Note 10 Dex on Atrix Lapdock ( didn't want to hijeack the other HP Elite X3 topic )

[ycavan]

Here's to let everyone know that dex on the Note 10 works with the old Atrix lapdock very well

In case anyone has one lying around and wants to see it in action, you would want the following accessories:

1. USB-C to HDMI adapter ( I opted for 1 with HDMI, USB 3.0 & USB-C in for power )
2. micro HDMI to HDMI cable
3. Female micro HDMI to Female micro HDMI adapter

Optional:
1. Modified USB A to micro USB cable ( more on this later )
2. Female micro USB to Female micro USB adapter
3. USB Cable + Charger to charge your phone

If all you want is to bring up dex on your lapdock, all you need are the HDMI connectors. You will want to use a Bluetooth keyboard & mouse to navigate dex and will not be able to charge your phone.

Going 1 step further, you can use a multi-function USB-C adapter with HDMI, USB OTG & USB in for power.

Here, you would modify a usb cable to give you access to the lapdock keyboard & mousepad. The lapdock was designed to be an all-in-one setup with the Atrix phone, so the 10 hour battery could also charge the Atrix. <-- That's our problem. So you will need to snip the RED wire in the usb cable to prevent the lapdock from potentially frying your phone or other devices.

Theoretically, you can charge the phone using the 2 usb ports on the back of the lapdock, but it's a trickle effect. It'll take forever and you won't be happy. I did it in a pinch & running any applications under dex still consumed my phone's battery. Plugging it into a charger, though, kept my phone @ 100%.

A big caveat here is the mousepad is NOT multitouch, so I still used my bluetooth mouse for the scroll wheel.

Here's where this becomes a lot of fun... the lapdock screen is great for running emulators in a decent window. I plugged in my shield gamepad with a usb cable into the back of my lapdock and was able to play pretty much anything I wanted to. Still plugged into an outlet kept the phone @ 100% while emulating 100%+ speeds.

The larger screen is also very nice for streaming tv/movies.

There is an option in the Dex control panel to output audio through the HDMI cable, so you aren't relying on your phone for audio.

Anyway, if you have one of these gems lying around, it's a great way to extend the value of this phone.

 

[jah]

Here's to let everyone know that dex on the Note 10 works with the old Atrix lapdock very well

In case anyone has one lying around and wants to see it in action, you would want the following accessories:

1. USB-C to HDMI adapter ( I opted for 1 with HDMI, USB 3.0 & USB-C in for power )
2. micro HDMI to HDMI cable
3. Female micro HDMI to Female micro HDMI adapter

Optional:
1. Modified USB A to micro USB cable ( more on this later )
2. Female micro USB to Female micro USB adapter
3. USB Cable + Charger to charge your phone

If all you want is to bring up dex on your lapdock, all you need are the HDMI connectors. You will want to use a Bluetooth keyboard & mouse to navigate dex and will not be able to charge your phone.

Going 1 step further, you can use a multi-function USB-C adapter with HDMI, USB OTG & USB in for power.

Here, you would modify a usb cable to give you access to the lapdock keyboard & mousepad. The lapdock was designed to be an all-in-one setup with the Atrix phone, so the 10 hour battery could also charge the Atrix. <-- That's our problem. So you will need to snip the RED wire in the usb cable to prevent the lapdock from potentially frying your phone or other devices.

Theoretically, you can charge the phone using the 2 usb ports on the back of the lapdock, but it's a trickle effect. It'll take forever and you won't be happy. I did it in a pinch & running any applications under dex still consumed my phone's battery. Plugging it into a charger, though, kept my phone @ 100%.

A big caveat here is the mousepad is NOT multitouch, so I still used my bluetooth mouse for the scroll wheel.

Here's where this becomes a lot of fun... the lapdock screen is great for running emulators in a decent window. I plugged in my shield gamepad with a usb cable into the back of my lapdock and was able to play pretty much anything I wanted to. Still plugged into an outlet kept the phone @ 100% while emulating 100%+ speeds.

The larger screen is also very nice for streaming tv/movies.

There is an option in the Dex control panel to output audio through the HDMI cable, so you aren't relying on your phone for audio.

Anyway, if you have one of these gems lying around, it's a great way to extend the value of this phone.

Annoyingly I have a Atrix lapdock but I'm not confident about the rewiring so found a good discounted HP Elite X3 lapdock. Only if someone sold the full cable and adaptor package on eBay for the Atrix

 

[ycavan]

haha, it sounds more complicated than it actually is

just remember that the RED cable in the micro usb cables is power, so that's the only one that needs cutting. What I did was:

1. cut the usb cable in half
2. strip a little bit of the non-RED cables and twisted them together.
3. use electrical tape to cover each of the re-attached cables.
4. pull the red leads back onto the black sheathe
5. use electrical tape to go over the junction between the 2 halves of the cable.

