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List your biggest complaints about Thunderbolt

I was hoping to see some legitimate discussion about the faults of the phone (there are many) but it looks like the users of this phone are too immature.

The OP had a legit question and apparently TB users are too soft/sensitive to offer constructive criticism so they turn to sarcasm and calling people whiny babies for calling out a phones faults?

Get over it. Your phone has faults; horrendous battery life and dropped data connections are 2 major ones.
 
This phone is amazing. So what if you have to charge the battery every now and then. It's basically a computer. You have to charge your computer battery every few hours.. what's the difference? If you have a charger wherever you're at during the day (home / work / car), it's really no big deal! I don't see why everyone is complaining about it.. All of the pro's outweigh the ONE con on this phone, and I don't even see it as a con.. It does EVERYTHING I want it to do, and even does some things I didn't realize it COULD do..:)
 
Glad it's working out for you!

Remember - this is a consumer device, everybuddy's mileage may vary, so it's ok to complain about issues.

Which reminds me - attack issues and not each other, gang. ;)
 
I don't know if it's been posted before, maybe it's just my apps not developed for the t-bolt. But the audio-time drivers seem to be a little off. I use PowerAMP and BeyondPod, and they both have trouble calculating, and maintaining the correct amount of playback. If I pause them, they pick up at the correctly "timed" placement, but it'll end up sending me 6 minutes back in the podcast, and a few seconds back in the songs. Maybe it's just those apps, or just my phone. idk.

I was listening to a song, that the phone claimed was only 3 minutes and 50 seconds. The song ended when the timer counted to 4 minutes and 02 seconds.
 
The worst part about this phone for me has been the lack of dedicated hard buttons, specifically the lack of a camera button.

Sure, it's a great camera...if you can hit the on-screen button.

The other day I saw a woman on a pink bicycle wearing pink boots and a pink helmet. I didn't get the picture because:

  1. I had to wake up the phone with the power button, slide it down, close out whatever I was using when the phone went to sleep, and then I had to navigate to the camera app.
  2. I had to pay attention to the menu part of the screen and not hit the menu or back buttons.
  3. I had to hold the phone in such a way that I didn't touch any other parts of the screen or the focus would be adjusted.
  4. I had to hover over and then hit the fake button that takes the picture, which took my eyes off the girl on the bike.

Not to mention how hard it is to take a picture of you and someone else, while you hold it!

Who cares if taking the picture with the fake button is fast? Sure, it's faster after you take 10 seconds to make sure you hover over and hit the button. There's no reason why a hard button couldn't be just as fast!

I understand there will be some adjustments with every phone, but the fact that hard buttons are dropping off left and right is really pissing me off.

To go further, every soft button should be a hard button (Home, Menu, Back, Search). I don't care if it looks cooler. The point being is that I should be able to touch the button without activating it or without having to look at it.

I shouldn't have to look at the soft buttons to use them. I should be able to keep my eyes on the screen and feel with my fingers. That's more efficient. UI and hardware designers know this, so I'm wondering where this soft button movement is coming from.

Take a stand HTC! Just because Apple doesn't give you a lot of hard buttons doesn't mean they aren't practical. Give people who don't like hard buttons the option to turn them off! This would be much better than the current solution, which tries to resolve a hardware solution as a software solution.

Perhaps this is more of a complaint about touch phones. This minimalist approach to hard buttons is a failure to smart and efficient design and example of why you shouldn't do something just because you can.

...

It would also be nice to have some sort of panorama feature like the Galaxy S phones do. If this exists or if there is an app then please someone say something.
 
kraftydevil said:
The worst part about this phone for me has been the lack of dedicated hard buttons, specifically the lack of a camera button.

Sure, it's a great camera...if you can hit the on-screen button.

The other day I saw a woman on a pink bicycle wearing pink boots and a pink helmet. I didn't get the picture because:

  1. I had to wake up the phone with the power button, slide it down, close out whatever I was using when the phone went to sleep, and then I had to navigate to the camera app.
  2. I had to pay attention to the menu part of the screen and not hit the menu or back buttons.
  3. I had to hold the phone in such a way that I didn't touch any other parts of the screen or the focus would be adjusted.
  4. I had to hover over and then hit the fake button that takes the picture, which took my eyes off the girl on the bike.

Not to mention how hard it is to take a picture of you and someone else, while you hold it!

Who cares if taking the picture with the fake button is fast? Sure, it's faster after you take 10 seconds to make sure you hover over and hit the button. There's no reason why a hard button couldn't be just as fast!

