Why HTC TB?

[guitarchris123]

I know there are probably a million threads about this, but....

I have an upgrade, and will more than likely be pre-ordering the TB tomorrow.
I am curious though, what is attracting everybody to the TB?

From what I am reading, its pretty much the EVO, or I even read its just a bigger incredible.
So what makes it stand out of the crowd?
I mean, why choose this phone over the Bionic or Droid X?

First LTE phone. Simultaneous voice/data. I don't need dual core yet, as technology it'll be underutilized & buggy at first. Software on Bionic will probably cause some lag, even though hardware is powerful. Second gen Snapdragon on TB has been tried and tested, so bugs will be worked out, it'll be super fast and smooth, HTC has been using its software for awhile. I prefer HTC & Sense to Moto & Blur. I don't need HDMI port. 32GB microSD card included. TB has SLCD screen. TB has 45nm die (will help with battery life and overheating), while EVO had 65nm. TB has more RAM. TB has kickstand, external speaker. TB is releasing much sooner, can't wait to upgrade much longer. TB is easier to permanently root and will have much more developer support (more tweakable, customizable). HTC gets update support before all others. TB looks better (personal preference). TB has better FFC and possibly even better rear facing camera. TB has integrated Skype ("baked-in"). Bionic's advantages are not close to sway me from TB. I was on the fence at first, but after extensive research I clearly prefer TB.

I thought that Verizon was done with the one year contracts? (Or something like that)

The TB should be the same price from bestbuy, and from what I understand they have the buy back thing which would let me upgrade if I wanted the bionic when it comes out, right?

I've heard people saying the bionic is twice as fast, and then I have heard that the TB beat the bionic in benchmark tests, and that the dual core isn't going to make much of a difference for a little while now, until everything adapts I just dunno, lol

A phone now-a-days is a big investment, I want to make sure I am getting the most for my money.
At the same time, I am dieing to upgrade my phone.

Seeing as this will be my first android phone, I don't know if I am going to want/get into modding it, so it being locked/etc isn't a HUGE concern, but its always nice to have the option.

The Bionic is not finished and the Benchmark for the Bionic was not set for Dual core so you can not go by the Benchmark scores until the phone is finished. TB put up good numbers. When the the Bionic is complete I want to see them run it again to see the score then.

Best Buy no longer does 1 year contracts. If you can get on the buy-back program, that will save you the trouble. But I heard it was only supposed to be for TVs for the Super Bowl, so it will expire soon.

People think the Bionic will be twice as fast for 2 reasons: it has dual core, and it has DDR2 RAM. DDR2 RAM reads and writes twice as fast as DDR, but the TB has more RAM than the Bionic (more space). It will be interesting to see what's better, more RAM or faster RAM. The videos we have seen so far of the Bionic are of an unfinished product. The software was not nearly ready. When it comes out, it will most likely be quite a bit faster than the TB, simply because of those reasons above. However, the TB will be very fast for a single core phone, and I don't think the Bionic will actually be TWICE as fast. The success of the Bionic depends on whether Moto can get the software optimized to fully take advantage of dual core or not. This is highly questionable. I expect bugs and lag.

This may be a stupid question, but as I said I am new to all this.

The TB is going to have the latest version of android, right?
Gingerbread or w/e, 2.3

Yes and no, it will have the latest version that is available now: Froyo. However, it will be updateable to Gingerbread as soon as that is released for phones (should not be more than 1-3 months if I had to take a guess). And HTC is always the first manufacturer to get Android updates. Android will not fully take advantage of dual core technology until Honeycomb (after Gingerbread), unless they release gingerbread with aspects of Honeycomb that are for dual core. Although you will see some boost with dual core, even with Froyo which was not written with dual core in mind.

DDR2 does not automatically make it faster.

Yes it does. See explanation above.

