Lapdock or Lapdock 100

[jbang917]

Just though I would give a quick review and my own experience with the Lapdock and see what people's opinion is on the lapdock vs. the lapdock 100 and our Bionics.

I was leary about buying the Lapdock and it wasnt the price that I was hestiant about. What was holding me up was all the reviews I was reading about the Lapdock and what people where complaining about. I figured I would buy one and give it a go... worst that can happen I return it. Thats said...

So far I like the Lapdock. I was reading a lot of people complaining about the keyboard. I was having trouble with it at first to be honest. But once I adjusted the keyboard settings I have not had problems. I am not a speed demon when typing but I do maintain around 50 wpm and have not had trouble. For some reason my only problem is I seem to be not hitting the space bar hard enough some times, so that is still something I am working with.

The mouse is a little rough also. It just doesnt feel as smooth as one on my laptop for example and the mouse click buttons are a little tough to push. You can left click directly on the mouse pad which is nice and works well. I do really wish it had a scroll feature though.

I would have to say my biggest issue is the browser experience. This is what I was looking forward to the most... unleashing my 4G on a netbook type environment. The fact is, the phones processor and RAM is just not enough for a fluid browsing experience. Loading a site as simple as droid forum has a decent lag. Things like my youtube and Netflix app work just fine, but to try and snap around the internet just doesnt happen. And those that have complained about memory warnings when using multiple tabs are correct. Open 2or 3 tabs and you will get a memory warning. It would have been nice if there was some hardware in the Lapdock that helped the browsing.

All in all, starting this thing up, logging on here, and posting this has not been that bad. I am still trying to decide if I should return it and go with an HD dock or if I should exchange it for a Lapdock 100. I was hoping someone here might have experience with both machines and if so what your input it on one vs. the other.

Cheers!

jbang917

 

[mikespe]

I'll say your review is right on! I just picked up a Lapdock 100 tonight and I am experiencing the same low memory warnings when using firefox. However if you open up the browser from the mobile view (your phone's browser) you can expand it to full screen and it looks VERY good and NO warnings! The warners were telling me I was using 66% of my memory...so firefox must be using minimum 20% for it to give a warning and sometimes just force closing. But with the native browser open full screen it's GREAT! I still need to try the youtube app and netflix but I have a Buffalo Bills app that I can stream videos with and it worked great too. I have 14 days to try out the lapdock but I think for $199 I just might keep it...

 

[mikespe]

Here is a screenshot of the lapdock in widescreen mode...looks pretty good. Funny thing is that I also have a Viewsonic GTablet running Flashback 10 on it and I keep wanting to touch the screen of the lapdock like it's a touch screen!





Sent from my DROID BIONIC Lapdock 100 using Tapatalk

 

[The_Other_Ray]

I'll say your review is right on! I just picked up a Lapdock 100 tonight and I am experiencing the same low memory warnings when using firefox. However if you open up the browser from the mobile view (your phone's browser) you can expand it to full screen and it looks VERY good and NO warnings! The warners were telling me I was using 66% of my memory...so firefox must be using minimum 20% for it to give a warning and sometimes just force closing. But with the native browser open full screen it's GREAT! I still need to try the youtube app and netflix but I have a Buffalo Bills app that I can stream videos with and it worked great too. I have 14 days to try out the lapdock but I think for $199 I just might keep it...

I've been having problems with the trackpad and the USB mouse at times. Seems like whenever I place the bionic into the back holder, after about a minute or so, the cursor becomes unresponsive. I don't seem to have as frequent of a problem when I just plug it in and leave the bionic on the table. Not sure what is causing this or if my lapdock might be defective.

I also experienced the low memory issue when I first plugged it in yesterday after I bought it but I haven't had a problem with it since. I read that there is suppose to be some sort of update in ordr for the lapdock 100 to be fully compatible with the bionic so I don't know if these issues are due to this or just a defective product.

But other than that, I'm actually pretty impressed with the usability and function of this thing. Just made the bionic that much more useful. Having a full browser at the same time having access to the phone on screen is really cool and helpful.

