

Let's face it, the iphone display is nice. While it doesn't have the perfect contrast of an AMOLED, it's got an amazing resolution and IPS screens have great colors. That said, the iphone's screen is kinda small- look how much bezel is on the iphone- there's no reason why it only has a 3.5" screen, though the latest iphone5 rumors state that it'll have a 4" screen.

That said, the RGBW pentile is very efficient, and helps with the battery life. Also, the blacks are darker than most LCD displays, including the iphone4.

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/gadgets/Motorola/Atrix4G/Preview/_DSC9262.jpg

Keep in mind that this picture is an extreme closeup. You're not going to notice the subpixel aliasing unless you're reading very small text. Despite this analysis, Anand was "quite pleased with the display".

 

[eallan]

I think we've been off-topic for a while. Everyone's been using this thread to rag on the camera.

Let's face it, the iphone display is nice. While it doesn't have the perfect contrast of an AMOLED, it's got an amazing resolution and IPS screens have great colors. That said, the iphone's screen is kinda small- look how much bezel is on the iphone- there's no reason why it only has a 3.5" screen, though the latest iphone5 rumors state that it'll have a 4" screen.

That said, the RGBW pentile is very efficient, and helps with the battery life. Also, the blacks are darker than most LCD displays, including the iphone4.

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/gadgets/Motorola/Atrix4G/Preview/_DSC9262.jpg

Keep in mind that this picture is an extreme closeup. You're not going to notice the subpixel aliasing unless you're reading very small text. Despite this analysis, Anand was "quite pleased with the display".

All signs point to it being a much better display (with aliasing) compared to the N1 RGBG display. Here's to hoping!

 

[textiaac]

The proof is in the pudding...

 

[Jonneh]

**EDIT** I didnt mean to go off topic. The review of the display bummed me out a bit, I was hoping to have a nicer display like my wifes iPhone 4.

Hey no worries at all, no one's quite "on topic" in this thread anyway. Particularly my own post, (sorry guys).

I have to admit, when I read that Pentile thing in the anandtech review I was a little disappointed as well. But, as long as I don't notice it all the time, and it helps with battery performance, it's not all bad.

I think thats the smart way to go. No review I have read has recommended the laptop dock. ATT can do whatever it wants, but to charge people extra for "teathering" is really stupid. First off, you are not "teathering" anything. You are simply using your own phone connected to a screen/battery/keyboard. An add on that is worthless without the phone. I guess it all depends on how you look at it, but you are still using your phone. This is not a seperate device that requires a data connection. Additionally, as I mentioned before, the software performance on the dock is less than stellar. I think, with this pricing, ATT/Moto will not be selling a huge amount of these. I think the right price is probably about 149 max. Remember, it has nothing in it other than a battery.

Yeah, I think you're right. Smarter way for my personal situation to go is to just forget about the laptop dock, unless, like others have mentioned, later on some 3rd party creates something good.