For those looking at all the complaints and wondering whether to make the leap...

dutchbrown

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... I want to even out the "complaints" posts with some broad feelings on the TB. I just made the switch from Tmobile and it's G2 to the TB. Used samsungs on both networks (wife originally went with the fascinate... for 3 days), Nexus, and iphone 3GS.

I have to say flat out the 'bolt blows them all away. I loved the slide out feature of the G2 (best phone until the bolt), sturdy construction and general HTC lack of bloatware and UI "wrapping" compared with Motorola and Samsung. There is a noticeable speed difference, both in UI and in network speed with the 'bolt vs the G2. The 'bolt puts all other phones I've seen to shame.

The battery life was bad at first, but got remarkably better after a few days of use and just standard maintenance and settings work. After 1 wk it's now equivalent to the G2, iphone 3GS and better than the samsungs. Like any of them, if a program gets hung or I spend time in a "fringe coverage area" it will drain quickly, or if I'm streaming video. I get through a full day from about 7:30am to 11pm at night and still have about 35% battery with normal use (about 1 hr of calling and texting, etc about every 1/2 hr to hour for a few minutes). I do NOT disable 4G nor am I real anal about turning everything off when I'm not using it. I AM diligent in making sure I reboot every couple days, turn off polling from little used apps, and make sure I close down apps I'm no longer using, and turning my display off when not using it. That's it. The battery life ain't the greatest, but hey, you are running a V8 and if you love to gun it at every light, expect to fill up more often. And I have no problems getting through a fully day with smart usage. I would not trade my Mustang for a Prius, thanks but no thanks. I expected to not get great battery life, so after a few days and a little (non-rooting or dramatic) tweaking it's meeting my expectations.

I love the form factor, the car dock (SWEET!!) and UI (HTC sense is much better than the others I've used, including some custom launchers on the G2). It is more elegant than any other phone I have had, love the kickstand and external speaker volume.

I do have to say though that the best part of the 'bolt is it's pure responsiveness. The G2 was good, but the 'bolt is fantastic. From the typing to the swiping to the zooming, it's all nearly instantaneous. Made the G2 (which was fast compared to others) feel slow, and the fascinate feel like it was stuck in mud.

So, in the midst of all the griping I have to say I'm still ecstatic about the phone a week later. And even my wife loves it, even though 1. she likes to complain 2. she isn't technically savvy and 3. she was originally put off by the size. I couldn't pry it out of her hands now lol (except if she needs me to install an app, show her how to do something or help her change settings to conserve power)..

Only disappointment? That I can't use the sweet-as-hell car dock and still put a snap on case on it. Oh well. *shrug* Anyone I let play with it I have to pry it out of their hands to get it back. I think that says something...

JMHO. :)
 

dutchbrown

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Yep. Just think how good it will be with a custom Tom.

True, but I think it'll be at least a little while before I get bored and want to start "playing" at a deeper level. (And that says something, considering I'm one that hacked my directv dvrs many years ago because I HAD to have multiroom viewing and networking. :) )

I think the HTC implementation of Android is by far the best as well, the right balance of usability, speed, and ability to customize... bridges the gap nicely for those less inclined to customize (i.e. my wife) and those that want the flexibility to do so (i.e. me) without worrying about bricking my phone in the process.
 

dajogejr

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I am very, very happy with this phone.
I am an IT administrator so I like gadgets. I've had my eye on this for some time.
Is it perfect? Nope...but neither was my BB.
Having this phone a week now...I still find things that just make me say WOW out loud.
The car dock I got Tuesday and used yesterday made me double wow.

This phone is a lot of firsts...so it's gonna have bugs.
Battery life being the biggest.

Screen, speed, voice and data at the same time, LTE...all positives.
Solid specs and a solid UI (obviously, UI is like your favorite food...everyone has their own).
Weight/size/quality are all right on with me.

I have jealous co-workers....what can I say?
 

braxtoq

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OK, been lurking long enough, now it's time to post! I'm a long time BB user, and I received my first Android device saturday. My NE2 had just hit and I wanted to get the Thunderbolt because it's the first Verizon 4G device. I have been quite surprised how quickly I am adapting, this thing is really fast and responsive. I expected battery life to be an issue, my Bold had to be charged a couple of times in a 12 hour period and frequent reboots were neccesary to keep it from slowing to a crawl. Yesterday, I had to recharge every 2 hours, the office Im in this week has always had a weak Verizon signal, so I was sure that was the culprit. I have followed some of the battery saving advice in this forum, and battery lif has been much better today. I uninstalled a virus protection app (Lookout, I think) and removed the FriendStream widget, but I really think the battery is just somehow breaking in as some have indicated on other posts. Anyway, I like this device and I think I will keep it!
 

Edwill86

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love the good feed back. all the complaints really get annoying after sometime.

I am also very happy with this device. still some bugs and corks but nothing that cant be fixed with an ota update :)
 

menji

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I first got my phone on Monday. At first I was constantly worrying about battery life. Then I realized I was more worried about the battery life then actually enjoying the phone. That was yesterday. Today I am thoroughly enjoying every aspect of my new phone.
 

