Paging Squire and other Moto Droid owners

[SlimDizzleATL]

I'm currently test driving a Motorola Atrix (I hesisitate to call it) 4G. Its ok so far, its quick and all, even though I dont think I'll ever need a dual core. Anyway, my question is...How do you guys deal with MotoBlur? Its absolutely awful. I kind of like Sense and of course Vanilla Android...but this is just crap. Any suggestions to make it workable without downloading Launcher Pro?

[jkhonea]

Actually Launcher Pro or ADW would be about your only other option to switch it out unless you root it and look a full Vanilla ROM on it. I haven't looked at the status of root on the Atrix yet to see if it's been accomplished. Motorola and HTC have gotten worse about locking down lately.

[SlimDizzleATL]

Actually Launcher Pro or ADW would be about your only other option to switch it out unless you root it and look a full Vanilla ROM on it. I haven't looked at the status of root on the Atrix yet to see if it's been accomplished. Motorola and HTC have gotten worse about locking down lately.

Yeah. Something about a heavily locked down bootloader. I dont know.

[jkhonea]

Yeah. Something about a heavily locked down bootloader. I dont know.

Yup, the bootloader is exactly the problem. I think the Atrix is still locked down, from what I have heard.

[Ringo®]

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb24/bbshopquartet/nerds.jpg

[KSerge]

I steered clear of motorola for exactly this reason.

Though, in my infinite wisdom, I instead picked up one of the only HTCs with a locked bootloader (Thunderbolt). It's mostly freed up at this point but not without some headaches. Now that I have it rooted, it's running great, can't wait to get Gingerbread running on it.

If you have to stick with AT&T, I might suggest trading the atrix for their EVO clone, I think it's called the desire? Some goofy name like that, very similar specs to the EVO/Tbolt though.

[SlimDizzleATL]

I steered clear of motorola for exactly this reason.

Though, in my infinite wisdom, I instead picked up one of the only HTCs with a locked bootloader (Thunderbolt). It's mostly freed up at this point but not without some headaches. Now that I have it rooted, it's running great, can't wait to get Gingerbread running on it.

If you have to stick with AT&T, I might suggest trading the atrix for their EVO clone, I think it's called the desire? Some goofy name like that, very similar specs to the EVO/Tbolt though.

Inspire. I tried that one out last week. Its pretty cool...although I miss calls because its hard to hear.

[JSKeezy]

To get rid of Motoblur (which is the worse) is to root it honestly. I dont even know why in the hell they would put that crap on there. But dont to anything with it until you KNOW you want it. I think they are getting the Galaxy S as well. I would get that phone. The HTC Aspire is a good phone too!!!

[jkhonea]

I steered clear of motorola for exactly this reason.

Though, in my infinite wisdom, I instead picked up one of the only HTCs with a locked bootloader (Thunderbolt). It's mostly freed up at this point but not without some headaches. Now that I have it rooted, it's running great, can't wait to get Gingerbread running on it.

If you have to stick with AT&T, I might suggest trading the atrix for their EVO clone, I think it's called the desire? Some goofy name like that, very similar specs to the EVO/Tbolt though.

Hold off on GB for the Thunderbolt for the moment. We're hearing rumors of it bricking some phones. The staff and all on Droid Forums is trying to run down what's going on.

[jkhonea]

The Galaxy S2 is coming and is going to be the phone to have. I'm waiting to see if Verizon will get it. Hearing incredible battery life.

[KSerge]

Hold off on GB for the Thunderbolt for the moment. We're hearing rumors of it bricking some phones. The staff and all on Droid Forums is trying to run down what's going on.

Yeah, I actually just flashed back to froyo earlier today. I might give the CM7 alpha another shot, just because gingerbread is SO great. It's mainly the GB roms combined with the GB radio that seem to be bricking. I'll stick with froyo until they sort it out, but yeah I can't wait for GB to be stable.

[jkhonea]

Yeah, I actually just flashed back to froyo earlier today. I might give the CM7 alpha another shot, just because gingerbread is SO great. It's mainly the GB roms combined with the GB radio that seem to be bricking. I'll stick with froyo until they sort it out, but yeah I can't wait for GB to be stable.

I agree. I've been running a Sense 2.1 ROM with GB on my Inc. but there are still a couple glitches annoying me so I bailed for the moment. But GB is incredible. Have you seen the new Sense 3.0? Friggin' WOW!

