You left BB for Android What's better? What isn't?

[tunie]

I don't do that.

Every email I've ever sent or received, every appointment, task and related notes are all in Outlook so for me, it's critical that I'm able to view and sync all of it to my Atrix. Still investigating this one.

I was very worried about this at first, but it's really no big deal. Android can sync all the stuff you need to your gmail. You DO have to back up any pictures and other media but not very often.

I think it was the Motorola Phone Portal that provides the option to back up my phone, but I have to go back there to make sure...don't remember, information overload

At first I missed it daily. Now I think I miss it about once a week. Swype is the best.

Oh, I sooo miss it. Easy to type using both thumbs...a very natural human position for typing. The touchscreen keypad is so sensitive and it's really easy to hit the wrong key even in landscape, but I'd rather deal with getting used to it than go back to broken BB's that have a nice keypad.

If you find your android phone running the battery down you just have to go in and find out why. With a little know how and a little trial and error it will be fixed.

I'll do that when I get a chance. I am getting very poor battery life, but then I've only charged the phone fully twice so far since I've only had it 3 days. I'll give the battery a chance to get settled in before I make a judgment about that. My BB could last me 2-3 days without a charge, but then I didn't have all the awesome tools on it that I have on the Atrix.

I downloaded a program from bb app world called google sync. I ran it one time and when I booted my atrix back up it had all my contacts (280+.) I think It backed up more than that but just can't remember what right now.

I did that as well, so I have all my gmail and Outlook mail, appts, tasks on my Atrix as of the last sync with my BB. Now Outlook is just sitting there, so this is something I really need to address very quickly.

No problem with the bb but the atrix is better.

I've noticed that. The sound is as good if not better than it was on my BB.

Yes, to a point. I had 6 emails on my bb and it was very easy to manage them. On the atrix my gmail has an app of it's own, and my other emails have their own app, but my work email had a problem. I could receive but not send emails. I finally figured it out. The stock email app does not allow "my server requires authentication." I checked the android market and found an app called "K-9 Mail." It's an open source app developed by contributions from the community and it's great. It has so many options it could almost drive you mad. It allowed me to send emails on my work email to say the least. I still have 3 icons on my 2nd home screen for email, and I have thought about moving them all into k-9, but haven't had time to try it yet. There are a lot more email programs out there, and there is sure to be one that you will like.

I will definitely download that and check it out. I needed to get past the "server requires authentication" issue as well, so this app sounds like the solution. Thank you so much!

My bad experience on the blackberry has caused me to avoid all voice recognition software on this phone too. I know people say it's great.
-actually, I did use it while my phone was in car dock mode a couple times. I searched the place I was going to and it found it like a champ. Navigation took me straight there. Still I have never agreed to the TOS for either of the voice apps that are on my phone.

I share your fear! I tried it for the first time yesterday after adapting and wow, it came up with the wrong name about 9 times before finding the right one. This is actually worse than it was on my BB -but- I tried it with the native app so now I'll try Vlingo for comparison. I've read good and bad about Vlingo, so I'll have to try it for myself. This is one thing that is of critical importance to my work, never mind that you don't want to get caught touching your phone in the car in CA. Right now, I can't make a call while driving, but I need to explore this further.

It will be great after you learn about the software some. I have had mine for about 6 weeks and I still learn something every day. Let me say that your android experience will be as good as YOU make it. These phones are for the "do it yourself" crowd and not for the "do it for me" people. They would be better served by apple's cookie cutter devices. If your android device has a problem or something you don't like about it it's up to YOU to fix it. That said there is very little that these devices cannot do.

Agreed. I do hate spending time tinkering with my phone but, once it's set up, I won't have to worry about it. I do wish Google made it easier to transition from BB. This is a no brainer to me, but I guess they figure all the apps and widgets out there allow consumers to fully customize the phone to meet their needs. I don't have an argument against that.

 

[makaveli28]

Email and Keyboard, BBM

Coming from a long line of blackberry's 7290, 7130G, 8310, 9700. I was hesitant to make the jump.

The most part the Atrix everything is better except I do find it tough to get used to not having the keyboard and BBM. The email has been a bit of a problem if anyone else can help me that would be great.

I tried the regular email program. I got it up and running but can't add a signature? It always says "sent from my Motorola Atrix 4G on AT&T" while one I am Rogers here in Canada and second I don't want that going out to my clients. Can anyone tell me how I get that message off and add my own signature? is there a different email program to download?

 

[Chrisy]

LED indicator is worse. Everything else is better.

