The "Got my D3"/ first impressions thread

[jaycemiskel]

I know it's probably a nogo, but did anyone try simultaneous voice and data yet?

WiFi, yes. 3G only, no.

How exactly does the Thunderbolt achieve voice and data over 3G? Been scratching my head over this one. Why is it the only VZW handset that can do it? My understanding is that it's not to do with LTE, either.

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/01/26/htc-thunderbolt-can-handle-data-and-voice-over-3g/

It's called SVDO. So far the Thunderbolt is the only phone capable of it. No other manufacturers have put the capability in their device for some reason. I'm not really sure why not but they haven't.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

 

[bplewis24]

I know it's probably a nogo, but did anyone try simultaneous voice and data yet?

WiFi, yes. 3G only, no.

How exactly does the Thunderbolt achieve voice and data over 3G? Been scratching my head over this one. Why is it the only VZW handset that can do it? My understanding is that it's not to do with LTE, either.

HTC Thunderbolt Can Handle Data and Voice Over 3G, Why Not Announce it? - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

I suppose now is as good a time as any to delve into the dual transceiver situation on the Thunderbolt. The two transceivers I speak of are the MSM8655’s built in cellular baseband... and the MDM9600. If you want the short story, the Thunderbolt fully supports simultaneous CDMA2000-1x voice and 3G EVDO or 4G LTE data. The way this is done should already be somewhat obvious - the MSM8655 gives the Thunderbolt a continual free CDMA 1x connection for voice, SMS, and slow data, and the MDM9600 does all the 3G EVDO and 4G LTE data heavy lifting. What this boils down to is real SVDO (Simultaneous Voice Data Optimized) and SVLTE (Simultaneous Voice and Long Term Evolution data).

AnandTech - HTC Thunderbolt Review: The First Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone

Long story short: it includes an extra independent radio for it. This is also why the phone is so beefy.

 

[dancingcrab]

Thanks guys!

 

[darkmatter]

Got my d3 today. I wanted to get it from costco, but they didnt have it with no prospect of when they would...they had just gotten their first shipment of the xperia play that day...

So, we went to vzw. We talked about getting my gf set up with my d1. Long story short, the sales rep pissed off my gf to the point that the first thing we did after leaving the vzw store was go to the sprint store. She is convinced that she will switch to sprint, and i cant blame her.

So, that said, whats the best slider on sprint? Im gonna guess the galaxy s one?

I want to give the stock launcher a shot, but 4 home buttons aggravates me, and i dont see a way to change it. I also really dont like side scrolling the app drawer. Aside from that, it seems good so far.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

 

[dragonfly1113]

so far in love with the new d3 just need to decide whats more important the cool transition of the quick contacts or having my launcher go vertical instead of horizontal.

 

[DessoThumbs]

Hey people

I haven't been around much in a long while, my D1 got tired of all the rooting, surfing, calling, picture/video taking and the "new toyness" wore off. Work got busy, life went on. My D1 continues to hang in there like a hair in a biscuit, BUT my daughter picked up her D3 yesterday and now she's asleep and I can't get it from her to play with it.

This has been asked 1,203,014 times already, but HOW IS IT?

I'm holding out for the Bionic, at 50 my eyes will welcome the BIGGEST screen possible!! What is the D3's possible pixellization I've been reading about?? Just curious, no biggie.

Other than screen size and 4G the D3 might have snagged me except for my up isn't until 9/14.

Later ya'll

 

[Heelfan71]

so far in love with the new d3 just need to decide whats more important the cool transition of the quick contacts or having my launcher go vertical instead of horizontal.

love the contacts widget. hate the analog clock one as you can't click on it. Wish they had a clock and weather widget. All the clock widgets are not clickable. They do no good to be if I can't click on them to open the app (clock, calendar mostly) Why would they make it like that?? I ended up using Launcher Pro for the vertical scrolling and hiding all the crap ware apps.

 

[dragonfly1113]

so far in love with the new d3 just need to decide whats more important the cool transition of the quick contacts or having my launcher go vertical instead of horizontal.

love the contacts widget. hate the analog clock one as you can't click on it. Wish they had a clock and weather widget. All the clock widgets are not clickable. They do no good to be if I can't click on them to open the app (clock, calendar mostly) Why would they make it like that?? I ended up using Launcher Pro for the vertical scrolling and hiding all the crap ware apps.

does launcher pro let you use the contacts widget though? it didnt for me.

 

[moset]

I stopped by VZW yesterday for some hands on with D3. Pretty nice, but this was funny. Somehow the Charge demo got loaded on it and at 2 different times it ran. The Charge was next to it got some free advertising from moto.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums

 

[tcrews]

does launcher pro let you use the contacts widget though? it didnt for me.

No, you have to use the stock "blur" launcher to use blur widgets.

