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New User Has Concerns about Screen Performance

C

ChipDroid

Newbie
Hello,

I have what I hope is a quick question for experienced Bionic users. I just traded my Samsung Stratosphere for a Droid Bionic last night. I just started transferring my apps to the Droid. Out of curiosity I decided to try one of my favorite games - Fruit Ninja. I was very disappointed in the Droid. First, the screen did not look quite as nice as the Stratosphere. But mainly, the game had all kinds of hiccups. Whenever a lot of fruit came on the screen, there was a very noticeable lag and the graphics became jerky. Everything I read about the Droid in terms of specs and reviews indicated that it should blow the Stratosphere out of the water. It has dual core instead of one, twice as much RAM, and received far higher performance scores. Don't get me wrong - I did not buy the phone to play games. I am concerned about performance when running all applications. I am hoping there is some easy setting fix. I just joined the forum and have not had time to read through all the posts. I am hoping someone can allay my fears that I did not make a mistake.

Thanks!!
 
ChipDroid said:
Hello,

I have what I hope is a quick question for experienced Bionic users. I just traded my Samsung Stratosphere for a Droid Bionic last night. I just started transferring my apps to the Droid. Out of curiosity I decided to try one of my favorite games - Fruit Ninja. I was very disappointed in the Droid. First, the screen did not look quite as nice as the Stratosphere. But mainly, the game had all kinds of hiccups. Whenever a lot of fruit came on the screen, there was a very noticeable lag and the graphics became jerky. Everything I read about the Droid in terms of specs and reviews indicated that it should blow the Stratosphere out of the water. It has dual core instead of one, twice as much RAM, and received far higher performance scores. Don't get me wrong - I did not buy the phone to play games. I am concerned about performance when running all applications. I am hoping there is some easy setting fix. I just joined the forum and have not had time to read through all the posts. I am hoping someone can allay my fears that I did not make a mistake.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

I downloaded this app and tried it out for you. The graphics on my Bionic are VERY fast.

Try another app before drawing any conclusions.

I'm sure you already know this ... download new copies from the Market (as opposed to transferring them from another device).

... Thom
 
Hi Thom,

Thank you so much for replying to my question. Since posting it I have been reading through the forum and many of your posts. Based on your knowledge you sound like the leading expert on this phone.

I am very new to Droid phones. I think I installed the game correctly per your suggestion. I opened up Market, went to my apps and saw this game and my other apps. It said Fruit Ninja was installed. I clicked on that box and it downloaded the application. I have not yet moved the app to my desktop. Instead I click on Applications, then select downloaded applications, and I see Fruit Ninja and my other apps.

Can you recommend an app (preferably free) that is very graphics intensive that I can download and test?

I found the following post:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-dr...your-droid-charge-try-these-3-easy-fixes.html

In case the link is removed due to my new status, here is the main part of the URL:

samsung-droid-charge/341140-not-happy-your-droid-charge-try-these-3-easy-fixes

I know this is about another phone, but someone said these are good for all Droids. What is your opinion on them?

Thanks again! As time allows I may post some other questions for the group.
 
Well ... I do know some stuff ... there is an awful lot that I don't know and there are a number of contributors to this forum that I learn a lot from.

The ONLY debate I have ever heard on the Bionic is the screen type. Some people swear that the Razr is superior. Others don't. I have never heard a statement about graphics speed.

The Bionic screen has one very important feature that many people love ... you can actually read it in sunlight (somewhat). Most of the the others are a total lost cause.

The game you tried (to me) is pretty clunky.

I think what you need to do is get fresh copies of the apps that are important to you installed, run them, and judge performance for yourself.

I have a Droid X and a Bionic. The Bionic is much faster and the screen is larger with a higher resolution. I like it a lot. I played with the Razr. I did not like it as much as the Bionic. Many people prefer it.

... Thom
 
I don't have any issues with Fruit Ninja on my Bionic. It plays just as well as it had on any other phone where I've installed that app. There is the occasional slow-down when there are a lot of items flying across the screen, but this could be due to the app itself and not related to how powerful the phone is.

The Bionic is definitely a powerful phone. You can play games like ShadowGun that look like this:
shadowgun_2.jpg


You'll get used to the Bionic's pentile-display screen soon enough. Everyone does. I thought I was going to hate the Bionic screen and almost considered not getting this phone. A few days into owning it, I didn't even notice it anymore. It's a great screen, awesome brightness, good colors. Any time you switch phones, the differences are going to bug you for a while, it happens to everyone.

As far as that link you posted, the only step I would really agree with is using Launcher Pro if you feel like it. It has been my favorite launcher for a long time. Incredibly smooth and fast. If you want to try a different browser or SMS app go for it, but it's not exactly going to change your entire experience with the phone.

Also not sure what you meant when you say you traded for your Bionic, if you got a used phone from someone else make sure to do a factory reset to clear it out.
 
SirEagle and Power Bomb,

Thank you both for replying. I was offline for a bit and missed your responses. Let me clarify what I meant by trade in. I originally purchased the Stratosphere through Costco. They give you 90 days to trade in your phone if you do not like it. I found the slider to be very annoying (my thumb would cause the slide to move ever so slightly and I would get kicked out of my app). I returned the Stratosphere and upgraded to the Bionic. The Bionic was brand new.

You bring up and interesting point. Before returning my Stratosphere I did two factory resets (one after the other) on the phone that included formatting the SD card. Should I feel safe that my stored passwords etc. are gone forever and cannot be recovered?

