[qbnkelt]

I will let you know later this afternoon.

I've got a meeting at 1 and my contractor has one at 2 so if we don't get out of here by noon I'll never get to Chinatown. The place is crawling with tourists because of the cherry blossoms.

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[pantlesspenguin]

My contractor and I are going to the Chinatown AT&T store at lunch. I might just come back with an Atrix!!!!

**** froze over? Pigs are flying? Early April Fool's joke? In all seriousness, I'm eager to hear your impressions as well.

Edited to add: What's the fingerprint function? Like, does it only unlock for your fingerprint if you have that option selected?

[avt123]

I don't think anybody is saying that BB's are all that because of superior battery life. People are simply pointing out battery life as one measurable advantage that most (not all) BB's have over most (not all) other smart phones. To many people, battery life is the most important benefit after reliable and timely messaging. It keeps coming up every second because other people keep throwing out the myriad other things every other phone does better than a BB every second. It doesn't matter what the reason is, whether it's a slow processor or low-res display or it only dispenses single-ply toilet paper, it does what it does for longer stretches and in most cases the user doesn't have to worry about keeping it charged to get them through the day. No one is saying that BB has the market cornered on that, BB's are just generally better at it. And yes, just a few hours more between charges means the difference between a phone that will and will not make it through a whole work day, which is a deal-breaker for a lot of people, specifically people who don't happen to have all day to spend browsing the web and playing games.

Not saying you're one of those people ... just saying.

I understand. I also am not knocking BBs for what they do. They are great devices. I loved mine (hated the build quality of the 9700 is one reason why I left), they are great communications devices. I also understand hw battery life is crucial to many people. I just find it funny how some people make it such a big deal when comparing to other devices. Like they expect the other devices to offer similar or the same battery ife, but completely pay no attention to the specs at all. It is expected that BBs have better battery life compared to these devices, if BBs didn't, there would be a huge problem.

[avt123]

Good luke Qbn.. Hopefully the Atrix provides the experience for you, that a lot of others have come to enjoy.

[qbnkelt]

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.

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[avt123]

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.

Just know you can easily customize the messaging aspect of Android. You can download an app like Handcent, which is much better than any stock Android messaging app or manufacturers messaging app and set it up the way you like it.

Also, if you want the UI to be faster, all you have to do is download a launcher like LauncherPro and the phone will fly. MotBlur stock launcher is not as fast and kind of hold the device back. With launcherPro you can customize certain things to have your devices hardware (all without rooting) take advantage.

[qbnkelt]

If I take this step you'll know about it around 5:30 Eastern. If it happens, I'll be fumbling along, bugging you.
I never read manuals.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[BlackStormRising]

If the Atrix isn't the iPhone killer then there isn't one, and I can call off the all points bulletin.

[pantlesspenguin]

Q - I agree w/ avt about handcent. Awesome app. Also download LiveProfile for it's BBM-esqueness. Also, be aware that you can REALLY fine-tune email delivery customizations...something I wasn't even aware of until recently lol.

I hope that the fingerprint thing works as advertized!!! That would be sweet. However, my gym uses fingerprint technology when checking in, & about 1 out of 4 times the machine doesn't recognize me for some reason. It's really frustrating.

[sleepngbear]

I just find it funny how some people make it such a big deal when comparing to other devices. Like they expect the other devices to offer similar or the same battery ife, but completely pay no attention to the specs at all.

Well, anyone who sees it that way and only that way is indeed a blind fanboi. Every phone is a compromise of something, if not many things. If they all didn't compromise something, it would mean that someone has invented the perfect phone, which to my knowledge hasn't been done yet.

It is expected that BBs have better battery life compared to these devices, if BBs didn't, there would be a huge problem.

Absolutely agree. And RIM themselves have as much as admitted that they scale back horsepower and features to achieve what they feel is acceptable battery life for their devices. It then becomes a matter of if you can live with what they leave out in exchange for what they've baked in. For most of us, the answer is yes, which seems to defy logic to many others.

But therein lies at least part of the problem, and what leads to so much heated, ummm, debate here. Much of what is 'baked in' that attract BB's to their users are intangibles, like how certain functions and OS components are integrated, and simply how things work. Apple in particular does an amazing job at this with all their products, which is why so many Apple fans are quickly labeled 'fanbois' by those who can't understand or appreciate that they just work ... for those people. Battery life is measurable; display resolution and browser speed are measurable; but how do you measure one's preference for how one device works over another, particularly when that preference outweighs one or many other measurable benefits? The best we can usually come up with is, we just like how it works, and it gets great battery life. It's 100% correct, but understandably it doesn't hold up so well in an argument...

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[qbnkelt]

Yah, that would suck. I'm not keen on the idea of open source and rooting - I want my device to be secure. But I want to be able to access it myself!!!!
The phone made me stop in my tracks, to be sure. And that was a key feature. If I can end my 3:00 early and grab my contractor so we can make a getaway I may still get to Chinatown before my commuter train leaves. If all that happens I'll be posting at 5:30 or thereabouts.

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[qbnkelt]

GETTING IT!!!!! WOOOOHHHOOOOO!!!!!!!!


They don't have a sceen protector, so I'm freaking right now.

I have 29 days to test the beejeezus out of this thing. If I like it I won't get the iP5.

I WILL be keeping my BB as my primary device.

So far I need to get rid of the BZZZZ feedback....mdriving me nuts.

