Needed: Thunderbolt Testimonials

[eipee73]

All,

I'm not due for my upgrade until 12/28 and am thinking about scoring a TB w/ext battery from craigslist to hold me over until I'm ready to use my NE2. What I would like is some general feedback from everyday TB users. I hate reading "reviews" on VZW and PhoneArena because they're always either 10/10 or 1/10, no real reviews.

Anything you'd like to share would be appreciated!

 

[Roush]

It's a wonderful phone if you root, there are problems with it if you don't. If you're planning on rooting I'd get it. Just my personal opinion.

 

[eipee73]

I was so annoyed with waiting for root info for my Incredible when it came out that I just gave up and have ran it stock. I do plan on rooting the TB if I get one. I'm working on scoring one w/car charger and extended battery for $205 so I think I'm going to take advantage of the offer.

It will be my first root, so I must ask, is it challenging? I work in the IT field, but am primarily a Windows guy, not much Linux/Unix experience.

 

[Turdbogls]

battery life: i can get a solid 10 hours out of my battery....but i consider myself a heavy user. i use about 4.5GB of data per month. not much texting (maybe 5 texts a day) and maybe 15 minutes of calls a day. mostly playing some games and streaming pandora.

Screen: i love it. it is bright, crisp, colors are saturated, and viewing angles are pretty good.

software. been a while since i used stock Sense, but i do really like it. it is smooth, and has some very useful features.

camera: it is really nice. not much more to say. takes great pics for a camera phone.
front cam works like it should....not great by any means, but works OK for video chatting.

build quality, its not bad, but could be better. light leakage under the soft buttons, and my refurb (my brand new one was ok) has the screen poping up in the upper right corner. also the clear finish on the kickstand (which is awesome by the way) started peeling within a month (use it all the time though)

reception/call quality: one of the best i have used. i never need to turn it up all the way. it is plenty loud and clear, no problems on either end of a call. i live in Orlando, so i have a SOLID 4G connection all the time and i never get below -110dbm (about 1 bar)

hackability: fairly easily rooted, and custom ROM's up the Wazoo. plenty of Sense and AOSP ROM's for your choosing. it also overclocks better than other phones i have used.

the only down side for me was battery life (got an extra battery with charger for $15 off amazon = not a problem any more) and the notification LED....it is amber or green and thats it. it is also hidden a little, so seeing it when the phone is at an angle is a little difficult. not as nice as my previous moto phones.

 

[eipee73]

battery life: i can get a solid 10 hours out of my battery....but i consider myself a heavy user. i use about 4.5GB of data per month. not much texting (maybe 5 texts a day) and maybe 15 minutes of calls a day. mostly playing some games and streaming pandora.

Screen: i love it. it is bright, crisp, colors are saturated, and viewing angles are pretty good.

software. been a while since i used stock Sense, but i do really like it. it is smooth, and has some very useful features.

camera: it is really nice. not much more to say. takes great pics for a camera phone.
front cam works like it should....not great by any means, but works OK for video chatting.

build quality, its not bad, but could be better. light leakage under the soft buttons, and my refurb (my brand new one was ok) has the screen poping up in the upper right corner. also the clear finish on the kickstand (which is awesome by the way) started peeling within a month (use it all the time though)

reception/call quality: one of the best i have used. i never need to turn it up all the way. it is plenty loud and clear, no problems on either end of a call. i live in Orlando, so i have a SOLID 4G connection all the time and i never get below -110dbm (about 1 bar)

hackability: fairly easily rooted, and custom ROM's up the Wazoo. plenty of Sense and AOSP ROM's for your choosing. it also overclocks better than other phones i have used.

the only down side for me was battery life (got an extra battery with charger for $15 off amazon = not a problem any more) and the notification LED....it is amber or green and thats it. it is also hidden a little, so seeing it when the phone is at an angle is a little difficult. not as nice as my previous moto phones.

I currently have the original Incredible so I'm familiar with Sense and the crappy LED notification light (I think it's even worse on my phone than the TB). I appreciate the insight...I'm hoping that once I get the phone I can get some direction on recommended ROMS. Like I said, it'll be my first time so I'm not too familiar with the best choice. The real draw of the one I'm trying to get is that it comes with the extended battery so it should be pretty good battery wise.

I had similar battery issues with my current device...rocking the ext battery for it too...I wouldn't even be trying to upgrade but my lock/unlock button is all jacked up and doesn't work half the time.

 

[slimjoe]

To play devil's advocate, if your upgrade is only about 2 months away, why not just save your money and get something like the Galaxy Nexus instead when it comes up (your upgrade that is)? From the looks of it, you're already using an Incredible 1 and that by itself isn't terrible. So.. my question is, what's the rush?

