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Help Release Date?

I don't think you should let the difference between 8 and 5 megapixel cameras sway your decision. All it means is the Thunderbolt can take larger pictures. The quality of the pictures is more a matter of the lens and camera software. For example, the iPhone 4 with its 5 megapixel camera shoots better photos than almost all higher megapixel phone cameras. I do not have any experience with HTC or LG cameras though.

However, if both the LG Revolution and HTC Thunderbolt are released around the same time, without taking each of them for a spin, I'd lean towards the Revolution just based on that I read its interface is pretty close to being stock Android. That would be a major bonus so I can customize it to my liking rather than being locked into HTC Sense (though I've heard Sense is pretty good).
 
Left Coast DJ said:
I don't think you should let the difference between 8 and 5 megapixel cameras sway your decision. All it means is the Thunderbolt can take larger pictures. The quality of the pictures is more a matter of the lens and camera software. For example, the iPhone 4 with its 5 megapixel camera shoots better photos than almost all higher megapixel phone cameras. I do not have any experience with HTC or LG cameras though.

However, if both the LG Revolution and HTC Thunderbolt are released around the same time, without taking each of them for a spin, I'd lean towards the Revolution just based on that I read its interface is pretty close to being stock Android. That would be a major bonus so I can customize it to my liking rather than being locked into HTC Sense (though I've heard Sense is pretty good).
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Fair point on the camera. However, you can easily make an HTC device stock with root if you want to go down that road.
 
jfoey22 said:
Fair point on the camera. However, you can easily make an HTC device stock with root if you want to go down that road.
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Eventually, yes, but I still think it will be more speedy to update the Revolution without Sense on top of it. Sense + Android update packages will be taking priority at HTC, and thus will be what is leaking to the public down the dev chain. The LG, if rumors hold and it stays blur/TW/Sense free, it will just be one less puddle to wade through in that chain.

And the camera point is true. I would put the 5MP camera against the 8MP on the Inc and the 8MP on the Droid X any day. OH WAIT! I DID! :D And the photo and video quality is better Fascinate. Megapixel is more of a minor consideration nowadays than it was in the past. You'd think the DX with it's extra bulk to put in that mechanical shutter would do better, and although it does well, it still can't match the Fascinate in any lighting conditions I personally tested.

The Thunderbolt's main advantage is that it is an HTC, and they tend to throw stuff out and let the devs do what they need to make it whatever they want. HTC has really let the public take the reigns on their devices after purchasing. I hope LG follows suite.

I'm hoping the Revolution camera is as good as the 5MP on my Fascinate. If it's at least pretty close, I'll finally have my powerful smartphone with HDMI output and mirroring. If it's a LOT worse than the Fascinate, or there's something else we find wrong with it, then I may skip this year all together and just cancel my line when the contract is up, rather than upgrading.

And Verizon has BENT OVER BACKWARDS to sell as many iPhones as possible. Smartphone $200 trade in credits towards the iPhone??? A hard release date announcement? There is NO OTHER MANUFACTURER I've ever seen make Verizon bend over and take it quite this badly ... While technical issues likely played a part, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if less than expected iPhone sales are motivating the delay as well.

I miss the "everything iDon't Droid DOES" days.
 
LG is pretty good when it comes to phone camera if not the best. The Revolution camera might not beat Fascinate but should be better than most HTC phones at least. For me, the camera is not on high priority in choosing smartphone. No matter how good they are, they still can't match even my Panasonic P&S cameras, not even close. The camera sensor in phone is too small to make any decent images with such high pixel density over 5MP.

If Revolution disappoints me for whatever reason, I will look to SGS2 probably coming around late summer~early fall or any LG dual core phone like 2X, 3D if they ever get it to VZW this year. Some folks are claiming even Samsung Stealth is dual core phone, but I didn't see any sources confirming it yet.
 
jinwons said:
LG is pretty good when it comes to phone camera if not the best. The Revolution camera might not beat Fascinate but should be better than most HTC phones at least. For me, the camera is not on high priority in choosing smartphone. No matter how good they are, they still can't match even my Panasonic P&S cameras, not even close. The camera sensor in phone is too small to make any decent images with such high pixel density over 5MP.

