[reeneebob]

No April fool's joke, it's a spring day that's way too cold for the Potomac to freeze so I don't think **** did either, and so far I've only seen planes around.National.....I ain't kiddin' you...this phone *did* turn my head.

Security? Check - the phone only unlocks if it's your print it detects.
Battery life? Check - supposedly nine hours talk.
User replaceable battery? Check - I can carry a spare, unlike the iPhone which was one of the reasons my 3GS went back.
Flash? - Check - I can go into any site anywhere.

Messaging? - aaahhh.....there's the fly in the ointment. I hated the way mail has been handled in every Android device I've seen. We'll see.
UI? - not as smooth as iOS.

I missed my lunch window of opportunity. Now I have to wait for Tim. All is not lost - may be possible after work. Pentagon to Chinatown is not too bad.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I am looking at the Atrix myself for Bell - I do love the way the Samsung mail app works though. Social Hub puts all your email, sms, windows live messenger, facebook and twitter in one hub for quick access. I have played with the way the Torch does it, with my moms, but it's not as elegant to me.

You should get your email right away as well, I do. The most delay I have ever had was 5 minutes.

As far as battery, earlier in the thread I read that someone had to recharge their Fascinate after a couple of hours, and the same with a Vibrant? I don't know what the heck you guys do with your phones, but with moderate to heavy use I get minimum 15 hours. At this point, my phone has been off charger for 2 and a half days and I have 18% left. I have heard that Atrix is a little rougher on battery so let me know your impressions, Qbnkelt.

Gorilla glass is the shiznit. I have dropped my phone so many times, it hasn't had a screen protector at all, and not a scratch. And it has a texture that makes swiping downright slick.

[BoldtotheMax]

Sorry we disagree with you......you sound like a politician with your extreme rhetoric. As RIM continues to disappoint, you will see more and more of the loyal BB users who voice frustration. You guys better get used to it because its getting worse and worse for BB users. Some of us who have more than one BB should be allowed to say whatever we want without being called a name. Its a joke. How many BB's do you own?

If you dont like it, dont read it. Its that simple. Its not like I am a droid owner only and come here to slam BB just for the sake of slamming a competitor. Droid is doing just fine on their own.....if the immature posters in these forums take it personally, its on them and you. Make an appointment to sit on my couch and we'll discuss it. There is a clinical term for taking someones opinion personally no matter what the subject is.....

Currently have two 8100's and a 9700, why? Had many in the course of 6 years....even had a 7250.

Also had iPhones and 3 Andriod phones in Droid 1, mytouch3G and Cliq. Messed around on many....

And I fail to see where BB is in trouble. Not to mention our future looks very bright with software and hardware....

As far as for an invite to your couch...gonna pass playboy!

And you are the most pot vs Kettle person I have seen to date...it actually amazes me!

Keep on with your bad self, lol!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[BoldtotheMax]

Giving it a go around Qbenkelt?

Look forward to your opinion on it as you were quite against it for so long.

I have been there twice and with wifes phone currently, which I can't now get out of headset mode....it is always something...

Hope your luck was better with mine.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[gkl]

I too have been "around the block". I have tried out the Droid X twice over and most recently the iPhone 4 for the past month and I feel like I have figured out the differences between the phones.

Disclaimer: I am not claiming that my S2 is superior to either of these phones, I just didn't feel like either was good enough to be stuck with for the next two years.

First off, Android is the most customizable of the lot, but stability seemed to be the problem. I'm starting to realize that Android devices need the impressive specs to compensate for the OS being "not quite there" yet.

The iPhone, on the contrary, is much more solid but far less customizable. So much so that it seems to be a smartphone for people who dont want to have to knowledgeable about their device and wants it just work. They are happy to assume it is all magic. But on that note, I did have more Facebook app crashes on the iOS than I ever did on the Berry.

BlackBerry on the otherhand is the best of the two worlds. Themes make it customizable and the OS is just solid (Storm 1 aside).

Also, going back to the heirarchy of smartphone needs, the others are just falling short (for me). Living my life chained to an Exchange server means the BB is the hands-down winner for me.

I am just pinning my hopes on future releases making the entertainment features catch up to iOS and Android. With the previews of the PlayBook and the announcement of Android apps being easily portable to the BlackBerry OS, I don't think I will be let down.

