The Verizon Droid Turbo is a BEAST!

FoxKat

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Gotta start this thread. The turbo is one heck of a machine. I've been running it through the paces last night and this morning and I've got to tell you that I am genuinely impressed from top to bottom. I will be producing a full-blown review on this beast, once I've had time, but just wanted to get this thread in place and start the ball rolling. Let me hear your thoughts about this beast. Tell me what you think is most "beasty" about this phone and why you think it pushes the bar of performance expectations so much higher than all the other phones out there.

I'm seeing awesome little features that are built into the operating system which are extremely useful and effective, and are yet very subtle and in non invasive fashion. For instance, I got a call from one of my customers this morning and caller ID recognize to it was right away. That was nice. But when I ended the call, it asked me if I wanted to add to contacts and it was just so natural that I said yes. I can't tell you how many times I've taken calls from people without caller ID and then forgot to add them to contacts and then needed to call them back later only to have to sit there and figure out which car was the last time that I received in the past hour and a half was the one from the customer I needed to talk to. Looks like that problems going away permanently for me. Way to go Turbo!

So once again, let's talk about all the little things that make this phone what it is. To me, it's the little things that mean so much, since IMHO, as Aristotle said "
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
 

Jonny Kansas

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Just an aside, that feature to add the caller to contacts is from the "Caller Name ID" app or whatever they're calling it now. Subscription service from VZW. There's a free trial of it on the Note 4 too.

It works well, but I can't see paying monthly for it. Can't really believe that straight up caller ID isn't a thing on cell phones now...

Also, glad you're enjoying your new beast!
 

CaptainSS

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Agreed and as usually, well said. I did start a thread on "Tricks that impress" which in essence my goal was to ferret out those little tips and tricks that make us really enjoy this device even more. I too find the little things to be quite impactful.
I have grown to really like the notification screen and the ability to look and ignore OR look and go right to engaging that specific issue (that is new for me)
I am quite pleased with the camera - is it my sons iPhone 6+? No... BUT, the good news there also is - it's not an iPhone 6+ either.
Overall, as an entire machine - I am quite pleased and look forward to customizing (making it more "Me") this tool.
 

BlueLions81

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FoxKat, a quick question. I'm thinking of getting this phone, but still unsure. I have one year left in my contract so I'd have to do the early edge. If they make me turn in my Maxx it's a no go. Also, don't want to lose my data plan by switching over to edge.

How's the 4G signal in comparison with the Maxx?
 

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I know you asked Fox but I will add my input as well. My Maxx HD got more 4g than the Turbo BUT I travel through the mountains of N/E Pa and go from town to my home in the woods (on top of a mountain) my Maxx got 4g, the Turbo does not (in my case) I have tried to focus on - Does a call go thru? Do you get on the internet? As long as it is a "Yes" I'm ignoring How.
 

BlueLions81

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I know you asked Fox but I will add my input as well. My Maxx HD got more 4g than the Turbo BUT I travel through the mountains of N/E Pa and go from town to my home in the woods (on top of a mountain) my Maxx got 4g, the Turbo does not (in my case) I have tried to focus on - Does a call go thru? Do you get on the internet? As long as it is a "Yes" I'm ignoring How.

Thanks. That's disappointing, but that's what I needed to know. I have a lousy 4G signal in the bldg where I work. I have a hard time connecting to the internet with my Maxx, so I'd probably have an even harder time with the Turbo.
 

CaptainSS

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Thanks. That's disappointing, but that's what I needed to know. I have a lousy 4G signal in the bldg where I work. I have a hard time connecting to the internet with my Maxx, so I'd probably have an even harder time with the Turbo.
Well, that has been my experience. Others may differ but I will say this. The Turbo does not get better reception than my Maxx and by all indications - not as good as my Maxx.
Another factor to consider, I was running my Maxx naked. I have a case on my Turbo (it is off now) but I'm in town.
 
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FoxKat

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FoxKat, a quick question. I'm thinking of getting this phone, but still unsure. I have one year left in my contract so I'd have to do the early edge. If they make me turn in my Maxx it's a no go. Also, don't want to lose my data plan by switching over to edge.

