Droid Thunderbolt
03-25-2011, 11:43 AM
#41
Safety Car
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-b...-with-android/
Cliffs:
- Task killers not really necessary since Eclair for Android. (Android has one built in)
- Only use it if you have a program that gets stuck or doesn't close and drains your battery by checking your battery logs
- Task killers may make your phone unstable by turning off system apps that are required by the phone
- Android is different from other OSes as it uses RAM to pre-load apps so its actually worst to have more free RAM because it has to load it from scratch
- Task killers may actually make your battery life worst due to the fact that Android will automatically reload the app you keep killing because of cross programming and monitor the apps that are running. (You've probably noticed that every time you kill an app it reappears even if you didn't open it. That's due to Android's cross programming which is why task killers are inefficient for the OS.)
As always, see what works best for you. I haven't used a task killer since forever now and I've been using Android for a while.
Last edited by CGFebTSX04; 03-25-2011 at 11:55 AM.
03-25-2011, 11:50 AM
#42
Safety Car
I know, soon they'll be there with Apple as far as apps, but there's a couple that I didn't see in their store that I want to use know. I'd say that Android would be the fun route to go, but when it comes to cell phones, I just want something that works, hell I still use a Motorola Razr, almost eight years old. And my wifes phone is pre VGA.
https://market.android.com/details?i...=search_result
https://market.android.com/details?i...ignetteNewDemo
Last edited by CGFebTSX04; 03-25-2011 at 11:53 AM.
03-27-2011, 09:14 PM
#43
Senior Moderator
Well, I picked up a Thunderbolt yesterday to replace my chewed up BB Tour.
So far, I can't see the reason for all the complaints about the battery. It made me nervous to read all the complaints, but I'm not experiencing poor battery life. I took my phone off the charger at 7am today, and at dinnertime tonight, I still had tons of life left. I wasn't on it constantly, but a decent amount - looking through the marketplace, using the camera, texting, generally playing with the phone since it's my first Android so I have to figure everything out.
I did like the iPhone, especially the nice retina display, but it costs more to purchase, the deductible is higher if lost/stolen, less free apps, and Apple charges $30/call to their help line if you need assistance. A lot of "dings" kept adding up against it. The 4G will be nice to have when I'm at work, too (we don't have it at home yet).
So far, I can't see the reason for all the complaints about the battery. It made me nervous to read all the complaints, but I'm not experiencing poor battery life. I took my phone off the charger at 7am today, and at dinnertime tonight, I still had tons of life left. I wasn't on it constantly, but a decent amount - looking through the marketplace, using the camera, texting, generally playing with the phone since it's my first Android so I have to figure everything out.
I did like the iPhone, especially the nice retina display, but it costs more to purchase, the deductible is higher if lost/stolen, less free apps, and Apple charges $30/call to their help line if you need assistance. A lot of "dings" kept adding up against it. The 4G will be nice to have when I'm at work, too (we don't have it at home yet).
03-27-2011, 09:20 PM
#44
^^ The battery for the T Bolt is the biggest put into any modern cell phone, at least that what was said on a unboxing video I saw on youtube for the phone. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're doing a lot of 4G.
Me, I went with the iPhone, just too many apps that I wanted, that android doesn't currently have, plus the wife got one as well.
Me, I went with the iPhone, just too many apps that I wanted, that android doesn't currently have, plus the wife got one as well.
03-27-2011, 09:23 PM
#45
Senior Moderator
^^ The battery for the T Bolt is the biggest put into any modern cell phone, at least that what was said on a unboxing video I saw on youtube for the phone. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're doing a lot of 4G.
Me, I went with the iPhone, just too many apps that I wanted, that android doesn't currently have, plus the wife got one as well.
Me, I went with the iPhone, just too many apps that I wanted, that android doesn't currently have, plus the wife got one as well.
I think I would have been happy with either one.
03-28-2011, 11:54 AM
#46
Safety Car
Android's battery is comparable to the iPhone's which is why I always wondered why people keep saying its bad. At least with Android phones you can have a spare battery at hand if you really need it and it doesn't cost that much. When I compare my phone to my gf's 3GS, it actually has better battery life. I will agree though, Android's battery life is worst compared to a dumbphone or a Blackberry phone but you also have to remember that you can do a lot more things with the phone.
I'm used to the battery life since I've had a Windows Mobile phone back in the day and all my previous phones were smartphones (before Apple started using that word) prior to owning an Android device so the battery to me was actually an improvement. I had a Nokia N95 before my first Android device and let me tell you that thing sucked battery like no other. It was a solid phone though.
