Recommend me an Android phone

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badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
I have decided to get the Atrix 4G, one last question, does New York City have 4G? I am failing at Googling right now.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
I have decided to get the Atrix 4G, one last question, does New York City have 4G? I am failing at Googling right now.

AT&T has no 4G. Anywhere. :p

Oddly enough, when I search AT&T's site for 'Coverage Map', it brings me to the product page for the HTC Inspire 4G. :p
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
I have decided to get the Atrix 4G, one last question, does New York City have 4G? I am failing at Googling right now.
I think NYC *is* HSPA+-enabled. (Mind you, the Infuse will be the first actual HSPA+ device on the network.) Not sure if or how much the enhanced backhaul fixed the data dropouts and peak-hour congestion that has plagued AT&T around here though.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
yes NYC is HSPA+. my Inspire has the H+ on it. i don't do a speedtest every day but a few days ago and last week it was about the same as when i had my iphone 3GS

the towers are HSPA+ but AT&T doesn't have the backhaul yet. they even said so publicly
 

badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
Bought the Atrix off of the amazonwireless site, 109~ shipped with contract. Can't wait till tomorrow :D .
 

badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
Not that impressed with the Motorola Attic 4G, it seems like the software is not taking full use of the powerful internal hardware. Overall the Android experience itself has gotten better but I can't believe that even with a dual core Tegra 2 SoC it's not buttery smooth while web browsing, reading, or just navigating the UI. Please recommend me some useful apps/ guides I should get that are useful/fun.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
Replace the stock Blur launcher with Launcher Pro. You'll be amazed at the difference in speed and smoothness.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
Not that impressed with the Motorola Attic 4G, it seems like the software is not taking full use of the powerful internal hardware. Overall the Android experience itself has gotten better but I can't believe that even with a dual core Tegra 2 SoC it's not buttery smooth while web browsing, reading, or just navigating the UI. Please recommend me some useful apps/ guides I should get that are useful/fun.

lesson is don't buy based on paper specs

technically my sega genesis with 32X was better and faster than the SNES. but the latter had the better games
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
How do I do this? Thanks in advance.
Download the alternate launcher (Launcher Pro, ADW EX, or Go Launcher EX) from the market, and press the home button. You can choose the launcher to use just for that press or actually change the default that starts up at boot. To change back either uninstall or download one of the home switcher apps.

Blur's laggy launcher is a big part of why people rip on it.
 

BenSkywalker

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,140
67
91
web browsing, reading, or just navigating the UI.

Web browsing, get far away from the default browser, it is garbage. Use Dolphin or Opera(non mini, FireFox is absolutely horrid, far worse then stock for the record).

Reading- What type of reading? Reader apps there are a bunch of them, I'd say what store you like to use has the most influence here. Just speaking about the actual reader software itself, I like Nook and Aldiko, although as time goes on I'm using Nook more and more(Aldiko is paid, Nook is free).

UI- I haven't had luck with LauncherPro on Atrix, it has constantly been slower then default Blur(I have several Android devices here, that is NOT the norm). ADW is faster, and ADW EX allows you to tweak response speed(Android by default is built to not respond instantly, ADW EX you can eliminate that if you want- but turning it all the way off gives you lots of accidental swipes). Right now I run SPB Shell 3D-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVU84J1ShSQ&feature=player_embedded

It's pricey for a launcher, $15, but honestly since I got it I couldn't imagine going back to any of the other options(not that they are bad, just a different league sort of thing honestly, SPB isn't as tweakable as the others, but man is it slick).

Please recommend me some useful apps/ guides I should get that are useful/fun.

TegraZone, free on the market, get it. It shows you some of the titles that utilize the power that your phone has. They even have a very highly polished game up running on the Unreal Engine for free(DungeonDefenders).

For music, PowerAMP by a mile. I'm not aware of anything else they can really offer at this point. So far the only file type that is hasn't supported is WMA-L(supports normal WMA just fine) but it handles FLAC which makes up for that. UI is basic, but the lock widget is slick and all the things like gapless, different sort options, everything you could want that I can think of is in. The application is paid, however they have a time limited demo that gives you a full week to try it out with all features enabled($5 if you decide you like it).

Oh yeah, make sure you get the update for your phone. Ping and upload speeds are bad without it. What other types of applications do you want on your phone? Most of the reccomendations for apps aren't going to be Atrix specific(outside of TegraZone and SPB would be a bit much for some older phones).
 

badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
Web browsing, get far away from the default browser, it is garbage. Use Dolphin or Opera(non mini, FireFox is absolutely horrid, far worse then stock for the record).

Reading- What type of reading? Reader apps there are a bunch of them, I'd say what store you like to use has the most influence here. Just speaking about the actual reader software itself, I like Nook and Aldiko, although as time goes on I'm using Nook more and more(Aldiko is paid, Nook is free).