If Revolution disappoints me for whatever reason, I will look to SGS2 probably coming around late summer~early fall or any LG dual core phone like 2X, 3D if they ever get it to VZW this year. Some folks are claiming even Samsung Stealth is dual core phone, but I didn't see any sources confirming it yet.
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The only thing I don't like about the SGS2 is that it's still the standard res. If you're going with 4.3, LCD is just sharper. I had the Droid X and the Fascinate side by side, and even being 4" instead of 4.3" the Droid X still edges out the Fascinate on sharpness, especially text sharpness. A 4.3" SuperAMOLED will be improved, because it will have super amoled plus, but I doubt still that it will have as sharp text as the SuperLCD.

And the SGS2 won't have HDMI output.
 
We will soon know if super amoled plus lives up to what they claimed on improved clarity when Samsung stealth comes. Also according to SGS2 forum here, it has HDMI out through micro USB slot but we don't know yet mirroring will be there or not.

I doubt Revolution will be disappointing phone in any way. But I'm concerned on VZW's data plan for LTE phones. Hope they allow getting LTE phones without 4G plan and let us use it in 3G mode. If the latest reports are to be believed, Tbolt should launch this week along with their LTE data plan policy. According to this test, VZW's LTE speed looks better than others and t-mobile is next best. I might switch to T-mobile if VZW really upsets me with their new policies on 4G data, upgrade.

4G speed test results are in, Verizon's LTE is fastest, but T-Mobile holds the fort in smartphone speeds - Phone Arena
 
I have a $30 unlimited 3G data plan with VZW right now. Hopefully they'll grandfather me in to unlimited 4G for the same price. If not, I'd be a little bummed.
 
Left Coast DJ said:
I have a $30 unlimited 3G data plan with VZW right now. Hopefully they'll grandfather me in to unlimited 4G for the same price. If not, I'd be a little bummed.
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Yeah. If my data is going to be more than $30 per month, I'll just keep my fascinate. Possibly FOREVER. :p Lol. I hope going to 4G is optional. That's another beef I will have if they force it on people that can't even get it, but early indications and rumors, if they are to be believed, indicate that 4G will require the "optional" sim card. We'll see. As soon as the TB actually materializes, we'll see.

After hearing the rumors that part of the TB delay is because of battery issues, I find myself scratching my head and wondering how they did not expect this when they put in much stronger hardware with a much weaker battery... Why??? :confused:

Please come to my rescue, LG Revolution!! Well, not rescue really, as I like my Fascinate. I really just want HDMI out.
 
SirKronan said:
After hearing the rumors that part of the TB delay is because of battery issues, I find myself scratching my head and wondering how they did not expect this when they put in much stronger hardware with a much weaker battery... Why??? :confused:

Please come to my rescue, LG Revolution!! Well, not rescue really, as I like my Fascinate. I really just want HDMI out.
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Seems like HTC way of doing business. Make it look pretty, but not be so great functionally.

Having a smaller battery makes the phone look smaller. Who cares that its very short battery life. They did the same thing with the Incredible.

I'd be willing to give the Revolution a try. Any rumored dates?
 
Hopefully now that the thunderbolt has landed and captured the first lte handset the rest can follow. I would love to pass on the thunderbolt but with it having unlimited lte I might have to grab it before that plan goes bye bye.
 
jfoey22 said:
Hopefully now that the thunderbolt has landed and captured the first lte handset the rest can follow. I would love to pass on the thunderbolt but with it having unlimited lte I might have to grab it before that plan goes bye bye.
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Well, I for one will be pushing it until the last minute. I just hope if they drop the unlimited plans they let us know a few days ahead of time.

Unlimited 4G or HDMI out??? I really hope it doesn't come to that ... patience and I are good friends, but getting stuck between a rock and a hard place like that and I are NOT good friends. We are bitter foes.

If they did 2GB for $20 and 5GB for $30 I would totally do the 3GB though. I hate the way VZ tiers their data. The 150MB for $15 was bad enough, but $10 for 70MB??? I had to fight like a mad cat to keep my wife's line on the $15 plan. They wanted to cut us to the $10 plan. Unlimited is the only way they make up for it. If they get rid of unlimited entirely I hope their tiered plans are at least reasonable. They are nonsensical right now.
 
dm33 said:
Seems like HTC way of doing business. Make it look pretty, but not be so great functionally.

Having a smaller battery makes the phone look smaller. Who cares that its very short battery life. They did the same thing with the Incredible.