 

[Effington]

Contract Price
Thunderbolt: $249 (not official)
Atrix: $199
Advantage Atrix

Release Date
Thunderbolt: Who knows?
Atrix: March 6 or before
Advantage Atrix

Carrier/Network
Thunderbolt: Verizon LTE
Atrix: AT&T HSPA+
Advantage: Thunderbolt

Processor
Thunderbolt: 1Ghz Snapdragon
Atrix: 1 Ghz Tegra 2 Dual Core
Advantage: Atrix

Memory
Thunderbolt: 768 MB
Atrix: 1 GB
Advantage: Atrix

Onboard Storage
Thunderbolt: 8GB
Atrix: 16 GB
Advantage: Atrix

Removable Storage
Thunderbolt: up to 32 GB (included)
Atrix: up to 32 GB
Advantage: Thunderbolt

Display
Thunderbolt: 4.3" WVGA (480 x 800)
Atrix: 4.0" qHD with Gorilla Glass (540 x 960)
Advantage: Atrix

Camera
Thunderbolt: 8 MP; 1.3 MP front
Atrix: 5 MP, VGA front
Advantage: Thunderbolt

Battery
Thunderbolt: 1400 mAh
Atrix: 1930 mAh
Advantage: Atrix (but dual core proc will kill more juice so maybe equal in terms of life)

UI
Thunderbolt: Sense 2.0
Atrix: Motoblur
Advantage: Thunderbolt; or personal pref

Cool additional features:
Thunderbolt: Kickstand
Atrix: Fingerprint reader, laptop dock, multimedia dock
Advantage: Atrix

Comparing the two phones, they're both awesome - Atrix is better. It's just stuck on the lousy AT&T network. Unfortunately, it has better coverage near me than Verizon sot he choice is easy... maybe it will sway some of you as well.

 

[bigdad63]

This video clearly states slcd screen

Unboxing Video of HTC ThunderBolt Available - Softpedia

sent from my X

Don't get me wrong, I want to be wrong about the TB having an lcd screen, but that video is from early January and I have a company website and a five day old email from HTC saying that it is an lcd.

I hope you are wrong too. Lol but how I see it is when I get my tb, if its not what im hoping it is, I always have 30 days to return. I just can't see them using a plain old lcd on the first 4g lte device

sent from my X

Believe me I'm going to look as well, lte is too tempting. Maybe a "new" lcd will just be of better quality than my D1's "old" lcd.

 

[guitarchris123]

Contract Price
Thunderbolt: $249 (not official)
Atrix: $199
Advantage Atrix

Release Date
Thunderbolt: Who knows?
Atrix: March 6 or before
Advantage Atrix

Carrier/Network
Thunderbolt: Verizon LTE
Atrix: AT&T HSPA+
Advantage: Thunderbolt

Processor
Thunderbolt: 1Ghz Snapdragon
Atrix: 1 Ghz Tegra 2 Dual Core
Advantage: Atrix

Memory
Thunderbolt: 768 MB
Atrix: 1 GB
Advantage: Atrix

Onboard Storage
Thunderbolt: 8GB
Atrix: 16 GB
Advantage: Atrix

Removable Storage
Thunderbolt: up to 32 GB (included)
Atrix: up to 32 GB
Advantage: Thunderbolt

Display
Thunderbolt: 4.3" WVGA (480 x 800)
Atrix: 4.0" qHD with Gorilla Glass (540 x 960)
Advantage: Atrix

Camera
Thunderbolt: 8 MP; 1.3 MP front
Atrix: 5 MP, VGA front
Advantage: Thunderbolt

Battery
Thunderbolt: 1400 mAh
Atrix: 1930 mAh
Advantage: Atrix (but dual core proc will kill more juice so maybe equal in terms of life)

UI
Thunderbolt: Sense 2.0
Atrix: Motoblur
Advantage: Thunderbolt; or personal pref

Cool additional features:
Thunderbolt: Kickstand
Atrix: Fingerprint reader, laptop dock, multimedia dock
Advantage: Atrix

Comparing the two phones, they're both awesome - Atrix is better. It's just stuck on the lousy AT&T network. Unfortunately, it has better coverage near me than Verizon sot he choice is easy... maybe it will sway some of you as well.