[cliff0529]

If you've got AT&T, look at the Samsung Infuse. We got one for Sheila, and love it so far!

[TarzanMan]

First:
The Samsung Galaxy S II is coming to Verizon, Sprint & AT&T

Second:
The international version of the Samsung Galaxy S II with AT&T-compatible frequencies is already available for purchase. A few people on a few sites I visit have bought them and are very happy with them. However, buying an international version means that you would have to
1. Pay full price for the phone
2. Input all the AT&T settings (like APNs) manually

But you would have an unlocked, unbranded phone off-contract.

[SquireSCA]

I'm currently test driving a Motorola Atrix (I hesisitate to call it) 4G. Its ok so far, its quick and all, even though I dont think I'll ever need a dual core. Anyway, my question is...How do you guys deal with MotoBlur? Its absolutely awful. I kind of like Sense and of course Vanilla Android...but this is just crap. Any suggestions to make it workable without downloading Launcher Pro?

I am not one for ROM's to be honest. They can be quirky and tricky to install, and it is easy to hose something.

I used ADW and Launcher Pro, but the one I recently switched to is Go Launcher. It's free, fast and very slick and the Go widgets are starting to get really nice. It's my current favorite.

[SquireSCA]

The Galaxy S2 is coming and is going to be the phone to have. I'm waiting to see if Verizon will get it. Hearing incredible battery life.

If it is 4G/LTE that will be my next phone.

[SquireSCA]

GO Launcher has a ton of themes and skins for the phone, plus it scans all the apps you have installed and looks for the icon packs associated with them, and lets you apply those icons to the main theme. It really has a lot of cool features and is very fast.

And it covers up a lot of the MotoBlur stuff, although I never really had a problem with it anyway. Donna has a TBolt and while Sense is a little prettier, I don't think that it is all that much better. The Droid X is going to start getting the Gingerbread official OTA starting today, and that makes things even better.

[SlimDizzleATL]

I have Gingerbread on my N1. Its alright. Nothing spectacular that I can see. Maybe it makes a bigger difference on the newer phones.

[jkhonea]

If it is 4G/LTE that will be my next phone.

Unfortunately it's going to be 3G from what I heard, but not confirmed yet. Still waiting on the final, but I would say 3G.

Over the night was some good news. HTC and Motorola both announced unlocked bootloaders from now on out. The only thing is to see if the carriers put them back in on their own. It is at least progress in the right direction.

[jkhonea]

I am not one for ROM's to be honest. They can be quirky and tricky to install, and it is easy to hose something.

I used ADW and Launcher Pro, but the one I recently switched to is Go Launcher. It's free, fast and very slick and the Go widgets are starting to get really nice. It's my current favorite.

The Droid X is much worse on ROM installation than the Inc. It's extremely easy on mine. I've seen some of the process on the X and definitely say it is a bit more prone to problems on custom ROM's than my process.

[jkhonea]

First:
The Samsung Galaxy S II is coming to Verizon, Sprint & AT&T

Second:
The international version of the Samsung Galaxy S II with AT&T-compatible frequencies is already available for purchase. A few people on a few sites I visit have bought them and are very happy with them. However, buying an international version means that you would have to
1. Pay full price for the phone
2. Input all the AT&T settings (like APNs) manually

But you would have an unlocked, unbranded phone off-contract.

That's good to hear. I'll be giving it a close look when it hits. Very nice looking phone and all of the reviews on it have been fantastic from what I have seen.

[JSKeezy]

That's good to hear. I'll be giving it a close look when it hits. Very nice looking phone and all of the reviews on it have been fantastic from what I have seen.

Very hot phone. Pixels, speed and all... I just like how google will make sure that specific phone receives all the updates and new software before any other one....

[jkhonea]

Very hot phone. Pixels, speed and all... I just like how google will make sure that specific phone receives all the updates and new software before any other one....

That's the Nexus line. The Galaxy S2 will be at the whim of the carriers. That's why I'm hoping for rooting. The main thing I like on rooting is getting faster updates by installing them myself.

[JSKeezy]

That's the Nexus line. The Galaxy S2 will be at the whim of the carriers. That's why I'm hoping for rooting. The main thing I like on rooting is getting faster updates by installing them myself.