0pusX

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I am torn between 1GB and "single-core" processor with the Thunderbolt

or

512MB and dual core with Moto Bionic.

All I do is text, email, call, internet and mess with some apps.

I dont Root or any of that stuff. No gaming other than angry birds type stuff.....

any recomendations???
 

menji

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I am torn between 1GB and "single-core" processor with the Thunderbolt

or

512MB and dual core with Moto Bionic.

All I do is text, email, call, internet and mess with some apps.

I dont Root or any of that stuff. No gaming other than angry birds type stuff.....

any recomendations???

I was on the fence about the same exact thing. What it came down to was, I preferred an HTC over a motorola, just because I had prior bad experiences with one, and HTC had a better reputation. In any event, I am happy with my decision, regardless of whether it was dual-core or single-core. If you can try both out, I highly suggest you do that. If you can live with certain battery issues, and I have adjusted quite well, then the Thunderbolt wont disappoint.
 

dutchbrown

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I was on the fence about the same exact thing. What it came down to was, I preferred an HTC over a motorola, just because I had prior bad experiences with one, and HTC had a better reputation. In any event, I am happy with my decision, regardless of whether it was dual-core or single-core. If you can try both out, I highly suggest you do that. If you can live with certain battery issues, and I have adjusted quite well, then the Thunderbolt wont disappoint.

I would agree, to me the preference of HTC phones and UI over Motorola phones and UI made the difference. Performance will PROBABLY be equivalent, but... ??? All else the same or similar, I'll take HTC every time.
 

KoukiFC3S

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Great review. I'm also loving my Thunderbolt.
4G has been a lot more stable today. Looks like Verizon had been tweaking its network.
 

thunderclaps

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I got my thunderbolt on release day and I've been loving it ever since. At first I thought it was really big, coming from a Droid Eris, but now when I hold the old phone or any iPhone, they all feel so small. Love the large display for surfing the web, so the battery life was never a big surprise for me. No complaints, and I'm holding my breath for a one click root and cyanogenmod 7!!

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
 

Malefickus

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I've been mostly on 3G but was in 4G for a limited time today. It's been 11.25 hours since I unplugged my phone and I'm at 32% battery. While on 4G I refreshed all my cached stations on Slacker and did a few speed tests. Otherwise, I have been using Google Maps a significant amount with gps turned on as well as browsing the web, various forums with Tapatalk, and quite a bit of Angry Birds Rio during downtime. From what I've experienced my battery life isn't bad and feels on par with other android phones i've owned regardless of whether it was on Sprint or Verizon.

So, pretty much just saying that I really enjoy this phone so far, and while I didn't get to take huge advantage of it, loved the 33 mb download speed that I was getting in Lebanon, TN earlier.

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk
 

samuraifortruth

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Two cents..

Hey all, I thought I would toss a bit of change down about something mentioned in this thread.. before getting my bolt on release day I had spent six months with the Motorola Droid and then the Motorola Droid 2. I am not rich mind you originally I bought my original Droid cause it looked amazing and other than a BB storm I had never had a high tech really nice phone. My storm was junk from day one with so many problems that when I saw the original Droid I would have sold my soul for it lol. So I got it and for a day I was very happy. I liked the design and everything and then it froze and I mean froze so much the case should have been an ice tray. After five months and five warranty exchanges VZW customer service did a warranty exchange for the MOTO Droid 2. I did love it. I loved the feel and all the things it did. It was great and unlike anything I had ever had before. Then it happened.. it started messing up also. So I had had enough and I headed straight to the VZW store for a new phone. I was convinced I was leaving that store with the MOTO Droid X. I have always thought it looked better than the first two. At this point a rep at the store said check out this HTC thunderbolt that comes out next week. He showed me the specs and for the first time in my life I decided to wait for something. Now keep in mind this was in February. I went home and immediately researched everything I could about the bolt. Needless to say after all the waiting I got the bolt the day it came out and I was awe struck. It was nothing like the way the droids were. I LOVE IT. I had never even messed with HTC and it was like trading in my tricycle for a 69 dodge charger painted and done up just like the general lee. I am still learning new things every day about this device but hands down it puts the bb storm and MOTO Droid 1 and 2 to shame with its interior and exterior features and the software I just can't say enough. Now the battery can suck a bit sometimes but I use my phone constantly online, offline, apps, music everything. One last thing.. all these people complaining about little things like there isn't enough internal storage (whatever) and such.. just stop...the tweaks and tips in this forum take care of a lot and if you are to lazy to tweak some things on this amazing device cause you think it should have been perfect right out of the box, then maybe you should go get you an old Motorola razor.. talking on the phone is really quick on that phone. ;)
All I'm saying is if you give it a chance you will fall in love with this device. It out shines the first two MOTO droids without even trying.


P.s. I LOVE THIS SITE!
You all rock!
Also don't know if I mentioned it but...
I LOVE MY HTC THUNDERBOLT!
Thanks all..
Ronin
 

dutchbrown

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Nice Ronin... good to hear from someone with a lot of Droid experience to tell those of us that never owned one confirmation of our choice (especially to get the 'bolt instead of the Bionic)
 
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