Thunderbolt? Yay or Nay

[a44kaliburll]

I waited for the TB since it was rumored in August of 2010... The cons are this:

Battery life is not as bad as all of the people are claiming..like a previous poster said, change some settings, use the power toggle widget (wifi, brightness, timeout, ect..) and your battery life will be compared to the DX.

If so, the Droid X must have had some lousy battery life. The phone is "ok" without the Internet. The battery is too small for 4G, that's all. I have the extended battery and it's rather amazing how much longer the phone will last. I don't have it long enough but it should last at least 5-6 hours in 4G. The standard battery might do 2 hours and change. I was expecting at least 4, considering that 4G on comparable phones do 6 or more. If you charge often then you won't experience too much of a problem. I use my phone for music in the morning and am unsure how often I'll get to charge during the day.

One more con...the kickstand is really nice...made really strong and is pretty useful...but the mini usb input is located in the worst spot...you cant watch a video and have it charging and expect to use the kickstand...its a huge bummer, but from a market standpoint, they probably want you to buy the multimedia dock to do that...no biggie really but its still a bummer.

Stupid... terribly stupid... they built the phone hoping to upsell everything. Here's a solution I discovered - buy a right angle USB cable for $5. You can lie the cord under the bottom of the TB too and it should work just fine, slightly elevated.

All in all...dont listen to the people who are saying "I played with one..or I checked it out a vzw and it wasnt that great..." And dont listen to guys who have been waiting for this phone since August...like me...you have to listen to what it is you want to try out
Agreed. At least as of now and for another 30-60 days, this is the best phone absent the battery issues. Not happy with stupidity they left out and non-HD recording but it's not the end of the world. As a phone, works pretty well for most things.

laptops get maybe 3-6 hours...this thing is that and more...calling, FM radio, Internet, widgets, email, ect...
I'd compare this more to a netbook. HTC apparently has a significant issue with upselling their extended batteries. The EVO was underpowered so they make the stock Incredible battery smaller. Right. The EVO 3D battery which will have a dual processor is larger than this battery by far... but still several hundred mAh less than the Bionic. Go figure. It's as if they are trying their hardest to find the absolute least amount of power they can find to put into the battery.

Other than the Internal memory snafu which will need to be sorted out and explained, the phone with the extended battery should keep me happy for the entire year of the contract. I hope that VZW will compel HTC to rectify these issues and can't imagine something won't be done by someone regarding one of the two issues. It still shouldn't prevent anyone from enjoying the phone... if you can get over early adoption as was expected.

Yes! I have been on this forum since December 2009 and its the first time a poster has broke down my writing! Thank you!

anyways, you are right the TB is more of a netbook rather than a laptop. I agree...but you dont hear many people saying...well my laptop battery sucks and OMG I am not gonna buy a laptop because its getting 3 hours of battery life. We have to remember we have a computer in our pockets...we have the internet at our hands...we have the ability to call people on our pocket computers...we have the ability to read an email when we are away from the office...we have the ability to ask "how many oz are in a pound" - SPEAKING- and get a response from a reliable source...I swear its like phone a friend from who wants to be a millionaire - in our pockets...

you are right when it comes to the battery issue, yes HTC likes to gyp us on battery...then up-sell the extended...that is how they make money. quick solution...buy a cheap usb cord...if you dont have access to a computer..get a car charger...if you dont have a car...or are in school all day...shut the phone off while in class and utilize the fast boot when class is over. (not sure if that will really save that much battery..just an option).

I felt that your post was a very good addition to my post...in fact helped to enhance it a lot more.

bottom line is guys...this phone is a good phone...I like it a lot...and if you want it, you should youtube it for atleast a few weeks. Read engadget or other places and get a feel for what professional writers and testers have to say about it. This place is good for us "usual joe's" to get out here and share how we feel about the device. Just do your research before you buy, because it is an investment..a pricey one at that. Like buying anything, its better to be informed on both the "usual joe" level and the "professional reviewer" level. You dont want to be snaked.

Yo. by the way, where did you get that right angle usb cord and did you say you liked it? maybe you can post me a picture of how your TB sets with it attached? You can PM me if you'd like.

