Ok - so it is a bit of a stretch to say I needed this for the move, but my BlackBerry was accidentally washed (wasn't entirely my fault) and we were on the verge of getting an iPad 2 just for connectivity and GPS as we crossed the marginally charted wasteland of the central plains. This is sooo much cheaper, and it acts as a mobile hotspot, and my 2 year contract was up and it think it may have been destiny or karma.
Anyway, I'm the proud new owner of a HTC ThunderBolt on Verizon's new LTE 4G network. It is blindingly fast and very beautiful. 2 cameras (front & back) a camcorder and syncs with gmail. It has a cute little kick stand to sit up to my desk (if I am willing to plug it in cause the display drains the battery).
Unfortunately, it comes with lots of malware / adware that I cannot remove without rooting and running the risk of bricking it. Think I'll wait till after the road trip when the phone is not so necessary. Why oh why would anyone go to so much trouble to make a nice phone like this then load it down with crap software that you can't remove? Blockbuster, City ID, and an add for a golf game, to name a few. If I had more choices, I'd take it back, but I don't. So I'll eventually root it and clean it up.
Oh, and it does have a few bugs. Today, I tried sending text messages. If I include a subject line in the text message (why is there an option for a subject line is a text message?) it attached the text messase in a slide show????? If I don't specify a subject, the recipient gets my a strange 15 digit number for the reply, even though my call back number is set correctly. Turns out it is my SIM card #. I was able to fix this by powering off (hold down button on top for a few seconds to get option), then removing and replacing battery and sim card. The back case is very hard to open. I used a credit card wrapped in a paper towel to wedge it open.