UI- I haven't had luck with LauncherPro on Atrix, it has constantly been slower then default Blur(I have several Android devices here, that is NOT the norm). ADW is faster, and ADW EX allows you to tweak response speed(Android by default is built to not respond instantly, ADW EX you can eliminate that if you want- but turning it all the way off gives you lots of accidental swipes). Right now I run SPB Shell 3D-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVU84J1ShSQ&feature=player_embedded

It's pricey for a launcher, $15, but honestly since I got it I couldn't imagine going back to any of the other options(not that they are bad, just a different league sort of thing honestly, SPB isn't as tweakable as the others, but man is it slick).



TegraZone, free on the market, get it. It shows you some of the titles that utilize the power that your phone has. They even have a very highly polished game up running on the Unreal Engine for free(DungeonDefenders).

For music, PowerAMP by a mile. I'm not aware of anything else they can really offer at this point. So far the only file type that is hasn't supported is WMA-L(supports normal WMA just fine) but it handles FLAC which makes up for that. UI is basic, but the lock widget is slick and all the things like gapless, different sort options, everything you could want that I can think of is in. The application is paid, however they have a time limited demo that gives you a full week to try it out with all features enabled($5 if you decide you like it).

Oh yeah, make sure you get the update for your phone. Ping and upload speeds are bad without it. What other types of applications do you want on your phone? Most of the reccomendations for apps aren't going to be Atrix specific(outside of TegraZone and SPB would be a bit much for some older phones).

Wow, very informative post! I will report back later with results later today, thanks again!
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
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I don't know. Dolphin isn't that fast either. While it's featured and works well, I ran xScope and Dolphin a lot on my Milestone. I went back to the stock browser because it felt faster.

Opera Mobile seems to be very good on my NS though.

Also I noticed the same thing about Launcher Pro on Blur. This was noticed when I went into the AT&T store one morning and played with the Atrix the first week it was out. Lagfest. My Milestone was faster. I should've filmed it that day, but replacing stock launcher with LP didn't do much. It was definitely under 30fps.

I posted this in a thread, but I was also confused because I expected it to be better. My second chance with the Atrix came with the Engadget meetup where it felt MUCH faster (the launcher). Definitely not as fast as I'm experiencing now on my Nexus S, but it was passable. Probably as smooth as my Milestone or a little better minus the hiccups because my older device would have to load stuff into memory causing a stutter here or there, but overall the framerate was decent at least.

So I'm not sure whether it was a poisoned Atrix because people abuse the hell out of it at the AT&T store or because they polished one for Engadget's Apple Fanbois or because both were just flat out inaccurate depictions of the Atrix.

Either way, I know what Launcher Pro is capable of. If you can somehow deBLUR your device, Launcher Pro on a beast like the Atrix would be silky smooth.
 
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Plester

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 1999
3,165
0
76
You need to hustle on over to the atrix forum at XDA asap. if you are somewhat technical and like to futz with software then a pseudo-rom like gladiatrix or gingerblur based on the latest moto update are nice. Even with those you will want a launcher, everyone has their favorite, mine is go launcher. I use miren browser but dolphin mini or hd or opera are good. Out of the box the atrix has issues, but most android phones do. The captivate is unusable in it's stock form, so it's usually not the device's fault, that's what people need to get their heads around.

If I ever got my shi together I would shoot a little video of my atrix humming along and post it so people could see what a little gem the phone really is.
 
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badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
You need to hustle on over to the atrix forum at XDA asap. if you are somewhat technical and like to futz with software then a pseudo-rom like gladiatrix or gingerblur based on the latest moto update are nice. Even with those you will want a launcher, everyone has their favorite, mine is go launcher. I use miren browser but dolphin mini or hd or opera are good. Out of the box the atrix has issues, but most android phones do. The captivate is unusable in it's stock form, so it's usually not the device's fault, that's what people need to get their heads around.

If I ever got my shi together I would shoot a little video of my atrix humming along and post it so people could see what a little gem the phone really is.
This is exactly what I am doing right now, from my understanding rooting is like jailbreaking on Android.

Dolphin feels much better then the stock browser IMO.
 

badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
I just rooted and installed gingerblur

The Android fruit just got sweeter.
 

fstime

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2004
4,382
5
81
Locked bootloader kills the Atrix.

I would have waited for HTC's dualcore offering or the Samsung Galaxy SII.

Gingerblur and all the other "roms" for the Atrix arn't really roms, just glorified theme packs.

Don't get me wrong, it's a solid phone, but if you like to tinker with roms, better dual core phones will be arriving soon.
 

badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
This was just a stopgap before the new iPhone comes out, so far I am enjoying the Atrix. One thing I love about Android is the notifications system, iOS just can't compare to this.
 

YoungGun21

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2006
2,546
1
81
This was just a stopgap before the new iPhone comes out, so far I am enjoying the Atrix. One thing I love about Android is the notifications system, iOS just can't compare to this.

Maybe you could put Android on your iphone!