HTC Thunderbolt

AsSiMiLaTeD

Can you surf and talk at the same time on the Thunderbolt?

drselect

This report http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2011/03/28/verizons-htc-thunderbolt-beast-4g-speed-size/ talks about a larger battery http://www.verizonwireless.com/thunderbolt-trade-extended-battery-2750-mah-cover.shtml
I wonder if its worth the extra $$ and weight?\
Was looking at replacing a palm pre with the TB until I started reading about the battery which is the biggest complaint I have with the palm.

MacLeod

I havent done any speed tests because I dont care enough but from the same 5 or 6 sites I visit several times a day, my TB is downloading them as fast as my home connection. I'm sure my DSL is faster in pure download speed but what I'm saying is that in "real world" web surfing, Verizon's 3G is about as fast and there is no way its "atrociously slow".

On 4G, yes the TB can surf and talk at the same time. Not on 3G though.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I was thinking more in terms of using the phone to tether, where actual speeds become more important. My only experience on Verizon 3G was not good, an am wondering if it was the phone.

I'm considering making a switch given that I can get 4G here where I'm at, but my wife is an iPhone person and will be tied to their 3G service so I'd like to see how well that would work.

Would you midn running a quick speed test when you have a sec, the app is free and only takes a couple seconds to run?

Thanks

exalted512

in drselect's link, i thought I read where you can talk/browse on 3G with the TB.
-Cody

MacLeod

I ran the SpeedTest app and got 1600 kbps download and 950 kbps upload on 3G. So yeah, much slower than my DSL speed which is well over 6000 IIRC last time I ran a speed test on it. I don't know what the other networks are getting but I can't imagine it being much more than that.

exalted512

919 down 507 up on my N1 with T-Mo. I'd say those speeds are pretty damn good! Speeds on verizon's 4g is just amazing.
-Cody

drselect

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Can you surf and talk at the same time on the Thunderbolt?

From the article:
"The HTC ThunderBolt is able to send and receive data and carry voice calls simultaneously. It the first of many Verizon Wireless smartphones that will be able to carry voice calls while moving data, and it can do so over Verizon?s new 4G LTE network as well as its older 3G EVDO network. I tested this capability a great deal over the past week, and it has worked flawlessly for me. Whether connected to 3G or 4G, apps and web pages on the ThunderBolt continue to hustle along while voice calls are being made. I?m not sure if this new technology plays a role in the noticeably degraded audio quality I noted above, but the functionality is there so and many users will be elated."

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2011/03/28/verizons-htc-thunderbolt-beast-4g-speed-size/#ixzz1I0k8biND

AsSiMiLaTeD

MacLeod wrote: »

I ran the SpeedTest app and got 1600 kbps download and 950 kbps upload on 3G. So yeah, much slower than my DSL speed which is well over 6000 IIRC last time I ran a speed test on it. I don't know what the other networks are getting but I can't imagine it being much more than that.

No, that's actually very good. And you're sure you're not on 4G?

AsSiMiLaTeD

And if you're on 3G, can you confirm that you can talk and surf at the same time?

MacLeod

Yup, we dont have 3G here in Chattanooga.

Ive ran the test a few more times. I drive a beer truck so I'm all over town and ran it at each of my last few stops. With 4 bars signal strength I got that 1600 earlier and I just got 1920 sitting here downtown with 4 bars. However I've got 500 a couple times and 750 a block away from where I just got the 1920. So Id say 1000 would be the average to expect.

And as I'm typing and sending this response, I'm also listening to my voice mail on the speaker phone so I guess that is a yes on talk/surf on 3G. I'll be damned.

exalted512

MacLeod wrote: »

Yup, we dont have 3G here in Chattanooga.

you suck at typing
-Cody

MacLeod

God ain't that the truth. I just bang out whatever crosses my little brain then hit "submit" then proof read it. You'd think that after all the stupid type-o's I've made over the years that I'd slow down a little.

audiobliss

Just got back from the Verizon store with a new Thunderbolt! I went ahead and disabled 4G so I'm just on 3G. (Don't have 4G here in Arkansas anyways.) I'm very impressed with the speed of internet browsing, and just googled pictures of BMW's while talking to a friend on it. I'm very pleased with it so far!

drselect

audiobliss wrote: »

Just got back from the Verizon store with a new Thunderbolt! I went ahead and disabled 4G so I'm just on 3G. (Don't have 4G here in Arkansas anyways.)