Damn screw up a person who used to work for phones.....#fail....ok the galaxy was a cool phone but the battery was PISS POOR horrible. Screen was nice.(Avatar was awesome on it). The new only only gives you the front face camera, (from the previous galaxy S) and it is on 4g now. Decent phone but I've seen better

[SlimDizzleATL]

Anyone know anything about the Samsung Infuse? Besides it being huge?

[jkhonea]

Damn screw up a person who used to work for phones.....#fail....ok the galaxy was a cool phone but the battery was PISS POOR horrible. Screen was nice.(Avatar was awesome on it). The new only only gives you the front face camera, (from the previous galaxy S) and it is on 4g now. Decent phone but I've seen better

The new S2 is supposed to be outstanding on battery life. Think they have it worked out now.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Unfortunately it's going to be 3G from what I heard, but not confirmed yet. Still waiting on the final, but I would say 3G.

Over the night was some good news. HTC and Motorola both announced unlocked bootloaders from now on out. The only thing is to see if the carriers put them back in on their own. It is at least progress in the right direction.


Only partially true. Motorola announced they would have unlockABLE bootloaders. However, they worded it such that it's essentially "bootloaders will be unlockable at the hardware level. Carriers will still be able to decide if they want to allow an unlocked device on their network or not".

[JSKeezy]

The new S2 is supposed to be outstanding on battery life. Think they have it worked out now.

Ill hold my breath on that one....

[SquireSCA]

The S2 better be LTE. With LTE in so many markets now, and like a hundred more by the end of this year which is only 7 months away, releasing such a high end phone like that, with dual core and all the other bells and whistles, and then dropping the ball and making it 3G when Verizon no longer offers 1 year contracts, would be stupid. I will not spend that kind of money on a 3G phone and then have to wait till 2013 to get an LTE/4G one.

[jkhonea]

Only partially true. Motorola announced they would have unlockABLE bootloaders. However, they worded it such that it's essentially "bootloaders will be unlockable at the hardware level. Carriers will still be able to decide if they want to allow an unlocked device on their network or not".

Yup and Verizon has said they won't be unlocking. So we'll see where that lands.

[jkhonea]

Ill hold my breath on that one....

This is actually based on word coming down from actual users, not projections and such. We'll see, though.

[jkhonea]

The S2 better be LTE. With LTE in so many markets now, and like a hundred more by the end of this year which is only 7 months away, releasing such a high end phone like that, with dual core and all the other bells and whistles, and then dropping the ball and making it 3G when Verizon no longer offers 1 year contracts, would be stupid. I will not spend that kind of money on a 3G phone and then have to wait till 2013 to get an LTE/4G one.

It still may not be LTE. Verizon is still having growing pains with LTE and isn't in a rush to get more LTE phones out there quickly because of these mishaps. The Thunderbolt debacle is haunting them a little. Even at 3G, I would be fine with it. I don't do enough music or video streaming to worry about LTE. If the rest of the hardware is good, I'll sacrifice and stay 3G. Still watching for final word on hardware when it hits Verizon.

[SquireSCA]

It still may not be LTE. Verizon is still having growing pains with LTE and isn't in a rush to get more LTE phones out there quickly because of these mishaps. The Thunderbolt debacle is haunting them a little. Even at 3G, I would be fine with it. I don't do enough music or video streaming to worry about LTE. If the rest of the hardware is good, I'll sacrifice and stay 3G. Still watching for final word on hardware when it hits Verizon.

True, but after seeing how fast LTE is and seeing as that Verizon 3G is so damned slow, I wouldn't want to pay top dollar for a phone and be saddled with 3G for another 2 years when I live in an LTE town.

[jkhonea]

Oh I understand. I've heard once you've seen the speed you can't go back. I haven't yet, so I'm still good at this point. :D

[SquireSCA]

Oh I understand. I've heard once you've seen the speed you can't go back. I haven't yet, so I'm still good at this point. :D

Yeah, having been on AT&T, despite the dropped call issues, the internet speed was at least triple what Verizon offers on 3G, so my browsing, or streaming stuff is WAAAAY slower and it is like being on dial-up again most of the time.

So seeing the insane speeds Donna gets on her TBolt, and knowing that there is decent LTE coverage where we are moving to in Suwanee next month, I definitely don't want to get locked into 3G for another 2 years.

[jkhonea]

I can understand that. HTC actually has a great phone they just released that is dual core and LTE. If it comes to Verizon, it very well may be the one I jump to over the Samsung.

