Getting a Thunderbolt

[sandman1887]

Hi everyone, I am brand new to the forums here. I currently have two Motorola Droid X's (one for me and one for my wife) and I have a buddy that just 'upgraded' his and his wife's Thunderbolts to a couple iPhone 4s's. Anyway, I am going to get them both for a steal (about $100 worth of M:tG cards for the both of them). The phones themselves he got around april or may of 2011 and they have both been in cases every sense (his an otter box I think) so they shouldn't be damaged physically.

The reason I came on here was to check out what I can do with this new(to me) phone. I have my Droid X rooted and have Liberty ROM installed and use a GoLauncher setup (Dark Knight theme) and I am probably going to do something similar to my Thunderbolt as long as it is fairly simple. I know that by the time I got around to rooting my X, I just downloaded z4root and pressed one button and i was rooted. I am hoping that it is almost as easy with the TB by now. I currently have several root user only apps on my X and I would say I am a casual rooter (if that makes any sense) because I rooted and once I found a ROM that was stable and gave me the things I was looking for, i kept it with little to no change other than updates.

So I was hoping that some of you veteran TB users could give me a rundown of your current set up. You caould include any, all, or more than the following things:

1. Rooted or not
if roothed:
a. What is your setup like (ROM and such)
b. Is it overclocked? Speed?
c. what is your favorite thing about it being rooted? (the ability to customize obviously, but what customizations do you like specifically?)
2. Usage (heavy data, heavy talk, lots of video/music, games, combinations, etc)
3. Are you in a 4G coverage area (I am just south of Alexandria/D.C. so I am well covered)
4. If so, what are your speeds like after a year of people getting on to the LTE network?
5. What is your bettery life like?
6. What accessories do you recomend? (case, cradle, screen protectors, etc...)
7. Any other tips?

I am basically wanting this phone to do a few things:
1. Email- it is my primary email device, I only check email on the laptop if i need to.
2. GPS- my rooted Droid X uses a great GoogleMaps app included as a part of the latest Liberty ROM car package and i use this as my GPS in the car. I have a Garmin, but I love this so much better and want to keep using it.
3. Webbrowsing- This is not done too much, but I like to look up things i find interesting when i am out or when my wife has our computer tied up.
4. texting- I dont text too much myself, but i get lots from others and I want to be able to access them and read them fairly easy
5. Alarm clock. my phone is my alarm and it is the only one. in fact, we dont even own an actual clock anymore....
6. Facebook integration- I dont update too much, but I like being able to have all my contacts syncd up with no hassle


So please feel free to give me any tips that you have discovered along the way to help out with making the phone work better, especially in any of the areas i mentioned above. sorry for the wall of text first post...hopefully soon I will be able to help people out as well!

 

[FrankXS]

Hi everyone, I am brand new to the forums here....So please feel free to give me any tips that you have discovered

Truly, reading the existing forum messages will answer all of your questions. Wow... quite a lot of 'em too You lost me after "Hi everyone".

Welcome.

-Frank

 

[808TBolt]

man i almost got a Droid X back when it came out.

glad i waited until the Thunderbolt came out to upgrade .

 

[Ed Witles]

hhgregg has a tbolt for $49 (plus 2yrs). Even w/ all the stuff out now, I am happy w/ my bolt.

BAMF 1.11 and .9 (latest ota) radio. 3++ test kernel makes me a happy camper. oh, and a supply of rezound batteries.

No regrets of any kind.

 

[defcon999]

So I was hoping that some of you veteran TB users could give me a rundown of your current set up. You caould include any, all, or more than the following things:

1. Rooted or not
if roothed:
a. What is your setup like (ROM and such)
b. Is it overclocked? Speed?
c. what is your favorite thing about it being rooted? (the ability to customize obviously, but what customizations do you like specifically?)

There are many ROMS out there for the TB. The popular ones around here are BAMF, Gingeritis 3d, Infected Eternity (what I am running at the moment)), Zeus. If you are looking for a ASOP Rom (aka. Vanilla), then CM7 is the way to go. Most of the custom ROMS can be overclocked. Favorite thing about being rooted is the freedom I get to customize my phone. I was able to get rid of all the crapware.

2. Usage (heavy data, heavy talk, lots of video/music, games, combinations, etc)

I don't do a lot of streaming but i have unlimited data so that is a moot point.

3. Are you in a 4G coverage area (I am just south of Alexandria/D.C. so I am well covered)

I am in the Silicon Valley and the coverage is spot on

4. If so, what are your speeds like after a year of people getting on to the LTE network?

They will vary from time of the day for me. On the weekends, pretty fast....M-F from 8-5....can be slowed down also.

5. What is your bettery life like?

This is the only negative of the phone. You can tweek it to get good battery life and do a conditioning on the battery...but with heavy usage....you will probably get 2 to 4 hours max.

6. What accessories do you recomend? (case, cradle, screen protectors, etc...)

Definately screen protectors. I prefer the frosted kind versus the shinny ones...but that is only me. I have a cradle which is nice because it will put it into the ALARM Clock mode, but if you have a case on your phone, you will have to remove the phone from it in order to dock it. I hear the SEIDO cases you don't have too, but I can't confirm that. Also, make sure you get insurance on it because the screens are known NOT to be the most rugged. A replacement will cost you about $100 (per phone).

