[Nexus One Accessories] ajayendra:
My Verdict on Dock + Phone Integration

First, please look at my posts from about 2 pages earlier.

Second, I am not asserting that I am the best judge, but I try my best to quality test a gadget.

So, I had the Nexus One (at&t version) purchased about 3 months ago and I had all the issues posted on post #233. After reading more and following some suggestions from senior members I thought I would try something different. I ordered a replacement for my car dock and sold the Nexus One I had, I then ordered a brand new last week (at&t version). In short I had both of them old with issues but have a new pair now. I have tried my best to test the dock + phone integration on my 20-mile drive to office. Here are some issues, workaround and verdicts on brand new dock-phone pair with factory 2.1 (phone not unlocked/modded)

HEAT: It didn’t matter to me if the sun was falling directly on the windshield. It also didn’t matter what car I drove. I drive 04 Audi A6 and sometimes my wife’s 01 Camry. There was no difference in the behavior on either of the cars. It also didn’t matter if car was OFF or ON (12Volts and 13.55 Volts respectively). The only thing which mattered to me was whether the phone is fully charged or not. If the phone was ~ 85% charged there was no HEAT issue. It would just be normally warm. Definitely with navigation the situation was a little worse but much batter than earlier.

If phone was partially charged, say 50%, it would heat up but not as bad as my old one.

What changed between old and new phone? : I don’t think that they sold me an improved hardware. On my earlier phone I had a Zagg shield on the back which might have lead to pins not connecting on the dock properly. And if that was the case, connection-disconnection might lead to heating. This is also a rare possibility but I think with the new phone my situation is far better. If you have a shield on the back its better to test the issue by taking it off (of-course you lose $12.50).

BLUETOOTH: It was magic! I DO NOT have Bluetooth problem. With my old phone and replacement dock the disconnection issue was still there but not anymore. I am on solid bluetooth connection all the time and I don’t disconnect.

Again in this case I would recommend taking off the shield (if you have it). Else I can’t think of anything else. The pins on the dock and copper lead on the phone may not be in good connection all the time. But, if that doesn’t fix it, I think there might and I say again, there might be a problem with the phone.

SCREEN UNRESPONSIVENESS: This problem went away as soon as I got my new Nexus. Heat was probably doing it, and now that my phone doesn’t heat it’s no more a problem for me. But, again there is a work around; if your phone doesn’t respond properly to touching, just hit the power button, get the phone to sleep and hit again to bring it back. Howsoever hot your phone is, the screen will respond properly.

SCREEN ORIENTATION: That is something Google designed their software like, but I am sure this is gonna be fixed on Froyo.

VOLUME CONTROL: Annoying, very annoying, but hope Google/HTC takes care of it. It was not taken care of in the pre-release Froyo version.

MIC: During phone calls, it’s good, although not the greatest. I would expect more. Navigation commands while driving is a Complete Joke. Hopefully gets fixed too.

I will be unlocking bootloader tomorrow and will test the same with CM ROMs and Froyo ROMs. Will report soon!

Thanks