[qbnkelt]

I am looking at the Atrix myself for Bell - I do love the way the Samsung mail app works though. Social Hub puts all your email, sms, windows live messenger, facebook and twitter in one hub for quick access. I have played with the way the Torch does it, with my moms, but it's not as elegant to me.

You should get your email right away as well, I do. The most delay I have ever had was 5 minutes.

As far as battery, earlier in the thread I read that someone had to recharge their Fascinate after a couple of hours, and the same with a Vibrant? I don't know what the heck you guys do with your phones, but with moderate to heavy use I get minimum 15 hours. At this point, my phone has been off charger for 2 and a half days and I have 18% left. I have heard that Atrix is a little rougher on battery so let me know your impressions, Qbnkelt.

Gorilla glass is the shiznit. I have dropped my phone so many times, it hasn't had a screen protector at all, and not a scratch. And it has a texture that makes swiping downright slick.

I haven't done a test mail with it yet - sending myself an email to myself and sit both side by side to see which gets there faster. I might do that this weekend.
The battery lasted next to nothing - I had 50% when I left Chinatown at around 5:30 and it was already at 5% when I walked into the house at 8. But I was on it and downloading/deleting stuff, etc. So I won't take that too much to heart at this time.
I'm still afraid to have an exposed, unprotected screen. They didn't have screen protectors at the Chinatown AT&T store, so I'll scrounge around the stores here. I hear what you say about Gorilla Glass, but I'd feel a lot better with an Otterbox case (I'm assuming there are some) and a screen protector.

[qbnkelt]

Giving it a go around Qbenkelt?

Look forward to your opinion on it as you were quite against it for so long.

I have been there twice and with wifes phone currently, which I can't now get out of headset mode....it is always something...

Hope your luck was better with mine.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Yeah, what can I say....this phone turned my head. It seriously did. When I say the fingerprint ID feature I was floored. And then she mentioned about the nine hours talk time and I was really interested.

Things I like I'll discover as I go. To be perfectly honest, it's not as smooth as the iPhone 4 my contractor Tim has. And when I heard that Android handled Flash I saw myself advancing in my Farmville games and beating all my friends in two weeks' time, only to find out it doesn't handle those games and there is no app for it like there is for the iPhone. But......I don't play games on my phones, so that wasn't a big consideration. A disappointment, to be sure, but not a dealbreaker.

Also, on the display - it's definitely crisp and crystal clear. Watching YouTube videos is a pleasure.

Now - the thing has always been that I've always hated the Android OS. It seemed less smooth than iOS. Example - sometimes when I double tap it zooms Crackberry and wraps text around a la Torch, but sometimes it doesn't. Why?!??!!? Also, the BZZZZZ BZZZZZZ when I hit the Home or Back buttons drives me nuts. I wish I could turn it off.
I've been looking for themes that transform the UI but there aren't yet that I've found.
WeatherBug doesn't add the little graphic with the sun or the moon on the homescreen. Just the little washed out ladybug.
On the Facebook app - there is a scroll of friends' pictures at the bottom that I really liked. I don't remember seeing that on my friends' and family members' devices - is that a new thing on the Atrix?

So, this is what I've discovered so far.

NOBODY was more surprised than I was yesterday, playing on the train with an Android device. But I'm nothing more than a geek. I've always said I'd try whatever phone turned my head, and this one did.

Now - my classic, personal ringtone is Pachelbel's Canon - it was in all my old Motorola phones in the 90s, it's been on every single phone I've ever had, my husband plays it on the violin, and it was what we played at our wedding....I need it on this phone, it's my "signature" piece of music. Have to find that.

Edited to add - just found my Pachelbel Canon ringtone and I just did my Weatherbug widget. Happy Lil!

[pantlesspenguin]

Glad you're liking it, Q! As far as themes go, I really don't think there are many themes just because it's so customizable to begin with. Download a nifty background and then place folders, widgets, and icons wherever you want. I really don't know what I ever did without widgets, and having multiple homescreens means my most needed content is just a swipe away.

The Facebook app is pretty decent (the photos thing must just be a newer release of the app that you hadn't seen). I love that it supports fb chat. Even the touch version in the browser is nice.

I can't remember If this is a regular weatherbug or weatherbug elite thing (elite is only $2.99), but check out the maps widget. It's very handy.

