Official ThunderBolt thread

[Pliablemoose]

Owned one for a bit over a month now, rooted it this weekend.

Looking for rom suggestions...

Am very happy with the community tethering app over the supplied one, the OEM tether seems to drop the network and turn on & off intermittently, using andriod wifi tether 3.0 for a day now, and it's trouble free thus far.

Was reading today how the LTE implementation is a kludge in the ThundBolt, and what they did was to put in a wireless hot spot chip in addition to the CDMA chip to get the LTE and voice on the same device.

Pros for me:

Speed, dear god this thing is blistering fast, we're talking 20+MPS up. I tether exclusively for internet at home, so it's a major plus.

Cons:

Battery life is similar to the EVO in factory form. You can almost watch the battery meter drain. I added the OEM extended battery so the thing is functional for a whole day.

 

[Bateluer]

www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/24/download-cyanogenmod-7-for-the-htc-thunderbolt-pre-alpha/

CM is coming for it, probably 7.1 maybe. The above is pre-alpha, expect problems. I need to root mine still.

-USB Tethering does not work.
-Phone Testing menu does not display correct radio options. If you play with it, you will have to relfash a Stock based rom to 4G back.
-Possible Data/Voice bugs and issues.
-Possible Mic issues on phone calls (try a reboot)

If you disable the 4G unless needed, the TB should last a full day pretty easily though. Mine is usually at 30% when I turn in for the night.

 

[stag3]

sweet, i just ordered my thunderbolt on the amazon deal
i get it supposedly Wednesday

any apps besides the turn off the 4g when not browsing must haves?

 

[postaled]

I've been liking Virus rom so far. I'm also running one of the BAMF kernels if I remember correctly.

It is one with a max OC of 1.4ghz.

Had the phone off the charger for 3 hours now and still at 95%, Haven't made any calls but have been checking whenever I get a text/e-mail(I have extended battery).

I can normally go with only charging it on my car charger and never at home.

Remember that whenever you flash it will replace the kernel so if you are using an OC kernel and then flash you will have to reflash the kernel you want back on.

 

[v0id]

Well, after the Hamlet act in my other thread, I ended up ordering the Thunderbolt from Amazon for $130 as well.

I'm sure I could find this information without too much difficulty, but are any of you aware of good noob resources/guides/forums etc. explaining rooting, installing ROMs, hardware tweaks, etc., for the Thunderbolt?

 

[hanoverphist]

Well, after the Hamlet act in my other thread, I ended up ordering the Thunderbolt from Amazon for $130 as well.

I'm sure I could find this information without too much difficulty, but are any of you aware of good noob resources/guides/forums etc. explaining rooting, installing ROMs, hardware tweaks, etc., for the Thunderbolt?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=940


there ya go

 

[v0id]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=940


there ya go

Thanks buddy. I'll take a look.

 

[sweetrugger]

Here is another good resource

http://www.thunderboltforums.com/index.php

 

[hans007]

i have one of these too. that amzon deal was amazing, wish i had gotten in on that. i desperately needed a new phone so i had to pay $230 + $50 tax for mine (on a 1 year deal with a corporate discount though).

great phone, but i can't wait for that CM7 build to be finished. I have had mostly stock or cyanogen'd phones thus far (g1 , mytouch slide, mytouch 3g, g2), and i just hate skins (had a vibrant for like a week and well... meh).

 

[stag3]

so on the home screen where the clock is, how do you get it to show the city you're in and display that weather there?
i have both verizon and google gps turned on, looked in settings of the weather thing and nowhere in there can i specify where i am etc..

mine just says california constantly

 

[sweetrugger]

so on the home screen where the clock is, how do you get it to show the city you're in and display that weather there?
i have both verizon and google gps turned on, looked in settings of the weather thing and nowhere in there can i specify where i am etc..

mine just says california constantly

I live in a city that's not one of the default cities in the weather app (Pittsburg, CA). When I first got my phone, it placed me in Warren, PA. The next day, it was Dakar Region (don't know where that is). I solution was to turn OFF the Verizon location services, and only use Google. So far, that seems to work. If I unlock the phone and I'm in a different location that the phone shows (say I come to work in San Francisco, and the phone still shows Pittsburg), I go into the weather app, hit the reload button, and then go back to the home screen.

 

[stag3]

ah ok i was wondering why i couldn't add my city, it seemed super limited
it had NY for city 2 and some place in AZ as city 1, it will not let me delete city 1 under locations

so far with 4g turned off (no 4g out here yet) and screen at min brightness, no animations etc... battey life kinda sucks still, it went down to 1/2 super fast, maybe an hour or so of just messing with it from a full charge.

i've dl'd angry birds and dolphin HD so far, any other must have apps?

 

[Saint Nick]

I'm really interested in this phone but really concerned with battery life for some reason...will I have to pretty much take a charger with me everywhere I go, or will I just need to likely charge it nightly? I am also going to likely get the extended battery if they offer one.

I am eligible for new every two + $50 credit, which puts the phone at $150 with a two year contract. Is that decent?

 

[Bateluer]

I'm really interested in this phone but really concerned with battery life for some reason...will I have to pretty much take a charger with me everywhere I go, or will I just need to likely charge it nightly? I am also going to likely get the extended battery if they offer one.