[SlimDizzleATL]

I can understand that. HTC actually has a great phone they just released that is dual core and LTE. If it comes to Verizon, it very well may be the one I jump to over the Samsung.

You talking about the Sensation? Thats going to T-Mo. Speaking of which, anyone use them. This phone is making me want to jump the AT&T ship. Its BA.

[JSKeezy]

You talking about the Sensation? Thats going to T-Mo. Speaking of which, anyone use them. This phone is making me want to jump the AT&T ship. Its BA.

Going to play with it tomorrow...Tell you how it is before I go on my cruise :)

[jkhonea]

You talking about the Sensation? Thats going to T-Mo. Speaking of which, anyone use them. This phone is making me want to jump the AT&T ship. Its BA.

It's been announced for T-Mobile. Doesn't mean Verizon won't get it. ;)

[JSKeezy]

It's been announced for T-Mobile. Doesn't mean Verizon won't get it. ;)

But they will get something similar, unless its like the new droid phone, the incredible (or whatever that new phone was)

[JSKeezy]

But they will get something similar, unless its like the new droid phone, the incredible (or whatever that new phone was)

Edit. The thunderbolt.....

[Ride4Life]

It still may not be LTE. Verizon is still having growing pains with LTE and isn't in a rush to get more LTE phones out there quickly because of these mishaps. The Thunderbolt debacle is haunting them a little. Even at 3G, I would be fine with it. I don't do enough music or video streaming to worry about LTE. If the rest of the hardware is good, I'll sacrifice and stay 3G. Still watching for final word on hardware when it hits Verizon.

What debacle?? i just got a Thunderbolt .... should I send it back?
I am still within 30 days.

What about the "hotspot" feature? It's claimed to be in a trial period .... any news of when
it ends?

I like it ... only bad thing I read was battery life was terrible.
4G seems to work fine/stable where I get a 4G signal and 3G is pretty
good too - though i think my WLAN card in the laptop is a little quicker.

[TroyBoy30]

As if the one-call-wonder's battery life wasn't enough, the update pushed out to HTC Thunderbolt owners a couple weeks back has some devices randomly rebooting. Verizon and HTC have said they're working on the issue, but that's of little comfort to customers whose phones are spontaneously restarting several times a day. If you were hoping to solve the issue by installing the leaked version of Gingerbread, we've got bad news -- there have been a number of reports at the XDA Developers Forums that the Sensed-up version of Android 2.3 is bricking phones and sending them into an endless bootloop. But don't despair, a fix could be arriving soon. A source at Verizon told Droid Life that Thunderbolt-owning employees "may be entitled" to a software update before it gets rolled out to the general public -- presumably a final test run for that reboot repressing patch. If you're too impatient to wait for yet another firmware update, you can apparently stroll down to your local VZW store and simply trade in your troublesome T-Bolt for a new one. Just make sure it's running the older software before you take it home.

[jkhonea]

The article from Troy pretty much covers it. Bootloops and bricks are becoming an issue and still no sign of when the software updates will actually be coming through. From my knowledge, no one is really sure what's going on yet.

[MrBlah]

wouldnt be a problem if you could fully replace the rom/kernel without a 50 step guide that could brick it, the number one best thing about android and they block users from doing it

[Ride4Life]

Thanks for the info!!

I thought I had done my homework ... "F+" i guess.
Headed to shop for another phone now.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Thanks for the info!!

I thought I had done my homework ... "F+" i guess.
Headed to shop for another phone now.

Why? If your phone isn't one of the ones affected, then it's not a problem.

[RogueElement]

wouldnt be a problem if you could fully replace the rom/kernel without a 50 step guide that could brick it, the number one best thing about android and they block users from doing it

There's a 1click available for it now, you know.

[SlimDizzleATL]

So anyway...about that Sensation, Skeezy....

[jkhonea]

Played with a friends Galaxy S2 at lunch. Beautiful phone and definitely what the new Android phones need to be. If we can root them, I'll be content, but it looks like Verizon isn't going to play nice on this point. That sucks. I may consider a nonrootable phone, but we'll have to see. I really don't like being locked out of it.

[SquireSCA]

Played with a friends Galaxy S2 at lunch. Beautiful phone and definitely what the new Android phones need to be. If we can root them, I'll be content, but it looks like Verizon isn't going to play nice on this point. That sucks. I may consider a nonrootable phone, but we'll have to see. I really don't like being locked out of it.

Just got the Gingerbread OTA this morning, runs awesome do far.