I understand there will be some adjustments with every phone, but the fact that hard buttons are dropping off left and right is really pissing me off.

To go further, every soft button should be a hard button (Home, Menu, Back, Search). I don't care if it looks cooler. The point being is that I should be able to touch the button without activating it or without having to look at it.

I shouldn't have to look at the soft buttons to use them. I should be able to keep my eyes on the screen and feel with my fingers. That's more efficient. UI and hardware designers know this, so I'm wondering where this soft button movement is coming from.

Take a stand HTC! Just because Apple doesn't give you a lot of hard buttons doesn't mean they aren't practical. Give people who don't like hard buttons the option to turn them off! This would be much better than the current solution, which tries to resolve a hardware solution as a software solution.

Perhaps this is more of a complaint about touch phones. This minimalist approach to hard buttons is a failure to smart and efficient design and example of why you shouldn't do something just because you can.

...

It would also be nice to have some sort of panorama feature like the Galaxy S phones do. If this exists or if there is an app then please someone say something.
Click to expand...

i originally posted some useful advice for you but the post was deleted because i used the word "weird" to describe the fact that you were having issues with is particular situation.
 
It won't allow me to access my work VPN!

Before I invested monies in the Thunderbolt, I had something that was archaic yet functional - a jump drive connected to my work laptop, VZ Access and I could hit my VPN from my laptop, no problem.

I was under the impression that my new expensive phone would work the same way. I should be able to use my phone as a mobile hotspot, launch my laptop VPN and call it a day. Nope.

I've been on hold/on the phone with Verizon and HTC and no one can seem to give me a straight answer. My significant other has the Sprint EVO. I have no problems accessing my VPN from his mobile hotspot.

I don't want to config my phone to access my VPN, cuz my company won't privvy me the connection info. They'd rather me be tethered to my laptop and work at home instead of being able to work anywhere I want. Dangit.
 
Build quality is the biggest problem with the phone for me. The entire thing is plastic, not just the battery cover. Even the silver ring around the phone is. That part is aluminum on the Inspire and other new HTC phones, but plastic on the Thunderbolt. The power button seems to be slowly getting lower and lower and it also gets stuck pressed down sometimes. The phone squeaks and has give in the battery cover when you hold it or press on it lightly just like the Incredible had. I miss my metal Moto phone.
 
kraftydevil said:
The worst part about this phone for me has been the lack of dedicated hard buttons, specifically the lack of a camera button.
Click to expand...

I was just talking about the opposite last night to a friend. I would rather the bottom four buttons actually be on the screen, and turn off with the screen...make it look cleaner.

I do see exactly what you're saying with the camera button, I figured that out the other day when I tried to take a picture with the flash (rear cam) and couldn't figure out if I was hitting it or not. I do wish there was a physical side button for that...

Otherwise no other complaints for me as of now...well except the reddit app force closes ALL THE TIME!
 
Lunacy said:
Which one? I've never had a problem with rif.
Click to expand...

yea, reddit is fun...even in the reviews for the app there are a lot of TB people complaining it always force closes when going to comments...

but yours works fine? not fair
 
CaptainObvious said:
Every camera button on every phone i've ever used was used for one purpose: making sure i shake the phone while pressing just enough to take a semi-blurry picture
Click to expand...

^^^THIS!!! I personaly HATE camera buttons...


Not to mention how hard it is to take a picture of you and someone else, while you hold it!
Click to expand...

Ummm, if you are going to be taking a picture of you and someone else, why aren't you using the front facing camera? That is a ton easier then having to do it the "old" way of holding the phone with the screen facing away from you so you can't see how the picture is going to turn out.
 
My biggest problem is unreliable 4g at my house, signal strength is the same as it is at my work or college but it consistently drops out at my house, verizon hasn't done squat after multiple calls so I have given up. It confuses the crap out of me that as soon as I get within 100 meters of my house my 4g starts acting up.
 
mattbirk said:
I was just talking about the opposite last night to a friend. I would rather the bottom four buttons actually be on the screen, and turn off with the screen...make it look cleaner.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea to maximize screen size and makes sense to me if that's the goal. I feel like I have plenty of it though.

I know it sounds silly, but I want a phone where I don't have to look at to every piece of functionality that I want to use.

Kind of like how we have shortcut keys in Windows or Mac. Using shortcut keys is so much more efficient than using your mouse.

Why have a fast phone if you're limited to how fast your eyes and fingers can take you? I shouldn't have to look at certain things.