I'm used to the battery life since I've had a Windows Mobile phone back in the day and all my previous phones were smartphones (before Apple started using that word) prior to owning an Android device so the battery to me was actually an improvement. I had a Nokia N95 before my first Android device and let me tell you that thing sucked battery like no other. It was a solid phone though.
04-04-2011, 11:56 AM
#49
yes i guess ill have to just keep a backup spare global phone to use when i travel abroad... either that or utilize the loan a phone program???
how's the hotspot functionaility on the phone? does vzw charge extra for the feature like it did with lthether??? i plan to connect my wifi ipad to it when im on the road and don't have access to internet?
how's the hotspot functionaility on the phone? does vzw charge extra for the feature like it did with lthether??? i plan to connect my wifi ipad to it when im on the road and don't have access to internet?
04-04-2011, 12:14 PM
#50
Safety Car
Yeah just go with the spare global phone. I'm not sure how the rates are for Verizon's international plans but you'll probably save more money just switching to a local SIM card whenever you travel.
I don't have the phone but it should be just like every Android phone in terms of hotspot functionality. Verizon does charge to tether but you can get away with not paying so long as you don't use too much data by two ways:
1. USB tethering doesn't require root (You'll need to plug the phone in to the laptop) and using an app like PDANet or the many others out there.
2. Wifi tethering requires root and also can be done using PDANet or the many other apps out in the market.
By contract you're supposed to be paying to tether but as long as you're not using too much data, they most likely won't mind. They only seem to go after heavy data users.
I don't have the phone but it should be just like every Android phone in terms of hotspot functionality. Verizon does charge to tether but you can get away with not paying so long as you don't use too much data by two ways:
1. USB tethering doesn't require root (You'll need to plug the phone in to the laptop) and using an app like PDANet or the many others out there.
2. Wifi tethering requires root and also can be done using PDANet or the many other apps out in the market.
By contract you're supposed to be paying to tether but as long as you're not using too much data, they most likely won't mind. They only seem to go after heavy data users.
04-08-2011, 11:29 AM
#53
Safety Car
Have you guys seen this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1021404
They've managed to OC the Thunderbolt to 1.92 GHz! That's insane. Also they have it running at 1.41 GHz with an Undervolt so it should save some battery if you don't feel like running at 1.92 GHz.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1021404
They've managed to OC the Thunderbolt to 1.92 GHz! That's insane. Also they have it running at 1.41 GHz with an Undervolt so it should save some battery if you don't feel like running at 1.92 GHz.
FAQ
1) Why 1.41Ghz? - my kernel's 1.41 runs very close to stock voltage at 1Ghz, and with the other frequencies undervolted you should realize longer battery life. If you go any higher, you're going to experience poor battery life since you need to use more juice to support higher frequency. Plus most of you probably can't tell the difference between 1.4 and 1.8.
2) Why release so often? - I try to minimize # of changes to at most 2-3 per release so we can easily pinpoint any benefits or harm my code changes or tweaks made.
3) What is enable_swap.zip and why do i need it? - Flashing the zip will create a 200MB swap file (at next boot) and activate the swapfile on every boot. Completely optional. Read more about it here.
1) Why 1.41Ghz? - my kernel's 1.41 runs very close to stock voltage at 1Ghz, and with the other frequencies undervolted you should realize longer battery life. If you go any higher, you're going to experience poor battery life since you need to use more juice to support higher frequency. Plus most of you probably can't tell the difference between 1.4 and 1.8.
2) Why release so often? - I try to minimize # of changes to at most 2-3 per release so we can easily pinpoint any benefits or harm my code changes or tweaks made.
3) What is enable_swap.zip and why do i need it? - Flashing the zip will create a 200MB swap file (at next boot) and activate the swapfile on every boot. Completely optional. Read more about it here.
04-08-2011, 11:44 AM
#54
Intermediate
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Stunning Pictures:
http://androidforums.com/htc-thunder...xing-pics.html
4G Speed Test Video
48 mbps down and 34 mbps up!!! NUTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VXeuBkzMlw
http://androidforums.com/htc-thunder...xing-pics.html
4G Speed Test Video
48 mbps down and 34 mbps up!!! NUTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VXeuBkzMlw
what???? on 4g?? maybe wifi but damm if that is 4g than that shait is fast, highly doubt it tho
here is my iphone 4 on wifi
Last edited by av6Batmobile; 04-08-2011 at 11:52 AM.