 

[ForeverInOur]

i got 18hours out of the battery so far.. with a bunch of widgets..syncing emails, fb, twitter. checking webpages, playing a game, brightness high, and other things scattered around the day. in and out of 3g and 4g. about 10 minues away i get 4g coverage. been great for me. waiting to get it rooted and tweak it up more. i wanted the bionic and i may still get it, but i didnt feel like waiting so i got the tb..my droid1 was being annoying with gingerbreadish type roms. also i heard data plans might change and i wanted to stay with the $30 unlimited with a phone that could handle newer updates and such. and also i wasnt sure if i was really get that much out of the dual core if the phone and things werent "configured" to optimize it properly.

so yay.

 

[a44kaliburll]

Does the TB change when you actually own it?

...yes?

rofl

I mean I agree, yes it does as you learn more, but man I laughed good at that first line.

lol...

I didnt mean for it to be insulting to Backnblack...just more of a...of course it changes..

If you have ever watched the cartoon "Archer" there is a few episodes in the first season..here is part of the script:

Cher: I'm just a secretary. I don't have access to security.. whatevers.
Arch: Then get them from Cyril.
Cher: How am I supposed to do that?
Arch: Seduce him, or Pam, or both.
Cher: I can't do that.
Arch: Can't or wont?
Cher: Either?

I kind of meant it like that...lol

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm definitely torn here. I can upgrade, and I'd love to lock in the unlimited data plan now. I'm just not sold on the TB yet, mostly due to battery complaints. I suppose I should go play with one before deciding for sure. I'm usually able to charge my D1 any time, but for those times where I can't I don't want to have to worry about it dying constantly. decisions decisions....

As someone else in this thread said, the battery issue is way overblown. First day off a full charge yesterday, I had it for 14+ hours with moderate use, was at above 40% when I put it on the charger for the night. No, you can't stream videos on 4g for 3 hours and then expect it to last forever without charging it. But I did plenty of texting, facebooking, app installing, phone calls, emails, web browsing, even some game playing. It is what it is.

"Wait for the Bionic" is the most relentless advice I've ever seen on these forums. Yet I would like to bet the battery life on that will not be so different than what the actual life is like on the TB. Yes there are other differences, but that has been the mostly talked about (non-)issue.

Exactly. I get 11+ hours with HEAVY use (we're talking HD video, uploading pictures, browsing websites, and doing everything I can to drain it). People are used to the battery gauge showing FULL and when it drops to 80% in an hour or two they're freaking out. But they don't realize that if they just continue to use their phone, it takes forever to get from 80% to 20% (10+ hours) even with good use. I even had several iPhone users tell me how they envied my battery life at work saying they couldn't get anywhere near that much usage.

 

[Oxymoron]

To each his/her own. I am waiting for the bionic, but my reasons are simpler than most others seem. A friend of mine has the TB, and I've been playing with it off and on for a few days.

1 - I do not care for the image quality of the camera on the TB. I don't know if it's the sensor itself, or the compression algorithim or what... but I don't like it. The quality of images from my D1 are superior. The TB images have artifacts typical of oversharpening, heavy compression, or a low quality CCD. (Photography is a hobby of mine.)

2 - I want gorilla glass.

3 - I prefer a higher resolution screen. My D1 has a higher resolution than the TB. I do not want to go backwards.

4 - The Bionic has HDMI out in addition to DLNA streaming. I like having a choice.

5 - I use a game-gripper on my D1 to play ROMs because I have a physical keyboard. When not using the game-gripper, I use Wiimote over bluetooth. As I understand it, this is not compatible with HTC Sense. My emulator and ROMs would be useless on the TB. I need my classic NES games.

The processor and battery are not really concerns for me. I like the TB a lot, but I believe for my own personal user experience the Bionic is a better fit, for the reasons mentioned above. That's just for me though. Everyone uses their device differently.

Whatever you choose, choose what best suits YOU. Not what suits others. Opinions are useful, but shouldn't be the deciding factor.

Happy Androiding (yes, I did just make that a verb).

 

[mthorn79]

You do know you can turn the TB upright with the kickstand & plug in the charger right? I've been doing it at work & it works perfectly fine, plenty sturdy even upright.

At least until the cradle becomes available.

 

[zenman77]

What tweaks did you make?

Just curious

I would say YAY the battery thing is being blown out of proportion , a few little tweaks on the factory settings and you're good. My last charge was 12 hours ago and I'm still at 50 percent. I'm still planning on an extended battery but from what I've been told all smart phones have battery issues when compared to a standard phone..........This phone is awesome and you won't regret buying it !!!

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums App

 

[pedromartinez]

If you can't wait yes. But I have one and I'm coming from an Incredible and its not much of an upgrade. From the Incredible the major plus is screen size and network speed. It is slightly snappier. But the screen size has the same resolution. The Bionic will at least increase the resolution with the bigger screen size.