 

[skinien]

To play devil's advocate, if your upgrade is only about 2 months away, why not just save your money and get something like the Galaxy Nexus instead when it comes up (your upgrade that is)? From the looks of it, you're already using an Incredible 1 and that by itself isn't terrible. So.. my question is, what's the rush?

I agree with this. I love my Thunderbolt but the LTE hardware isn't very battery friendly. The fact that initial LTE hardware isn't very power efficient and the phone comes with a 1450 mAh battery, isn't a good combination. I know you said you're planning on getting an extended battery, but I just want to make sure you know how big/heavy that makes the phone.

I suggest waiting for something that's a more LTE efficient and has a higher capacity battery.

 

[eipee73]

To play devil's advocate, if your upgrade is only about 2 months away, why not just save your money and get something like the Galaxy Nexus instead when it comes up (your upgrade that is)? From the looks of it, you're already using an Incredible 1 and that by itself isn't terrible. So.. my question is, what's the rush?

The rush is my hardware on/off button is dying. It's gotten progressively worse over the past 2 weeks to the point where it's barely usable. If it wasn't going I wouldn't make any change right now at all.

Verizon has said that I can do an early upgrade either this Friday on the phone or a month in advance of my date. Clearly new phones won't be out by this Friday and I don't think this thing will last a month. I'm thinking of just getting the Thunderbolt and then saving my upgrade for a bit later when there are more ICS phones out.

 

[eipee73]

I agree with this. I love my Thunderbolt but the LTE hardware isn't very battery friendly. The fact that initial LTE hardware isn't very power efficient and the phone comes with a 1450 mAh battery, isn't a good combination. I know you said you're planning on getting an extended battery, but I just want to make sure you know how big/heavy that makes the phone.

I suggest waiting for something that's a more LTE efficient and has a higher capacity battery.

I understand and I actually have an ext. battery for my INC 1 so I'm used to the weight. I've lined one up for $200 w/2 cases, 2 chargers, and an ext battery so it seems worth taking the plunge to use for now.

On the plus side my brother dropped his INC 1 in some soup and now the earpiece doesn't work. His upgrade isn't until around this time next year, so when I make the switch I can recoop about 1/2 what I'm paying.

 

[jmz768]

A "heavy user" isn't getting 10 hours out of the phone unless they have the extended battery.

 

[TxGoat]

"I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth....Yes your honor, that's the scumbag phone that has caused a pain in my arze...."

 

[jaydub110]

This phone sux, don't get it even for a day ,just wait there are alot of new phones coming out in the next month or two. They can't even get gingerbread right on this phone & independent developers can. What a joke they know it's a lemon & they won't admit it.

 

[Yeahha]

If you are going to be willing to tinker and learn how to use the phone after rooting and flashing some roms then this is a great phone to have, if you plan on staying stock or relying on VZW/HTC to give you a great working phone then don't even bother. I would be weary of getting it secondhand and would expect to be able to try it out for a while first and find out why the seller doesn't want it anymore before making that purchase.

 

[SeekerOfTheWay]

I'll trade you my Thunderbolt for a BlackBerry 9650+ $75!

 

[TxGoat]

If you are going to be willing to tinker and learn how to use the phone after rooting and flashing some roms then this is a great phone to have, if you plan on staying stock or relying on VZW/HTC to give you a great working phone then don't even bother. I would be weary of getting it secondhand and would expect to be able to try it out for a while first and find out why the seller doesn't want it anymore before making that purchase.

This is actually a good point, maybe the person getting rid of the phone is getting rid of it because they're having problems with it. Look it over closely. I'd recommend having him return it for a refurb and getting the refurb, but the refurbs aren't in the best shape either.

 

[eipee73]

My plan actually is to Root and try out some ROMs (Suggestions welcome).

I purchased the phone from the guy last night. He actually works for VZW thus I think their upgrades come a bit more frequent than us mere mortals. The phone actually is in great condition and has an extended battery which I'm used to from my DINC.

Obviously I'm still a bit caught up in the charm of the phone as it's about 100x faster than my old phone, but I'm hoping to play around with it this weekend.

Again, any suggested ROMs (along with why you like them) would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Yeahha]

I would suggest trying at least one AOSP rom like CM7 or liquid 3.0 as well as some of the sense roms that are available to see what you like best. I personally like AOSP much more than sense

 

[TxGoat]

I would suggest trying at least one AOSP rom like CM7 or liquid 3.0 as well as some of the sense roms that are available to see what you like best. I personally like AOSP much more than sense

Any idea off hand what the latest AOSP version is? I'm in need of a new ROM to hold me over until around November 10th or so..........

 

[Yeahha]

Any idea off hand what the latest AOSP version is? I'm in need of a new ROM to hold me over until around November 10th or so..........

Liquid 3.0 is the newest liquid rom not sure about CM7's latest version or any of theory's roms

 

[eipee73]

Liquid 3.0 is the newest liquid rom not sure about CM7's latest version or any of theory's roms

Yes, total noob move coming right now

What the hell does AOSP stand for?

