CleanMPG Reviews the HTC Thunderbolt 4G on the Verizon Network

A review of sorts… but of a Smartphone?

Well, it works. And it works pretty well. It won't convince me to use iTunes though .

Commenting from my thunderbolt, you don't know what you are missing. Just took this on a one week vacation and it worked flawlessly. We used the phones at Disney for attraction info and wait times. YES, THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT. Surfing the net when you are in line waiting for 45 minutes to get on a ride, IS PRICELESS!!! Always had internet service that never dropped. Use my phone more and more every day. Internet service from the middle of a forest in Wisconsin to the middle of Florida and no problems. Two thunderbolts in the family, will never go back to my rzr again. Love, from your sister.

Hi Sandretto:

As a stand along Smartphone, it did everything it was supposed to from my short day and half with it. I was streaming music, vid's and jpg's almost continuously without fail. After a SAT lock, Google maps was working perfectly as well. I did not try out the FM radio as mentioned in the review. I could use it as a std. Smartphone as well since many of the more advanced functions of the latest automobiles require a Smartphone connection

Where it did not work out was the fact I purchased it to replace the Verizon Fivespot (VZW raised the contracts price???) as a WiFi hotspot device. If I were to try and upload a 20 MB YouTube from the side of the road in San Diego or middle of Nowhere, TX, I would be out of luck. It was the portable WiFi hotspot solution that made me consider the Thunderbolt and the reason it had to be returned. I paid for the promise of a HQ WiFI hotspot and it failed in that regard.

With a few more glitches about a FedEx return sheet, I went to my local Verizon store and had them print me up one. From there to the FedEx and it is now on its way back to Texas.

Too bad for both me and Verizon. They lost at least $28/month on the Fivespot contract and I am again back to the Motorola RAZR with no chance of an unlimited data plan with Verizon available until Sprint begins to steal their business and they will open it up again. 2 and 5GB plans for a device that can download over 12 Mbs is nuts. All of that capability and it will be hamstrung with the new and far pricier data plans that Verizon has just put into place beginning yesterday.

On a good note, without the Fivespot and its monthly cost, it forced me to setup my home network with WiFi again. I received a new DSL modem from AT&T in early February and it was a own router so I had to bridge it and reconfigure the Linksys router for Internet access through it.

Another good note is that I was told as soon as they receive the Thunderbolt, that 6-year contract non-sense will go away. They are simply not setup to display the contract terms on a disable and re-enable of an old phone. At least that is what I was told by a VZW rep earlier this week?

Wayne

Did you try the *22890 after you received the phone and was having trouble?

Hi Mike:

I even went so far as to reset it to factory and losing hours of setup with a tech on the other end of my wife's phone.

Wayne

Hi All:

Epilog:

The Thunderbolt was received by Verizon earlier this week and all charges have been removed, phone(s) reversed and any talk of a 6-year contract has been dismissed. I am now eligible for any provider I choose at the time I want to choose and am simply looking for a Wi-Fi Hotspot capable Smartphone that doesn’t cost a fortune, works as advertised with no short or long term dropouts, good connections speeds to whatever is available at the time and that does not throttle you back to dialup speeds after your 1, 2, 5 or 10 GB’s have been consumed depending on the data plans limits.

To think your Cable or DSL provider does not even get excited until you are in the 150 GB range for half or one-third what the Cell Phone providers charge means either there is a huge bandwidth bottle neck just ahead of where we are today or there are extreme profits to be had in the Cellular business. I tend to think the latter but WTH do I know?

Verizon’s new DATA plan pricing is to steep to wish for a 4G phone as you could burn through your limits in < 4-hours while streaming an HD vid or some other such thing. AT&T’s pricing is stupid high. Sprint and T-Mobile throttle you back to frustration if you do happen to go over. Meaning that having lighting fast speed is great until you reach your data limits. In which case, you may as well turn your Smartphone’s connectivity off and pull out the old Flip phone.

Maybe next time I will…

Stay tuned.

Wayne

Hi All:

To finish up, Verizon did reverse the 6-year contract on the RAZR as posted above. I have used the 3G FiveSpot on a month to month whenever I do in fact need its capabilities.

And I have my eyes peeled for the next greatest smartphone in order to accomplish auto related reviews and business on the road that would have been unthinkable just 5 + years ago.

Wayne