Webtop 3.0

[dluke]

I think it sucks.
The desktop-ish environment was such a productivity booster and a much more useable environment!
Firefox was compatible with, and functioned correctly on, nearly every website. Conversely, Chrome beta and the stock browser can barely handle any website more than a couple of years old.
The windowed environment made multitasking amazing! Moving information from a text message to a webpage, from a webpage to an email, or any combination I could think of was easy just because I could have multiple windows open at once on the same screen.

Furthermore, the android 4.0 environment is designed around a touch interface, not mouse and keyboard, so I find myself having to constantly move the cursor from corner to opposite corner to interact with the UI.

The lapdock/webtop used to have a lot of the functionality of a PC, but with 3.0 it's all gone! The PC functionality is what really made it appealing and useable.

I really wish they had just improved upon the ubuntu desktop interface instead of turning it into a crippled ICS tablet! I am considering switching back to GB just because of how unusable the lapdock is now that I have ICS.

How has your experience with the lapdock and webtop 3.0 been? Maybe someone out there has a suggestion or tips and tricks for how to make this thing functional again?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Droid Forums

man i fully an completely agree with you. i was sooo excited to flash ICS equally for ICS and webtop 3.0... until i hooked up my lapdock. i seriously thought something wasnt working right. i though they were going to improve on webtop.. not completely do away with it. its no different than the phone itself.. except for the fact that your trying to navigate with trackpad/mouse instead of touchpad. 2.0 you could have multiple windows with the real descktop-esque UI along with all the normal functionality of the phone with the handset window (that you could even make full screen if you wanted, which is all the 3.0 version is, a fullscreen display of your handset).
and you guys keep talking about the low memory warnings and whatnot (by the way all you need to do is just use the fast reboot app every 20-30 min or so and your all good).. well thats what the point of improving it is for. if they would have just fixed the memory issue, swapped out firefox for chrome, and maybe added quickoffice as a native app along with the browser.. then webtop would be kickin ass.

i really hope someone who knows what they are doing is as pissed of as i am about this and figure out a way to run webtop 2.0 with ICS.

 

[altspeed]

External mouse helps a lot. I keep an old logitech usb scroll mouse with a pad in my go bag.

 

[Shadez]

External mouse helps a lot. I keep an old logitech usb scroll mouse with a pad in my go bag.

I do the same...

 

[justin82]

I use external mouse and keyboard. And use hdmi dock. Nothing like watching netflix on 55 inch tv. Navagition woth keyboard and mouse is much easier than it is on smart tv

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[Shadez]

I use external mouse and keyboard. And use hdmi dock. Nothing like watching netflix on 55 inch tv. Navagition woth keyboard and mouse is much easier than it is on smart tv

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Unless you have a Google TV

 

[tracer]

man i fully an completely agree with you. i was sooo excited to flash ICS equally for ICS and webtop 3.0... until i hooked up my lapdock. i seriously thought something wasnt working right. i though they were going to improve on webtop.. not completely do away with it. its no different than the phone itself.. except for the fact that your trying to navigate with trackpad/mouse instead of touchpad. 2.0 you could have multiple windows with the real descktop-esque UI along with all the normal functionality of the phone with the handset window (that you could even make full screen if you wanted, which is all the 3.0 version is, a fullscreen display of your handset).
and you guys keep talking about the low memory warnings and whatnot (by the way all you need to do is just use the fast reboot app every 20-30 min or so and your all good).. well thats what the point of improving it is for. if they would have just fixed the memory issue, swapped out firefox for chrome, and maybe added quickoffice as a native app along with the browser.. then webtop would be kickin ass.

i really hope someone who knows what they are doing is as pissed of as i am about this and figure out a way to run webtop 2.0 with ICS.

I agree. If I had wanted a tablet, I'd have bought one. This is a big step backwards for me. I really believe in the original phone/laptop vision - that's why I bought the phone and the lapdock. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Canonical can get some manufacturers interested:
Ubuntu comes to Android for a full desktop experience - SlashGear

 

[wseyller]

Ive had a lapdock for several months It was like trying to run win xp on 128MB of ram. It was just so slow and laggy that it was frustrating to me. Now it is pretty smooth and it is actually usable to my standards.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[tracer]

Ive had a lapdock for several months It was like trying to run win xp on 128MB of ram. It was just so slow and laggy that it was frustrating to me. Now it is pretty smooth and it is actually usable to my standards.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

I agree it had problems. I had just hoped they would make some massive improvements on the original idea, not replace it entirely. I'm glad it's working for you. I'll probably use it once I get over my disappointment - I'll just still be searching for a more laptop-ish environment

 

[wseyller]

I agree it had problems. I had just hoped they would make some massive improvements on the original idea, not replace it entirely. I'm glad it's working for you. I'll probably use it once I get over my disappointment - I'll just still be searching for a more laptop-ish environment

No its not perfect but it is actually usable now to me as in i would go out of my way to wipe the dust off of my lapdock. Before it was a waste if time for me because it was faster and more convienant to load up windows os on my laptop. I consider the new webtop a huge improvement.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[altbrian]

I am not am not a fan of Webtop 3.0
The whole reason that I bought the HD Station is because it had a full desktop version of Firefox built into it.
I had added several bookmarks and a few add-ons.
It was great!
Now webtop 3 just over-rides the installed firefox and I can't figure out how to get it back or a new one installed.
The HD station also had the cool function of bringing up your phone on the side.
This 3.0 version is almost worthless to me.
Any suggestions or am I stuck with this version?

 

[CurGeorge8]

The original webtop idea was a great thought, but the execution was piss-poor. What we got was a old version of Firefox with an outdated flash player and come citrix BS that no one wanted. In order to use native phone apps, you were locked into the same resolution as the phone, which was kinda pointless. Add in the constant cursor freezes and general "lagginess" and it's really not that useful. I can browse the web on my phone much faster than through the firefox browser (and that's browsing non-mobile sites, using the stock browser).

If the new version has a decent e-mail client and allows me to run a native android VNC client back to my desktop at home, in full screen at a decent resolution, I'll be happy. Honestly, that's why I wanted the thing in the first place, and I feel like I got stuck with something near-useless. Granted, I got it on clearance for $50, which was a real nice price, but still.

 

[Laur3nNewm4n]

I was horrified when I read the change between Webtop 2 and 3. I would be super irritated if I owned a Bionic. The stock Webtop from Gingerbread was kind of awful, but if you hacked it, it was a fully operational Ubuntu. You could install apps and everything. I watched my boyfriend use it many times, and it always worked flawlessly. I would hate to have had a PC interface and suddenly have it demoted to a tablet. Hopefully someone ports the old version.

 

[altspeed]

Why not a desktop experience with chrome/ubuntu or Chrome OS?

 

[dnyc]

totally agree
love ICS for my phone but new webtop is a disaster - it's just an oversized phone app, not a full-featured full-screen desktop browser - can't resize screen, can't select/cut/copy/paste with mouse
i might as well throw away my webtop adapter and HD dock that i paid good money for
if anyone knows a way to get back to the old version of webtop but keep ICS, would love to hear it

 

[CurGeorge8]

Ok, I'm really confused here. The current version of web top is a disaster. It's a nice comment, but the execution is terrible. Even with rebooting my phone, closing all the running phone apps, only using one firefox tab at a time, and disabling flash, it is still terrible. It's constantly freezing for a few seconds at a time, and the web top will actually reboot itself. The rebooting issue got so bad I actually sent it back to Motorola for repair.

I'm using a completely stock bionic with a bionic lap dock.