I'd be willing to give the Revolution a try. Any rumored dates?
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I have the same exact feeling on the HTC. They are good at making phone look slick and attractive with external body and Sense UI, but fails to deliver the basic functionalities like good battery, camera, screen.
Another thing that's holding them back in hardware is their tie to Qualcomm processors. It was OK until mid last year, but now there are better options from TI, Nvidia. LG is smarter in this as they are using whatever best processors available from Nvidia, TI, Qualcomm this year.
 
jinwons said:
I have the same exact feeling on the HTC. They are good at making phone look slick and attractive with external body and Sense UI, but fails to deliver the basic functionalities like good battery, camera, screen.
Another thing that's holding them back in hardware is their tie to Qualcomm processors. It was OK until mid last year, but now there are better options from TI, Nvidia. LG is smarter in this as they are using whatever best processors available from Nvidia, TI, Qualcomm this year.
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Except for the phone in this thread, the Revolution. It will have the same CPU and possibly even the same GPU as the Thunderbolt. It will also have a remarkably similar SLCD screen with the same resolution, and it looks to have similar physical dimensions as well. The things it has going for it over the HTC, which are actually significant (at least for myself) are the HDMI out and the mostly stock-looking Android out of the box. I'm hoping for good battery life, too. LG usually delivers on battery life better historically than HTC, though, so our chances of that being better than the TB are good too.
 
I agree that Revolution is similar to Tbolt CPU/GPU wise. But I bet that its camera, screen is tad better if not whole lot. Their screen is IPS/LCD which is the same type as used in iPhone4 but with lower resolution than retina. Now that Tbolt is launched I hope the rest of LTE phones will follow soon. It's good that VZW doesn't seem to charge extra for 4G phone on top of unlimited 3G.
 
I had a look at Tbolt yesterday at bestbuy. Typical HTC design, build quality. A little thick and heavy, but not too bad. But it looks like there is no easy toggle switch for 4G LTE radio and some other reports are saying this too. So 4G radio is always on. I guess it goes into 3G mode if it gets out of LTE area. Wow, this is big mistake, overlook for HTC's part. It's already reported that Tbolt is suffering horrible battery life as expected, probably worse than EVO. Even worse is that unlike Evo it can't turn off 4G radio easily to save juice.

I hope LG doesn't do this mistake on Revolution. There should be toggle switch for LTE radio. If all the LTE phones are like this, I wouldn't consider them until LTE coverage becomes like 3G.
 
jinwons said:
I had a look at Tbolt yesterday at bestbuy. Typical HTC design, build quality. A little thick and heavy, but not too bad. But it looks like there is no easy toggle switch for 4G LTE radio and some other reports are saying this too. So 4G radio is always on. I guess it goes into 3G mode if it gets out of LTE area. Wow, this is big mistake, overlook for HTC's part. It's already reported that Tbolt is suffering horrible battery life as expected, probably worse than EVO. Even worse is that unlike Evo it can't turn off 4G radio easily to save juice.

I hope LG doesn't do this mistake on Revolution. There should be toggle switch for LTE radio. If all the LTE phones are like this, I wouldn't consider them until LTE coverage becomes like 3G.
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What if you simply run it without the 4G sim card?

On a side note, I played with an Atrix yesterday.

I want THAT phone on Verizon. Bootloader be damned. The thing is amazing. Perfect form factor. Razor sharp screen. Fingerprint unlock. Sensational battery life. Fast.

Wow. AT&T still sucks. But wow, Motorola.
 
Motorola definitely handles antennas, power management better than others. I am willing to live with locked bootloader if Motorola drops Motoblur UI or minimize their UI at least like LG. It seems to modify the look of android UI too much. Bionic seems to have somewhat smaller Motoblur unlike Atrix. So I take close look at Bionic as well as the DX2 following it closely. So my considerations for next phone are Revolution, Bionic, DX2, SGS2. I also hope LG gives some variation of their dual core 2X, 3D to VZW.
 
jinwons said:
Motorola definitely handles antennas, power management better than others. I am willing to live with locked bootloader if Motorola drops Motoblur UI or minimize their UI at least like LG. It seems to modify the look of android UI too much. Bionic seems to have somewhat smaller Motoblur unlike Atrix. So I take close look at Bionic as well as the DX2 following it closely. So my considerations for next phone are Revolution, Bionic, DX2, SGS2. I also hope LG gives some variation of their dual core 2X, 3D to VZW.
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Dual core is actually less important than other factors for me, the more I look into things and test out phones, read reviews, etc. My single core Fascinate, optimized properly, and debloated, is fast fast fast and stable stable stable. It has a fantastic screen, good call quality, internet performance, and battery life.

