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droid bionic vs htc thunderbolt

Which phone to choose?

  • HTC thunderbolt

    Votes: 8 61.5%

  • Motorola Bionic

    Votes: 5 38.5%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .
B

bogiedogie

Newbie
I am a blackberry user and am getting tired of RIM and the way BB's work. I was going to get an iphone when I am eleigible in April, but I think I may have been talked into an android phone by a friend. There are two phones that are catching my eye, the droid bionic and the htc thunderbolt. Can anyone give me advice on how to select a new android phone? Is there one besides these two I should consider? any inside information on when these two phones might be available?

I look forward to your expert inputs. ;)

Thanks
 
Just to throw it out there iPhone 5 should be coming out. dont know when.

I was looking at the thunderbolt but my renewal isnt till next feb. So I know there will be better phones out by then. I say wait till release and see how people talks about them in real world use.
 
Well I was going to ask you how much you like to customize, but you really wouldn't know yet still being a BB user. I came from a BB Curve last summer and bought a Moto since the original Droid had such a successful following. But when I bought it I didn't know what a bootloader was, let alone what locking one meant. Now I know, and I must say with my desired level of customization I wouldn't have bought it if I knew then what I know now.

Not that I don't love my X, and the locked bootloader certainly doesn't make it worthless. But I would have been much better off with an unlocked bootloader. The real problem is that there isn't a device on the market that fits all of my criteria. I really like the durability of the Gorilla Glass screens Moto uses. But I like the customization level of HTC devices and their easily pickable bootloader locks (ok, basically the locked bootloader keeps devs from being able to replace the kernel. Which means when they have to work around it when creating custom ROMs.... I realize thats all Greek to you, but once you get into custom ROMs you'll figure it all out).

So my dream device has a 4.3 inch screen cut from Gorilla Glass, easily customizable (think Nexus), with the most advanced processors and graphics chip sets available.... with a gig of RAM to boot! :D

So I guess between those two I'd proly have to go Thunderbolt. Not that I want a 4g device yet, I'm not in an area that supports it.
 
Dark Jedi said:
Just to throw it out there iPhone 5 should be coming out. dont know when...
Click to expand...

No really though. Hey no matter how much I love my Android, if the i5 drops and TOYALLY kicks serious ass I won't hesitate to recommend it to new users either. I honestly don't feel the i4 is better than the current 'Cream of the Android Crop', but that could very well change come June. I for one would never write them off.

But what ever lead they open with, I wouldn't count on them keeping for very long either. Android is a gap eating machine!
 
Outlaw71 said:
Well I was going to ask you how much you like to customize, but you really wouldn't know yet still being a BB user. I came from a BB Curve last summer and bought a Moto since the original Droid had such a successful following. But when I bought it I didn't know what a bootloader was, let alone what locking one meant. Now I know, and I must say with my desired level of customization I wouldn't have bought it if I knew then what I know now.

Not that I don't love my X, and the locked bootloader certainly doesn't make it worthless. But I would have been much better off with an unlocked bootloader. The real problem is that there isn't a device on the market that fits all of my criteria. I really like the durability of the Gorilla Glass screens Moto uses. But I like the customization level of HTC devices and their easily pickable bootloader locks (ok, basically the locked bootloader keeps devs from being able to replace the kernel. Which means when they have to work around it when creating custom ROMs.... I realize thats all Greek to you, but once you get into custom ROMs you'll figure it all out).

So my dream device has a 4.3 inch screen cut from Gorilla Glass, easily customizable (think Nexus), with the most advanced processors and graphics chip sets available.... with a gig of RAM to boot! :D

So I guess between those two I'd proly have to go Thunderbolt. Not that I want a 4g device yet, I'm not in an area that supports it.
Click to expand...
you are correct - most of what you have said is Greek to me for now, though i have just starting reading about rooting and other customizations. i probably would be afraid of turning it into a brick so i likely wont mess with that stuff. just looking for opinions on basic stock functionality, ease of use, and durability. your notes on the gorilla screen of of great interest to me. this is exactly the kind of stuff i was looking for. thanks
 
bogiedogie said:
you are correct - most of what you have said is Greek to me for now, though i have just starting reading about rooting and other customizations. i probably would be afraid of turning it into a brick so i likely wont mess with that stuff. just looking for opinions on basic stock functionality, ease of use, and durability. your notes on the gorilla screen of of great interest to me. this is exactly the kind of stuff i was looking for. thanks
Click to expand...
I will go out on a limb and say its really hard to brick android phones. Just as long as you follow the directions and even if you so called brick it. There are people that can walk you through to get your phone back to working order.