[qbnkelt]

Things have been good thus far. Hit a snag with the email, though. I don't like it that when I open the inbox there is a few seconds' delay while the email trickles in. It reminds me of the way the 3GS did it. Not what I would call true push.

I've tried using Google Sync all morning to sync my BB contacts to the Atrix but so far I keep getting messages that the server is down. Some irritations....I'm staying home today.....bit of an allergy attack. Will be playing with this all freakin' day.

Edited to add that I'm finding my way through the widgets and other stuff and I'm doing what you said, I got a bunch of live wallpapers and static wallpapers. I can then add things as I go. I was very happy to get the Weatherbug widget done.

Don't like the fact that the only way to get a screenshot app is to root it. I'm not rooting it, so I guess I won't be able to do that. I wanted to have it so that when the questions began about the battery life I could share them with alls y'all....

[Rickroller]

Yea..there are no "themes" per say like there is with BB's. You can theme custom ROM's and whatnot once you're rooted..but it also takes time for dev's to create certain things. The thing with Android is..you don't need someone to create a theme for your phone. You can create the entire look yourself with certain clock widgets, weather widgets, icon and dock skins, etc. Believe me..there are SO many options..it can be overwhelming as to where to even begin.

My advice is..once you get to the point where you'd like to try changing it up a bit...look at other people's screenshots and from there..you'll be able to see what you like and what you don't. When you find someones "look" that appeals to you..quite often they'll share with you what they used to achieve that look. Most things can be done without root..so no worries there.

Again..I can't speak highly enough of LauncherPro. That alone can allow you to completely change the look and feel as well as the interaction with the phone. There is also ADW Launcher which alot of people like as well. You can download custom icon packs for either of these..or find peoples own creations for download. The only real limitation (look wise) is your imagination. I don't have much of one..that's why I rely on other people's creativity so I can hijack it

[qbnkelt]

OOO, I'd forgotten to get LauncherPro. Thanks, you just reminded me.

Now, here is a very real problem.

I just sent myself a message from my laptop. I have my 9700 and my Atrix both on my lap. My 9700 gets it within a minute and notifies me. The Atrix is silent. I'm hearing crickets. I give up and i pick it up. Nothing, no message. I hit the refresh thingie at the top left of the screen and after a few seconds' delay there is the test message. There was no notification on the Atrix. I have settings so that it does notify, but there was none and I had to do it manually.

That was what I remembered from trying it out before and why I didn't like it.

I'm trying to find a way to solve that. Email is a huge deal for me.

Do you have any suggestions?

[qbnkelt]

Rick - there are two versions, one by Federico Carnales and the other by JohnFHancock. Which one do you mean?

[Rickroller]

Rick - there are two versions, one by Federico Carnales and the other by JohnFHancock. Which one do you mean?

Federico..

[Rickroller]

OOO, I'd forgotten to get LauncherPro. Thanks, you just reminded me.

Now, here is a very real problem.

I just sent myself a message from my laptop. I have my 9700 and my Atrix both on my lap. My 9700 gets it within a minute and notifies me. The Atrix is silent. I'm hearing crickets. I give up and i pick it up. Nothing, no message. I hit the refresh thingie at the top left of the screen and after a few seconds' delay there is the test message. There was no notification on the Atrix. I have settings so that it does not notify, but there was none and I had to do it manually.

That was what I remembered from trying it out before and why I didn't like it.

I'm trying to find a way to solve that. Email is a huge deal for me.

Do you have any suggestions?

First off..what kind of email is it? Hotmail, yahoo, pop3? The native email system is designed to "pull"..so depending on your settings the fastest it can be set to pull is 5 minutes. You can circumvent these by forwarding most emails to gmail..which is true push. Let me know and I can help set it up if need be.

[avt123]

OOO, I'd forgotten to get LauncherPro. Thanks, you just reminded me.

Now, here is a very real problem.

I just sent myself a message from my laptop. I have my 9700 and my Atrix both on my lap. My 9700 gets it within a minute and notifies me. The Atrix is silent. I'm hearing crickets. I give up and i pick it up. Nothing, no message. I hit the refresh thingie at the top left of the screen and after a few seconds' delay there is the test message. There was no notification on the Atrix. I have settings so that it does not notify, but there was none and I had to do it manually.

That was what I remembered from trying it out before and why I didn't like it.

I'm trying to find a way to solve that. Email is a huge deal for me.