[jkhonea]

Yeah, I've been running some GB ROM's on the Incredible and probably trying a new one this weekend. Definite difference in how they run and I like the changes. It's a worthwhile update, without a doubt.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I still have the fastest single core phone that Motorola makes, and can't get a damn update for it. I feel like Moto/VZW screwed the pooch on this one.

[MrBlah]

There's a 1click available for it now, you know.

got a link? The current stickies on the android forums are all multistep, lots of steps

[jkhonea]

got a link? The current stickies on the android forums are all multistep, lots of steps

I haven't seen a true single click like we had for the Incredible. There are some that are multiple single clicks, not as bad as in the beginning, but nothing perfect yet. The one "single click" that was touting as the easiest had a Youtube video on Droid Forums on how to do it, but he never posted where to get the files you needed.

On that note, the Samsungs are damn near rootable out of the box now. If that's the case, as much as I like my HTC, if something doesn't change I'll get the Galaxy S2 whenever it hits Verizon. Thinking it will most definitely be rooted almost immediately. I don't care if Samsung doesn't get timely updates out for Samsung as long as the development community supports it with their work. Hell, most of the custom ROM's based on Sense that I run are better than the dead stock Sense from Verizon.

[MrBlah]

afaik the thunderbird is currently sketchy at best, you have to downgrade firmware, install busybox, I'm just gonna stop, it's far from one click, and there is currently a risk of bricking the device

and that's just to root it !

[jkhonea]

Yeah, I'm not thrilled or comfortable with the rooting process on it at all. That's what kept me from buying one. I'll wait for the next generation to hit and see what the process and developers are looking like. Overall, I'm hoping for the S2 as it looks to be the smallest and thinnest. Still no word on 4G but I can live without that. Next up would be a variation of the Sensation. I just really don't like the Motorola stuff and I don't trust LG yet.

[MrBlah]

we have a verizon 4g mifi, only seen 4g at the house, the bandwidth cap ensures that it's rarely ever used

[Ride4Life]

Why? If your phone isn't one of the ones affected, then it's not a problem.


Well .. I guess that is a good point.
I don't have any issues with the phone - right now.

Is this "reset" issue something that is instantly noticeable or
is likely to happen 31 days after I got it and I get stuck with it?


If I can return it after the 30 day trial period because it's a "known" problem,
and I can swap it at a later date if I see the problem, I will.

[jkhonea]

Hold on, the return policy for Verizon is most definitely NOT 30 days anymore. It's 14 days. Be careful on that one. Unless they changed the trial period and I didn't hear.

[MrBlah]

they all come with the same bloatware UI shit, that's the "known" problem most people have with them

[Ride4Life]

Hold on, the return policy for Verizon is most definitely NOT 30 days anymore. It's 14 days. Be careful on that one. Unless they changed the trial period and I didn't hear.

You are correct.
I am already stuck as of yesterday.
Oh well .. hopefully it will keep working just fine.

[RogueElement]

You are correct.
I am already stuck as of yesterday.
Oh well .. hopefully it will keep working just fine.

For what its worth, I've had mine for 2 months and not had a problem yet. Granted, I rooted mine as soon as I got it (over an hour of work, ouch).

[jkhonea]

Yup, I actually highly recommend rooting it to keep it running right. The stock software has been causing issues.

[Todd]

Hold on, the return policy for Verizon is most definitely NOT 30 days anymore. It's 14 days. Be careful on that one. Unless they changed the trial period and I didn't hear.just an FYI, my Droid X, and John we just talked about this, has been having "reboot" issues for months (bought it at Christmas). Well, the last few weeks, its been doing it several times a day, including 5 times in about 30 mins just this past Monday. The phone carries a 1 year warranty, and somehow, when i got mine, i got a 2 year warranty.

Anyhow, yesterday, i called Verizon, informed them of the reboot issue, also informed them i was aware that ALOT of X owners were experiencing this (i did not let them know i had rooted the phone), and the tech lady told me to do a factory reset of the phone and she would call me back next week at a pre-set time. If the phone is still having re-boot issues, then she is going to send me a new X, again, covered under the 2 year warranty. :up:

I'll be getting a new phone, as about an hour after i hung up with her, it did it again. :lol:

And, of course, i'll be doing a factory reset the day i send it back to them. :up:

Oh, and the reason she's gonna wait a week, is because alot of times the issues with these phones take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to actually come back up.