How's the 4G signal in comparison with the Maxx?
There used to be lots of easy ways to do what you're trying to do now. As it is you're in exactly the same situation that I was in, one year into an edge program on my droid Maxx. My original plan has taken a new form.

So what I'll tell you is that apparently the ability to add a non data line and use it for the subsidized purchase is still possible at the store but it has to be handled carefully and the rep has to be knowledgeable and willing to do it, and has to understand how.

If you don't want to turn in your maxx, the only options available to you are either to buy it out completely, which means paying off the remaining balance of the two year contract at your one year anniversary, buy the phone outright, as some people prefer to do, or add another phone line to your plan as I did. That explanation will follow in another post.

In respect to signal, I've seen 5 bars in places on this Turbo where I've never seen 5 bars on my Maxx. I'm also seeing two and three bars in areas where I was lucky to get one with the Maxx. I don't know if this is just an issue of turbo vs Maxx, or if its an issue of one phone on the manufacturing line and more careful hands first is another phone on the manufacturing line and less careful hands, or one component that comes off the manufacturing facility being closer to specifications and within tolerances vs the same component on another phone that happens to be marginally within specification tolerances.

What I do know is that antennas and the cables and connections between them and the final power transistors on the transmitters can have an extreme impact on the overall performance. Just a slight misplacing of the actual antenna inside the phone, or the cable that may be twisted or folded, or a connector that's not seated properly, could result in significant loss of signal or decibels of power output. This in turn would result in poor performance. And that is it is if it's having difficulty tranmitting, it will ultimately have similar difficulties in receiving because the signal travels in both directions to the antenna and wiring therefore a problem which causes loss of signal for outgoing transmission would ultimately cause a comprable loss of signal for incoming reception.
 
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BlueLions81

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There used to be lots of easy ways to do what you're trying to do now. As it is you're in exactly the same situation that I was in, one year into an edge program on my droid Maxx. My original plan has taken a new form.

So what I'll tell you is that apparently the ability to add a non data line and use it for the subsidized purchase is still possible at the store but it has to be handled carefully and the rep has to be knowledgeable and willing to do it, and has to understand how.

If you don't want to turn in your maxx, the only options available to you are either to buy it out completely, which means paying off the remaining balance of the two year contract at your one year anniversary, buy the phone outright, as some people prefer to do, or add another phone line to your plan as I did. That explanation will follow in another post.

Actually I'm not in an edge contract. I'm one year into the standard two year contract.
 
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FoxKat

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Oh, in that case if you're eligible for an upgrade, you're eligible for an upgrade and they shouldn't take your old phone back. Now as far as getting the new phone on that upgrade and keeping your unlimited data plan, that's not going to happen. The only way to accomplish that are the ways I've mentioned above.
 
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FoxKat

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My original plan has taken a new form.

I was able to get an Verizon customer service representative on the phone to do an edge up on my non data line, replacing my Maxx at the one year anniversary, with the new Droid turbo. The plan was to keep it on that on the line for at least 24 hours, and then move it off of that line and onto my unlimited phone line. What I didn't realize, was that I missed out on the $100 trade in value for a Droid 2 that I had laying around. So I reached back out to customer service and they said that if I took the phone that will ship to me into the Verizon phone center store in an unopened box , they could reverse the edge up, then I would edge up in the store and trade in my D2 and get the $100 credit.

Once I got to the store and started thinking about it even more, I realized I only had about $250 left on my edge program for the Droid Maxx, and if I trade in the D2 that brings my out of pocket expense to buy the Droid Maxx out to just about $150, so I decided instead that I would simply reverse the edge up for the Droid turbo, buy out the Droid Maxx, and then do a new edge for the Droid turbo rather than edging up. Then I would either sell the Droid Maxx on the open market and make some money or keep it and maybe hand it down to someone else who might need it in my family.

