So, should I buy a Thunderbolt?

[mightyfacundo]

Swype is available and works great.

I think the LED light is easy to see but I've read comments from other owners who have issues with it.

It's a great phone. Good choice.

 

[GtoJon]

Dumped Rezound & Bionic & back to the Bolt : )

I just decided to return my Rezound. After the 2nd upgrade to Gingerbread, the Bolt does really well. The Bolt has gotten a really bad rap .... most of the issues had to do with the network, even some of the rebooting. Every 2 weeks I would drive a ways to the 4g area & reboot every time I went up there. The last few times I haven't rebooted. I got the Rezound on the 16th & I am not happy. First the batteries are chipped so you cannot buy generic batteries & expect to charge them in the phone. Also you only get a 16gb SD card & NO FM radio. Some apps don't play nice with Rezound, like Go Launcher EX (Totally love this front end) .... installed on Rezound & the Rezound turned into a snail! On the Bolt it works great!! .... I have had 5 Bolts & I am on #4 .... #5 turned off on me once & sent it back ... none of my other Bolts turned off on me .... I also had a Bionic .... worse than any Bolt I ever had!

I paid $320 for an early upgrade to the Rezound & Bionic & sent them both back

Cheers .... I love my Bolt

 

[BattleSwine]

You have to sign up for Swype beta to get access. I tried it, but it had issues. Haven't loaded recently so might be fixed. Flex T9 works fine for me.

Yes netflix works.

I haven't had an issues seeing notification light.

TBolt is a great phone. Simultaneous voice and 3G data is a must for me.




Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

 

[mightyfacundo]

Swype is available and works great.

After reading what Battle Swine wrote, I thought about it and figured I should clarify what I said. I tried it a week or so ago, used it for a few days, and it seemed to work great. I didn't experience any problems, but you might want to wait to hear from someone else who uses it all the time. I just don't want to steer you down the wrong path.

 

[lithos_BOLD]

...can't beat free! Go for it, and don't look back!

Seems like you have no qualms with an extended battery, honestly I can't criticize the tbolt from any other angle. I have the Seidio extended, no complaints.

If you decide to root, there are plenty of quality roms that will put you heads and shoulders beyond any of VZW's stock builds, outside of ICS...

congrats on the kid!

sent via Tapatalk

 

[fubaracing7374]

I love my Bolt!! Came from an iPhone 4 and have never looked back.

Sent from my BAMF'd Forever Thunderbolt

 

[ambienteternity]

All things considered, I enjoy my bolt. Just recently rooted about a month ago, and i went from being meh about it to loving it and its performance. Battery life can at times be dismal, but you can grab a rezound battery for $20 and throw your worries to the wayside. It's a solid device.

-Sent from my Mecha running G3D!

 

[Wookie13]

Swype is available and now is working well on the phone. The original version had some problems that took quite a while to iron out, like not spacing in text messages, then just randomly losing it ability to work when swiping because the auto correct feature would just vanish, but as I said they are all fixed now. I use it every day.

 

[recDNA]

Swype is available and now is working well on the phone. The original version had some problems that took quite a while to iron out, like not spacing in text messages, then just randomly losing it ability to work when swiping because the auto correct feature would just vanish, but as I said they are all fixed now. I use it every day.

How do you use it in a forum like this one with all the acronyms that aren't words?

 

[Wampa1]

In the Froyo days it was necessary to root the phone for it to be usable. I can't speak for the Gingerbread update as I rooted long before it, but personally I would never buy an Android phone and not root it.

 

[FrankXS]

How do you use it in a forum like this one with all the acronyms that aren't words?

Uh-huh. I 4 1 dnt. Cnt gt use 2 mvg my fngr lk tht.

-F

 

[SoulWeaponry]

The bolt is a great phone as long as you understand what you're getting and your expectations are in the right place. It's not the latest and great and it is dated, but what the hell does that change?

Depends on your needs. If you're a hardcore gamer and looking to play some insane tegra2 like stuff on it, well no. But in my own personal experience, i downloaded more than 100 games and never had lag or stutter on any of them. The browsing experience was great even with flash on and the camera on this older device is even better than the one on newer phones like the nexus and razr.

I hated my bolt almost to the point of vowing off htc forever in the beginning. Then, htc stepped up and did what they were supposed to do: provided bug fixes and updated our beloved phone to the newest os. In the end, i sold my thunderbolt even though i was still happy with it. I'd rather have a bolt than alot of other phones right now.

4g, great single core processor, htc build quality and an awesome camera make this phone very very relevant. Even in the times of dual cores and hd screens, if i dropped my rezound on the ground and couldn't afford another one, i'd buy a used bolt of craigslist in a heartbeat

 

[Lee_Bo]

I would like to thank everyone for their advice on this device. I've been using the HTC Incredible since launch (same phone, no replacements) and it's been a great phone, rooted with CM7. My contract has been up since October, but if I wait until Dec 1, I can get a Tbolt for $49. My only requirements for my next phone are 4" screen, front facing camera and 4G, and the Tbolt covers all that. I've talked to many people with them, rooted and stock, and the only real complaint is battery life, but that's not a Tbolt issue.

Plus, since my Inc is in immaculate condition, I may be able to get rid of it....haven't decided yet.

 

[bokeh_cb]

Hey guys, sorry for the long delay on a response to this post. Been crazy busy working, enjoying Thanksgiving and standing in line at Best Buy for my TB. I went ahead and got it and so far I like it quite a bit. There are some very interesting differences between it and my Droid X but thats to be expected of course. Its interesting to see two very different corporations make essentially the same product and come up with very different ways to do it.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who responded with some really great info. It was basically the responses to this post that made me go ahead and grab a TB and so far Im not disappointed. I do have some further questions about some small issues here and there but I will start those in new posts

So thanks again for all the help. Its much appreciated!! o/

 

[Jude526]

You are very welcome. Enjoy your Thunderbolt. Its awesome!

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk

 

[t0ked]

Congrats! Again, great phone. I love mine and the latest GB update has resolved all the problems for me. Also VZW's 4G network has grown and stabilized also.

My recommendation is to buy the rezound battery and you'll have the battery life issue covered also.

 

[yuzume83]

I'm glad you're happy with the Bolt!

I was an OG Droid user, upgrade ready since Oct. 2, but holding out for the Nexus. My boyfriend decided to upgrade to the iphone 4S from his 'Bolt, so I decided to retire my Droid and use his Bolt in the meantime while waiting for the Galaxy Nexus. I have to say, I'm getting very attached to the Bolt! I immediately rooted it and installed Liquid Smooth rom and imoseyon's kernel. It runs smoothly and I've been using it for several weeks now with no problems!

I keep Lte off and use 3g mostly. I don't really need the extra speed. Battery life is decent and not an issue for me. It lasts about a day and half with no charge, but I usually plug it into the charger each night. The camera is pretty decent also. The screen is great compared to my Droid. Nice size and vibrant colors! I have brightness set around 50% and it's more than bright enough for me.

I still want the Galaxy Nexus, but this phone has made it much easier to be patient. The one thing I really miss is the multicolor LED notifcations on my Droid. My boyfriend loved Android, but complained that his Bolt had too many issues so he went with an iphone. I, however, haven't experienced any of the issues he had with the Bolt. He had it rooted and used a Bamf rom, but returned to stock to possibly sell. After I rerooted it, I tried Bamf, but really didn't like the Sense-style. For me, the right rom really made a difference!

 

[Ed Witles]

Let's put it this way... broken, cracked bad esn tbolts still command $180+ on ebay.

Not bad for a supposed 'dying phone'.