Thunderbolt - Best Buy Availability/Pricing/Ordering Discussion

[paulmike3]

I'm not complaining. I'm just pointing out that there are alot of people who think VZW B&M stores and telesales won't have it on opening day. And that's not going to happen.

I plan to buy my TB via phone or internet, but if I did have to go into a store, I would go into a VZW store. The folks at the one near me have always been helpful and never pushy. If I tell them what I want, they give it to me and realize that I know far more about the phones than them and back off on their lame sales lines. Heck, they have even given me B1G1 deals on new phones (Storm 2) and let me walk out with one of them not activated (could have sold it for $600 and no one would have known).

So all I'm saying is, if it was going to be a BB exclusive device, VZW would be losing more $$ than most realize.

 

[vzwuser76]

I will be in the LTE Area (Akron Ohio)...my friend has an EVO 4G...hers was dead at 2:00 this afternoon...she says she just charges it in the car or the computer....but she leaves her bluetooth on (aparently her phone talkes to her car...cool!) and she leaves wi-fi on, etc. There is an awesome summary in the EVO 4G forum about conserving battery life (at the top of the forum)...I assume it will be the same for us...

Someone also suggested going to another battery. Bottom line: I need from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM...Moderate use of phone, heavy use of e-mail, some texting...probably very limited use of internet...not much of a gamer (yet)...Many days I am not going to have the opportunity to charge in the middle of the day.

A few things in your post that may affect her Evo's battery:

1. Is she also running 4G data and what WiMax coverage is there? The 4G radios (WiMax & LTE) can suck a lot of battery, especially if they're constantly looking for signal.

2. Does she work in an office, especially of concrete/steel construction? If she is using 4G/WiMax, the frequency they use for it (in the 2GHz range) has a lot more trouble penetrating buildings, especially with steel/ concrete construction, causing a low signal condition from #1 above.

3. Bluetooth can suck down battery, moreso depending on what bluetooth function your using. A bluetooth headset would use less than streaming music or file transfer.

4. The Evo is running a 1GHz 65nm cpu (same as Incredible). The tbolt runs a 1Ghz 45nm cpu. The 45nm cpu is much faster and more power efficient than the 65nm version. HTC also said at CES that they have apparently tweaked the power management software for better uptime.

The bottom line is we haven't seen any offical tests for the tbolt. We have heard things here and there (BMX) pointing to good battery life but that's it.

I myself have a stock Incredible on 2.2 froyo. I use a network extender as we are on the fringe area of our tower. I have 2 batteries, stock 1230mAh and seidio 1750mAh (the seidio edges the stock by about 1/2-1 hour). I leave wifi on whenever inside, otherwise I switch to 3G. I use Bluetooth very seldom. My display is set to 25% brightness, and only sync weather (every hour) and gmail (once a day). About a 1/4 to a 1/3 of the use is voice, the same for web browsing, and the rest is offline games and music/video. I get aobut 4 hours of actual use (active using tel, games, web, etc.) and 24-30 hours of total time. It took awhile to get it there but it is running great.

 

[teddyk]

I heard it will be released the 13th!
source: HTC Thunderbolt to Launch February 13th?

 

[teddyk]

i heard its coming the 13th, even if its just a day earlier thats great!!
source: HTC Thunderbolt to Launch February 13th?

 

[leehblanc]

I heard it will be released the 13th!
source: HTC Thunderbolt to Launch February 13th?

While I'm not familiar with Spry mobile, following the Washington Post link in their article does indeed take you to the Washington Post site where it is confirmed that a source told them it will be on sale on the 13th. I think this makes more sense than a 3 week pre-order.

 

[Forgetful]

Sunday?

Has a phone ever released then?

 

[djcyph]

sick best buy program freee.....def going through them

 

[djcyph]

buying from Best Buy vs VZW

are there any disadvantages? with Best Buy getting the phone first, the Buy Back program for free, and instant rebate, it looks like a no brainer...

will VZW deal with any problems you may have with the phone? like when stuff (internal) doesnt work with any of my phones, the VZW corporate store usually give me a free one on the spot...will i have to go through BB for that?

does insurance still go through VZW or BB? 50 bucks to replace still if through vzw?

any other facts i should know?

thanks in advance guys...

ps....i tried looking at bestbuy.com for their policies and cant find the link

 

[TBolt2011]

My Storm2 is valued at a whopping $44

Quit yer *****in' sonny boy! My Alias 2 is going for a MASSIVE $5! :O Haha

 

[racinbill]

are there any disadvantages? with Best Buy getting the phone first, the Buy Back program for free, and instant rebate, it looks like a no brainer...

will VZW deal with any problems you may have with the phone? like when stuff (internal) doesnt work with any of my phones, the VZW corporate store usually give me a free one on the spot...will i have to go through BB for that?

does insurance still go through VZW or BB? 50 bucks to replace still if through vzw?

any other facts i should know?

thanks in advance guys...

ps....i tried looking at bestbuy.com for their policies and cant find the link

Buy back is not free and there are no longer "instant rebates" as VZW will not be doing any rebates, just lowering price of phone.