I knew nothing about rooting and while on here I leard how to and glad I did. All I did was ask lots of questions and dont be afraid to ask questions you think are stupid as no one will chastise you. They will answer the question and it doesnt matter if they answered it for the 100th time.

THe key to rooting is follow the directions. Also ask lots of questions until you feel comfortable with dooing the deed.
 
bogiedogie said:
you are correct - most of what you have said is Greek to me for now, though i have just starting reading about rooting and other customizations. i probably would be afraid of turning it into a brick so i likely wont mess with that stuff. just looking for opinions on basic stock functionality, ease of use, and durability. your notes on the gorilla screen of of great interest to me. this is exactly the kind of stuff i was looking for. thanks
Click to expand...

Just so you know, I have not rooted my Droid X, and I am more than happy with the level of customization I can do. Even unrooted, it has more freedom than my jailbroken iPhone 3Gs did. So for me, the locked bootloader has been a non-issue, especially since I literally don't know what I'm missing, this is my first Android phone, so I've never experienced root before. Just something to keep in mind. Just because the bootloader is locked doesn't mean you can't customize the crap out of it!

Oh, and Motorola isn't the only only manufacturer using Gorilla Glass, I know HTC and Samsung use it, and probably other makers.
 
bogiedogie said:
...i probably would be afraid of turning it into a brick so i likely wont mess with that stuff...
Click to expand...

Ah you say that now, but no one can resist the power of the darkside!!! Muhu hahaha haha ha hahahaha haha ha!!!

Lol, no really though everyone is scared at first. I didn't root for the first 4 - 6 weeks. Then I waited another 4 months to ROM. It's daunting the first time because you have visions of turning your phone into a paper weight! But you'll get past your fears, most do. Even if custom ROMs aren't for everyone, a lot of people still try it out.

And just to clear one thing up for you, bricking........ is temporary. I bricked my DX, twice. The first time I was scared shitless, thought I'd really loused it up. But once you get the hang of SBFing, you'll realize that these things are bulletproof! You'd have to fry the processor in them to really make it worthless. And the only way to do that, that I'm aware of, is soaking it in water.

I'm not pushing you, it's good to take your time getting into that part of it. But the dangers are greatly exaggerated. I'd be willing to bet money that you couldn't monkey your device up beyond it's ability to reset back to stock with any amount of programming. SBF is basically like taking your computer, wiping the hard drive, and reprogramming it.

It's never fun the 1st time around. But my 2nd time was a breeze.
 
Hrethgir said:
Oh, and Motorola isn't the only only manufacturer using Gorilla Glass, I know HTC and Samsung use it, and probably other makers.
Click to expand...

Oh really? When did HTC start using Gorilla Glass? If the Thunderbolt has GG then I will definitely be behind that device. I just wasn't aware they were using it now.



Edit * I knew Samsung used GG with some of their devices. But their Galaxy phones look too similar to the iPhone4 IMO. But that's just me.
 
I'm going for the TBolt because...

-More RAM (768MB rather than 512MB) IMO, the Dual Core processor in the Bionic should have more RAM just to stay even with the TBolt. Dual Core itself eats up RAM just to keep the processor going.
-Like the HTC build quality better than Moto
-Like the HTC SenseUI better than Moto Blur
-Have always liked my current HTC's reception and sound quality (earpiece and RF)
-Even though both screens are 4.3", the HTC is slightly shorter and slighter wider. Not as tall in your shirt pocket.
-The TBolt should be released sooner (gimme a big HAHA! :) )

I might add... I personally am not concerned about battery life. Because, there isn't a phone made that can keep me from running the battery down :) So, I always have a couple of spares anyway. I just throw in another battery whenever necessary. Doesn't matter much to me if I throw it in an hour earlier :D

-Frank
 
Outlaw71 said:
Oh really? When did HTC start using Gorilla Glass? If the Thunderbolt has GG then I will definitely be behind that device. I just wasn't aware they were using it now.



Edit * I knew Samsung used GG with some of their devices. But their Galaxy phones look too similar to the iPhone4 IMO. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure at least the HTC Droid Incredible has Gorilla Glass.
 
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