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Why do you think Samsung is not talking about GPS issues yet?

Why do you think Samsung is not talking about GPS issues yet?

  • doesn't know what is causing the problem

    Votes: 7 7.8%

  • knows the problem but it is hardware related

    Votes: 22 24.4%

  • knows the problem but doesn't know how to fix it

    Votes: 11 12.2%

  • knows the problem and are working on a software fix as we speak.

    Votes: 50 55.6%
  • Total voters
    90
I don't think they have it fully figured out yet. I do believe they're working on it. And I don't think it's extreme for someone to return it solely because of GPS. For everyone that bought the phone for the no commitment price ($500!), and a pretty important feature not work, I think that's a big deal. I think people are well within reason to return the device. I, for one, did. I want the Captivate to succeed and I plan on purchasing it once they have it fixed (or when they release Froyo for it, which should have the GPS fix in it, if they hadn't fixed it already by then).
 
BobPaul said:
Do you oversee employees? If so are you this easy on them? Heck, I'd love to have you as a customer.
Click to expand...

If an employee succeeded in satisfying the majority of the task assigned to him/her I'd say "good work, now go back and make the necessary correction."

I've read the many threads regarding the GPS problem, and if this is the only reason a person returns the phone I believe it to be a knee-jerk reaction.

I suppose it all comes down to whether or not one has faith that Samsung will prove responsible by fixing the issue that has affected some users. If a purchaser doesn't have faith in the company producing the product, he shouldn't have made the purchase in the first place.
 
Jack45 said:
Other smart devices have GPS that works. It's not unreasonable for Captivate owners to expect that a listed feature works.

Agree - and I'm confident it will. Certain? No. Confident? Yes.
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@Jack45, yeah, I feel the same way. Well, maybe I'm a tad bit more skeptical. I respect your optimism. I really hope Samsung will come through and provide us an actual fix soon. I am waiting this out but I hope it doesn't come back to burn me. Short of returning this device, what other options do users actually have? (I wonder if the restocking fee applies...)

I really want to love this phone but I'm not there yet. It's a great device. With the GPS fixed one day and some polishing of the interface and apps, this would be an awesome device! And I'm hopeful it'll reach that point.

I want nothing more than to able to say to those Apple fanboys, "See?! There ARE other devices that are just as good as something Apple makes!" But until that happens, having a glaring problem like this just gives the fanboys more fodder to pile on us Android users.
 
Trinhbo said:
@Jack45, yeah, I feel the same way. Well, maybe I'm a tad bit more skeptical. I respect your optimism. I really hope Samsung will come through and provide us an actual fix soon. I am waiting this out but I hope it doesn't come back to burn me. Short of returning this device, what other options do users actually have? (I wonder if the restocking fee applies...)

I really want to love this phone but I'm not there yet. It's a great device. With the GPS fixed one day and some polishing of the interface and apps, this would be an awesome device! And I'm hopeful it'll reach that point.

I want nothing more than to able to say to those Apple fanboys, "See?! There ARE other devices that are just as good as something Apple makes!" But until that happens, having a glaring problem like this just gives the fanboys more fodder to pile on us Android users.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the restocking fee applies...

If the GPS issue is a deal-killer for you and you don't have faith in its being rectified, a restocking fee depends on how you approach it. Speak directly to the manager or, if unavailable, the assistant manager. Be kind, respectful, and all the other things that lead to a better interaction. If that fails...go to another corporate store, then another.

I really want to love this phone but I'm not there yet. It's a great device. With the GPS fixed one day and some polishing of the interface and apps, this would be an awesome device! And I'm hopeful it'll reach that point.

Agree.

...just as good as something Apple makes

Not as good, better!
 
I will be returning the phone, or phones in my case, solely because of the poor GPS performance.

1) I use my phone to track my runs and bike rides. It is a big deal if you are off 100M on a run.
2) I like the automatic geotagging of my pictures, and without an accurate and quick locking GPS, geotagging becomes useless.

I wish people would stop saying that there is a fix. The fix might help with initial lock, but IT DOESN'T HELP ACCURACY ONCE YOU MOVE!

Sadly, I might have to go back to iPhone, or switch carriers for another Android phone.
 
People who post saying they have a GPS fix should actually post a route that was tracked, without the use of WiFi, or cellular tower triangulation. Take your Captivate, and a tracking application, and go for a walk.

I can and have posted routes that tracked like crap on the Captivate, compared to my old iPhone 3G.

I can also show quick lock on Google maps, except it is showing my location at the cellular tower down the street (only one tower within range of my house).