 

[makaveli28]

Got the whole email thing figured out. The only thing is I called a couple clients back this afternoon and my wife. They kept asking the same questions. I can barely hear you? What did you say? Can you turn the volume up on the phone? I read the other forum at Motorola on this. Does anyone know is this a software or hardware issue?

 

[attweco]

Got the whole email thing figured out. The only thing is I called a couple clients back this afternoon and my wife. They kept asking the same questions. I can barely hear you? What did you say? Can you turn the volume up on the phone? I read the other forum at Motorola on this. Does anyone know is this a software or hardware issue?

It's a hardware problem, and Moto denies it is an issue for more than a handful of folks. The Moto corporate forum "expert's" solution is to keep returning the phone until you get one that works. Or the branch runs out of Atrixes, whichever comes first!

 

[Andy Thatcher]

Not totally convinced I have left my 9700 yet and actually pretty sure I will be going back once QNX kicks in but I have had a Atrix for 4 days so.....

Did you sync with Outlook on your BB and if so, are you syncing with Outlook on your Atrix? Does that work well for you?

I have been using GMail so don't use Outlook.

Do you backup your Atrix regularly and if so, how? Even though RIM's desktop software isn't the nicest app around, it does work well when backing up.

Again have been using Gmail anyway with the 9700 and use Titanium Back Up for the apps so no real issues so far.

Do you miss the physical keyboard?

Yes but it isn't a deal breaker. I ventured, briefly, into the world of iPhones on a couple of occasions only to run back to a Berry. Getting used to it again. Still can't even start to get my head around Swype but it is on the to do list.

How long does the Atrix battery last vs. your former BB?

This is a chicken and egg scenario. The battery is nothing like as good a the 9700 but is that because I use the phone differently ? I suspect so and today I am going to try and mirror my 9700 usage to see.

I never really did much on the game front apart from the occasional game of Sudoku but on the Atrix I find myself playing games. Never really did much browsing apart from those instances where I needed information now rather than just browsing for fun. Same with watching movies etc as the Atrix's screen is so much bigger I find myself drawn to these battery killing activities.

So today I am going back to messaging, the occasional game of Sudoku and the like to see how long the battery lasts.

It must be said this is a new phone as well so will take a few days more to settle in so this is not a fair assessment as yet.

Were you able to transfer your BB data to your Atrix i.e. memos, browser history, appointments, contacts, texts, saved docs? If so, was it seamless or did you have issues?

Again I had everything I needed on Gmail so no issues.

The sound on my BB has always been quite good. How does Atrix compare?

Sound is probably better than the Berry.

I currently run 6 different email addresses on my BB. If you had several different email addresses on your BB, were you able to run them on your new Atrix? Do they sync to one messages folder on your Atrix like they do on BB?

I had 3 and and blackberry.net email going to the 9700. I simply changed things so that my Gmail polled those accounts instead and delivers them to the phone.

Is this as fast as a Berry ? Nope but again not really a deal breaker. The phone has consistently delivered the email in a reasonable time.

Is there a search feature on your Atrix like there is on the BB so you can search calendars, emails, memos, texts etc. from one search field?

Haven't found one yet.

I run YouMail on my BB. Can I run it on the Atrix?

As mentioned previously has Google Voice on it already.

I run a feature called "message to Task" on my BB so that when I receive an email or phone call, I can almost automatically add it to my task list. Is there anything like that for the Atrix?

Not that I have found as yet.

How is the voice recognition on the Atrix? It's terrible on the BB.

It is better than the Berry but work in progress.

Ok that was a useful exercise. Working through this help clarify some things for me.

Make no mistake the hardware on the Atrix is far in advance of anything that Blackberry offer. This is my first Android device so am still going through a learning phase but can draw some conclusions so far.

I had mine rooted within a couple of days, more to see how easy or hard it was rather than any specific need. I have also got 3 ROM's loaded on to the SD Card for me to swap and change between. I actually found this process to be easier than when I started playing with Blackberry OS but that is wholly down to the hard work of Developers.

Here is my issue. People bemoan the Berry OS. Ok it is long in the tooth but I suspect that is due to the lack of hardware support to be able to make it fly as much as anything else.

Here is what BB OS does very well. It is a fantastic communications package that I have not been able to replicate so far on the Atrix. I live in Florida but am a Brit so have family in 2 to 3 different continents, depends on where they are working, to communicate to. No this is not bemoaning the lack of BBM as PingChat does a reasonable job of substituting however Blackberry's are designed around easing communication, that is what they specifically do. To my mind Android isn't there yet and I doubt they will ever quite catch up with RIM. What Berry's do not deal with very well compared to the Atrix is gaming and browsing. Yes it does a reasonable job but lets face it who really wants to browse the Internet on a 9700 screen compared to a Atrix or one of those 4.3" monsters ?