Ok I realize u can't believe everthing you read on the internet but how did you disable the 4G because according to this article http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2011/03/28/verizons-htc-thunderbolt-beast-4g-speed-size/#ixzz1I0k8biND you don't have the option of doing that. Bye the way I was told they are in the process of putting up 4 towers in central ARK for 4G so you might be getting it soon.

exalted512

drselect wrote: »

Ok I realize u can't believe everthing you read on the internet but how did you disable the 4G because according to this article http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2011/03/28/verizons-htc-thunderbolt-beast-4g-speed-size/#ixzz1I0k8biND you don't have the option of doing that. Bye the way I was told they are in the process of putting up 4 towers in central ARK for 4G so you might be getting it soon.

http://tinyurl.com/69zene8

drselect

exalted512 wrote: »

http://tinyurl.com/69zene8

Thanks.

Now I am doing some searching on the bigger battery. Some say its worth it other say its a joke.

audiobliss

I suppose Cody's link helped you with that. But if you dial *#*#4636#*#* it'll take you to a menu where you can select "CDMA auto (PRL)" instead of "CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto".

MacLeod

Nice find Cody. I just tried it so hopefully that will make a difference. Hysterical link too by the way. :biggrin:

exalted512

I do it to Michael all the time. He loves it.
-Cody

avelanchefan

Chiming in here...have had the TB since day one. Love everything about it. Huge increase in speed on my 3G network over my HTC Eris. I did not find that the mobile hotspot works all that great. Will do some more testing on that soon.

As for the battery life it is what I expected. But it is much better than I had hoped for. Playing games will drain it incredibly fast. Normal talk and text for me seems like it is on par with the Eris, maybe a little quicker battery drain, but not enough for me to go out and buy a bigger battery. But I also have the luxury of being able to charge it at work whenever I want to also.

Jstas

Doesn't the Thunderbolt have multiple transmitters? The Windows Mobile capable phones from HTC do so even if your network doesn't support data and voice at the same time, if your phone has dual transmitters, you can still do it.

Actually, now that I look, the HTC Arrive doesn't do it. That's the main reason I am still on WinMobile 6.5 Pro. I like it better than the new Windows Mobile. If they come out with a dual tramnsmitter Arrive and Win Mobile 7 Pro, I'll upgrade.

Transmitter specs for the HTC Touch Pro 2:
CDMA: Dual-band 800/1900MHz, CDMA2000 1xRTT/1xEVDO rev. A, and IS-95A/B voice or data, with up to 1.8 Mbps up-link and 3.1Mbps down-link speeds

It'll run on CDMA or GSM depending on what's available. Also, the SIM card capability is unlocked so if I went to say, China, I could buy a SIM car there for $5 U.S. and get phone service on a pay for usage plan and not have to buy a new phone. When I leave, swap my old Sprint SIM card back in, reboot and I'm good to go. It's sweet and it pretty much kicks every other smartphone's butt. IMO at least. And yes, that international usage stuff matters to me because I will likely have to start making trips overseas to data centers in the near future. Not something I'm looking forward to.

exalted512

I thought most sim card phones now were global phones that you can use anywhere as long as you have the appropriate sim card?
-Cody

Jstas

exalted512 wrote: »

I thought most sim card phones now were global phones that you can use anywhere as long as you have the appropriate sim card?
-Cody

As far as I know, T-mobile, AT&T and Verizon are all locked. AT&T you gotta call ahead and they will unlock the phone for a SIM card swap while oversees. That's how we have to do it with the Crackberrys at work. Dunno about Verizon or T-mobile. All I do with Sprint is tell them I'm heading overseas so they don't shut my phone off as stolen or anything.

rayslifecycle

My phones battery only lasts a couple of hours when I play angry birds.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Jstas wrote: »

As far as I know, T-mobile, AT&T and Verizon are all locked. AT&T you gotta call ahead and they will unlock the phone for a SIM card swap while oversees. That's how we have to do it with the Crackberrys at work. Dunno about Verizon or T-mobile. All I do with Sprint is tell them I'm heading overseas so they don't shut my phone off as stolen or anything.

