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First Impressions of Thunderbolt and Android Altoghether

vrracr

Lurker
I picked up my TB from Best Buy as soon as they opened this morning. I'm switching over to Android from BB (over 8 years of loyalty across many different phones...most recently, the Storm 2). This was a big decision for me.

I read a lot about how Androids are great, but they lack in basic functionalities that business users are used to and require. Although I contemplated canceling my order (especially because of the delays), I decided to just stop reading any more and just jump into it.

To activate, it took a 5 minute phone call to Vzw. The first issue that scared me is the 1,000 contact limit. That's ridiculous for any phone to have in this day and age. I have well over this amount. I read that there are 3rd party apps that can accommodate this, but none mentioned that they work with MS Exchange Server. I happened to read somewhere that with Exchange or an SD card, the phone can accommodate more contacts. I decided to try and it worked just fine and sync'd my contacts with outlook in about 10 minutes. Same for calendar and email.

The fact that the included email app can't sync Outlook notes and tasks boggles my mind. The OS has been out for years now so I see no excuse for this. Their geniuses need to figure it out.

I also don't like how you can't combine all of your email addresses (exchange, pop, gmail, etc.) into one combined folder. My exchange and pop accounts are in 1 and gmail and gmail hosted are in another.

The battery life is beyond pitiful. Granted, today i had to sync/load a lot of new things, but these phones, with all their capabilities, need to really last longer in order to get any kind of reasonable use out of them. 4 hours from a full charge to warning zone is unacceptable. I don't mind charging the phone here and there, but at the rate it drains the battery, it's better to just stay on a charger at all times.

The first app i downloaded was a task killer. It shocks me how you can't close any darn application while trying exit it. it just stays running and takes up unnecessary memory and battery life. i constantly keep opening this app to kill stuff.

The good stuff:

The OS is brilliant. very intuitive and notifications are a cinch to view with the pull down menu from atop the home screen.

The processor is fast. It doesn't lag at all, anywhere, even after i loaded all my data, email, apps running, etc. My co-worker has a Droid Pro and we both opened Google maps on it, zoomed all the way in (to see the 3d buildings) and the TB won in every way...it renders everything almost instantly. whereas on his DP, it takes 3-5 seconds each time you move.

Internet is blazing. Speed test results all day have been 7Mbps to 19Mbps. It's faster than our connection at the office and home.

So all in all, i'm going to keep it at least until the next 4g Android with world roaming capabilities comes out. Cheers!
 
I am feeling very overwhelmed. This is my first Android phone and I am so lost, but I know I will get better with time. I am so excited to have gotten this phone, so I am willing to put in the time to figure out how everything works..
 
I'd toss the task killer since I think HTC phones and Android 2.2 are pretty good about managing background apps.

What helps my battery is to have some toggle switches like the HTC widgets or Android PowerControl widget so that I can keep GPS, Bluetooth and Wifi turned off when not using them. GPS sucks down the battery, Wifi will too if you're on the border of a wifi area or constantly searching for a signal. I don't use Bluetooth much but assume it would also drain the battery if left running needlessly.
 
I am feeling very overwhelmed. This is my first Android phone and I am so lost, but I know I will get better with time. I am so excited to have gotten this phone, so I am willing to put in the time to figure out how everything works..

I remember getting the G1 and thinking the same thing...good times...
 
I'd toss the task killer since I think HTC phones and Android 2.2 are pretty good about managing background apps.

What helps my battery is to have some toggle switches like the HTC widgets or Android PowerControl widget so that I can keep GPS, Bluetooth and Wifi turned off when not using them. GPS sucks down the battery, Wifi will too if you're on the border of a wifi area or constantly searching for a signal. I don't use Bluetooth much but assume it would also drain the battery if left running needlessly.

Just remember the GPS is not used if your not running an app that asks for it. You can leave it on all the time if you want and it won't be used until you run an app that requires satellite location services. Of course if your running apps that constantly require a gps lock then disregard the above.

As far as bluetooth and WIFI you are correct. But at the same time, WIFI consumes much less battery than 3G/4G so if your somewhere where you have access to WIFI use it when you can....that is if your trying to conserve battery life. Although the 4G speeds are being reported as faster than most residential high speed connections so maybe you want the ultra high 4G speeds.
 
Just remember the GPS is not used if your not running an app that asks for it. You can leave it on all the time if you want and it won't be used until you run an app that requires satellite location services. Of course if your running apps that constantly require a gps lock then disregard the above.

As far as bluetooth and WIFI you are correct. But at the same time, WIFI consumes much less battery than 3G/4G so if your somewhere where you have access to WIFI use it when you can....that is if your trying to conserve battery life. Although the 4G speeds are being reported as faster than most residential high speed connections so maybe you want the ultra high 4G speeds.


jbdan, do you also like watches?

To the original post - Do you enjoy all the things that Android can do over the BB...like actually surf the internet? LOL. BB web browser is a joke, as are the apps. The device is a phone and an e-mail machine - nothing else. Android is much more, so is Apple's iOS. No contest. How about the camera? Enjoy HD video recording? Games? How about sending a picture via text message without having to push 11 different buttons? A screen big enough to actually see something?

A Windows phone may be to way to go for you. It sounds like you just want something that tells you when to do your next task for work. If you are that tied to your job, you might just want to have a computer on and around you at all times. Ain't no shame in that game, but lots of other people manage just fine without Microsoft Office in their pocket. Calendars, reminders, e-mail - all that works great with all smart phones.
 
Coming from Blackberries and an iphone the last couple of years it was a shock when I tried out in Evo back in October. Thankfully though, I didn't cancel my ATT acct then and it turned out that the phone was great but Sprint coverage around here sucked.

