At first glance this dock is a thin laptop with a screen, keyboard and oversized trackpad. While that is a reasonable impression, the dock is a shell waiting for the phone to be plugged into the stand that unfolds from the back of the laptop. The dock has no CPU, memory, storage nor any integrated connectivity; those are all supplied by the phone when docked.
Using the laptop dock ». The concept of using the phone as the core module to power a laptop is innovative, and a solid one. The Atrix 4G handset is easily powerful enough to drive the laptop, as is quickly apparent when the phone is plugged into the laptop dock.
The phone sits behind the laptop in the dock, and is blocked from view when the laptop lid is opened. Opening the lid fires up the dock, and the bright display fires up almost immediately. The phone screen, now blocked from view, is duplicated in a window on the laptop dock and can be viewed in either portrait or landscape orientation.
In addition to the phone display window, there is a thin status bar at the top of the screen that provides access to settings for the environment.
At the bottom of the display is a dock similar to that of OS X, that serves as a quick launch bar for the browser.
This is a true browser environment, as the Firefox browser is the only app that can be run outside the phone display window. It is a full desktop browser, with Firefox extensions to complete the laptop illusion. It is indeed an illusion, as everything is actually running on the phone, and merely displaying on the big laptop screen. The browsing environment is rich and as capable as that on full systems. All web sites work in this browser as expected, including those using Flash, and while there may be some on the big web, I haven't encountered any sites that can't be accessed properly.
Web-based email, such as Gmail, work as well in this browser as on any system. The trackpad is large, with two buttons as expected, and drives the system like those on any laptop. There is a tiny LED in the upper left corner of the trackpad that indicates whether it is active or disabled, which can be toggled by double-clicking the LED.
The trackpad operation rivals that on most notebooks, and after a brief period I was able to use it with precision. Unfortunately the trackpad is not multitouch capable, so no scrolling in the browser window using two fingers is possible.
This is something Motorola would be wise to include in future versions of the system, as it would greatly facilitate the use of the browser. The scroll bar is very thin and hard to operate via the trackpad.
Calls can be originated and answered, as the phone operates automatically in speakerphone mode while docked. Such calls have slightly muffled audio due to the placement of the phone right behind the laptop lid. All apps on the phone can be run while docked, but they run in the small phone window on the big display.
You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. Skip to Main Content Skip to Search. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services.
Dow Jones. By Walter S. To Read the Full Story. If this dock were able to run Chrome OS and Chrome apps, or at the very least a Chrome browser, and even seamlessly integrate Android and Chrome functionality, we'd really be touching the future. Instead, the dock's Motorola OS feels clever but tacked on. Firefox is capable of playing Flash-based sites and videos, and did a decent but not great job of full-screen Hulu playback--comparable with what you'd get on a Netbook.
It's also, based on anecdotal office use over our standard Wi-Fi, considerably slower than other laptops.
Writing in Google Docs became a sluggish affair, and after a while it felt like we'd be more productive simply undocking the phone. One notable advantage to Firefox is its included Citrix application, enabling account holders to hop on their virtual desktops using the Lapdock. That's a nice touch and a boon for certain users, but it doesn't help people relying on the Lapdock with no remote PC to connect to. The laptop dock does have a few neat tricks up its sleeve.
A built-in HD media playback app works a bit like an Apple TV interface, playing full-screen movies, photos, and music. An HD video shot on the Atrix looked great on the Unfortunately, this media player doesn't play files in the background. Play some music and exit the player, and the program hard exits and leaves you tuneless.
There's also a native PDF reader for opening files while in Firefox, but for editing word or office docs, attachments are opened on the emulation of the phone's window. That window is mighty small on a big screen, but blowing up the window results in a slightly low-res, but workable environment for editing word documents.
It's not a perfect solution, but it does do the job while offering both a keyboard and a larger screen. The rear USB ports are compatible with mice or USB flash drives, both of which add some nice functionality and make the dock feel even more laptoplike.
The dock does have a file browser and the ability to add additional Web apps, but these basically amount to nothing more than Web bookmarks. Crouching laptop, hidden phone While the Atrix is plugged into the back of the dock, it recharges off the dock's integrated battery.
0コメント