I have used applications like GPS Status that show 7-9 satellites, but without any locks. It might lock, it might not. Once locked, it might lose a lock if you actually move.
 
Galroc said:
People who post saying they have a GPS fix should actually post a route that was tracked, without the use of WiFi, or cellular tower triangulation. Take your Captivate, and a tracking application, and go for a walk.
Click to expand...

Here's some of my experience so far:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/137669-my-gps-experience-today.html

Take note of my update in post #20 where I used the service menu to set it for standalone mode (and also switched on airplane mode to disable 3G just in case).
 
Galroc said:
People who post saying they have a GPS fix should actually post a route that was tracked, without the use of WiFi, or cellular tower triangulation. Take your Captivate, and a tracking application, and go for a walk.

I can and have posted routes that tracked like crap on the Captivate, compared to my old iPhone 3G.

I can also show quick lock on Google maps, except it is showing my location at the cellular tower down the street (only one tower within range of my house).

I have used applications like GPS Status that show 7-9 satellites, but without any locks. It might lock, it might not. Once locked, it might lose a lock if you actually move.
Click to expand...

My config after playing with it is as follows, and I am able to move and continue with lock of 4-5/10 this is even after uninstalling "GPS Status"

Operation Mode Standalone
GPS Plus ON
SkyHook OFF

SUPL/CP Settings
FQDN AUTO
SUPL Secure SocketON
AGPS Mode SUPL
 
MassacrMan said:
You're going to sue Samsung for a software issue?

You know, in America things can be solved by doing things other than suing...
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We don't know that it's a software issue yet due to Samsung's silence on the issue. Recall that the original purpose of this thread was to poll what users thought the issue actually was.
 
Trinhbo said:
We don't know that it's a software issue yet due to Samsung's silence on the issue. Recall that the original purpose of this thread was to poll what users thought the issue actually was.
Click to expand...

My mistake, I was mostly appalled at his suggestion to sue them.
 
MarcMaiden said:
Proof
Click to expand...

You gave us a link, that most of us have already seen, and you claim this is proof? Proof to what?

Read their statement again, they said:
"We are diligently evaluating the situation and will provide an update as soon as possible."

They never said they were providing an OTA firmware update fix. They simply said provide an update, meaning they will update us on the situation. If you read the couple other statements samsung has released(i.e on twitter), which are basically identical, they again never said they will provide a FIX.
They simply mean they will update us on the "news." They may very well come tomorrow and say "news update, you are all out of luck, we can'T fix it, and you are stuck with your phone."

Again I ask you to read the wording carefully, they never promised you an update fix. They only promised to update, that can have many meanings.
 
MassacrMan said:
My mistake, I was mostly appalled at his suggestion to sue them.
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A class action lawsuit isn't out of the question. They advertised this phone as one with gps. If they don't fix it then refuse a refund, a lawsuit would be in order. Also, given that all previous versions of the Galaxy s have gps issues, samsung is negligent for failing to fix the issue before releasing the Captivate.

As such punitive damages would also be in order...

Now that isn't the route I am going. I am just returning the phone prior to the end if my remorse period. But I won't be paying a restocking fee.
 
skinien said:
It costs money to put out a release. I wouldn't be surprised if they know what the issue is but are waiting for the Froyo build to add the fix. This theory makes sense to me as well since the EU Galaxy S has had this problem a while back.
Click to expand...

I like your idea but why doesn't Samsung just say something? It costs so much more money to not say something and see thousands and thousands of phones be returned because the consumer doesn't know if it will be fixed or not. All they have to do is tweet one line:

"GPS issues will be fixed for all galaxy s lines before year end."

They say that and heaven rejoices, android brothers and sisters stop bitching at eachother, and Samsung just rectified itself as a manufacture that will support its devices.

Unfortunately, they won't do that and it's the opposite. Everyone is bitching and yelling at eachother and no one trusts Samsung for a quality android device anymore.

If I were at&t I'd be pissed. All the phone calls about problems, people coming in and exchaning/returning. That eats up so much money! You have customer service call workers and retail workers. And this is all for at&t, not even samsung. Think about that COST! I am sure at&t is pressing Samsung for answers. If there was an answer it would be out by now.
 
Go look in the Galaxy S forum on this site. Samsung has been stonewalling the European users and the phone has been out over there for much longer. Even in their statement they mention only U.S. phones. What does that tell you about the company and its support?

This phone had to have gone through months of testing between Samsung and AT&T. The phones were out for weeks at trade shows before being launched for public consumption. If you think that they only just learned of the GPS issue, I have some beachfront property to sell you in the desert.