I keep a cable in my work bag, but I've never actually used it. Work in IT at a desk, so some mid day charging is sometimes needed depending on heavily I use the phone. Most of the time, the TB lasts from the time I unplug it around 10am to the time I go to bed the next day around 2am.

With heavy usage, I don't think its out the question to keep a car charger with you either. Depends on how heavy you use it. The TB is a good phone, but its definitely hard on the battery. Once it has CM available for it, we'll see some battery life improvements too.

 

[stag3]

yes this is my first cycle for the battery, from what i've read it does improve after awhile.

 

[v0id]

For other new Thunderbolt owners like me, check out this great thread on improving your battery life:

http://www.thunderboltforums.com/fo...aqs/440-battery-drain-tricks-suggestions.html

Even if you don't do all these things, there are still some good suggestions there.

I'm pretty happy with the Tbolt so far, but have just started to mess around with it. Seems really fast to me, but I am coming from an ancient iPhone 3G.

A few random questions:

-I haven't transferred any of my music to the SD card but will soon, and want to begin using the phone to listen to some tunes at the gym, etc like I have been with the iPhone. Is the default Android music app tolerable compared to the iOS player, or should I look into something else?

-Is Launcher Pro a significant upgrade from the default HTC Sense? I guess I should just try it and see how it works.

-For those of you have rooted, what kernels/ROMs are you using?

 

[Pliablemoose]

I'm rooted, but using stock rom. Am waiting for the rom's to mature a bit.

Battery life is short, but I wouldn't choose any other phone. I use the HTC extended battery and am very happy.

 

[Bateluer]

-I haven't transferred any of my music to the SD card but will soon, and want to begin using the phone to listen to some tunes at the gym, etc like I have been with the iPhone. Is the default Android music app tolerable compared to the iOS player, or should I look into something else?

-Is Launcher Pro a significant upgrade from the default HTC Sense? I guess I should just try it and see how it works.

-For those of you have rooted, what kernels/ROMs are you using?

The stock music player plays most music files fine. There's apps that expand that, but I've never had a need to use them. I just want my songs to play when I hit the Play button.

Sense is the least shitty of the manufacturer UIs. I'd use LP over Sense myself, but you will lose some of the HTC widgets. I wish the Alarm Clock and Gallery were lost by switching to LP or ADW, but sadly, you'll be stuck with that junk unless you root. You will see a big speed and responsiveness from LP over Sense though.

I have not rooted the phone yet. Most of the ROMs are hack and tweak based. Not to say they aren't good, but I want an AOSP build. I intend to kick in a big donation to CM when they start uploading RC quality builds for the TB, and then I will root the phone.

 

[Bateluer]

FYI guys, update inbound.

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/04/2...tivity-fixes-sms-bugs-and-speeds-up-gps-load/

Same one that leaked a week ago on XDA. You will lose root if you flash this, the XDA thread has a pre-rooted version.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Just installed das BAMF 1.6 and a 1.2 ghz kernel.

Impressed so far. Hopefully the new radio in the official update fixes some gps issues.

 

[Mopetar]

I'm really interested in this phone but really concerned with battery life for some reason...will I have to pretty much take a charger with me everywhere I go, or will I just need to likely charge it nightly?

It's not all that bad unless you're pulling down a lot of data. 4G will murder the battery life, so stick with WiFi if possible, as even the battery life with 3G isn't terribly great.

You'll definitely be able to make it through the day on a single charge unless you're using it constantly.

Sense is the least shitty of the manufacturer UIs.

That's like saying carcinoma is the least crappy form of cancer. They're all terribly compared to stock Android. At least they're working on getting CyanogenMod up and running on the device.

 

[Chess]

I'm rooted, but using stock rom. Am waiting for the rom's to mature a bit.

Battery life is short, but I wouldn't choose any other phone. I use the HTC extended battery and am very happy.

I am rooted as well, and am on the stock rom.... I am going to start running a new kernel soon i believe....

 

[fbrdphreak]

That's like saying carcinoma is the least crappy form of cancer. They're all terribly compared to stock Android. At least they're working on getting CyanogenMod up and running on the device.

Says you. Vanilla Android is plan and relatively inflexible to me. Very little launcher customization and flexibility.

 

[MikeMike]

The only reason I would get the thunderbolt is so I could cancel my internet... plug in the thunderbolt, turn on hotspot, boom faster internet than i have already...

 

[Bateluer]

That's like saying carcinoma is the least crappy form of cancer. They're all terribly compared to stock Android. At least they're working on getting CyanogenMod up and running on the device.

Says you. Vanilla Android is plan and relatively inflexible to me. Very little launcher customization and flexibility.

The main reason people want vanilla Android is because its so light. Sense, Blur, TW, LG, Espresso, etc, all add a ton bloatware to the phone, and in only add a little value to the device. Stock Android plus Launcher Pro or ADW is so far above the manufacturer UIs its almost laughable. Seriously, those launcher programs have a single developer behind them and they've written better launchers than multiple multi-million dollar international corporations.

The only reason I would get the thunderbolt is so I could cancel my internet... plug in the thunderbolt, turn on hotspot, boom faster internet than i have already...

Careful with that. Even if pay Verizon the fee for tethering, you'll still likely have to deal with data caps and inconsistent speeds. LTE is fast, but I wouldn't want to try stream Netflix over it.