Soon to be new Charge Owner

Terrigno

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Hi folks! It feels pretty great to be in some Verizon forums. Ive been a naysayer of AT&T for about 2 years now coming from Verizon. So Now I finally got back to Verizon. Got the Bold 9930. I used to be a hardcore CrackBerry addict and I seriously am in love with the new Touch Screen Bold. But............its not Android. So Eventually now, I just scored a Droid Charge on Ebay Cheap. And now I can finally experience what 4G LTE is like here in the Raleigh-Durham area. Ive been away only for a little bit and used to be an advisor. I had the Samsung Infuse 4G with AT&T. I came over to Verizon with Wirefly scoring me a cheap deal on the new Bold. Which Im gonna make some good money off off soon to save for the Galaxy Nexus :)

Well, since Ive been away now for about, ehhh, a little over a month. What can you guys tell me about this Droid Charge? I know all about Android. I had a boatload of them on AT&T, But I really want to know what the LTE network is like. Although Ill be getting the phone in a few days, what would I have to do? Go to Verizon and have them give me an LTE SIM card right? And I shouldnt have to change my plan since I already pay 30 bucks for the 2 gigs of data right?

This guy at the Verizon store down the street showed me the speedtest app on one of them Motorola Droids he had with LTE. Got like 22MB down. I was like WHOA. With AT&T, the highest I ever got was like 5MB down on there "4G HSPA+" network lol.

EDIT: And Corys officially still the man. He kept me as an Advisor :)
 
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bakerbert

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what would I have to do? Go to Verizon and have them give me an LTE SIM card right? And I shouldnt have to change my plan since I already pay 30 bucks for the 2 gigs of data right?

This guy at the Verizon store down the street showed me the speedtest app on one of them Motorola Droids he had with LTE. Got like 22MB down. I was like WHOA. With AT&T, the highest I ever got was like 5MB down on there "4G HSPA+" network lol.

SIM Cards are available and free at any corporate store or through costumer service/online. i have seen other places charge up to $20 for a SIM, so make sure you get a free one.

Your plan will not change at all by going to 4G

As for speed i average about 12-18MBps and sometimes it will make it up to 30. Its fast, what else can you say.

P.S.
Consider Rooting and a Rom, for me it has made this phone faster and much more enjoyable.
 

Clak

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4G is great, the Charge, not so much. If you got it for cheap (really cheap i hope) that's one thing, but if not I would have gone for something else. Personally I'm about ready to call Verizon and demand a different phone, I'm not that far out from being off contract and if they won't budge I'm going elsewhere.
 

Terrigno

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Thanks. Ill be honest with you, stick with Verizon. They really are the best network. I got the Charge for 100. I already plan for the GB leak or a custom ROM. Whatevers gonna make it better then what it was. I'm familiar with Samsungs products. And good ol XDA. I just really wanna see what the network is like now. I got my Bold 9930 for sale now. Those funds will go towards the Galaxy Nexus ;)
 

Clak

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Well for 100 that may be worth it. Just be prepared to deal with the issues you're likely to have. Might even be a good idea to have a back up phone.
 

kart38

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The Charge really isn't that bad of a phone. I'm running the latest leak (EP4) and haven't had any problems. Ran the last leak from the time of its release until this one's release and never had any problems with it. As the phone ships, Froyo (version EE4), it has some lag in the launcher.

Personally, I've not been happy with the custom ROMS I've run on this phone. I've tried Humble, Infinity, and GummyCharged. None of them left me feeling the phone was any faster or "better" than it was running the current version of GB (at the time of their use).

If you go into it knowing you aren't buying a Nexus phone you will be fine. The data speeds are stupid fast and the phone does a great job day to day.

Jason
 

Bob61

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I guess im special as my change works just fine, standard OS and phone is very responsive ( came from DroidX and this is much more reliable in comparison). I've been very happy with performance and functionality.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
 

SOTK

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I guess im special as my change works just fine, standard OS and phone is very responsive ( came from DroidX and this is much more reliable in comparison). I've been very happy with performance and functionality.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk

I have a feeling that many are happy with their Charge phones. My experience has also been good. People who are happy with their phones rarely say so. Not many people come to phone forums to brag about how awesome their phone is. Most come here to .