CaptainObvious said:
Every camera button on every phone i've ever used was used for one purpose: making sure i shake the phone while pressing just enough to take a semi-blurry picture
Click to expand...

That's a good point. But don't you wonder what makes a real camera any different? Maybe phones just need better camera buttons instead of removing them completely?

The thing is...if you could keep the on-screen button and add a hard button, then both of us can be happy.

Redundancy in design is a good thing because it caters to different people with different tastes.

...

The thing I like about Android in general is that they do not have the Apple mindset. Basically, Apple's philosophy is "we made it this way because most people will like it (and therefore buy it), so too bad if you don't like it". Android allows more customizations.

Which is why I think I might make a camera app that uses one of the volume buttons to snap pictures. I already know how to take pictures...so I just need to map the buttons differently in the app.

The other volume button could toggle the flash or something. Zooming in could still be handled on screen since it's not an action that needs to be done as quickly as snapping a picture. You already have to touch the screen to focus so you might as well not worry too much about having to use it to zoom.

If anyone has any ideas about how to make this work, I'd love to hear them.
 
i like the dedicated camera button just because it's a shortcut to the camera app no matter where you are or what you're doing on the phone and then just use the virtual shutter button. i think the idea of having the navigation keys on screen (like gingerbread i think you mean) is not for me. i like having the soft keys where they are and preferably actually printed on rather than only rely on the back light to make them visible. at night, if they back light for the navigation buttons turns off, i end up pressing the wrong one. i don't know. i like the tbolt with it's navigation buttons the exact way they are. but would still prefer a dedicated shutter key.

oh, and krafty devil! my suggestions were Button Shortcut and Wave launcher. the first of the two turns long pressing the search button into opening whatever app you want. Wave launcher does something similar. you simply drag up from the bottom of the screen no matter where you are in the os and it brings a line of apps that you set and just drag your finger over the desired app and let go. it opens it right away. it's definitely worth a dollar.
 
ska.t73 said:
Ummm, if you are going to be taking a picture of you and someone else, why aren't you using the front facing camera? That is a ton easier then having to do it the "old" way of holding the phone with the screen facing away from you so you can't see how the picture is going to turn out.
Click to expand...

ha! - thanks!

ok so I'll admit that I did forget there is a front camera.

1.3 MP though? I guess that might work for close-ups, but I'm not enthused about it.
 
Things I don't like.

1.) Battery Life. I have the extended battery on order.

2.) Can't plug in the charge cord when setting the phone on the kick stand.

3.) Doing a cold boot can result in HBOOT screen if you hold the power button down too long. It's easier to do with the phone plugged in because you can use the LED as an indicator and let go of the button.

4.) Video sound - worked at first but did not record sound the last time I used it.

I hope the Bionic has better battery life.
 
Whatstreet said:
Things I don't like.

1.) Battery Life. I have the extended battery on order.

2.) Can't plug in the charge cord when setting the phone on the kick stand.

3.) Doing a cold boot can result in HBOOT screen if you hold the power button down too long. It's easier to do with the phone plugged in because you can use the LED as an indicator and let go of the button.

4.) Video sound - worked at first but did not record sound the last time I used it.

I hope the Bionic has better battery life.
Click to expand...

i wish so much that the extended battery wasn't so protrusive.

the kickstand/charging issue is pretty lame especially considering that is the only time i would ever actually use the kickstand.

never had a problem turning the phone on.

and the video sound issue definitely sucks :/
 
When I had my Thunderbolt I noticed the build quality was not consistent. Kickstand are not aligned properly, recessed power buttons, horrible light leakage. The battery was a minor problem compared to that. My first one got some dust under the screen, second one had a blown out ear speaker, and the third one had the worst light leakage as well as a kickstand that was not in properly.
 
kraftydevil said:
ha! - thanks!

ok so I'll admit that I did forget there is a front camera.

1.3 MP though? I guess that might work for close-ups, but I'm not enthused about it.
Click to expand...

:P

Yea the front camera isn't ideal, but for quick pictures of you and someone else it works. I agree that 1.3 MP is pretty blah, but I have taken a couple pics with it and it doesn't look too bad... :)

(plus I suck bad at trying to take self pics with out looking at what I'm taking lol)
 
just a noob.. but my biggest quarrel is no HDMI, yeah i know it has DLNA, but my XBOX is brokeded, and my flat screen is not that new, and i don't have any other game console and no BLUray (i know lame)... any suggestions? Otherwise the phone is TITS...!
 
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