7. Any other tips?

When in doubt, come here and ask questions.

I am basically wanting this phone to do a few things:
1. Email- it is my primary email device, I only check email on the laptop if i need to.
2. GPS- my rooted Droid X uses a great GoogleMaps app included as a part of the latest Liberty ROM car package and i use this as my GPS in the car. I have a Garmin, but I love this so much better and want to keep using it.
3. Webbrowsing- This is not done too much, but I like to look up things i find interesting when i am out or when my wife has our computer tied up.
4. texting- I dont text too much myself, but i get lots from others and I want to be able to access them and read them fairly easy
5. Alarm clock. my phone is my alarm and it is the only one. in fact, we dont even own an actual clock anymore....
6. Facebook integration- I dont update too much, but I like being able to have all my contacts syncd up with no hassle

There is a really cool program called "Car Home" that is pretty cool. I use Vlingo which is similar (but not totally) to SIRI.

I also use a program called MIGHTY TEXT. There is a extension for GOOGLE CHROME browser on your PC that will let you text like you where texting from your phone but using your PC. The messages go to your phone and then to your friends.

I use the stock clock that comes with the phone. That is my alarm clock and as long as I remember to turn them on at night, I get woken up by the annoying rooster I have set for my alarm

 

[rcmarks314]

I agree with defcon99 I might also add to check Rootzwiki, XDA, Team BAMF, and Mikmik for the current ROMs for the Thunderbolt. Being that I have the best of both worlds rooted and stock (I just swap the SIM card) either way you can't go wrong. A small advantage of going to the devs sites is there are more answers and more posts so you have a little more knowledge to pick from. I don't want to take anything away from this site because the people here have always been more than helpful. But here we have 10's of pages of a certain ROM whereas the devs sites have 100's of pages. Forever is getting near 700 pages. I'm a light user so me saying I just got over 30 hours on the stock Bolt yesterday would be a misnomer to anyone who is a more heavy user. I don't have 4G so I can't say much about that. I like my Bolt and see no reason to change for the latest and greatest. While you're waiting for your new2u Bolt all I can say is read, read, read. there's a wealth of knowledge on this and other forums. Welcome to the Thunderbolt you will be happy with your choice.

 

[Atomic_Monkey]

Definitely get the rezound battery 1650 one. Once I got away from sense I fell in love with aosp Roms, especially cm7, but it is fun to switch around, Few phones have as much dev. Support and themes and such. the only thing I miss about sense is the way it automatically made text columns fit your zoom level. I keep 3g turned off unless I am doing a lot surfing, in which case I likely have an outlet nearby anyway. otherwise I don't mind leaving 4g on if I need to.

 

[Jude526]

You lost me at new to the forum too like with Frank But welcome and you will certainly love the bolt.
I am not rooted. I am happy with it being stock. I have had the Bolt since August and it is a great device.
I am not interested in any other phone that is out there. Unless there is a newer TBolt in the future, am staying with my current one. I love the kickstand as well. Never thought I would use it...wrong! I would be lost without it......

 

[FrankXS]

I love the kickstand as well. Never thought I would use it...wrong! I would be lost without it......

Agreed. Funny thing about that kickstand, it's become my "docking station"... haha.

-Frank

 

[defcon999]

Agreed. Funny thing about that kickstand, it's become my "docking station"... haha.

-Frank

+1 on the kickstand. I am so surprised more mfg. don't add that feature as a standard. I know you can get cases with it, but it is nice to have it as a feature and not an option.

 

[anon(394005)]

+2 on the kickstand props! LOL IMHO, it's a killer feature and one that has become a requirement for me on a future phone (which will be a while, in no hurry)!

 

[Spacemaker24]

After having my TB for less than a day I am loving this phone. But I hate all the bloatware and have never rooted before so I think I am going to dive in over the weekend.

 

[FrankXS]

After having my TB for less than a day I am loving this phone. But I hate all the bloatware and have never rooted before so I think I am going to dive in over the weekend.

Just my opinion -- everyone's got one ya'know...

Removing bloatware alone is a lousy reason for rooting and thereby taking on the total responsibility of phone updates/patches/fixes personally without any help or Over The Air updates from HTC.

The so-called "bloatware" is not even noticeable to me. Nada. In my experience, most of the folks who complain about "bloatware" are over-the-top Android enthusiasts who dislike anything non-Google on their phone. Not sure how Google gets a "pass" on Google bloatware. They're just another company pedling thier wares. It seems to be primarily a principal thing. And, we all know, there's a phone for that!

Funny too, if you hang out in the GNex forum a bit you may see (like I did) that a lot of folks are finding out that the "pure Google experience" ain't so functional. It needs a lot of help that is included in the HTC Sense phones right out of the box.

And about optional ROMS, a lot of them have this "bloatware" already removed and not available. Unfortunately, you are subject to the developer's idea of what is useful and what is bloatware. Their judgment does not usually jive with mine. Take a look at this thread: http://forums.androidcentral.com/th...49241-my-verizon-not-working.html#post1552500. This is just one example of the potential results of rooting.

Anyway, I PROMISE I am not against rooting. Just make sure you do it for the right reasons. Maybe so-called bloatware is good enough for you. But it isn't for me.

As I said, just my opinion -- and, everybody has one.

-Frank