Well unfortunately the best laid plans of mice and men as it were, it didn't work. What happened when they reversed the edge up program is that it froze my account and prevented me from doing any edge programs because the system said there is still an existing loan on the account and we could not add another loan. This was strange because of course by reversing the edge up program it put the old Maxx phone back on its original edge program and I should have been able to buy out the Maxx.

Well unfortunately, it takes time for their servers to cycle through all that mess and so it would let me buy out the Max either. In fact after several communications with multiple representatives including customer support over the phone and two managers in the store and the regional manager over the phone, they informed me that I would have to wait till the end of my billing cycle which is the 22nd of November before this whole mess could be unraveled.

So there I was looking at the phone that I had just brought in in the FedEx box, now sitting behind the counter, and looking at the new turbo that they were going to replace it with sitting there on the counter as well, and feeling like I was going to have to leave the store without a phone all together.

Well, I guess you all know by now I didn't give up. So what I did instead was got on the phone in the store with customer service and said hey guys, I'm missing out on this $100 trade in of the D2, & I need a phone so how do we resolve this. What the representative on the phone did was go to the Verizon trade-in program appraisal site for my Droid 2 and get the appraised value, $1, and said he would credit my verizon phone bill for the other $99. I was okay with that as far as the trade in was concerned, so next step is how do I get that Droid Turbo sitting on that counter in that beautiful little black box back into my grubby little hands.

In an epiphany, the representative said why don't we just add another phone to your friends and family plan, use that subsidized price feature that we have for that phone right now, you'll get the phone for $249 instead of $649, and we'll just move it to your unlimited plan data line. Then we'll put a non data phone on to the $9.99 per month line and remove the data plan from it. He assured me that he could do this without eliminating my unlimited data, and so I told him that if it happens I'm going to call him to the mat and together we're going to get this mass cleaned up. he assured me that it wouldn't happen and that he be watching the system all the way through the transaction to make sure that everything went smoothly.

So I sat back and thought, do I want to spend $27.08 a month to edge up to the Droid Turbo and give back my Droid Maxx or do I want to spend $9.99 per month and have a brand new Droid Turbo and not have to get back my Maxx but instead buy it out. I chose the latter.

Fast forward to the end, I'm standing there with the Droid 2 in hand, I now have my beautiful Droid Turbo in hand as well, and he says now let me process that upgrade for you. At which point he takes the Droid 2 out of my hands checks it to make sure it runs and then proceeds to shoot me a $100 Verizon gift certificate. Wait a minute, didn't I already get a 99 dollar credit on my service? Yes, I did.

So what I've got now is two upgrades for one Droid 2 that I traded in at the store. So my out of pocket for the Droid turbo was $249, but I got a $99 credit on my bill, and a $100 gift certificate at the counter, which brings my out of pocket expense for the Droid turbo to a whopping 50 dollars.

Now I don't have to pay $27.08 per month for an edge up program on the Droid Turbo, instead I own the phone outright and I'm only paying $9.99 per month over the same 24 months to keep the non data line live on which this purchase was made.

I call this the Verizon FoxKat up program.

So what I'll tell you is that apparently the ability to add a non data line and use it for the subsidized purchase is still possible at the store but it has to be handled carefully and the rep has to be knowledgeable and willing to do it, and has to understand how.
 
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CaptainSS

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Headlines "Breaking News" "In a stunning Corporate upset today Verizon declares chapter 16.7 protection".... this reporter had to research WTH Chapter 16.7 was and found out....

"It's protection from FoxKat Deals" We as yet do not know wht or who this predator is that is stalking Verizon but WILL keep you informed. In the mean time we suggest keeping all doors and windows locked until this apparently dangerous animal is caught. Verizon said, " Don't worry about your doors and windows just watch your wallets!! Very confusing indeed.
For WYOU news this is the Captain BooYah!
 
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FoxKat

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Truth is, if I had to I have another Droid 2 that I can send in to satisfy the credit that was applied to my account. I'm just curious to see if I get any requests to do so. I doubt it because the customer service representative said he was just going to do it as a credit for 99 dollars to my account and that I would have to initiate the trade in on my own once I got home.
 

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Which one did you get Fox - apologies if you posted it somewhere already.. :)
 
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