04-08-2011, 11:55 AM
#55
Safety Car
And yes, I do believe Thunderbolt owners are getting speeds like you see. But you also have to account network congestion in the future and peak times, etc so YMMV. With that said, as Verizon and Sprint lay more of their infrastructure, they should be able to manage the congestion and maybe even increase the speeds a little more.
Top on the list is the speed requirement. The ITU defines 4G or IMT-Advanced as technology that offers download speeds of 100Mbps on mobile devices or 1Gbps on fixed wireless connections. The technologies used by the four major carriers in the U.S. today aren't as fast as that.
04-08-2011, 03:05 PM
#57
Senior Moderator
Regions Leader
Regions Leader
oh yeah....the extened battery is the shit so far....
unplugged the phone at 6am this morning, used it as normal and Im still at 85%.....now that I can handle.
unplugged the phone at 6am this morning, used it as normal and Im still at 85%.....now that I can handle.
04-08-2011, 05:56 PM
#58
Moderator
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Regional Coordinator (Southeast)
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Mooresville, NC
Age: 37
Posts: 43,461
Received 3,656 Likes
on
2,490 Posts
Debating on this phone as an upgrade for my Incredible. Was actually going to pass but now that Verizon is getting rid of one year contracts I can't decide if I want to pick this up to get one last new phone on a one year contract. I don't want to wait 20 months for new phones and the idea of having to possibly start paying full retail sucks.
04-08-2011, 08:53 PM
#59
Safety Car
The next LTE phone Verizon up their sleeve is the Droid Bionic which hasn't been given a release date yet and is Verizon's Motorola Atrix except the 512 MB of RAM unless they decide to change that spec last minute since they haven't published a release date. Other phones that are coming out in the next few weeks will be 3G phones.
Verizon will be getting rid of the 1 year contracts but word right now is that they will be doing a month-to-month $50 unlimited everything except data:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/04/08...and-text-plan/
If this is true, then its not too bad of a tradeoff for losing the 1 year contract. The only issue is how much do you have to pay upfront for the device since it most likely won't be subsidized.
Verizon will be getting rid of the 1 year contracts but word right now is that they will be doing a month-to-month $50 unlimited everything except data:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/04/08...and-text-plan/
If this is true, then its not too bad of a tradeoff for losing the 1 year contract. The only issue is how much do you have to pay upfront for the device since it most likely won't be subsidized.
04-11-2011, 04:28 PM
#60
Safety Car
Skype with Video calling now out for the Thunderbolt:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/04/11...eo-on-android/
Don't think it works for other Android devices yet. Hopefully XDA will fix that.
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/04/11...eo-on-android/
Don't think it works for other Android devices yet. Hopefully XDA will fix that.
04-11-2011, 06:43 PM
#62
Safety Car
I'm guessing you're talking about MMS pics? If that's the case, that's just the stock messaging app at work. While viewing the picture tap on it then hit pause. Or you could download the many alternative SMS apps in the market like Handcent SMS, Chomp SMS, or Go SMS as they handle MMS a bit better.
If its not about that, you can disregard the whole post. lol.
04-13-2011, 10:13 PM
#64
I shave my change purse
Thread Starter
I regularly get about 12-15mbps and bursts as high as 25-28mpbs on 4G. What you are seeing is real. The Uploads I see are about 5-8 mbps. The video above us using the speedtest.net app which doesn't calculate upload properly, so it should a false upload.
04-13-2011, 10:37 PM
#65
Banned
T-mobile just launched a HTC phone thats 4.3in 1080p camcorder 1.2ghz dual core snapdragon 8mp cam. It's a EVO 3D w/o the 3D. It also gets sense 3.0. I'm hearing my EVO is getting Sense 2.3 with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update with HTC watch where you can watch streamimg movies (680 Titles so far). The Thunderbolt was outdone pretty fast. Thunderbolt is also getting a firmware update soon.
http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2011/04/12/t...g-this-summer/
http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2011/04/12/t...g-this-summer/
Last edited by ParaSurfer1979; 04-13-2011 at 10:45 PM.
04-13-2011, 10:46 PM
#66
Safety Car
Its not technically out yet but yeah the specs look great. HTC is gonna be locking bootloaders from here on out. Will make it harder for devs to port CyanogenMod, MIUI, and other custom ROMs to the phones. Won't affect most users but for those looking for a phone that'll get regular updates from the XDA community, might want to look elsewhere.