PowerBomb, if you can play a game like ShadowGun, then the phone must be good. I do not understand most of the link I pointed to. For instance, what is Launcher Pro? How do I install it and what program is it replacing? Should I delete my current launcher after installing Launcher Pro?
 
ChipDroid said:
I do not understand most of the link I pointed to. For instance, what is Launcher Pro? How do I install it and what program is it replacing? Should I delete my current launcher after installing Launcher Pro?
Click to expand...

LauncherPro is a third party replacement launcher (or home screen app) that adds some functionality and features that the stock Motorola launcher is missing (though that has some features that Launcher Pro has as well.) There is a free version of LauncherPro as well as a paid version that adds some nice widgets. One thing about LP is that it hasn't been updated for a while.

There are some other popular launchers as well; all are in the Market/Play Store:

Go Launcher EX is very popular, has great widgets as well (which you install separately), is free and is also updated quite often.

ADW is a free launcher that is similar to Launcher Pro.

ADW EX is a for-pay app that adds some features not in the free ADW. This is the launcher that I am using on my Droid 3 (which has the same Moto launcher as the Bionic) - the Droid 3 has half the RAM of the Bionic and ADW EX is the launcher that is least frequently shut down in the background (in other words, when you run a RAM-hungry app, Android will shut the launcher down in the background, so when you return home, the home screens are redrawn.)

Zeam is also popular, but I have never used it.

You cannot delete the stock launcher, but when you install a third party launcher on a Moto phone the Moto phone launcher cannot be reset to be the default launcher unless you delete the replacement (every other Android OEM allows you to return to the stock launcher on their phone, so this is a weird restriction), though there is a fix: there is an app in the market/play store called Moto Home Fix that lets you make the stock launcher default if you want to go back.

Links (where you can see images of the launchers):

ADW: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...=W251bGwsMSwxLDUwMSwib3JnLmFkdy5sYXVuY2hlciJd

ADW EX: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.adwfreak.launcher

GO: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gau.go.launcherex (and some widgets: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gau.go.launcherex.gowidget.calendarwidget https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gau.go.launcherex.gowidget.smswidget https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gau.go.launcherex.gowidget.switchwidget )

Launcher Pro: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fede.launcher

Moto Home Fix: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...iY29tLm5pZ2h0c2hhZGVsYWJzLm1vdG9ibHVyaG9tZSJd
 
doogald,

Thank you so much for such a detailed reply. Three months ago I was debating between a Droid and an iPhone. I am really starting to appreciate all of the customizations that the Droid offers. I will take a look at the options you mentioned. My inclination is to purchase a launcher to support the developer (since it seems they are under $5).

Here is a completely unrelated question - but I hate to start a new post. Are all screen protectors the same? My phone came with a generic screen protector that I need to cut to fit. I do not think it is anti-glare. I see that some screen protectors are made specific for the Bionic and some are anti-glare. If there is a preferred option that doesn't cost too much, I would like to buy it (assuming it improves the usability of the phone).

Thanks again,
Chip
 
Yeah a "launcher" app is just something that changes the overall usage of the homescreen, app drawer, widgets, etc. I was going to make the comparison to think of it like what Windows is for a computer, but that's kind of an inaccurate statement. Android is the operating system for these phones and always is, so replacing your launcher isn't exactly like changing operating systems, but it just is an "overlay" on top of the operating system. For instance, when you first started up your Bionic, you may have noticed it didn't look quite like your Stratosphere. This is because on top of the basic Android system, Motorola designs their own "Blur" features on top of it, which involves different icons, widgets, menu design, etc. Here's a YouTube video about some of the popular Launchers.
Launcher Pro vs. ADW EX vs. Go Launcher EX - YouTube

There are various screen protectors out there. I'd bet that most of us, myself included, are not using one. Screens these days are pretty resilient, even if you happen to drop your phone into the same pocket as your keys or whatever it usually won't get scratched. I believe the Bionic even has something called Gorilla Glass which is supposed to be especially tough, although nothing is indestructible. You can use one if you want, but you should be fine without one. I'm pretty careful with my devices and I hate when I see scratches or dings but even I don't bother with a screen protector, just a phone case. You don't have to worry too much about installing something for glare reduction because the Bionic is widely known for having one of the best displays when it comes to viewing it outdoors in sunlight and other bright environments. There are popular screen protector brands like ZAGG, but I don't think I'd ever pay $14.99 for a plastic film. If I really wanted to use one, I'd get something for 99cents off of eBay.
 
PowerBomb said:
There are popular screen protector brands like ZAGG, but I don't think I'd ever pay $14.99 for a plastic film. If I really wanted to use one, I'd get something for 99cents off of eBay.
Click to expand...

I don't use a screen protector either. If you do use one I disagree with the 99 cent comment. As pointed out in the Bionic Users Guide, screen protectors can interfere with the sensor at the top of the screen even clear ones. You apparently need to install a screen protector with one of those unsightly holes in it so it doesn't interfere.

Gorilla Glass is very scratch resistant. If you drop your Bionic on a hard surface you can crack the glass. Replacement through Motorola is ab out $110.

... Thom
 
Try the game again and see if it still lags. Sometimes when you have a brand new phone and have just installed a bunch of apps the phone is still building the Dalvic cache or syncing data that could slow it up.
 
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