LG Thrive @ Amazon.com

[meowzer]

Hello all. I'm new here and to the smartphone in general, and am planning to purchase the LG Thrive either through AT&T or through Amazon.com. While talking via phone with AT&T reps, they do not condone purchasing the phone from Amazon (which would save me about $40) stating it might not "work right."

What do you all think? Would I have to jump through some hoops to get it set up, because if so, since I'm new to these phones, I might not be able to do. I am "older" and not up to speed with this stuff. For instance, I currently have an older (cheap) GoPhone that I'll need to transfer my account minutes to the new phone and set up the data plan.

Thanks for any help/advice you can give.

 

[marcandroid]

What's up Meowzer,

I would definitely recommend getting your Thrive setup through AT&T just to be on the safe side. It shouldn't be too much of a problem switching your phones because AT&T is a GSM carrier, meaning that all you have to do is switch the SIM card in your current phone to the Thrive. You can also request a brand new account with the Thrive.

I was told that you cannot transfer your minutes from your current SIM to the new SIM as they are two different accounts. If your old SIM is 3G it's no problem because the Thrive isn't a 4G phone anyway.

Good luck.

 

[meowzer]

Thank you, marcandroid. I was beginning to think no one cared about my question here.

I will be purchasing this phone tomorrow at a local retailer that has this one in stock. I live in a pretty large city, and most local retail AT&T stores do not have it. If anyone cares, I can post my experience. Does anyone care?

 

[sd_matto]

Hello all. I'm new here and to the smartphone in general, and am planning to purchase the LG Thrive either through AT&T or through Amazon.com. While talking via phone with AT&T reps, they do not condone purchasing the phone from Amazon (which would save me about $40) stating it might not "work right."

What do you all think?

My opinion: Go for the better deal (both price and exchange/return policy). My local Fry's matched the Amazon price, and has a 30 day return policy on phones, so I went with them. But, local ATT lost my business because they would not price match (and had lousy return policy).

Please remember that all Thrive phones, whoever sells them, are made by LG, and where you buy it from will make no difference as to whether it "works right". I would shy away from purchasing from someone who was feeding me a line of BS like the ATT rep you reference.

Would I have to jump through some hoops to get it set up, because if so, since I'm new to these phones, I might not be able to do. I am "older" and not up to speed with this stuff. For instance, I currently have an older (cheap) GoPhone that I'll need to transfer my account minutes to the new phone and set up the data plan.

Thanks for any help/advice you can give.

I don't know what you mean by "jump through some hoops"; setting up anything new involves jumping through hoops.

Having said that, to transfer your older (cheap) GoPhone, just plug in the old GoPhone SIM card into your new Thrive, and you should be good to go. Don't turn on data on your Thrive through ATT, though, as the Android on the Thrive will eat through your data allowance unless you jump through a couple of "hoops" to set it up right.

Best of luck to you.

 

[meowzer]

. . . Don't turn on data on your Thrive through ATT, though, as the Android on the Thrive will eat through your data allowance unless you jump through a couple of "hoops" to set it up right.

This sounds like Greek to me.

 

[sd_matto]

This sounds like Greek to me.

Be careful with using 3G data on Thrive, as a lot of applications (and the system) use data in the background. If you aren't careful, you will burn through your 500MB/$25 allowance in no time flat.

Hopefully, more understandable.

 

[meowzer]

Thank you, dinlaca, for the clarification. I will need to learn terminology obviously which may take me some time. Are there certain apps that anyone is aware of that should be removed to keep this drain of my allowance from happening?

 

[sd_matto]

Thank you, dinlaca, for the clarification. I will need to learn terminology obviously which may take me some time. Are there certain apps that anyone is aware of that should be removed to keep this drain of my allowance from happening?

Don't know about apps that can be removed, though I am pretty sure that any email apps and google maps are culprits.

But, the "nuclear" option (i.e., just turning data off) can be found under Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile Networks, where you can toggle the "Data Enabled" checkbox off and on. This will allow you to keep 3G data turned off until you manually turn it back on, or until you find an app/widget (I believe that there is a widget included on the Thrive that allows toggling this on/off from the home screen) that allows you to better control your data use.

Good luck.

 

[meowzer]

I had a great experience today with getting my new Thrive at the AT&T store. I connected to my home network, set up my email and experimented all afternoon.

dinlaca, thank you for your comment which reinforced what I stumbled across while playing with the phone today . . . that being to disable the Data from the Mobile Network. I was not sure and turned it off so it is good to know that was the right thing to do! You are a great resource for a newbie such as myself! Thank you again!

 

[sd_matto]

dinlaca, thank you for your comment which reinforced what I stumbled across while playing with the phone today . . . that being to disable the Data from the Mobile Network. I was not sure and turned it off so it is good to know that was the right thing to do! You are a great resource for a newbie such as myself! Thank you again!

You're welcome.

Two apps I remembered to help with control of data usage, and one widget I stumbled across in the LG Thrive's /system/app may help you out.

Control of data usage:

DroidWall (in market): Allows you to set up white list (i.e., what is allowed) or black list (i.e., what is denied) re: data usage on an application-by-application basis. From what I remember when I was using this on Page Plus with a Motorola Droid, I used a black list to black list everything (except for a few apps, such as mail (properly configured) and MMS) on 3G, and allow everything on WiFi.

3G Watchdog (in market): Allows you to monitor your data usage, and segregates the information based on usage over WiFi vs. usage over 3G.

