Blackberry user looking to ride a new 'storm'

**marlin29311** · 04-13-2011, 02:01 PM

Hello all!

So I've been a Blackberry user since the Storm 1 (which incidently enough, I never had a problem with) - upgraded to a Storm 2 in 2009 since I was able to, and now I have an upgrade coming up, and I'm starting to get sick and tired of the Storm 2 - between frequent bottlenecking to the lack of support on basically everything out there (apps to features to you name it).

I'm very intrigued by the Thunderbolt, and I think this is the new storm I want to ride with my upgrade - I love the screen, the Android platform (I've played around enough with my brother's Incredible and my sister-in-law's Droid X to know I really do enjoy it from a high level perspective), and the 4G is the thing that's coming up, so I feel like I should get in on it now.

A few questions though, that I don't know the answers to:

1 - Non-gmail emailing - I have a Comcast email address that I've used for a while and have a lot of things routing through right now, and the BB has been excellent at working the email from this (I also have my gmail which works great, but that's not the issue). From my knowledge, Android does not have a stock non-gmail email app - can I still get push email from my Comcast account as I do now?

2 - Battery Life - I hear all the moaning and groaning about the battery life on this phone, but I feel like most people use the phone WAAYYYY more than I do. Basically, my phone sits on my desk at work for 9-10 hours a day, and I currently only check it when my notifiaction light goes off for an email or message - which is really not that often. I also bring it to the men's room once in a while when I'm gonna be in there for a while...

So all in all, not too much - my assumption is that I would have no problems getting through a day, and that after rooting, it could 'standby' for quite some time - am I correct in this thought?

3 - the Notification LED - I know that the T-bolt has one in the speaker grill - can this be set to blink on a email?

I appreciate all of your help, and hopefully I'll be switching from Crackberry to AC soon!

**VideoEngineerAJS** · 04-13-2011, 02:09 PM

I'm also a former Storm user.

1. HTC's Sense has a generic Mail app.
2. I don't think you'll have issue with the battery, but if you want as close to push email as possible it will take up some battery and you'll need to adjust other background data settings.
3. Yes

**dajogejr** · 04-13-2011, 02:12 PM

1. I'm not sure if Comcast can be setup to be push on the Tbolt (are you sure it was push on a BB? I thought it was POP only access and it could be set to 15 minute intervals at the least?)

Yes. It'll blink green for any type of new message (text, email or voicemail).
Orange for charging.

**paulmike3** · 04-13-2011, 02:25 PM

If you've got an outlet at your desk that you can plug into to recharge, you'll be fine as far as battery is concerned.

As far as the notification LED, it's nowhere near as bright as a BB LED. It's hard to see behind the grill in any kind of lit room, so I find myself unlocking and relocking often to see if I have any messages. Although, if it's set to vibrate and on a hard surface like a desk, you won't be missing any notifications if you're in the general vicinity when something comes in.

**paintdrinkingpete** · 04-13-2011, 03:42 PM

First off, my story is very similar to yours, Storm 1 to Storm 2 to TBolt.

Let me just say this...while there will undoubtedly be BlackBerry features you will miss, they will be heavily outnumbered by the number of new things you can do with Android that you will love, at least in my experience.

1. Yes, there is a non-gmail app you can use to set up other mail accounts. It isn't quite as nice as BlackBerry's though. There is no real "push" option for theses accounts, but there are several options for setting the refresh rates (and can even set "peak" and "non-peak" hours with different refresh rates). Some of the most common mail services are pre-setup, but for Comcast you'll probably have to setup the POP/IMAP settings manually.

(For me this was actually a bigger issue, and part of the reason I had stuck with BB for so long, as my work email allows ONLY BES service for mobile mail, so I can't get work email anymore on my personal device...a choice I've decided to just live with).

2. Compared to the Storm, the battery life on the TB is noticeably shorter. Follow some of the posted guidelines that are floating around out there for optimizing the power usage, and you'll probably find that it's not a show stopper though. I can usually still get at least a full day out of a charge, sun up to sun down.

3. Yes, but it, as well as any other type of notification, isn't nearly as customizable as it is on a BB. The BlackBerry custom notification profiles is definitely one of the things I do miss about my old Storm.

All I can say is, After owning this device for a little over 2 weeks, BlackBerry is nothing more than a distant memory in my rear-view mirror.

**ddsdavid** · 04-13-2011, 04:04 PM

Marlin, Run-don't walk- get to the Verizon store and get rid of that Storm!!!!!!!!! I came from the Storm 1 to the Thunderbolt and can't be happier.

I have Comcast email as well. When you buy the phone look up my posting history. I have some links that will tell you how to have Comcast forward (push) your emails to your Gmail account. My emails are delivered as fast or faster than with my Blackberry. The down side is when you reply to an email that came from your Comcast account it will say "sent from on behalf of ".

The battery will suck at first. It does get better with use. I always get through the day on 1 charge. No battery pulls with the Thunderbolt.

The LED notification was better on the blackberry but I am so over it I don't care!!!!!!

Now- go get that Thunderbolt!

**AubreyPage** · 04-13-2011, 04:05 PM

I just upgraded from a BB Storm. The only thing that I miss is the email push. However as explained above, you can set up multiple POP email accounts. I have several. You can set up the generic (included) app to include all accounts when you open the app. The email is actually better in some ways. There is a check box next to each email in the list and you can check multiple emails and delete all checked. With a 15 minute refresh setup, there is little difference between the Tbolt and the BB email service. The other things blow away the Storm by 1000X.