I really do like Sense because I think it gives the Android OS a much more finished and polished feel, but I'm not opposed to seeing how I like things without it.

 

[jackdubl]

Here's my tesimonial: Came from Inc. Bought TB on the release date. Traded original with bad light leakage for a new TB one day later. No build problems with second phone. Was not impressed at all with stock software and was contemplating exchanging phone for a charge about thirty days after purchase, due mostly to reboot issue and phone running hot a lot. Battery got 7-10 hours depending on usage(stock battery). I am a heavy user, display on for 2-4 hours. So, not great. But then...

Rooted phone at beginning of August. Now, with current setup on AOSP: overclocked to 1.4 Ghz and undervolted, get anywhere from 13-22 hours battery life(better than a 50% increase), greatly increased performance and far superior software. I'd probably consider it the best single-core phone on the market at this point. But I'd say you definitely have to root to get the goods.

As for sense users wondering about AOSP: There is an app in the market for everything that sense does. You can go to AOSP, find an app that does whatever piece of sense you like(better and faster, most likely), and when all is said and done the phone will still run with at most 1/3 of the sense footprint. I really got accustomed to some of the sense widgets. I was able to find better versions of each widget on the market, but it may cost you a couple of bucks here and there. I loved sense and didn't think I could leave; now I won't go back.

 

[Yeahha]

Yes, total noob move coming right now

What the hell does AOSP stand for?

I really do like Sense because I think it gives the Android OS a much more finished and polished feel, but I'm not opposed to seeing how I like things without it.

Android Open Source Project

They are roms built on Google's source code not HTC's source

 

[eipee73]

Here's my tesimonial: Came from Inc. Bought TB on the release date. Traded original with bad light leakage for a new TB one day later. No build problems with second phone. Was not impressed at all with stock software and was contemplating exchanging phone for a charge about thirty days after purchase, due mostly to reboot issue and phone running hot a lot. Battery got 7-10 hours depending on usage(stock battery). I am a heavy user, display on for 2-4 hours. So, not great. But then...

Rooted phone at beginning of August. Now, with current setup on AOSP: overclocked to 1.4 Ghz and undervolted, get anywhere from 13-22 hours battery life(better than a 50% increase), greatly increased performance and far superior software. I'd probably consider it the best single-core phone on the market at this point. But I'd say you definitely have to root to get the goods.

As for sense users wondering about AOSP: There is an app in the market for everything that sense does. You can go to AOSP, find an app that does whatever piece of sense you like(better and faster, most likely), and when all is said and done the phone will still run with at most 1/3 of the sense footprint. I really got accustomed to some of the sense widgets. I was able to find better versions of each widget on the market, but it may cost you a couple of bucks here and there. I loved sense and didn't think I could leave; now I won't go back.

-Is that battery length based on the standard or extended battery?

-The only widget I really love is the standard flip clock/weather one that they have on all of their commercials, otherwise I think I could part with sense and just purchase beautiful widgets.

-May I ask which ROM you're running?

-I appreciate your insight, everything seems to be pointing to Rooting this thing and rolling with it. It's running great right now, but lord knows after a few weeks of usage I'll probably see some annoying things.

 

[TxGoat]

Here's my tesimonial: Came from Inc. Bought TB on the release date. Traded original with bad light leakage for a new TB one day later. No build problems with second phone. Was not impressed at all with stock software and was contemplating exchanging phone for a charge about thirty days after purchase, due mostly to reboot issue and phone running hot a lot. Battery got 7-10 hours depending on usage(stock battery). I am a heavy user, display on for 2-4 hours. So, not great. But then...

Rooted phone at beginning of August. Now, with current setup on AOSP: overclocked to 1.4 Ghz and undervolted, get anywhere from 13-22 hours battery life(better than a 50% increase), greatly increased performance and far superior software. I'd probably consider it the best single-core phone on the market at this point. But I'd say you definitely have to root to get the goods.

As for sense users wondering about AOSP: There is an app in the market for everything that sense does. You can go to AOSP, find an app that does whatever piece of sense you like(better and faster, most likely), and when all is said and done the phone will still run with at most 1/3 of the sense footprint. I really got accustomed to some of the sense widgets. I was able to find better versions of each widget on the market, but it may cost you a couple of bucks here and there. I loved sense and didn't think I could leave; now I won't go back.

Are you sure it has nothing to do with that pill you're taking "Bob"?

 

[eipee73]

Android Open Source Project

They are roms built on Google's source code not HTC's source

Thank you, I'm an idiot hahaha

I've never rooted before, but I am relatively tech savvy. Thoughts on ease of rooting/applying a ROM as well as time it will take to do so? I kinda want to give it a shot tonight, just a little apprehensive that I might brick my phone.