Widget:

3G Connection widget (long press on home screen, followed by Add Item -> Widget -> Data Control): Puts an on/off toggle widget for 3G data on your home screen.

Glad you had a great experience, and best of luck with your new phone.

 

[meowzer]

These sound like great apps to have. I've made a note of them and when I get through the basics, I'll look into them. Thanks, dinlaca.

 

[jason330i]

amazon is good

amazon has a cheaper price and no sales tax (in cali).

i had no problems activating my thrive on at&t. works fine.

 

[meowzer]

My SIM card was so old that the AT&T rep. said it would not work in the Thrive. He had to do something (not sure what) with both old and new cards before inserting the new one. Not sure he would have done that for me if I'd purchased the phone somewhere else. Maybe he would have . . .

Another thing I read is that "The *888* command for refill only works with PINS/Cards purchased from AT&T-owned retail stores and select authorized retail locations." Not really sure what this means because you can call 611 to refill your account.

 

[sd_matto]

My SIM card was so old that the AT&T rep. said it would not work in the Thrive. He had to do something (not sure what) with both old and new cards before inserting the new one. Not sure he would have done that for me if I'd purchased the phone somewhere else. Maybe he would have . . .

ATT (like most cell companies) will do most anything for a buck. So, the ATT service rep would have treated you right (i.e., as you describe above), even if you had just come back from South Africa with a newly purchased unlocked phone in which to put in your SIM. The key is having the right SIM (which is included in the LG Thrive package).

Having said that, you, personally, apparently have peace of mind with having bought from ATT and, even if the ATT phone might have cost you a few bucks more (i.e., than the one on Amazon), that peace of mind you got in buying from ATT more than offset the price difference.

Another thing I read is that "The *888* command for refill only works with PINS/Cards purchased from AT&T-owned retail stores and select authorized retail locations." Not really sure what this means because you can call 611 to refill your account.

No idea what that is but, as I pointed out above, the key is having the right SIM (which is included the LG Thrive package, wherever it is purchased from). How you choose to refill that SIM card (e.g., 888, 611, whatever else) is completely up to you.

 

[sd_matto]

amazon has a cheaper price and no sales tax (in cali).

Agreed re: the Amazon price. I couldn't wait for shipping time, so I purchased mine from local Fry's for same price (paid some tax, but the cost of my impatience, I guess).

I am taking this low cost phone thing once step further. Since I don't like the color scheme on my original Thrive (that silver backing just shows the smallest scratch TOO easily), I purchased a NIB LG Phoenix (i.e., the ATT postpaid version of this phone) off of eBay, for what turns out to be significantly less (i.e., ~$125 or so) than the Thrive at Amazon/Fry's retail. My first introduction to auction sniping.

I will see in a few days (i.e., once I have received the Phoenix (love that name), and put it through its paces) whether I got a good deal. Though if the auction lives up to its description (and the color scheme is as shown in pictures), I will be a very happy camper.

 

[meowzer]

You are so right, dinlaca. Considering my total lack of experience with these types of phones, it was definitely worth a few extra dollars to purchase directly from AT&T and have peace of mind. Now, the next phone I get . . .

Are you planning to switch out the back case of the Thrive for the one on the Phoenix? Let us know how that works out.

 

[dmullens]

This is probably off topic, but I've been trying to discover how to limit apps on my Thrive from using the mobile (3g) connection. @dinlaca, I noticed you mentioned something about it. Is there any place with more specific information? 3G Watchdog says that most of my 3g data (actually EDGE) is being used by "Network Location." I noticed that up to 80% (or more) of my data is being used by that process (or app).

BTW, DroidWall which you mentioned earlier apparently needs a rooted phone to work. I downloaded it, but my phone isn't rooted.

3G Watchdog does a pretty good job, but the down side is it kills my data connection...which is about the only way of limiting some of these apps.

 

[meowzer]

To turn off 3G data until you want it . . .

Click the menu button from the home page
Tap Settings
Tap Wireless & networks
Tap Mobile networks
Toggle "Data enabled" to off.

You can also put the 3G Data network widget on one of your screens and tap it whenever you want it on or off. That widget was already on my 2nd screen by default.

I don't know if the 3G widget is the same as the instructions listed above, but I do know that the instructions will result in 3G data being OFF by default whenever you turn your phone on.

 

[dmullens]

Thanks. I already have the widget to turn the 3g off, the thing is I don't want to turn it off. I want the apps that I use (Gmail, Google Voice, etc) to be able to use it when they need it. My issue is I'm not sure what "Network Location" is, what app is using it, or how to get it to stop. BTW, I have the locations settings set to use GPS only, not mobile data.

 

[sd_matto]

@dinlaca, I noticed you mentioned something about it. Is there any place with more specific information? 3G Watchdog says that most of my 3g data (actually EDGE) is being used by "Network Location." I noticed that up to 80% (or more) of my data is being used by that process (or app).

BTW, DroidWall which you mentioned earlier apparently needs a rooted phone to work. I downloaded it, but my phone isn't rooted.

I would recommend rooting the phone. There is no downside (so long as you know what you are doing - my manual guide in another thread should help you with this phone), and the upside (e.g., using Droid Wall to limit data flow out) is HUGE.

If you are averse to rooting, the other angle would be to get unlimited data on your plan. There are threads out there (e.g., @howardforums.com) that educate you how to use these phones on another ATT-type service (e.g., StraightTalk) which has unlimited (e.g., <5GB/mo) data.

I do both of the above (root & ST).