I only want what it doesn't have that I know I would use often:

HDMI Out
Fingerprint scanner (not gonna get this. stupid AT&T...)
Working headphone jack/bluetooth functionality

Dual core would be nice. The other features are things I really really want, though, and would get a substantial benefit from on a regular basis. 4G is fluff. Dual core is cool and neato, but not essential. Any of the modern dedicated phone GPUs are quite impressive, and games run fine for me. HD video playback is liquid smooth on my Fascinate, so anything faster than it or at least as fast will be fine for smooth video in the future.

I know some people will place priority on dual core, but right now, for phones with Android 2.2 and 2.3, dual core is merely a spec to tout in a paper pissing match. You can quote me on that. :D

We'll see if software catches up, and some apps are bound to soon, but the vast majority still has room to further optimize for the single core devices we still use.
 
SirKronan said:
Dual core is actually less important than other factors for me, the more I look into things and test out phones, read reviews, etc. My single core Fascinate, optimized properly, and debloated, is fast fast fast and stable stable stable. It has a fantastic screen, good call quality, internet performance, and battery life.

I only want what it doesn't have that I know I would use often:

HDMI Out
Fingerprint scanner (not gonna get this. stupid AT&T...)
Working headphone jack/bluetooth functionality

Dual core would be nice. The other features are things I really really want, though, and would get a substantial benefit from on a regular basis. 4G is fluff. Dual core is cool and neato, but not essential. Any of the modern dedicated phone GPUs are quite impressive, and games run fine for me.
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+1. Only time when i might get dual core phone is when android 2.4 comes out. Then ill b looking for a phone w/ : 4g,dual core, Gingerbread 2.4, and fully stock androidm. No sense blur tw, just stock. Anyways 2.4 is actually optimized for dual core unlike 2.3 and under
 
I'm fine with single core phone for now, but dual core phones would be kind of more future proof. I think 2.4 would come out later this year probably Fall, so dual core phones will have more life span with me.

Anyway, looks like Bionic, Revolution, Stealth are all coming in Q2. So I will wait and take close look at them. I wish they come with better battery life than Tbolt and also with 4G radio switch.
 
As I mentioned this on Samsung Droid Charge forum, dual core phones with 2.2~2.3 are also capable of utilizing two cores if apps are written for dual core. The new benchmarks designed to work on dual core show that Optimus 2X, Atrix beat single core snapdragon phones by nearly twice the scores despite the fact that they are all running 2.2. So don't mistake that those phones are using only one core just because it's on 2.2. What 2.4 will bring up is the support for single core phones to run apps designed to run on 3.0 honeycomb dual core devices along with some minor UI improvements.

BTW, I wonder why news on Revolution is like drought these days? This is the phone that VZW used to demonstrate VoLTE at MWC, CTIA.
 
jinwons said:
As I mentioned this on Samsung Droid Charge forum, dual core phones with 2.2~2.3 are also capable of utilizing two cores if apps are written for dual core. The new benchmarks designed to work on dual core show that Optimus 2X, Atrix beat single core snapdragon phones by nearly twice the scores despite the fact that they are all running 2.2. So don't mistake that those phones are using only one core just because it's on 2.2. What 2.4 will bring up is the support for single core phones to run apps designed to run on 3.0 honeycomb dual core devices along with some minor UI improvements.

BTW, I wonder why news on Revolution is like drought these days? This is the phone that VZW used to demonstrate VoLTE at MWC, CTIA.
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The latest article I could find:

LG Revolution impressions: it’s fast, but 4G LTE has drawbacks

Doesn't really say anything we don't already know though, other than LG also has skinned their own interface on top of it, a la TW, Blur, Sense. Seems like they've made it more fancy than Blur or TW, but I was hoping for Android. Is it really too much to ask, Verizon? An android phone with JUST android on it?

I work with some difficult clients sometimes, and this job will occasionally put me at my wits end, but lately not a single aspect of my job or difficult appointment has made me want to cuss as Verizon is lately with the phones they are offering. LG Revolution, I was so hoping YOU would be "the one" and now it looks as if you're doing your best to NOT be.

I wonder how LTE phones do in strictly non-LTE areas ... Time to do some more searching on the TB.

Battery life improvements for TB by disabling 4G, whether in a 4G zone or not:

http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-thunderbolt/70282-how-turn-off-lte.html

Found multiple testimonials, and many are saying Verizon shall release an update with a toggle, soon. I expect a spry dev to release a widget app as well, eventually. For now, the commands on that OP work. I will assume similar commands, or perhaps VZ's official toggle will be available on the Revolution by the time it is released. Maybe then battery life won't be so bad?
 
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