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
 

Terrigno

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Thanks for the feedback guys. My last phone was the Samsung Infuse. This Charge I already know is gonna be a lot like that one. I understand Samsungs hiccups. But with fine tunning, these phones are powerful. I had the Captivate to when it had Eclair. And had Froyo installed about 6 months before AT&T released it. Samsung is pretty stupid simple modding there devices. The Super Amoled is crazy insane and I'm familiar with TouchWiz. I'm probably gonna install the latest GB leak also. I like to factory tune settings. Its worth 100 bucks to me. Because ill sell this Bold for about 400 and make off either way. But what I do love right now is I just typed all this up with the Bold lol. Its fun to type on. But ill be cracking open SuperOneClick very soon I see ;)
 

Terrigno

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The Charge really isn't that bad of a phone. I'm running the latest leak (EP4) and haven't had any problems. Ran the last leak from the time of its release until this one's release and never had any problems with it. As the phone ships, Froyo (version EE4), it has some lag in the launcher.

Personally, I've not been happy with the custom ROMS I've run on this phone. I've tried Humble, Infinity, and GummyCharged. None of them left me feeling the phone was any faster or "better" than it was running the current version of GB (at the time of their use).

If you go into it knowing you aren't buying a Nexus phone you will be fine. The data speeds are stupid fast and the phone does a great job day to day.

Jason

Have any of the developers made Voodoo LagFix for it do you know?
 

SOTK

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Have any of the developers made Voodoo LagFix for it do you know?

Yes. I am currently running Humble 5.0 RC2 which is based on the newest EP4P firmware and which comes with Imoseyon's 4.0 Voodoo kernel. I'm also running the Core Droid theme. This setup rocks. I'm getting 2400 quadrant scores without overclocking and real world performance is just as amazing. I have no lag. Window transitions are smooth. Programs run great. Its a great experience.

As a sidenote, I have experienced none of the issues that people constantly nag about in here. I don't have data drops or static on phone calls or anything like that. I've said it before and will say it again, this phone is top notch. Enjoy!

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
 
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Bob61

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I have a feeling that many are happy with their Charge phones. My experience has also been good. People who are happy with their phones rarely say so. Not many people come to phone forums to brag about how awesome their phone is. Most come here to .

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk

Yep, I know what you are talking about and agree. Was more sarcastic in my post than real, just seems like we hear from people who just bash the phone and from my experience it may not be perfect but it still rocks well for me.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
 

davey11

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When the first leaks of GB came out (ep1q, ep1w) I flashed them and was bummed. They were buggy and laggy and they slowed my dl speed in half.
So I went back to froyo... till yesterday. Was kinda bored and flashed humble 5.0. This is based on GB 2.3.6 and I gotta say it's solid. So when your charge gets here, flash this puppy and you're good to go.

Sent from my SCH-I510
 
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Terrigno

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When the first leaks of GB came out (ep1q, ep1w) I flashed them and was bummed. They were buggy and laggy and they slowed my dl speed in half.
So I went back to froyo... till yesterday. Was kinda bored and flashed humble 5.0. This is based on GB 2.3.6 and I gotta say it's solid. So when your charge gets here, flash this puppy and you're good to go.

Sent from my SCH-I510

Thanks for the info and heads up. I appreciate it. Thats probably what I will do then if thats the best, smoothest and fastest out. Is it on XDA?
 

davey11

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Thanks for the info and heads up. I appreciate it. Thats probably what I will do then if thats the best, smoothest and fastest out. Is it on XDA?

Yeap xda.

The author of the rom has had a checkered past. He has been accused of kanging stuff from other roms. But there are so many who swear by his stuff that he has imo redeemed himself. It still has lots of the "poop brown" color of the stock rom, but the coredroid theme works fine and gets rid of the brown. Couple days use now and very impressed. Putting a tiny doubt about getting the Nexus...is that good. I said tiny lol

Pretty much it's the only custom rom out for 2.3.6 so is why I chose to flash.
BTW I would recommend the odin file as it is all in one...rom, custom voodoo kernel, recovery, radio, root. Its just so easy, plus you get there with basically no prep...just flash. As a sidenote, I kinda disregarded the advice in the op and did not wipe anything and did not disable voodoo and did not remove sim...flash went fine.
 