If you have a lot of 4G coverage your battery will die quickly. I think people not experiencing any battery life issues are in 3G areas. And if you happen to be in a place where its bordering 4G coverage it will be worse because it's constantly switching between 3G and 4G. At least the makers of the Bionic are outing a 1900 mAh battery in their phone.

Coming from the Incredible the phone is massive and heavy. Not all that great.

Like I said if you have Droid 1 or some other crappy smart phone definitely upgrade now. However if you have a Droid 2, X, Fascinated or Incredible it may be worth waiting for dual core.

I mean with all the reviews no one is mentioning how expensive this phone is. You're paying over $250 bucks especially after accessories for something you can get twice as better in a few months. It doesn't even have Gingerbread. The problems with this phone I'm sure the Bionic won't have. They've already taken steps to address them.

With all that in mind this is still the best phone out now. It's fast in both network and processing. Front facing camera and big screen. However it is only marginally better with rather unmarginal price differences.


sent from HTC thunderbolt using droidforums app

 

[mthorn79]

To each his/her own. I am waiting for the bionic, but my reasons are simpler than most others seem. A friend of mine has the TB, and I've been playing with it off and on for a few days.

1 - I do not care for the image quality of the camera on the TB. I don't know if it's the sensor itself, or the compression algorithim or what... but I don't like it. The quality of images from my D1 are superior. The TB images have artifacts typical of oversharpening, heavy compression, or a low quality CCD. (Photography is a hobby of mine.)

2 - I want gorilla glass.

3 - I prefer a higher resolution screen. My D1 has a higher resolution than the TB. I do not want to go backwards.

4 - The Bionic has HDMI out in addition to DLNA streaming. I like having a choice.

5 - I use a game-gripper on my D1 to play ROMs because I have a physical keyboard. When not using the game-gripper, I use Wiimote over bluetooth. As I understand it, this is not compatible with HTC Sense. My emulator and ROMs would be useless on the TB. I need my classic NES games.

The processor and battery are not really concerns for me. I like the TB a lot, but I believe for my own personal user experience the Bionic is a better fit, for the reasons mentioned above. That's just for me though. Everyone uses their device differently.

Whatever you choose, choose what best suits YOU. Not what suits others. Opinions are useful, but shouldn't be the deciding factor.

Happy Androiding (yes, I did just make that a verb).

First off, where in the world do you come off saying the camera on the Droid is better than the TB?? Have you even used this camera? By default this thing is set to 3624x1952 resolution & looking at them there is no grainy image that I've taken yet! Don't get me started on how well this thing takes night pictures compared to my old Droid, you can just forget about night pics in general with the Droid because they just down right sucked! Grainy as all get out, even with the flash on you could still barely see anything. In no way shape or form does it compete in this arena. The resolution may be slightly better spec wise on the Droid but on the TB it just looks way better to me. Ok so it doesn't have gorilla glass, I baby my phone as it is so I don't have to worry about that.

Seems like your just still drooling over your Droid, which is fine, leaves an extra TB for someone else to enjoy. But the TB is miles ahead of the Droid, ask any ex Droid user who's switched. I don't see any of them going back.

 

[Drew_P]

Hey was wondering if you could give me some info on what settings your running to be able to get 12+ hours on a charge. Thanks for any info you can give.

finally thunderboltin' and lovin it!!!!!

 

[a44kaliburll]

To each his/her own. I am waiting for the bionic, but my reasons are simpler than most others seem. A friend of mine has the TB, and I've been playing with it off and on for a few days.

1 - I do not care for the image quality of the camera on the TB. I don't know if it's the sensor itself, or the compression algorithim or what... but I don't like it. The quality of images from my D1 are superior. The TB images have artifacts typical of oversharpening, heavy compression, or a low quality CCD. (Photography is a hobby of mine.)

2 - I want gorilla glass.

3 - I prefer a higher resolution screen. My D1 has a higher resolution than the TB. I do not want to go backwards.

4 - The Bionic has HDMI out in addition to DLNA streaming. I like having a choice.

5 - I use a game-gripper on my D1 to play ROMs because I have a physical keyboard. When not using the game-gripper, I use Wiimote over bluetooth. As I understand it, this is not compatible with HTC Sense. My emulator and ROMs would be useless on the TB. I need my classic NES games.

The processor and battery are not really concerns for me. I like the TB a lot, but I believe for my own personal user experience the Bionic is a better fit, for the reasons mentioned above. That's just for me though. Everyone uses their device differently.