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[pantlesspenguin]

Cool!! That's one good thing about android - don't like something? You can easily change it. I'm with you, vibrating feedback always annoyed me & was a silly battery waster.

Here's tip: Like blackberry, android is very menu-centric. If you're in an app & something isn't making sense, most likely a press of the menu button will give you many more options.

[qbnkelt]

So far I'm finding myself around pretty well. First disappointment came when I realized that I can't play Farmville. I also just.realized it forces you into American spelling, as soon as you hit the spa e bar it forces the change, can't choose.
The display is quite crisp. It forced me to get a gmail account, which I didn't want.
Surprisingly, it puts me on mobile sites as a default.
Now it's time to play with email.

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[Rickroller]

As far as haptic feedback goes when hitting any of the 4 bottom buttons (menu, search, apps, and back) this is currently not a feature that can be disabled (without a workaround..which disables ALL vibration) from what i've read. However..any of the other haptic feedback can be disabled in the Settings>Languange and Keyboard options.

As far as spelling and whatnot with the keyboards..you can also download other language packs in the market..whichever ones you want. I'm not crazy over the stock android keyboard (Gingerbread one is nice though)..so for fun you should try downloading some of the others to play with. I like Smart Keyboard (it has auto text feature..so you can create your own word shortcuts u=you etc) but alot of people like Swiftkey among others. The nice thing is you can have as many keyboards as you want installed..and just select which one you want to use at any time (again..in the Settings option).

[qbnkelt]

Yah, that's what I want, to be able to change as needed.
I just downloaded Poynt and Weatherbug.
Was happy to find an led notification feature! Battery's running low, though.

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[Rickroller]

Yea..for battery life it's going to take a few charge/discharge days to get any kind of accurate info about life. Just be sure to check any twitter/facebook update intervals (if you use them)..i think the stock refresh interval on this is set for really short time frames. If you don't like the native email handler..check out K-9 and/or Maildroid..I found Maildroid did most of what I needed..but my email needs aren't anywhere near what yours would be from the sounds of it.

[qbnkelt]

Well, email is a huge deal....i'm a K9 SAR volunteer, so availability and response time are HUGE for me. Aside from the kidlets. And Mr. Qbnkelt, who goes mental if he can't reach me.
I don't expect the battery to be settled for a few days yet, so i'm not freaking. Yet.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[avt123]

GETTING IT!!!!! WOOOOHHHOOOOO!!!!!!!!


They don't have a sceen protector, so I'm freaking right now.

I have 29 days to test the beejeezus out of this thing. If I like it I won't get the iP5.

I WILL be keeping my BB as my primary device.

So far I need to get rid of the BZZZZ feedback....mdriving me nuts.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Gorilla Glass works wonders. I haven't had a screen protector on any of my devices in years.

[Rickroller]

Depending what you use for email accounts..most can be forwarded to Gmail (some aren't fans of gmail though). I just recently got mine configured so both my personal and work (Outlook) are forwarded to my gmail, which pushes it right to the phone..thus push email. Now..with the new LauncherPro update..I have a gmail widget right on one of my homescreens..so one quick swipe and I can the emails right from the screen without necessarily needing to open anything.

[avt123]

Well, anyone who sees it that way and only that way is indeed a blind fanboi. Every phone is a compromise of something, if not many things. If they all didn't compromise something, it would mean that someone has invented the perfect phone, which to my knowledge hasn't been done yet.

Completely agree.

Absolutely agree. And RIM themselves have as much as admitted that they scale back horsepower and features to achieve what they feel is acceptable battery life for their devices. It then becomes a matter of if you can live with what they leave out in exchange for what they've baked in. For most of us, the answer is yes, which seems to defy logic to many others.

But therein lies at least part of the problem, and what leads to so much heated, ummm, debate here. Much of what is 'baked in' that attract BB's to their users are intangibles, like how certain functions and OS components are integrated, and simply how things work. Apple in particular does an amazing job at this with all their products, which is why so many Apple fans are quickly labeled 'fanbois' by those who can't understand or appreciate that they just work ... for those people. Battery life is measurable; display resolution and browser speed are measurable; but how do you measure one's preference for how one device works over another, particularly when that preference outweighs one or many other measurable benefits? The best we can usually come up with is, we just like how it works, and it gets great battery life. It's 100% correct, but understandably it doesn't hold up so well in an argument...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Again, I completely agree.

[qbnkelt]

Cool!! That's one good thing about android - don't like something? You can easily change it. I'm with you, vibrating feedback always annoyed me & was a silly battery waster.

Here's tip: Like blackberry, android is very menu-centric. If you're in an app & something isn't making sense, most likely a press of the menu button will give you many more options.

This is true....I'm back to my BB because the battery died. I expecte as much today.
I added YouTube as a widget and now I can't remove it or add others. That was quite perplexing.

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[qbnkelt]

Gorilla Glass works wonders. I haven't had a screen protector on any of my devices in years.

Is the Atrix gorilla glass? I thought it was but the CS guy said no.

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[avt123]

Is the Atrix gorilla glass? I thought it was but the CS guy said no.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I'm almost positive every Moto device, and for the most part, every high end Android device is using Gorilla Glass at this point (besides the Nexus S due to the curve of the screen).

Edit- It does

DISPLAY TYPE
Corning� Gorilla� Glass

Motorola ATRIX 4G - dual-core phone - Android smartphone - Tech Specs - Motorola Mobility, Inc. USA

[qbnkelt]

Yah, that's what I thought. He also said I had to sign onto Facebook each time. WRONG!

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