 

[rewd]

Best Buy exclusive. I would not plan on let's talk and Wirefly for a bit, if ever.

Are you for real? When on Earth has it ever been mentioned the Tbolt was going to be BB exclusive? Tell me you don't think that just because it showed up in a BB flyer...

 

[djcyph]

Buy back is not free and there are no longer "instant rebates" as VZW will not be doing any rebates, just lowering price of phone.

the buy back program will be free from feb. 6-26th...so when purchasing the Tbolt!!

via droid-life: Best Buy’s Buy Back Program Will be FREE for Mobile Phones February 6 through 26 - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

and i forgot that they lowering the prices thanks!

 

[racinbill]

the buy back program will be free from feb. 6-26th...so when purchasing the Tbolt!!

via droid-life: Best Buy’s Buy Back Program Will be FREE for Mobile Phones February 6 through 26 - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

and i forgot that they lowering the prices thanks!

Corrected.....And GREAT!

 

[pnicho]

are there any disadvantages? with Best Buy getting the phone first, the Buy Back program for free, and instant rebate, it looks like a no brainer...

will VZW deal with any problems you may have with the phone? like when stuff (internal) doesnt work with any of my phones, the VZW corporate store usually give me a free one on the spot...will i have to go through BB for that?

does insurance still go through VZW or BB? 50 bucks to replace still if through vzw?

any other facts i should know?

thanks in advance guys...

ps....i tried looking at bestbuy.com for their policies and cant find the link

I dont know if bb has asurion insurance(I know they have black tie service) but it hasnt been $50 for a smartphone for a longtime. My Dinc used to cost $89 but verizon just changed it to $99. Not happy about it being $100 but at least it's not $200 like the iphone.

 

[rigorx]

I don't think we have any reason to believe Best Buy is getting the phone first... ?

Verizon is not going to let a flagship phone not be available for purchase upon launch within their ~2200 stores across the country.

 

[rewd]

My storm 1= $8.00 lmao

Haha my original storm 1 was damn near annihilated. It actually still works but I'd be thrilled to get $8.00 but that POS.

 

[scapino]

I was doing a chat anyway today to ask some details on BB's policy regarding family plans, thought I'd post the TB relevant parts of my transcript.





7:51 PM Connecting...
7:51 PM Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.
7:52 PM Support session established with Lisa.
7:52 PM Lisa:
Thank you for contacting Best Buy Mobile! My name is Lisa and I'll be more than happy to help you out with any questions you have today. Just so you know, this chat will be monitored and recorded for quality purposes. Now to start off, can I get your email address and telephone number so that I can further assist both of us today?
7:52 PM David:
XXXXXX@gmail.com, 614XXXXXX
7:53 PM Lisa:
Thank you so much for verifying that information! How can I help you out today?
[boring plan questions snipped]
7:57 PM Lisa:
You can change plans.
7:57 PM David:
okay, thanks!
7:58 PM David:
before i let you go, do you know when the HTC Thunderbolt will be available at Best Buy?
7:59 AM Lisa:
Currently we have no information on the pricing the only information that we have is that the launching for the phone will be sometime in the middle of February.
7:59 AM David:
okay. thanks for the help!
7:59 AM Lisa:
Well, hopefully I covered everything you needed help with today. Is there anything else I can help with?
8:00 AM David:
nope, that's it! thanks again
8:00 AM Lisa:
Well thank you so much for spending time with us today. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to give us a call at 1-888-BESTBUY or to check us out on the website! You have a wonderful day and thanks again and have a great day!!



I'm guessing she's gotten a few questions about it, since she pre-empted my question about pricing.

 

[Forgetful]

BB only has 2 year contracts from what I've heard. That alone means I'm getting it at VZW

 

[funguy123us]

I am getting mine at VZ online or stores since I have New Every Two $100 credit.

 

[Phil Nickinson]

We've broken this news twice now.

http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-thunderbolt-best-circular-pre-orders-coming-soon

http://www.androidcentral.com/scree...-point-feb-14-best-buy-launch-htc-thunderbolt

Let's try not to spam too much, m'kay?