Settle for Thunderbolt or wait?

[YourMobileGuru]

I don't believe going to a Thunderbolt is settling. Its an awesome device.

Exactly. What you (the OP) want probably wont be available till year end or early next year.

 

[weasel123]

I love the Tbolt but if they come out with 4G Iphone, i'm changing.

 

[Buzzy42]

I think today's Dilbert sums it up nicely.
Dilbert comic strip for 06/29/2011 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive.

 

[steve1011]

I just got my Thunderbolt last week after being on AT&T with a Blackberry Bold. I was deciding between the Thunderbolt and an iPhone, and so far I am quite happy with my choice. This being my first Android device, I found that the learning curve to getting it to work well isn't so hard after all. Sure, it's a bit of a battery hog, but turning off the 4G network when not using it gets me through the day on one charge. I'm glad I went with something new instead of something familiar.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I love the Tbolt but if they come out with 4G Iphone, i'm changing.

Well you're gonna have to wait at least a year for that so it's all good.

 

[DanSan]

I was rocking the DROID 1 since launch date and was looking for the "right" phone to upgrade to. I was originally going to grab a DROIDX back in november but decided to wait for a 4G phone. I currently dont have 4G coverage, but coverage areas are like 15 minutes away so its coming soon.

I REALLY REALLY wanted the DROID Bionic but that is never coming and even when it does.. its probably going to have issues. I decided to "settle" for the Thunderbolt and Ive never been more happy with this decision

 

[surfbumhuey]

I am... was a crackberry addict for years since the the day (a month actually) the 8330 came out for Verizon never even thought of another platform. But back to the TBolt, honestly read a lot of reviews and it made me somewhat hesitant about the TBolt (especially with the supposed all and mighty Bionic tease). But I finally pulled the trigger a few weeks back (my 9630 was crapping out on me and Blackberry hasn't really produced anything truely innovative in a long time but I do love their qwerty keyboard...) making sure I get grandfathered into the unlimited plan. And I really couldnt be happier, its fairly snappy and UI is far better than motoBLUR (even though I could live with it) and TouchWIZ was to cartoony for me (so the Charge was a no go for me). Knock on wood, I havent had any reboot problems and my battery is better than I thought it would be (feel like thats saying a lot saying Im coming from Blackberry).

IMO I think you cant go wrong with the TBolt, its a great phone and feel like Ive been missing out for a long time with the whole touchscreen craze that started years ago.
-Sense UI is perfect, played a little with 3.0 and wish we'd get it on the TBolt but 2.0 is better than anything Ive ever used before so Im happy.
-4.3" display is phenomenal
-I use real time nav a (looking for construction work but in the mean time my friend and I have started a restaurant/bar blog for places in and around Portland so its nice to type in a place and know how to get to the hole in the wall places and the Blackberry nav was so archaic) is amazing but a data hog
-Love the 4G but at the same time unnecessary I feel like but apparently 4G uses more data
-Front facing camera (dont use it much but very very nice when I do which was probably the reason I didnt go with the Droid X2)
-And unlimited data was the biggest incentive for me probably especially with using nav

So all in all dont really feel like you'd be settling, it is a great phone and hopefully with Gingerbread it will bring a bit better battery life. More power to you on your decision, I was right there with you a month ago

 

[zrxoa1]

I've been with VZW for years as they were the only ones with real coverage around my last base. I got the Blackberry Storm as soon as it came out as I needed a world phone. worst touch screen ever just didn't know it as it was my first. Didn't know how bad until I bought and iPod Touch on a deployment. Came back got the Blackberry 9650 to keep the world phone get a keyboard. was ok until the "upgrade to OS 6.... nothing but issues and no fixes.... OS 4 and 5 had just about monthly updates... not 6.... I jumped after they the OS 7 and new Bolds using Qualcom SoC. I've retired from military and live in an LTE border zone. I jumped for the Thunderbolt in mid-May as rumors of tiered data heated up. I wanted to wait on dual core LTE, but what i decided was more important was dual modems... both with voice. TBolt is the only phone on or projected to VZW with voice and data on 3G and LTE. Doesn't matter how fast the CPU is if it can't get data. Don't get me wrong the TBolt is fast. Tergra2 beats in some benchmarks and loses in some. Over all it's closer than marketing hype over dual core would lead you to believe. The TBolt isn't perfect... battery life especially using LTE isn't pretty though changing 1400Mah out for 3200MAh battery worked for me. I got mine as the OTA update that brought the reboot issue. Yes I got hit by it. 4+ reboot a day at first. now its 1 every other day thanks to the forums for the improvement. Can't wait for a real fix and Gingerbread. even without it I highly recommend TBolt. love the large screen, its fast, lots of storage, happy it came with 32GB SD card.... beats others that tout support for 32GB, but ship with less installed. For me it was the voice and data (3G/4G) at the same time. The others can do 4G and voice, but not 3G and voice.

The Thunderbolt cannot do voice and data over 3G can it? I thought that would only be possible with any phone, on 4G?

 

[EricWiz]

The Thunderbolt cannot do voice and data over 3G can it? I thought that would only be possible with any phone, on 4G?

That's a good question. The 3G is different than the standard 3G phones right? (eprt or some such?) Does that allow for voice and data at the same time?

 

[zrxoa1]

As far as I can see, there are ZERO VZW phones that can do voice and data at same time, unless you are doing data over wifi. The current CDMA system does not allow that. The Thunderbolt can only do voice and data over the new 4G LTE system. When on current 3G it cannot. If I am wrong, please feel free to prove me so. I would like to know!