But the paid version of Launcher Pro has an awesome People Widget that I like better than the blur one. It's interactive right on the homescreen (no swiping open/close, just scroll through your list). Tap and choose email/text/call etc....that entry.

 

[dragonfly1113]

does launcher pro let you use the contacts widget though? it didnt for me.

No, you have to use the stock "blur" launcher to use blur widgets.

But the paid version of Launcher Pro has an awesome People Widget that I like better than the blur one. It's interactive right on the homescreen (no swiping open/close, just scroll through your list). Tap and choose email/text/call etc....that entry.

may have to try that thanks. colorize widgets also has a nice contacts widget you can scroll through. guess ill have to check out the paid launcher pro widgets later.

 

[jmdale1984]

I haven't tried the contacts widget, but the blur toggles are working just fine on Launcher Pro for me.

 

[jjhiza]

Hey people

I haven't been around much in a long while, my D1 got tired of all the rooting, surfing, calling, picture/video taking and the "new toyness" wore off. Work got busy, life went on. My D1 continues to hang in there like a hair in a biscuit, BUT my daughter picked up her D3 yesterday and now she's asleep and I can't get it from her to play with it.

This has been asked 1,203,014 times already, but HOW IS IT?

I'm holding out for the Bionic, at 50 my eyes will welcome the BIGGEST screen possible!! What is the D3's possible pixellization I've been reading about?? Just curious, no biggie.

Other than screen size and 4G the D3 might have snagged me except for my up isn't until 9/14.

Later ya'll

Personally, I love this phone! I've had it a full 24 hours, and I'm still being blown away! The screen size is just right imo (the 4.5" Bionic screen just seems massive!), but the pentile screen is a little annoying if you play games. Things like Pocket Legends and Star Legends really amplify the pixel flaws, but other games, like NOVA, play and look flawless. You get used to it after a while, and unless you use your phone 2" from your face, you'll probably never notice it. Sound quality and video quality are excellent, and this thing is seriously fast (2138 quadrant score - my first and only run). Surprisingly (being a LauncherPro user since beta), I don't find the Blur UI super annoying. The transitions are nice, the widgets (Blur only) are resizable and intuitive, and it really just looks nice. Eventually, I'll replace it with LP for customization, but I'll give Blur another day. The real winning feature on this phone though, has to be the keyboard; seriously, coming from the Droid, this keyboard is a beast! Five rows, with one dedicated exclusively to numbers, good key spacing...it's incredible, hands down! I hope this kinda answers some of your questions.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

 

[Heelfan71]

I haven't tried the contacts widget, but the blur toggles are working just fine on Launcher Pro for me.

yeah, those work. The contacts will not show up. It will place it on your screen but will be invisible. I had to click on it and drag it off even though I could not see it.

Too bad they don't have more toggles. Would like a sound and brightness one.

 

[DessoThumbs]

Hey people

I haven't been around much in a long while, my D1 got tired of all the rooting, surfing, calling, picture/video taking and the "new toyness" wore off. Work got busy, life went on. My D1 continues to hang in there like a hair in a biscuit, BUT my daughter picked up her D3 yesterday and now she's asleep and I can't get it from her to play with it.

This has been asked 1,203,014 times already, but HOW IS IT?

I'm holding out for the Bionic, at 50 my eyes will welcome the BIGGEST screen possible!! What is the D3's possible pixellization I've been reading about?? Just curious, no biggie.

Other than screen size and 4G the D3 might have snagged me except for my up isn't until 9/14.

Later ya'll

Personally, I love this phone! I've had it a full 24 hours, and I'm still being blown away! The screen size is just right imo (the 4.5" Bionic screen just seems massive!), but the pentile screen is a little annoying if you play games. Things like Pocket Legends and Star Legends really amplify the pixel flaws, but other games, like NOVA, play and look flawless. You get used to it after a while, and unless you use your phone 2" from your face, you'll probably never notice it. Sound quality and video quality are excellent, and this thing is seriously fast (2138 quadrant score - my first and only run). Surprisingly (being a LauncherPro user since beta), I don't find the Blur UI super annoying. The transitions are nice, the widgets (Blur only) are resizable and intuitive, and it really just looks nice. Eventually, I'll replace it with LP for customization, but I'll give Blur another day. The real winning feature on this phone though, has to be the keyboard; seriously, coming from the Droid, this keyboard is a beast! Five rows, with one dedicated exclusively to numbers, good key spacing...it's incredible, hands down! I hope this kinda answers some of your questions.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

Hey, thanks for the reply!! Unfortunately, I DO hold my droid very close to my face (when I have my contacts out - at night when surfing/playing games in bed). With my contacts in I wear reading glasses at a more reasonable distance. Pardon my ignorance/lack of research, but will the Bionic be a "pentile" screen??

THANKS again!