04-14-2011, 12:05 PM
#69
I shave my change purse
Thread Starter
If you like to tinker and possibly root in the future, the thunderbolt is a good way to go. It is plenty powerful and one of the last of the "rootable" phones.
HTC, Moto, Samsung, etc... will be locking down their boot loaders from here on in.
Last edited by WILLDOGS; 04-14-2011 at 12:08 PM.
04-14-2011, 12:29 PM
#70
Safety Car
Bionic is sure going to be a cool phone but it will be locked down tighter than nuns pu**y.
If you like to tinker and possibly root in the future, the thunderbolt is a good way to go. It is plenty powerful and one of the last of the "rootable" phones.
HTC, Moto, Samsung, etc... will be locking down their boot loaders from here on in.
If you like to tinker and possibly root in the future, the thunderbolt is a good way to go. It is plenty powerful and one of the last of the "rootable" phones.
HTC, Moto, Samsung, etc... will be locking down their boot loaders from here on in.
Moto has stated they will not unlock their bootloaders and if you want a phone with an unlocked bootloader to look elsewhere. They also seem to have the crappiest upgrade support for Android phones (worst than Samsung in the US) but that could also be related to them releasing a bunch of crappy phones like the CLIQ, CLIQ XT, Flipout, Citrus, Devour (this was the one advertised at the Superbowl with Megan Fox) all of which never got an upgrade even though some of them are capable of it.They only seem to upgrade their top of the line phones and its kinda hard to tell at the moment where the Bionic stands because the Droid X2 is also coming out which supposedly will be dual core. With all of that said though, if you don't care too much about future updates, then a locked bootloader phone will be fine. If you want something that'll get updates unofficially by XDA then get a phone that'll have an unlocked bootloader.
So far, LG and Sony Ericsson will allow you to unlock the bootloaders. Samsung right now isn't saying but it'll most likely be locked unless they're smart.
04-14-2011, 07:06 PM
#71
Senior Moderator
04-14-2011, 09:01 PM
#72
My Garage
Android Market lets you stream apps directly to your devices.
Did you really think Apple would do something that would eliminate their own software? They care about Apple and only Apple.
Last edited by GIBSON6594; 04-14-2011 at 09:05 PM.
04-14-2011, 09:42 PM
#73
I'd rather have apps and OS, in one location, knowing they work for my phone. I've read about people upgrading their phones to a newer version of Android and it not work, and the same with apps.
04-14-2011, 10:25 PM
#74
Safety Car
Hmm...I've never run across this. I've been using Android for a while now. Besides, its very easy to contact the developer to fix bugs which don't have to go through an approval process like apple's to send out fixes. They get fixed immediately. (Of course this is relative to the app developer as well. Some just suck at support but that's always why you read reviews.)
04-14-2011, 10:47 PM
#75
Senior Moderator
Still liking my Tbolt so far. There are a handful of things that are annoying coming from BB, but overall, I like the phone much better. It's fast as hell and the big screen is awesome. I am usually on WiFi and only have 3G at home, but 4G at work. 4G is stupid fast, but sucks the juice pretty good. Have to bring my charger to work with me (found that out the hard way one day). I might get that extended battery for the times I'm on the go and don't have a chance to charge during the day.
04-14-2011, 11:36 PM
#76
My Garage
That's never happened to me and I've been through several OS, both Google and Non-Google.
04-14-2011, 11:51 PM
#77
Safety Car
I've been using Android since Cupcake (1.5) and now running Gingerbead (2.3.3) and have never came across an app that stopped working after an update. Most apps that didn't work on my HTC Ion were due to hardware limitations and not because I updated to a newer version of Android.
The fact that Apple ties your data to one computer is pretty annoying. If you wanted to transfer files to your phone, you couldn't do it without that computer unless you jailbreak it. With Android, you can store your apps in the cloud, on an SD Card, on someone else's computer and install, uninstall, share those files all from the phone without having to root.
The fact that Apple ties your data to one computer is pretty annoying. If you wanted to transfer files to your phone, you couldn't do it without that computer unless you jailbreak it. With Android, you can store your apps in the cloud, on an SD Card, on someone else's computer and install, uninstall, share those files all from the phone without having to root.
04-18-2011, 08:42 AM
#79
Been using this phone for a few weeks. Love Android, wouldn't switch to anything else. Where I live is just 3G until they get the LTE going sometime in Q3. When I first got it the battery life was awful. I dimmed the screen down, turned off auto-brightness, and turned off background data. Now I easily make it through the day on 1 charge.