 

[BattleSwine]

The Thunderbolt cannot do voice and data over 3G can it? I thought that would only be possible with any phone, on 4G?

Thunderbolt fully supports simultaneous CDMA2000-1x voice and 3G EVDO or 4G LTE data. It has two 1x CDMA voice modems. One on the 3G baseband radio MSM8655 and one on LTE MDM9600. LG's LTE L2000 doesn't have 1x radio built in. Nor does CMC220. The LG Revolution and Droid Charge can both transact voice and data at the same time only when connected to 4G LTE.

 

[blackberryconvert2011]

Thunderbolt fully supports simultaneous CDMA2000-1x voice and 3G EVDO or 4G LTE data. It has two 1x CDMA voice modems. One on the 3G baseband radio MSM8655 and one on LTE MDM9600. LG's LTE L2000 doesn't have 1x radio built in. Nor does CMC220. The LG Revolution and Droid Charge can both transact voice and data at the same time only when connected to 4G LTE.

What he said - in english: the TBolt is the only VZW phone that can currently do internet and voice at the same time...anywhere (1G/2G/3G/4G - in the sticks!)

 

[PhreePhlyer]

Leaked rumors from Verizon is... that as long as you have a phone on Verizon with an unlimited data plan, you are locked in. Doesn't matter if the phone is 3G right now... you will be able to upgrade to 4G and you will be able to upgrade to newer phones in the future with the discount price and make changes to your plan. The tiered plans only affect Verizon customers adding a new line to their contract.

Not so. Just went through this with VZW yesterday. If you currently have a 3G unlimited plan, you are grandfathered in for 3G umlimited. If you move to a 4G phone after the 7th, you will fall into the tiered plans. It really sucks that they are splitting that up. I work in LA (SoCal) and have a strong 4G signal, and plan on moving to 4G in the future. In order to keep that unlimited, I need to buy a 4G phone by the 6th.

I had an upgrade available, and although my current phone (Incredible) is just fine, I went ahead and upgraded to the Thunderbolt, so I will have the unlimited 4G in the future. As more and more services move to the "cloud" concept, cell data will become more important and I wanted to future-proof (as well as possible) myself.

Sam

 

[zrxoa1]

Thunderbolt fully supports simultaneous CDMA2000-1x voice and 3G EVDO or 4G LTE data. It has two 1x CDMA voice modems. One on the 3G baseband radio MSM8655 and one on LTE MDM9600. LG's LTE L2000 doesn't have 1x radio built in. Nor does CMC220. The LG Revolution and Droid Charge can both transact voice and data at the same time only when connected to 4G LTE.

I stand corrected. I did not know that, thank you for the info and clarification!

 

[sloan31]

I had an upgrade available, and although my current phone (Incredible) is just fine, I went ahead and upgraded to the Thunderbolt, so I will have the unlimited 4G in the future. As more and more services move to the "cloud" concept, cell data will become more important and I wanted to future-proof (as well as possible) myself.

Sam

I just upgraded to the TB for the exact same reason. Gotta have unlimited 4G. If it wasn't for this move by Verizon I would have stuck with my Incredible awhile longer.

 

[BattleSwine]

I stand corrected. I did not know that, thank you for the info and clarification!

Your welcome, glad I could help. I don't know why VZW and/or HTC isn't hyping up the voice and data at the same time. The Thunderbolt is the is the best phone for me at this time/location. I highly recommend it for power users. I don't think it's for every one right now. After they get the bugs worked I might revisit that. Hopefully its sooner than later.

 

[zrxoa1]

What is killing me is the info from you. I have my DInc that I have had since its release. I am fine with it but now it seems I will be forced to switch to a new 4g phone just to keep my unlimited data, because eventually there will be only 4g phones available. that just stinks...

 

[Progenitor42]

Regarding the tiered plans and unlimited. I was at a VZW store earlier today and I was told that my BB Storm 2 unlimited plan is different than the Droid unlimited plan and therefore not grandfathered in when my upgrade is available on the 10th. Luckily I was told I can have an early upgrade (one week) on the 3rd so if I switched then I'd still have the unlimited data plan.

Not so sure that it will affect me too much because I have only used 52mb of data this month. Certainly well under the 2gb cap at the same price. My thinking is that if I get a Thunderbolt with the 4G, finally hit Sacramento thank you, I may just end up using the crap out of the unlimited data simply because the phone can and will do so much more than my Storm 2.

I've been tossing around choosing between the 4GThunderbolt and the 3G only Incredible 2 and thought I had made a decision until I actually witnessed the speed of VZW's 4G.

Now I'm torn again. This phone is not settling. It is getting a very good phone available now. Since most of the bugs are being worked out and the LTE network will hopefully be more stable in the next two years I'll be on contract this phone is certainly very attractive.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

As far as I can see, there are ZERO VZW phones that can do voice and data at same time, unless you are doing data over wifi. The current CDMA system does not allow that. The Thunderbolt can only do voice and data over the new 4G LTE system. When on current 3G it cannot. If I am wrong, please feel free to prove me so. I would like to know!

Incorrect. The Thunderbolt. Revolution and Charge call all do simotanious voice a day data on3g 4g and wifi. The newest iteration of CDMA does allow it.

 

[zrxoa1]

Seems we have a discrepancy here regarding what phones can do voice and data at same time on current 3g signal....