Android is more of a entertainment package. People keep talking about the millions of apps but to be honest I haven't found more than 3 so far that have stayed on the phone for more than a few hours.

I am not knocking the phone just using this thread to help me a little.

I definitely prefer the Atrix to any iPhone I have owned but still think that the 9700 is the best work horse out there by far. The Atrix has given me a lot of fun so far and suspect will continue to do so for a while yet. 2.2 Froyo isn't even close to pushing the boundaries the hardware is capable of and I am looking forward to seeing how that works out. This week sometime I am also going to load Ubuntu and see how that works out with the laptop, this could certainly change the way I feel about this device if I can use Ubuntu for my personal use on the work laptop it will be interesting.

Not certain I have answered your questions but thank for asking the question so I can muse a bit

 

[tunie]

Thank you Andy. I've had my Atrix for 8 days. I sorely miss the physical keyboard, messaging, event handling, syncing with Outlook, search, BBM, security, assigning ringtones, cutting and pasting with ease and so on...:-( I don't know if security is more of an issue with Android, but it certainly seems like it is. I don't care for all the permissions I have to authorize to use a simple app. Giving a developer carte blanche over my personal information on my phone doesn't thrill me so I don't download those apps. That does limit the selection quite a lot. I don't send any business email or business docs through Gmail; never have and I don't want to start now. My email -has- to be secure and Gmail just can't provide that level of protection. The Atrix is more of an entertainment device, vs the BB. I haven't yet figured out how to easily make a call while driving, but that's because my BT isn't equipped with a2dp. Dialing a call from the phone is a kind of weird experience, but I'll chalk that up to ignorance since I haven't had the phone long. I don't need a super powerful phone with pretty wallpapers, cool games and pretty widgets. My needs are simple, yet I haven't found any apps that can provide me with reliable syncing to Outlook, global search, easy copy/paste, solid task management linked to emails, or a calendar that is not only easy to use but that also syncs to my Outlook calendar. That said, I'm not done exploring.

This is an incredibly powerful phone and far more reliable, so far, than my BB was. I did have an odd experience two days ago. I was on a local business call while driving and the call dropped. When I called back, my client at the other end couldn't hear me. It was dead air for him. As I drove, I stopped the car in different locations along the way and called back each time and still, I could hear him, but he heard nothing. This never happened to me on my BB. I stopped the car to make the calls, because I simply can't get the voice recognition to recognize almost anything I say.

In the end, I really like this phone and if I can avoid going back to RIM, I will. At least now my phone rings and I can navigate around it because my trackball isn't broken But, if I make calls and the person at the other end can't hear me, this will be a deal breaker. My BB didn't ring, but I rarely had connection issues. My Atrix rings, but I had a connection issue in the first week. Now to be fair, I really don't know if this was an issue with the phone, or the network, but this particular thing never happened when I was using the BB.

I'm a bit resistant in using the keyboard because of soooo many typing errors. The auto word correction drives me crazy. It's funny because I've read many comments in the Android market with spelling and word errors, so I know I'm not the only one who's challenged by this keyboard. It's just not as nice, so far, as the keyboard on the BB. I would love to have a phone that's just twice the size of this one as that would eliminate my typing difficulties. Turning the phone horizontal to type often causes the typing field to disappear behind the keyboard, so I can't see what I'm typing without very carefully moving the screen up a fraction of an inch between the top of the keyboard and the edge of the phone. I have to do that every time I type a word because the screen moves down each time.

The last 2 things I find hard to acclimate to, are the touch sensitive buttons at the bottom of the phone. I'm forever hitting them by mistake. In fact, if I move a finger over them without making contact, sometimes they go off. The Droid X has physical buttons at he bottom, so that would never happen. And, because the Droid X has a lip at the top, it's much easier to hold onto the phone. The Atrix is smooth with very little grabbing space, so inadvertently activating buttons happens all the time. I'm sure I'll drop it sometime soon.

So, in summary, the BB has a lot to offer for business professionals that the Atrix simply lacks, but the Atrix is faster, more customizable, more powerful and far more reliable. I have a headache from trying to set it up to meet my needs, but at least I have many more options from which to choose. Overall, the phone works for me, but not without frustration.

 

[Effington]

I left BB for Android.

Everything is better. Nothing is worse. Even email.

That's the end of my story.