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jco23

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welcome to the Charge. I'm also one of the few that are very satisfied with my stock device - I believe your phone will perform based upon what you make of it - so if you are not trying to run too many apps too often, then you'll be fine.

the biggest complaint though (across all OS) is the battery drain related to 4G. I personally do not need 4G, as I just keep it on 3G and use Juice Defender. when I'm at home, I use WiFi; I sit behind a computer all day at work, so I don't need internet connection for my phone - over the past 10 weeks of owning this device, I've used a total of about 130MB of data.

download speeds don't concern me as much as their reliability.

best of luck...
 
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Terrigno

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Yeap xda.

The author of the rom has had a checkered past. He has been accused of kanging stuff from other roms. But there are so many who swear by his stuff that he has imo redeemed himself. It still has lots of the "poop brown" color of the stock rom, but the coredroid theme works fine and gets rid of the brown. Couple days use now and very impressed. Putting a tiny doubt about getting the Nexus...is that good. I said tiny lol

Pretty much it's the only custom rom out for 2.3.6 so is why I chose to flash.
BTW I would recommend the odin file as it is all in one...rom, custom voodoo kernel, recovery, radio, root. Its just so easy, plus you get there with basically no prep...just flash. As a sidenote, I kinda disregarded the advice in the op and did not wipe anything and did not disable voodoo and did not remove sim...flash went fine.

Thank you again. Yes from what I can remember, ODIN flashes is the best way to go. Im sure they already compiled an ODIN backage for flashing back to stock. Ill be able to start fresh though since this phone was probably never rooted or anything. The Seller sounded like a grown man in my communications with him. Again, this will probably be a temporary device while I can figure out a way to lure that Galaxy Nexus to myself once it comes out :). Ive already downloaded that ROM and have it waiting for tomorrow for when the phone comes. Has that ROM helped out the battery life in anyway? I know a lot of people has said that the LTE network really drains the battery bad, and this guy was selling the phone with another Samsung battery lol. So Im sure he felt the raft of that. But normally some of these custom ROMS increase the battery life signaficantly.

welcome to the Charge. I'm also one of the few that are very satisfied with my stock device - I believe your phone will perform based upon what you make of it - so if you are not trying to run too many apps too often, then you'll be fine.

the biggest complaint though (across all OS) is the battery drain related to 4G. I personally do not need 4G, as I just keep it on 3G and use Juice Defender. when I'm at home, I use WiFi; I sit behind a computer all day at work, so I don't need internet connection for my phone - over the past 10 weeks of owning this device, I've used a total of about 130MB of data.

download speeds don't concern me as much as their reliability.

best of luck...

Thank you. I also heard the LTE is a huge battery sucker. Ill have to experience it once I get the phone tomorrow to see. They have LTE here in this area of Raleigh-Durham. The seller even has an external charger with another OEM Samsung Battery for the phone, so Im sure he felt the raft also lol. I had JuiceDefender when I had the Samsung Infuse 4G on AT&T. That program is GREAT. Helped out big time. But once a fellow named GTG on XDA made a custom gingerbread rom for the Infuse, he tweeked the battery to where the phone lasted all day. So thats why customizing these devices is pretty vital if your a tech wiz like myself :)

Matter of a fact, Im gonna head out to the Verizon store right down the street shortly and have them give me an LTE SIM so when the phone comes tomorrow, I can just activate it on my account online.
 

kart38

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My Charge lasts me the whole day without any problems. I leave 4G on all the time, though I do turn WiFi off at work because I get just enough signal from across the building to make the phone think it can use it. I check email whenever it arrives, receive and send texts, check facebook, and check twitter during the day. At night I'll play a few games along with the other stuff. Usually I have 30%, give or take, left at the end of the day when I plug it into the wall.

Again, this is on a rooted and debloated stock ROM. Still running stock kernel even.

Edited to add that my day lasts from 8am to 1am.

Jason
 
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arctic388

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I have a desktop charger and I take off charger at 4:30 p.m. with 100% and by 10:00 p.m. is down to 10%. to make it through a full day without charging i use 3 batteries. and this is light use with Facebook twitter and browsing.
 

kart38

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I have a desktop charger and I take off charger at 4:30 p.m. with 100% and by 10:00 p.m. is down to 10%. to make it through a full day without charging i use 3 batteries. and this is light use with Facebook twitter and browsing.

That's not normal. If I were you, I would look into calibrating the battery and/or looking at battery stats and see what is using all that electricity.

Jason