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Upgrade to Bionic?

derek533

derek533

Member
Ok, I have a coworker that has a Bionic and the lapdock she's selling for $200. I've already checked and the ESN/IMEI is good. The condition looks to be good as well so no issues there.

My question is, will I see a big performance jump between the Bionic and my Droid X (rooted, rom'd, wifi tether)? Or should I just wait until I'm due for my Verizon upgrade which is in October?

I've really enjoyed the X except after the GB update which really messed it up. It was so bad, I shelved it for a few months and switched to a Pre 2 (great phone btw, screen too small since I'm spolied by 4.3").

BTW, I have an unlimited data plan.

TIA
 
I just upgraded from a Droid X about a week ago, and I have no regrets. The Bionic is much smoother and faster than my X was, even running Cyanogenmod. The pentile screen is nice and bright, and has more saturated colors than the X's screen, and the pentile arrangement isn't that bad. I was playing with a friend's Galaxy S II yesterday, and I'd rather have the pentile blurriness than the blue tint his screen had. The Bionic's also a little more comfortable to hold than the X. For $200, I'd jump on it.
 
... yes ... I upgraded the day the Bionic was released from the Droid X.

It is much faster.

The mechanical button on the Droid X are replaced with image buttons. You can now use a capacitive stylus on the screen AND the buttons.

There were software problems and there have been two software updates. the 5.9.902 update finally seems to have solved just about all of the remaining issues.

I was on unlimited data and unlimited mobile hotspot on the Droid X and both were transfered to the Bionic.

... Thom
 
If it's in good shape and 200 bucks I would def go for it. I'm also coming from a Droid X and it's a wonderful upgrade. Besides why waste an upgrade if you have a good deal right in front of you. :) Hold onto that for another day.
 
I agree with what others have said here regarding the performance increase. Only thing I would add is: Since you mentioned a lapdock is part of the deal, I recommend you try it out first if you haven't already. Some people like the lapdock experience and some don't -- it's a bit different than a laptop or tablet. Not sure if that would be a make-or-break part of the deal for you, but you should at least know beforehand what it is you're getting.

Oh, and make sure the Bionic has the latest 5.9.902 update so you don't have to mess with installing it. The update just came out in the past few days.
 
Somniferum said:
I agree with what others have said here regarding the performance increase. Only thing I would add is: Since you mentioned a lapdock is part of the deal, I recommend you try it out first if you haven't already. Some people like the lapdock experience and some don't -- it's a bit different than a laptop or tablet. Not sure if that would be a make-or-break part of the deal for you, but you should at least know beforehand what it is you're getting.

Oh, and make sure the Bionic has the latest 5.9.902 update so you don't have to mess with installing it. The update just came out in the past few days.
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How would the lapdock be just for browsing, watching Netflix, Amazon on Demand, Crackle, etc?

Keep in mind, I already have an iPad but sometimes, I want to punch the screen out of it as I'm sick of various websites not working on it or not being able to scroll in sub-windows in a webpage.
 
derek533 said:
How would the lapdock be just for browsing, watching Netflix, Amazon on Demand, Crackle, etc?

Keep in mind, I already have an iPad but sometimes, I want to punch the screen out of it as I'm sick of various websites not working on it or not being able to scroll in sub-windows in a webpage.
Click to expand...

It should work well for those sites. It uses a full-featured version of Firefox which allows plug-ins, etc. You don't want to open too many tabs/windows though or you'll start getting "low memory" warnings.
 
Is the display something that I'll get used to? I've seen some say it's no big deal and for others, it's a deal breaker.
 
You can't go wrong for that price. I would buy it at that price without a second thought. Since I have a Bionic already, I would give the phone to my wife and have a laptop dock.
 
derek533 said:
Is the display something that I'll get used to? I've seen some say it's no big deal and for others, it's a deal breaker.
Click to expand...

You should definitely check out the display yourself before purchasing. PenTile is one of those things that some people are fine with and others absolutely can't stand. If it bothers you I wouldn't assume it will get better with time. But conversely if you're fine with it I can't imagine it just suddenly starting to bother you out of the blue. If you can't spend some time with the seller's phone then swing by VZW or an authorized retailer to check it out. The Droid 3 and Droid 4 screens use the same tech, only a bit smaller screensize. The RAZR is different.

One benefit of PenTile btw is that it's highly visible in sunlight, unlike other screen technologies.
 
Somniferum said:
. If you can't spend some time with the seller's phone then swing by VZW or an authorized retailer to check it out.
Click to expand...

That would mean me having to deal with one of their store employees.

True story: I was in a corporate store a couple of weeks ago just browsing around (didn't know about this deal at the time so I didn't even look at the Bionic). I'm checking out the Razr and Rezound and the employee is describing them to me. She mentioned ICS and said they both would have it by the end of the month. I immediately knew she was full of crap and just had to see how far she would go with that load. I inquired if that was firm or just speculation. She said it was an absolute firm date for both the Razr and the Rezound.

Fact of the matter is almost all of us know their products better than they do and we all know that ICS hasn't been announced for any phone other than just what quarter it will be released in for certain phones.

Anyway, as much as it pains me, I will probably go by the store tomorrow to check out the Bionic.
 
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