Hopefully someone else can verify this for me as well.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[summortuus]

Do you have the extended battery in your Bionic? I also had an issue with the trackpad going dead when the bioinic was in the slot with extended battery. I think this is because you really have to jam it in there wiuth the extended battery. If you touch the screen of the bionic when its hooked to the lapdock it functions as a mouse, just like the regular docks. I think the added pressure messes with it and somehow renders the trackpad useless.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[The_Other_Ray]

Do you have the extended battery in your Bionic? I also had an issue with the trackpad going dead when the bioinic was in the slot with extended battery. I think this is because you really have to jam it in there wiuth the extended battery. If you touch the screen of the bionic when its hooked to the lapdock it functions as a mouse, just like the regular docks. I think the added pressure messes with it and somehow renders the trackpad useless.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

Wow, summortuus, you just totally helped me out. I didn't realize that the bionic itself can act as a trackpad. I did notice that when I placed the bionic in the holder and took it out after use, that there was a line on bionic's screen from the little rubber piece in the holder. So with the rubber piece touching the screen, it rendered my mouse or trackpad useless. That makes sense because I didn't have much of a problem when my bionic was connected and laying on the desk.

Man, I thought I might have had a bummed out lapdock. I just have to place the bionic in the holder in such a way that it doesn't, completely touch the screen.

No, I don't have the extended battery but I also notice that it is a really snug fit due to the camera hump.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[The_Other_Ray]

By the way, do you know of a way to increase the size of the fonts on the Firefox browser and have it saved? I can zoom in the screen but then resets with every new page or when i turn on and off the lapdock.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[summortuus]

I know you can add zoom to the toolbar under view, but don't know how to make it permanent.

Personally I've been using the phones browsers in fullscreen mode, since the dock seems to run snappier that way. Firefox has just been so laggy for me.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[mikespe]

Wow, summortuus, you just totally helped me out. I didn't realize that the bionic itself can act as a trackpad. I did notice that when I placed the bionic in the holder and took it out after use, that there was a line on bionic's screen from the little rubber piece in the holder. So with the rubber piece touching the screen, it rendered my mouse or trackpad useless. That makes sense because I didn't have much of a problem when my bionic was connected and laying on the desk.

Man, I thought I might have had a bummed out lapdock. I just have to place the bionic in the holder in such a way that it doesn't, completely touch the screen.

No, I don't have the extended battery but I also notice that it is a really snug fit due to the camera hump.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

How are you guys getting the phone to stay on when the lapdock turns on? Mine shuts the phone screen off about 5 seconds after I plug it in. If I hit the power button to wake it up it turns off the lapdock. I also have the extended battery but it does the same thing whether I put it in the slot or lay it on the table.

Just a tip...you can put the phone vertically in the slot & it doesn't touch the screen at all.

 

[summortuus]

My screen doesn't stay "on" as there is no light coming from it..... but the screen is still sensitive to touch and works like a touchpad.

I've tried vertical, but it just seems to sit in better lateral. I just have to mind how hard it gets pressed in there.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[The_Other_Ray]

My screen doesn't stay "on" as there is no light coming from it..... but the screen is still sensitive to touch and works like a touchpad.

I've tried vertical, but it just seems to sit in better lateral. I just have to mind how hard it gets pressed in there.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

It seems worthless for the actual phone to be used as a trackpad since the cable isn't long enough to reach around to the side in order for you to be able to use it. I wonder why they allowed the phone to act like that. Hopefully there will be a way to disable it since it gets in the way sometimes with actually being able to use the mouse.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[summortuus]

I think it's most likely a left over from using the HD dock. If you plug your phone into a dock that's hooked up to a tv, and use webtop instead of mirror mode, it let's you use the phone as the track pad in case you don't have one hooked up.

Soooo just lazy programming that doesn't distinguish between dock or lapdock is my guess.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[mikespe]

I just tried using my phone as a trackpad and it doesn't work? I'm wondering...have you guys done the update to 5.7.893 that's floating around? I did and I am wondering if that update disabled that function?

 

[summortuus]

I'm bone stock. Since I seem to be one of the few with absolutely no problems with my bionic, I've been reluctant to tempt fate and root.....

I'm curious, with your update, did it speed up the webdock at all or is firefox browsing still laggy?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[The_Other_Ray]

I just tried using my phone as a trackpad and it doesn't work? I'm wondering...have you guys done the update to 5.7.893 that's floating around? I did and I am wondering if that update disabled that function?

I'm stock.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk