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Thinkin' about a Thunderbolt

J

JoeBonasera

Lurker
So lately I've been contemplating buying a Thunderbolt, after having tons of problems with my LG Ally. Verizon was helpful as they always are, sending me three replacement devices, each worse than the last, and slow as molasses in winter. So I'm giving up on LG, and had my sights set on the HTC Thunderbolt.

Before I go ahead and buy on impulse though, I was hoping to get some info from all you nice TB owners. I'm already aware of the battery life issue and the reboots from 2.2 (on a side note, is this happening with everyone, or on a case-to-case basis?), but are there any other major issues with the TB I should know about, or anyone really REALLY recommend it? I just wanna get all my research done beforehand.

Thanks, everyone! :)
 
I've had 3 reboots, since you are aware of the battery life. I personally love my TB, if I was eligible for a new phone on VZW right now and had the choice between the 4G phones I would be hard pressed between the TB and the Rev, I have had plenty of quality control issues with LG and my TB seems to be well made. There are phones that have problem with light seepage under the screen/soft keys. Overall it is a good quality phone.

If you don't live in a 4G area I would recommend a non-4G phone.
 
JoeBonasera said:
So lately I've been contemplating buying a Thunderbolt, after having tons of problems with my LG Ally. Verizon was helpful as they always are, sending me three replacement devices, each worse than the last, and slow as molasses in winter. So I'm giving up on LG, and had my sights set on the HTC Thunderbolt.

Before I go ahead and buy on impulse though, I was hoping to get some info from all you nice TB owners. I'm already aware of the battery life issue and the reboots from 2.2 (on a side note, is this happening with everyone, or on a case-to-case basis?), but are there any other major issues with the TB I should know about, or anyone really REALLY recommend it? I just wanna get all my research done beforehand.

Thanks, everyone! :)
Click to expand...

A lot of it seems to be case-by-case. I've had no problems with mine since day one, including after the OTA. You've probably seen some of the possible issues listed throughout these forums, but it's something you'll want to check for yourself, play with them, see how you feel. My own personal preference, is that the Thunderbolt is a little better than the LG. It almost feels to me like the LG Rev is almost a TB wannabe, with a weaker camera. But that's just me :)
 
If you have 4g in your area get the bolt, if not get the dinc 2
Today is day 2 with my new bolt and so far I love it, sure its heavy but it feels well built. I wouldnt trade it for any other VZW phone that's out right now
 
I have had my TB for almost a week and I love it! By far the best phone I have ever had. As far as the battery issue it all comes down to what all you have running at all times. My phone will easily last me all day and I turn everything on right before I got to bed to get the battery in red before I charge it. I would steer clear of the Charge, it not as good looking as the TB and its feels really cheap. Good Luck!
 
No reboots here, not a single one that I didn't initiate myself but I am rooted and rommed. Battery life is pretty damn close to my iPhone 4 and previous Droids before that. I can make it through a work day easy, but not til bedtime, so I always top the battery off at lunch (perfect time) so I don't have to worry about it.

GMB
 
It really depends on how you have it setup to determine battery life. At work I turn sync off and manually update what I want, leave data off all together, no gps, Bluetooth, WiFi or location services. I unplugged around noon and it still had almost 70% at 11pm

I sent and recieved 300 texts, calles for a hour, got on 3g Facebook at lunch for 20 minutes, checked email 5 times, updated weather twice and played mp3's for 2 hours all on the stock battery. It's all in how you have it setup. I'm getting better battery life then I did with the incredible 1 easily.
 
I've had my TB for about a week now and I love it. I bought an extra battery at Verizon for 50% off, and with that it makes the battery life no worry at all. On top of that I usually make it through the day with one charge, usually around 10 hours with average usage. I wake up at 6:30 and get home around 3:30 and it's usually <10% so I put it on the charger. As for the spare battery, it's really easy to carry around, I just stick it in my wallet.

As far as the phone itself, it's awesome. If your in a 4G area, it's lightning fast. I have noticed the 3G isn't very fast, but I think were getting a fix for that. The feel of the phone is nice, it looks big, but sits really nicely in the hand; even with a case, it fits nicely in my pocket. The screen is beautiful and it takes nice pictures. Overall, I think I made a good purchase.

Hope this helps,

P.S. I was also very skeptical before I purchased, I was worried about the battery life and the bulkness of the phone but it turned out fine.
 
Absolutely LOVE my Thunderbolt!

I've had mine for about a month. I purchased it right before going on a week long trip to Dallas, so that I could give it a good workout, and decide wether or not to keep it.

Well, I kept it, and haven't looked back!

Battery life IS an issue, BUT... I went to Disneyland with my kids, turned off 4G (don't really need it, unless you're going to be doing a lot of downloading), and between numerous text messaging between myself and my wife (we often go to different parts of the park with our kids...), my kids playing games while waiting in line, a few phone calls... my older daughter checking Facebook... my TB lasted from 9:30 am, when I got out of the car at the Disneyland parking lot, until 11pm, when we left the park.

Battery level was at about 8-9% by that point.

Also, since then, I've downloaded and use Green Power, which has significantly increased my battery life.

VERY infrequent reboot... I'd say once every two or three days.

Great phone! 4G is amazing, when you need it! Blazingly fast!!! :eek:
 
If you plan on rooting the phone you get...the TB has one of the biggest and best developer communities.

To some...that's no big deal. To me, it's HUGE!

Running Sense 3.0 and I've posted that in a variety of threads in the past 24 hours :) but there isn't a phone on the market yet that has launched with that yet (not until June 15th). But I've seen that the HD2 has it and that cracks me up because it is a windows mobile phone LOL.

But go to the store, play with several models and make your best guess of which phone you will like best. It's easy to say get the Thunderbolt because I have one and I really like it...but you are the one that has to live with it everyday.
 
JoeBonasera said:
Before I go ahead and buy on impulse though, I was hoping to get some info from all you nice TB owners. I'm already aware of the battery life issue and the reboots from 2.2 (on a side note, is this happening with everyone, or on a case-to-case basis?), but are there any other major issues with the TB I should know about, or anyone really REALLY recommend it? I just wanna get all my research done beforehand.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, what other phones are you considering and what specs are important to you - aside from, well, reliability?

Anyway. I wouldn't say those things are "major" issues. Battery life, I think, even with the factory-installed battery, isn't as bad as "reports" claim - especially if you tweak certain settings. Random reboots, I haven't experienced at all, but I'm probably in the lucky minority with that.

I've been a TBolt owner for nearly a month now and I can safely say I'm as pleased with it - if not more so - than I was with the Dinc. For me, the TBolt is just a bigger and slightly faster version of the Dinc.

Also: the July '11 issue of a major PC magazine has some nice things to say about the TBolt as well.
 
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