Do you have any suggestions?

Within the app (email/messaging/IM or whatever) go to menus, go into the options of the app, go to notifications, and turn them on. sounds like they are off.

[qbnkelt]

Within the app (email/messaging/IM or whatever) go to menus, go into the options of the app, go to notifications, and turn them on. sounds like they are off.

No, they're on. It must be that I use hotmail. I am not keen on GMail.

I guess I'll have to deal with the delay?????

Thus far, this is the only thing that is causing me grief right now.

[qbnkelt]

First off..what kind of email is it? Hotmail, yahoo, pop3? The native email system is designed to "pull"..so depending on your settings the fastest it can be set to pull is 5 minutes. You can circumvent these by forwarding most emails to gmail..which is true push. Let me know and I can help set it up if need be.

It must be. I'm on Hotmail, and I have one aol account that is as old as the hills but I keep it because it's where I get all my group notifications, forums, etc.

So....I'm not keen on GMail. So how do I use GMail without changing my address? Have Hotmail feed into GMail so that I can get true push? But that would change the way mail is received on my BB, which I'm still keeping.

[Rickroller]

I can understand your reluctance for gmail..as I too was that way..but since i've started using it I don't mind it. Just for testing sake..go into your hotmail account settings and set it to forward to your gmail account and test it again. You should receive it just as fast as with your BB. Worst case..at least the gmail can notifiy you and then you can check it with the native email. Just remember to "leave a copy" on your hotmail account so that if you delete it from gmail it doesn't delete it from the hotmail server.

Gmail can be configured so that if you send a reply email from gmail..it will send it as your hotmail address..so people don't get confused or anything. Outlook email can also be forwarded to gmail..so those using Outlook for work can access it via gmail.

[Rickroller]

So how do I use GMail without changing my address? Have Hotmail feed into GMail so that I can get true push? But that would change the way mail is received on my BB, which I'm still keeping.

As long as when you configure it to forward to your gmail account you also set it to leave a copy on your hotmail account..then it should still push to your BB in the same manner as before..no changes needed.

[qbnkelt]

I can understand your reluctance for gmail..as I too was that way..but since i've started using it I don't mind it. Just for testing sake..go into your hotmail account settings and set it to forward to your gmail account and test it again. You should receive it just as fast as with your BB. Worst case..at least the gmail can notifiy you and then you can check it with the native email. Just remember to "leave a copy" on your hotmail account so that if you delete it from gmail it doesn't delete it from the hotmail server.

Gmail can be configured so that if you send a reply email from gmail..it will send it as your hotmail address..so people don't get confused or anything. Outlook email can also be forwarded to gmail..so those using Outlook for work can access it via gmail.

Can't find that option, Rick. My hotmail account settings are General, Incoming, Outoing and Other. None have a forwarding option.
I had been looking at that this morning, to see if it was an option. Unless I'm blind, it's not there.
I'm on 2.2. Maybe that makes a difference.

[qbnkelt]

Wait! Smart forwarding is grayed out!!! Is that what you mean?

[Rickroller]

Hmmm..when i'm in Hotmail in the top right corner under my name there is Options. When i click on that there is "more options". Under that it takes you to a bunch of options..one of which is Manage Account. Under that there should be an Email Forwarding option you can click on and configure.

[qbnkelt]

so sorry - do you mean on your desktop? not the phone

DONE!!!!!!! I was looking on the device and not the desktop. Let me test now.

[Rickroller]

so sorry - do you mean on your desktop? not the phone?

Yes Configure it from the desktop to forward it to your gmail account.

[qbnkelt]

I did, love. No go.
It arrived immediately in my desktop but it didn't show up on my BB. And there was still the same delay on the Atrix with no communication, into the Hotmail inbox but not the Gmail one.
I soooo wish I had a screenshot for you!
As a matter of fact, the last email to my GMail account was last night at 5:10, when I created the account at the AT&T store.

[Rickroller]

Sounds like there is something that isn't configured properly then..because if your Gmail isn't even recieving emails (from the desktop) then it has to be something. Have you logged into gmail on the desktop to see if anythings arriving there?

This is the hardest part about trouble shooting lol..not being able to see exactly what the other is doing. I can assure you though..that my hotmail account emails forward to my gmail (while leaving a copy in the hotmail) and that it pushes directly to my phone.

There is just something we're missing here..