Bionic LapDock Impressions

[ConqSoft]

Not impressed with the LapDock after some initial use.

1) Keyboard is hard to type on. Lots of lost characters when trying to type any faster than hunt and peck speed. Could be related to WebTop lag.

2) As mentioned above WebTop is overall really slow in my opinion.



Things they should have included:

1) Backlight on the keyboard

2) Front facing camera for video conferencing since the phone is hidden around back.



Its a neat concept and I'm sure it will be improved in future iterations but as of right now its on my "to be returned" list. Will see how it goes over the coming days.

Also I had initially started this reply in Firefox on the LapDock but it crashed out about half way through so I did this on the phone.

 

[MonkeyTime]

This is something I was waiting to hear about. I've been eyeing the lapdock tonight and trying to find an actual "hands on" review. I played with the phone today and really liked it, but didn't have time to play with the lapdock. It's too bad, the idea behind it sounds perfect, no need to carry a net book and tether, toss the phone in for an email of any size........damn!

thanks for the honest review!

 

[GBH2]

I don't disagree with ConqSoft, in fact I mostly agree.

The keyboard is just ok and I agree that a backlit keyboard would have been great as well as a front facing camera. Also, the touchpad can be a bit difficult to use which is exacerbated by the fact that scroll bars and other software controls are tiny. I keep wanting to just touch the screen to do stuff - a touch screen would have been great.

I did not have any crashes although it was a little sluggish from time time. I also have not really put it through any long or arduous tests.

Besides all that, I really like it. Flawed to be sure, it is certainly something that has a lot of unrealized potential. I am looking forward to getting something like a full version of Ubuntu running on it at some point.

As I said, I haven't really tested it out much but, just for the heck of it, I went to Hulu and watched a tv show, it not only played but it played perfectly well. I thought it was cool.

Although it is far from perfect. I think it is pretty cool and will be something I am going to enjoy having, playing with and find useful. But I don't think it will be for everyone.

 

[JriderG]

It is way too expensive. Why not just get a laptop or a netbook?

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[robashroy]

Droid to AWS Virtual machine

I get the best bang for the buck using the 4g to access my virtual machine running in the Amazon cloud. Bluetooth keyboard, hdmi monitor and RDC into the machine. Doesn't use much bandwidth. Amazon gives me 7meg up and down. The machine is always the same. You can start and stop as you want.

Sweet setup.

 

[MonkeyTime]

I'm guessing I'm going to "dogh, face plant" when you answer, but it isn't coming to me....RDC?

 

[Fuzzball]

I'm guessing I'm going to "dogh, face plant" when you answer, but it isn't coming to me....RDC?

It's usually referred to as RDP and more recently RDS.

RDC: Remote Desktop Connection
RDP: Remote Desktop Protocol
RDS: Remote Desktop Services (formerly called Terminal Services)

 

[MonkeyTime]

Thanks Fuzzball, that makes sense now.

Ok, one more question about the lapdock then. The Verizon info page for it states "Surf the web, send email, listen to music, take calls and more simultaneously in multiple windows all on one screen. Charge your phone while docked with the lapdock as it stays charged for up to 8 hours and keeps your Motorola Droid Bionic ready to go."

Does docking the phone in this allow you to surf or do emails while on a phone call? This feature would make it worth the $225 I'll pay for it with my corporate discount.

 

[ConqSoft]

Does docking the phone in this allow you to surf or do emails while on a phone call? This feature would make it worth the $225 I'll pay for it with my corporate discount.

As long as you're in a 4g area, you can do that on the phone or on the LapDock. The LapDock doesn't add any functionality like that, it's part of 4g/LTE.

 

[MonkeyTime]

Thanks Conqsoft, but have you tried this? I don't put much value in what V tech support says generally, but the kid this morning that seemed to really be into this phone and know his stuff insisted that you can only do phone/data at the same time if you're on WiFi, which is no upgrade.

 

[ConqSoft]

Yes, I have tried it. Been doing it since 4g became available in my area. Have done it with 3 different 4g phones that I have owned. Samsung Charge, HTC Thunderbolt (this one does it on 4g and 3g, but they have separate antennas in the phone to handle this), and now the Bionic.

 

[MonkeyTime]

Thanks again, you've restored my belief in V tech support for phones lol!

 

[ConqSoft]

Day 2 with the LapDock and I'm warming up to it a bit more. Still not perfect by any stretch, but it may be a keeper.

 

[MonkeyTime]

I'm really glad to hear that! I just negotiated the phone, basic desk cradle, car mount and laptop dock for $518 plus tax so here I come! I was told the laptop dock was a 14 day return policy with no restock fee, so it's a no brainer to at least try it

 

[txrover]

Lapdock vs. netbook - keep in mind the lapdock is about the thickness of a tablet (super thin), so it's much thinner than a laptop/netbook for a ~12" screen. It's an interesting concept. I've played with mine for a while yesterday. You basically have a smaller phone screen and firefox full browser. I found it similar to browsing on a regular PC with my 4G connection and reasonable on 3G - way better than viewing std web pages on the phone's smaller screen. I used the USB port to copy over my pictures/music from my D1 droid's SD card using a card reader - very cool feature (which can be done on the HD dock too btw). I'm going to test out using a wireless mouse with the dock next. It would be nice if it gave you a 12" screen of the phone (like a tablet running 2.3), not the limited size (maybe it does this and I haven't done it correctly yet). Where I can see the lapdock as particularly useful is watching larger screen videos, full screen browsing, and web apps like google docs to better edit office files you've got on your phone, and typing emails as noted by others.

Having some additional webtop apps to do more than just the browser will be nice. The FF camera would have been nice for use with Skype. If you don't really need a laptop/netbook for traveling, this seems like a nice option for having a bigger screen & keybd.

I think a $150-200 price point would make it a LOT more attractive to the general population.

I'll add more if I learn anything new through use.