So i returned it and waited (painfully) for the Tbolt to finally be released. Now it's like I'm going through the same learning process again. Though it's much more familiar this time. ;)

The largest difference b/t Android and iOS is the sheer amount of customization available. Though it does come with a number of default themes to help get you started with your own.
 
I was a long time blackberry user till i picked up the Droid Eris on launch in November 2009. The biggest shock to me was the battery life like noted above. I used to get 3-4 days off a single charge on the blackberry with constant use and the Eris would get me 12-20 hours.

But i grew accustom to it and the pros of Android far outweigh the cons. Now i get about 30 hours out of my Custom Rom'd Droid X and love it! I would never go back to blackberry.
 
I was a BB user before switching to Android. Not being able to combine message got me at first, too, but now I'm used to it.

As for the battery, the first day is always rough. ;) I had the Incredible, and many people will say it was awful on battery life. I didn't really have an issue as long as I stayed on my overnight charging schedule. I also took off the haptic feedback and auto brightness, and set my screen to time out at around 30 seconds. Little things like that do help.

I am absolutely loving my T-Bolt....except for the speaker volume. I think they could've done way better.
 
Well, if YOU didn't figure it everything out about Android in 24 hours, it MUST suck.


1)ditch the task killer
2)k9 mail
3)I'm pretty sure your google account has no limit on contacts, save your contacts to google, not the phone(could be wrong here, the only thing I could ever imagine having 1000 phone numbers in it is a phone book)
 
Welcome to android. I'm sure you will love it.

Ditch the task killer and you're good to go...

I agree with everyone who says kill the task killer. I used one on my OG Droid for about two days before I realized it was a complete waste. The OS is made to do this for us. I think it was the BB owner coming out in me. :o
 
I have enjoyed my Incredible coming from the BB Tour. I had to get the extra large battery to get throught the day. The main thing that bothers me about android that the BB was clearly better at was serching for contacts within contacts or within the email application. I could type the persons company name into the to line while composing an email and it would pull up the correct contact name. Oddly the incredble has a very hard time finding the contacts. BB was even better than outlook. The work around for android is to use the phone search and try to find the contact but that does not always work and is quite annoying. If anyone has found a way to correct this, please let me know.
 
Okay gang...let's just remember that everyone comes from different devices and platforms. There are bound to be features or shortcuts that a user will find to be better on a previous device.

Just make sure to keep it civil. ;)

OT...I'd say that task killers are not needed to automatically kill tasks, but if you ask me...Task killers do have their place in Android. Android tries really hard to effectively manage your running processes/applications. Does it always work perfectly? No. Are there unnecessary tasks taking up resources that Android won't end? Yes. I selectively use task killers to kill unresponsive apps, free up memory, etc. They are not as bad as ppl make them out to be...just don't use them to automatically end processes every 'X' minutes...or use them to automatically keep 'X' MB or RAM free.

But keep in mind that while multitasking is awesome...it comes at a bit of a cost in terms of battery life. That's just a trade off that most people learn to live with for the other benefits you get.

Edit: If you are constantly killing apps...you will see short term gains and long term losses. If it takes you 1 minute to turn on your screen and complete a task vs. 30 seconds (because you left the task in memory), you will need your screen on longer and spend more time waiting for programs to load again. This could cost you battery life and time.
 
AustinTech: yes, i do like the browser, camera, vivid resolution, etc. However, I'm a business user so those are lower on my priority list. For us, first and foremost, this is a phone and therefore, contacts are vital. Next comes full blown email functionality. Then comes calendar, tasks and notes. After all this, you have your browser, social media, etc.

I find it funny that you said "if you are tied to your job." Are you implying that most android users don't work or make work a priority in life? lol.

And i do have a computer around me at all times.


jbdan, do you also like watches?

To the original post - Do you enjoy all the things that Android can do over the BB...like actually surf the internet? LOL. BB web browser is a joke, as are the apps. The device is a phone and an e-mail machine - nothing else. Android is much more, so is Apple's iOS. No contest. How about the camera? Enjoy HD video recording? Games? How about sending a picture via text message without having to push 11 different buttons? A screen big enough to actually see something?

A Windows phone may be to way to go for you. It sounds like you just want something that tells you when to do your next task for work. If you are that tied to your job, you might just want to have a computer on and around you at all times. Ain't no shame in that game, but lots of other people manage just fine without Microsoft Office in their pocket. Calendars, reminders, e-mail - all that works great with all smart phones.
 
AustinTech: yes, i do like the browser, camera, vivid resolution, etc. However, I'm a business user so those are lower on my priority list. For us, first and foremost, this is a phone and therefore, contacts are vital. Next comes full blown email functionality. Then comes calendar, tasks and notes. After all this, you have your browser, social media, etc.

I find it funny that you said "if you are tied to your job." Are you implying that most android users don't work or make work a priority in life? lol.

And i do have a computer around me at all times.


I had an android late last year but due to hardware issues with the phone I gave it up. I recently went to BB myself and am enjoying it.(NOT that I didnt like Android, I did and still do) As Austin says,(but not as bad as he says.:D) the browser on the Androids are quicker but I have found the BB dooable and I have Metro PCS right now. Yes apps on android are more plentiful but some people want tons of apps some dont. BB does have less apps but most of what they have are very useful and not full of fluff.

I really wanted the TB myself but was tired of all the rumors and games that Verizon played so I just went for a temp. BB.(which I surprisingly love so far) May still get a TB after I see what the BB Bold touch has to offer in a few months. For me BB has been a different experience than Android. While both do much of the same stuff(regardless of what people say)they just do it a little differently.
 
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