New to Android

[cajun86]

Hello,
I just bought a Atrix today and I am overwhelmed, first android phone.
I have some questions for everyone. I was wondering would you recommend me rooting it? Would I really notice the difference?
What are some useful apps that run smoothly for the Atrix?
What flashlight app works good on your Atrix?
Is there any way to keep the screen from getting locked out(having to press the power button to turn the screen back on, then sliding the lock button across the screen)?
What the best speed test app for the Atrix?
Any any other useful info you are willing to share with me.
And lastly, is there a guide for 1st time (rookies) android users anywhere?
I have been searching, but that can on for days, I am just trying to speed up my learning curve.

Thanks for everyone's time

 

[irishtexmex]

Welcome! I consider myself a very tech savvy person, and have a a Palm Pre that is all patched and OCed to hell, but I too am new to Android and just a little curious on where to start.

 

[redrider67]

I'd start with the help center application that comes on the phone, then go to tips and tricks and read you will find most info you need there.

 

[Hawk375]

first thing to do is ask yourself how you want to use your atrix, and what you want it to do for you to have a general idea of how you want to go about changing your phone to be the way you want it to be

 

[cajun86]

Mainly, I want the phone to function properly, with useful apps that can make my life easier. I really only will considered rooting if it "debrands" the phone from AT&T. Again, any suggestions on some useful apps that work with the Atrix well?

 

[Czarcat]

What are some useful apps that run smoothly for the Atrix?
Beautiful Widgets for Clock and Weather widgets
Pandora music streaming
RunKeeper if you like to run and keep stats and GPS tracking
Ringdroid for ring tones
TivoRemote if you have a TivoHD or Series 3
XBMC Remote if you use XBMC
Phandroid of course
Home Switcher and Launcher Pro
Too many others to list

What flashlight app works good on your Atrix?
I like DroidLight

Is there any way to keep the screen from getting locked out(having to press the power button to turn the screen back on, then sliding the lock button across the screen)?
Setting->Display->Screen Timeout->Never Timeout

What the best speed test app for the Atrix?
Speed Test by Ookla (Speedtest.net)

Any any other useful info you are willing to share with me.
Dump MotoBlur as quickly as possible. I recommend Launcher Pro but ADW and others are equally great.

If you aren't using Google Voice, look into it. It's great for visual voicemail.

 

[Hawk375]

I use ADW Launcher EX in place of moto blur, also lets you hide the notification bar at the top at will if you don't want to see at&t all the time, doesn't really bother me
adw notifier for message count bubbles
beautiful widgets for home clock and weather
juice defender with ultimate juice to maximize battery life
juice plotter to indicate how much time left till the battery dies
where's my droid power to keep track of which apps are using the most battery
maildroid for my email
circle battery widget for better battery level indication(1% increments)
poweramp for media playback
super caller id to give me an idea of where a call is coming from if I don't recognize the number
tiny flashlight + LED for my flashlight
zedge ringtones & wallpaper
google voice for visual voicemail
xscope browser pro for my web browser
wifi analyzer
power control plus widget for customizable toggles for bluetooth, wifi, airplane mode, etc
the list goes on, but those are the main ones I've found to be useful to me

 

[cajun86]

Dump MotoBlur as quickly as possible. I recommend Launcher Pro but ADW and others are equally great.

I use ADW Launcher EX in place of moto blur, also lets you hide the notification bar at the top at will if you don't want to see at&t all the time, doesn't really bother me

Once you ditch Motoblur is it gone for good? Would a factory reset bring it back? Does the phone have to be rooted to do this?
Thanks again, this site is now on my top ten!

 

[Czarcat]

No, you do not need to be rooted. You just need the Home Switcher application available in the Android Market.

Motoblur isn't really gone. You've just changed the application you use for the home screens. You can re-enable it at any time with Home Switcher.

 

[Hawk375]

just be sure to turn off any widgets you have on your moto blur screens before using another launcher, because they would continue to run in the background even though you can't see them