Get the T'Bolt!

**VideoEngineerAJS** · 04-13-2011, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by paintdrinkingpete

(For me this was actually a bigger issue, and part of the reason I had stuck with BB for so long, as my work email allows ONLY BES service for mobile mail, so I can't get work email anymore on my personal device...a choice I've decided to just live with).

Really? You can't use Exchange Active Sync?

**ftb** · 04-13-2011, 05:20 PM

You can use Exchange Active sync. It comes with the HTC thunderbolt and works well.

**Turbo Paul** · 04-13-2011, 05:28 PM

I came from the Storm 1 also (no problems ever with mine either), and the email push is a huge miss on the Tbolt, and the Droids in general. I use Yahoo mail, and I set the built in email to refresh every 15 minutes, but it was total unreliable. Sometimes it would work, and other times I would manually check and find emails from hours ago! I installed the MailDroid app, and this has solved the problem of timely email notifications, although MailDroid is not as nice to view mail in, so I still open the native mail app to read the emails.

Battery life is OK, but I do charge during the day at work.

But overall, you'll love the switch.

**Chrisy** · 04-13-2011, 05:35 PM

The LED is hardly visible. I find it disappointing.

Get the 2750 extended battery and the Tbolt will last longer than your Storm, with more use.

I came from the Tour and I love this device! Android does everything better! I use gmail so my email is push.

**JAB285** · 04-13-2011, 05:35 PM

I've got a side question about email since you guys are talking about it. I'm also a former Storm 1 user. One of the best things was when the Storm would ask me whether I want to delete mail from my handheld, my Yahoo account or both. Does the TBolt do this?

**EvolutionGSR** · 04-13-2011, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by JAB285

I've got a side question about email since you guys are talking about it. I'm also a former Storm 1 user. One of the best things was when the Storm would ask me whether I want to delete mail from my handheld, my Yahoo account or both. Does the TBolt do this?

I remember this i liked it too. I dont hink u get his option or i cat find it.

**JAB285** · 04-13-2011, 05:59 PM

So does that mean when you delete from your phone you also delete from your Yahoo account?

**VideoEngineerAJS** · 04-13-2011, 06:20 PM

I know. I use it. I meant I couldn't believe his employer wouldn't allow him to use Active Sync.

Sent from my Thunderbolt

**cadzilla74** · 04-13-2011, 07:31 PM

When it comes to Yahoo Mail just get the separate Yahoo Mail Client from the Android Market for free. Works great. Yahoo is the only mail account I have that would not work with K-9 Mail which I highly recommend over the Stock Mail app on the TBolt. If you want K-9 to work with Yahoo (or any affiliate Yahoos like Rocketmail) you have to upgrade to a YahooPlus account with them which is stupid considering the Yahoo Mail app is Free in the Market.

**NotJustAPhone** · 04-13-2011, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by cadzilla74

When it comes to Yahoo Mail just get the separate Yahoo Mail Client from the Android Market for free. Works great. Yahoo is the only mail account I have that would not work with K-9 Mail which I highly recommend over the Stock Mail app on the TBolt. If you want K-9 to work with Yahoo (or any affiliate Yahoos like Rocketmail) you have to upgrade to a YahooPlus account with them which is stupid considering the Yahoo Mail app is Free in the Market.

One nice benefit of using the Yahoo application is that it supports push.

**ddsdavid** · 04-13-2011, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by JAB285

So does that mean when you delete from your phone you also delete from your Yahoo account?

If you set up your yahoo account to forward or push your messages to your gmail account, you should be able set it up to leave a copy of the message on the yahoo server.

**Fire923** · 04-14-2011, 05:02 AM

Originally Posted by cadzilla74

When it comes to Yahoo Mail just get the separate Yahoo Mail Client from the Android Market for free. Works great.

Thanks for that info. I am also coming from a Storm to the TB and would like to have my yahoo mail accounts on my phone like I have on my Storm.

**paintdrinkingpete** · 04-14-2011, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by paintdrinkingpete

(For me this was actually a bigger issue, and part of the reason I had stuck with BB for so long, as my work email allows ONLY BES service for mobile mail, so I can't get work email anymore on my personal device...a choice I've decided to just live with).

Originally Posted by WebDevAnalyst

Really? You can't use Exchange Active Sync?

Without disclosing too much info, I work an organization with very high security (housed inside a very large 5-sided building in northern VA), and 2-factor authentication must be used for all network access, which in our case means using smart card tokens to log in. In other words, I have no username/password, so unless my TBolt had a builtin smart card reader, there's no way to sync to my Exchange account.

**VideoEngineerAJS** · 04-14-2011, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by paintdrinkingpete

Without disclosing too much info, I work an organization with very high security (housed inside a very large 5-sided building in northern VA), and 2-factor authentication must be used for all network access, which in our case means using smart card tokens to log in. In other words, I have no username/password, so unless my TBolt had a builtin smart card reader, there's no way to sync to my Exchange account.

Ah, I got ya. I suppose I understand.

I'm surprised they let you get on AC. LOL

**marlin29311** · 04-14-2011, 08:27 AM

Thank you so much everyone for the input!

I think I'm going to hit Verizon tonight and pick up a thunderbolt, and look at the extended battery size while there - I have a nice discount with VZW that brings the price of the battery down to about $35, so it's certianly worth looking at!