All of the other components are things that are easy to order online, Amazon.

 

[jah]

haha, it sounds more complicated than it actually is

just remember that the RED cable in the micro usb cables is power, so that's the only one that needs cutting. What I did was:

1. cut the usb cable in half
2. strip a little bit of the non-RED cables and twisted them together.
3. use electrical tape to cover each of the re-attached cables.
4. pull the red leads back onto the black sheathe
5. use electrical tape to go over the junction between the 2 halves of the cable.

All of the other components are things that are easy to order online, Amazon.

Okay I'll order cables and have a go!

Please confirm the 3rd item in your list is a micro hdmi female to micro hdmi female as elsewhere I have seen micro female to standard female. Thanks

 

[ycavan]

Okay I'll order cables and have a go!

Please confirm the 3rd item in your list is a micro hdmi female to micro hdmi female as elsewhere I have seen micro female to standard female. Thanks

Yes, I use a micro hdmi female to female adapter for my micro hdmi male to normal hdmi male cable.

 

[alexhalessays]

Suggestion

My take on these DeX apps is straightforward: they’re not great. If you just use them for simple tasks like texting, copying and pasting small bits of text, or dragging and dropping a file or two, it’s fine. Pushing any harder than that is likely to be a recipe for sorrow, however, as things tend to get laggy pretty quickly. I think that’s more the fault of the desktop software than the phone’s hardware, but regardless, it’s slightly disappointing.

I don’t think that’s a reason to avoid buying the Note 10, which is still an excellent phone. But the experience did get me thinking: why did I and so many others have the objectively irrational hope that DeX would unlock new ways of interacting with your phone?

I think it’s because the idea of making a sole computer sits right next to flying cars in the “this is what the future will be” section of our collective unconsciousness.

 

[jah]

My take on these DeX apps is straightforward: they’re not great. If you just use them for simple tasks like texting, copying and pasting small bits of text, or dragging and dropping a file or two, it’s fine. Pushing any harder than that is likely to be a recipe for sorrow, however, as things tend to get laggy pretty quickly. I think that’s more the fault of the desktop software than the phone’s hardware, but regardless, it’s slightly disappointing.

I don’t think that’s a reason to avoid buying the Note 10, which is still an excellent phone. But the experience did get me thinking: why did I and so many others have the objectively irrational hope that DeX would unlock new ways of interacting with your phone?

I think it’s because the idea of making a sole computer sits right next to flying cars in the “this is what the future will be” section of our collective unconsciousness.

Also if you can run DeX well on a lapdock, you may not need a Samsung Tab S6!.

 

[ycavan]

My take on these DeX apps is straightforward: they’re not great. If you just use them for simple tasks like texting, copying and pasting small bits of text, or dragging and dropping a file or two, it’s fine. Pushing any harder than that is likely to be a recipe for sorrow, however, as things tend to get laggy pretty quickly. I think that’s more the fault of the desktop software than the phone’s hardware, but regardless, it’s slightly disappointing.

I don’t think that’s a reason to avoid buying the Note 10, which is still an excellent phone. But the experience did get me thinking: why did I and so many others have the objectively irrational hope that DeX would unlock new ways of interacting with your phone?

I think it’s because the idea of making a sole computer sits right next to flying cars in the “this is what the future will be” section of our collective unconsciousness.

I use DeX with my lapdock instead of my "real" laptop a lot of the time. My emails are on my phone, contacts are on my phone, pretty much all of the gaming apps I use are on my phone. The only time I ever really need my laptop is to play high end games that aren't ported to Android. Now, if only LoD would come out for the note10... :/

 

[bchliu]

Does the Note 10 support the old 1366x768 resolution on the Atrix Lapdock? I remember getting it going on my Note 8 and it's not a supported resolution leading to really unusable low-res blocky everything on the screen.

 

[ycavan]

Does the Note 10 support the old 1366x768 resolution on the Atrix Lapdock? I remember getting it going on my Note 8 and it's not a supported resolution leading to really unusable low-res blocky everything on the screen.

Yup.

 

[jah]

Okay, managed to get my old Motorola Atrix working with my Note 10+. Took a different route to the one described above as the female to female couplers are not easy to source. So I used the Rasberry PI cables for the Atrix and my Samsung Note 8 Dex hub, which was free with the Note 8. But I have to use a BT mouse. Otherwise a good solution. But I would recommend the HP Elite X3 lapdock instead if there is not much a price difference on eBay.