I believe T-Mo is the same as AT&T, but didn't think Verizon phones used SIM cards and were more limited in the regard, I could be wrong though.

Jstas

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I believe T-Mo is the same as AT&T, but didn't think Verizon phones used SIM cards and were more limited in the regard, I could be wrong though.

International capable phones need to use SIM cards 'cause that's how GSM works. Verizon has them because my mom got one for their cruise a couple years ago since there's no cell service on the boat. CDMA is a global standard as well but since the phone itself is addressed and not the SIM card, you can't just waltz between networks willy nilly.

exalted512

Jstas wrote: »

As far as I know, T-mobile, AT&T and Verizon are all locked. AT&T you gotta call ahead and they will unlock the phone for a SIM card swap while oversees. That's how we have to do it with the Crackberrys at work. Dunno about Verizon or T-mobile. All I do with Sprint is tell them I'm heading overseas so they don't shut my phone off as stolen or anything.

Ahh, ok. That's cool. Speaking of Crackberry's, I thought you were a Crackberry/no touchscreen guy?
-Cody

Jstas

exalted512 wrote: »

Ahh, ok. That's cool. Speaking of Crackberry's, I thought you were a Crackberry/no touchscreen guy?
-Cody

HTC Touch Pro 2 has a slide out keyboard. Has a stylus too even though you can use your finger to do stuff too if you like. And yeah, I like the Crackberrys but honestly Windows Mobile 6.X is light years beyond the older versions and since the HTC Touch Pro 2 comes with the "Professional" version, it's more capable than even the Windows Mobile 7.

All the smartphones, including the iPhone, tout their ability to integrate in to networks easily but they all need some level of backend support to really be integrated. That's all fine and dandy for a company with the money and resources to put up the infrastructure but for a personal phone, it sucks. The Windows phone, it integrates in to my network at home just like a laptop or a desktop system would. I can even remote desktop to it. I bought a single 3rd party app that lets me get around the stuff that Microsoft locks out of typical Windows Mobile installs. So now I have direct access to network shares, registry files and expanded Task Manager functionality. As soon as I get in range of my network at home, my files begin replicating with my file server and my MP3's and any movies I loaded to the phone reconcile. I don't even have to think about it. Like Ron Popiel, I set it and forget it. THAT'S integration. Not these sorry excuses everyone else has.

The phone is fast, blazingly fast compared to others, even the iPhone. It's pretty solid and stable too. It has dual transmitters so even though the network tech that Sprint uses doesn't support data and voice, the phone does. There are only two drawbacks. One, the camera doesn't have a flash and two, the phone is a bit of a brick compared to the others. But, with a 32GB MicroSD card, it's a laptop that fits in my hand and it does everything I ask it to and more.

exalted512

Sweet. Remote desktop would be awesome. My Android works well enough, although I wish it did integrate slightly better with my work calendar (outlook). I think getting the Touchdown app would solve that...but then I'd be buying another app...dont really want to spend the money on it.

I use my flash as a flashlight so much its not even funny. That'd seriously be a deal breaker for me now, where it wasnt before I had this phone.

As far as bulky, thats the price you pay with a slide out keyboard. I loved my Tilt when I had it (windows based), but the slide out keyboard made it huge. Uncomfortable to carry in a pocket, so I had to get a belt clip for it which I wasnt really a fan of. Otherwise, great phone. I forgot about a small paper I had to type and email to my teacher before class. She asked me where it was and in my head I'm thinking "crap, I completely forgot about that", but I told her I had just sent it so it might take a few minutes. Typed up the whole thing on Word and emailed it to her before the end of class. She let me know she got it. Crisis adverted!

Cant do that now. But really, that was the only time I ever used that feature. I played with a HD2. Wasnt all that impressed, but by now, I'm probably biased and partial to what I'm used to.
-Cody