Whatever you choose, choose what best suits YOU. Not what suits others. Opinions are useful, but shouldn't be the deciding factor.

Happy Androiding (yes, I did just make that a verb).

First off, where in the world do you come off saying the camera on the Droid is better than the TB?? Have you even used this camera? By default this thing is set to 3624x1952 resolution & looking at them there is no grainy image that I've taken yet! Don't get me started on how well this thing takes night pictures compared to my old Droid, you can just forget about night pics in general with the Droid because they just down right sucked! Grainy as all get out, even with the flash on you could still barely see anything. In no way shape or form does it compete in this arena. The resolution may be slightly better spec wise on the Droid but on the TB it just looks way better to me. Ok so it doesn't have gorilla glass, I baby my phone as it is so I don't have to worry about that.

Seems like your just still drooling over your Droid, which is fine, leaves an extra TB for someone else to enjoy. But the TB is miles ahead of the Droid, ask any ex Droid user who's switched. I don't see any of them going back.

yeah...I am one of those ex-droid user...and I will never go back..The picture quality is, like I have said in my first post in this thread...one of the best features...I feel...of this phone...It far surpasses my wifes CASIO CAMERA. And her camera is dated I know..but its a Camera..nothing more. The images this camera produces are awesome..I love the effects and like you said..night camera is very very good in comparison to the D1.

Bottom line..this phone is great. In my opinion...some people will disagree but that is the nature of business...I for one..will advocate for this phone until the next awesome HTC phone happens when my year contract is over.

Oh and to the guy who said that this phone is expensive...In my first post I stated that I got this phone a pack of screen protectors and a vehicle dock for 286 on a one year contract...2 year contract would have saved me what..the cost of my vehicle dock...I was ready to pay $320 base for just the phone...but I got a stellar deal...

Unlimited 3g/4g data for $29.99 per month
Free WiFi hotspot until May 15, 2011
One year contract
...Android...

Especially with this unlimited 3g/4g deal I couldnt pass it up...I would have taken a crappier phone in order to seal the deal with the unlimited data...to me its worth it because now us TB owners are grandfathered in at this rate...as far as what I understand to be true. And the CSR told me when I bought the phone.

 

[mthorn79]

If you think this phone is expensive ($250 w/ 2 year contract)...then why is the EVO on Sprints site STILL $199.99 w/ 2 year contract when it's been out over a year?! LOL

Sprint's speeds on WiMax don't even compare to the speeds on LTE, so your not just buying a phone, your buying pure speed! Hell the downs/ups are faster than my FIOS router at home!

 

[Oxymoron]

My apologies, maybe you misunderstood the statement "to each his/her own"?

This was my experience. Have you fully zoomed into a full resolution image on a computer? That is what my opinion is based on. It did not look as good on the computer screen as images from my D1. Granted, being at a higher resolution this may not make a difference printing 5x7's. But it may when printing a larger format. I have not viewed full res images from each device side by side onscreen yet. The artifacts just immediately stood out to me. I zoomed in on the TB first, noticed it, then transferred it to his computer and zoomed at 100%. The picture was taken outdoors in sunshine. Low light was not a factor.

Again though, opinions are useful... just not as a deciding factor. I am in no way asking anyone to make my choice their own. I certainly won't base my deciding vote on someone elses opinion.

I am not bashing the TB. I like it. This was just my personal experience. For the reasons I stated before, the Bionic is a better fit for my usage. For others, the TB will be better suited. The end result should be the best user experience. Some will have a better experience with the TB, some with something else.

If you have a TB and love it, then that's all that matters in the end. Why care what I think? You have a great device. Enjoy it

 

[gatewayad]

I say Yay.... there is not one think on my original Droid I miss going to this phone, now that i have everything installed and working properly with notifications set the way I want them battery life is better than expected, sense is amazing and some of the HTC widgets are incredible. I'm in a 4G area and the browser is blazing fast. There is no lag at all and I have all 7 screens full with all kinds of stuff and well over 100 apps downloaded, not only do i have all 7 screens loaded but I have all 7 screens loaded on 3 different scenes i call daily (verizon) night (HTC) and weekend (social)
Did I mention its blazing fast and no lag.
One more thing to take a picture really really quick (no more saying hold that pose for 15 seconds)

 

[Oxymoron]

I definitely prefer HTC Sense to Motoblur... which is why I have always run BB. Sense is awesome.