A few things to clarify for you. TB could be $200, although $250 is more likely I think. TB will come out before Atrix, most likely. I know you don't agree, and that's fine. Dual core sounds better on paper, but will the software on the phone really be able to handle the hardware? It's their first dual core phone, there will be issues. Also, the current and next version of Android were not written with dual core in mind. On the other hand, the TB has had several past version of the phone, the processor, and the software, so it has had time to develop and get things to where they just work like they're supposed to. Yes Atrix has more RAM, but it is rumored that half will be dedicated to the docking features (of course, just a rumor). Speaking of which, I think the laptop dock feature is a totally worthless accessory, not to mention WAY overpriced. Use your laptop as a laptop, and your smartphone as a smartphone. I don't get the advantage to it...maybe you could explain to me what is so great about it, maybe I'm missing something? Atrix also has a smaller display, some people want as big as possible these days with all the things we do with our phones, while others want it to be more pocket sized, so that's personal preference. Honestly, from the videos, I actually think the screen on the TB looks just as good as the Bionic. And dual core is actually supposed to HELP with battery life, not drain it faster. Also, what the heck do I need a fingerprint reader for?

Ok, just my 2 cents, good write up otherwise.

 

[Effington]

A few things to clarify for you. TB could be $200, although $250 is more likely I think. TB will come out before Atrix, most likely. I know you don't agree, and that's fine. Dual core sounds better on paper, but will the software on the phone really be able to handle the hardware? It's their first dual core phone, there will be issues. Also, the current and next version of Android were not written with dual core in mind. On the other hand, the TB has had several past version of the phone, the processor, and the software, so it has had time to develop and get things to where they just work like they're supposed to. Yes Atrix has more RAM, but it is rumored that half will be dedicated to the docking features (of course, just a rumor). Speaking of which, I think the laptop dock feature is a totally worthless accessory, not to mention WAY overpriced. Use your laptop as a laptop, and your smartphone as a smartphone. I don't get the advantage to it...maybe you could explain to me what is so great about it, maybe I'm missing something? Atrix also has a smaller display, some people want as big as possible these days with all the things we do with our phones, while others want it to be more pocket sized, so that's personal preference. Honestly, from the videos, I actually think the screen on the TB looks just as good as the Bionic. And dual core is actually supposed to HELP with battery life, not drain it faster. Also, what the heck do I need a fingerprint reader for?

Ok, just my 2 cents, good write up otherwise.

Some excellent points, although the TB's price and release date being up in the air is at least part of my frustration - I'd say the $249 price tag is about as reliable as the Feb 24 release date, so... not very reliable.

As for the current and - more importantly - next version of Android not supporting dual core processors:

Android 2.4 coming April, leaving 2.3 dead on arrival - not Ice Cream - Pocket-lint

Indications seem to be that Android 2.4 will leap frog over 2.3 in order to provide dual core support for the phones that are coming out with dual processors - or, more importantly, support for dual-core apps on single-core devices (which they wouldn't work with otherwise on 2.3). I think it shows that there is Android support of dual core apps at the very least.

As for the overpriced laptop accessory - I agree, it's mostly a gimmick and not worth a fraction of what it's being sold for... but the concept is interesting and those accessories may gain practicality later as they become more affordable. The phone itself is still great without the accessories. And yeah, the fingerprint reader seems lame, but a lot of reviews praise the ease of unlocking a phone with a swipe of one finger, rather than inputting a password or pattern.

If the 4.0 screen is a dealbreaker over the TB screen, then that's personal preference. I do agree that in reviews, both screens look great.

 

[Preach2k]

As for the current and - more importantly - next version of Android not supporting dual core processors:

Android 2.4 coming April, leaving 2.3 dead on arrival - not Ice Cream - Pocket-lint

Indications seem to be that Android 2.4 will leap frog over 2.3 in order to provide dual core support for the phones that are coming out with dual processors - or, more importantly, support for dual-core apps on single-core devices (which they wouldn't work with otherwise on 2.3). I think it shows that there is Android support of dual core apps at the very least.

This could be Great for us waiting on the Bionic if it is true.