It shouldn't take months to acknowledge if there is an issue. And note that they haven't said there is an issue, only that there *might* be an issue.

Something smells fishy about this whole GPS problem.
 
Android_J said:
Something smells fishy about this whole GPS problem.
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Yeah, it's fishy alright. Fishy like a dead shad in the summer sun.

Firstly, the antenna design is borked. The cellular antenna is rather OK - not great - but the wifi/gps antenna is total crap. The phone's been taken apart and analyzed and this is known. Why do you think there are several reports of the phone being returned because the user could get no signal whatsoever? Why do you think the wifi signal bounces all over the place even if you place the phone directly on top of the access point?

Secondly, the GPS may just be garbage. Nobody actually knows because a) the antenna is crap, and b) it's a brand new Broadcom part with nothing to compare it to. Frankly if I had the proper part I would like to put an external antenna on this thing using the port on the back and see what happens.

Thirdly, the software running the GPS blows and can't lock on to enough sats to get a secure position. This is also a known defect. The stupid factory default of "standalone" mode doesn't help things either.

So the fact of the matter is, they did know about it ahead of time, they sold the phone anyway, and they hoped that enough people either don't notice or don't care and they can sweep it all under the rug until the next hardware revision is ready. (Same thing with the iPhone 4 antenna - you're telling me nobody ever held the phone in their left hand during all that pre-sales testing? Give me a break. Difference is, Apple got called on the carpet for it and had to actually respond.)

So yeah to echo the person above me, if you think Samsung and AT&T only found out about this issue after the launch, I've got a bridge you may be interested in.
 
baddress said:
Yeah, it's fishy alright. Fishy like a dead shad in the summer sun.

Firstly, the antenna design is borked. The cellular antenna is rather OK - not great - but the wifi/gps antenna is total crap. The phone's been taken apart and analyzed and this is known. Why do you think there are several reports of the phone being returned because the user could get no signal whatsoever? Why do you think the wifi signal bounces all over the place even if you place the phone directly on top of the access point?

Secondly, the GPS may just be garbage. Nobody actually knows because a) the antenna is crap, and b) it's a brand new Broadcom part with nothing to compare it to. Frankly if I had the proper part I would like to put an external antenna on this thing using the port on the back and see what happens.

Thirdly, the software running the GPS blows and can't lock on to enough sats to get a secure position. This is also a known defect. The stupid factory default of "standalone" mode doesn't help things either.

So the fact of the matter is, they did know about it ahead of time, they sold the phone anyway, and they hoped that enough people either don't notice or don't care and they can sweep it all under the rug until the next hardware revision is ready. (Same thing with the iPhone 4 antenna - you're telling me nobody ever held the phone in their left hand during all that pre-sales testing? Give me a break. Difference is, Apple got called on the carpet for it and had to actually respond.)

So yeah to echo the person above me, if you think Samsung and AT&T only found out about this issue after the launch, I've got a bridge you may be interested in.
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Well, as far as I know, this phone has the same BT, GPS, WiFi chip as the iPhone4 (or so it has been claimed).

This phone gets better reception for me than any other AT&T phone I have used (iPhone 3G, 3GS included). I also have been getting great performance from WiFi. Can you share your source that states "The cellular antenna is rather OK - not great - but the wifi/gps antenna is total crap?" I have seen a few reports of exactly the opposite."

As far as what they may have known, that is pure speculation. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the GPS issue is much more minor since I flashed the Euro ROM. So, even though there were reports of issues with the i9000 in Europe, it seems the US problem is much worse. I am sure they are related though. Anyway, it is a little premature to jump to any conclusions.

If the GPS issue is not resolved, do you really think Samsung will be prepared to deal with all the warranty repairs from people stating the GPS is not working? They will have to resolve this one way or the other.

*** EDIT ***
I forgot to mention, there was an antenna issue with the original BlackJack that Samsung ended up having to replace first batch phones. They did not abandon those users and provided updated devices that had the issue resolved. As I said, there is no reason to doubt Samsung will resolve this! YET!
 
Why would they not resolve it? Flagship phone on all major carriers with a feature crippling problem. Any nay-saying doubters are crazy.
 
baddress said:
Why do you think the wifi signal bounces all over the place even if you place the phone directly on top of the access point?
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The inverse square law dictates that if you stick your phone directly on top of the access point, the signal will be 10,000 to 100,000 times as strong as you'd get a couple of rooms away in a more typical scenario. No device is going to operate very well that way.
 
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