I dont understand...ive had no problems?

[EarlyMon]

If I keep exchanging when the problems happen, I gotta eventually get a good one... Right?...

Actually - no one knows if that's true or not.

I don't what your issues are, but in any case:

• If you're the victim of a bad lot that they shipped, all the phones shipped to your region could be faulty. No one here knows if that's happened or not.
• If you're having a known problem, like GPS, or another problem about to admitted to, that's a design flaw, then you're in for the luck of the draw.

I hate both scenarios passionately - as consumers, we deserve better and I advocate fighting for your rights or finding solutions -- whichever path is best for the individual.

Getting what you pay for isn't a privilege - it's a right.

This forum advocates the exchange of ideas and tips so that we can help one another succeed in an imperfect world.

Wish I could be of more help, but that's all I got on this one.

 

[Frisco]

I dont understand, I go around these forums and I see a bunch of people talking about the problems they have with this phone. As I'm typing this on my captivate, I've had absolutely no problems at all. The gps, and the shutdowns and everything. I got mine 2 weeks after this phone was released and its been perfect. I got it from best buy as well. So, idk. Just a rant lol.

I know just how you feel. When I had my Eris, and now with my Fascinate, I saw so many posts in those forums that I was sure I was the only user with a perfect device, what a lucky guy I was.

But then, I remember back over two other pre-Android devices I used for years with no issues: Blackberry Curve and Samsung Instinct. The forums for both of those phones look just like the forums here, there and everywhere: full of users with issues, problems and talk of "getting rid of this piece of crap."

That tells me the we could probably construct a percentage value of device forum users with problems and those with none. I'll start: device forum users with problems, 75% or more... device forum users with none, 25%.

Now we can have fun pretending like we know that the non-forum users with the same devices have opposite percentage figures: device users with problems, 25% or fewer.. device users with none, 75% or more.

 

[The Shape]

Well, it must be nice to not have problems. I take excellent care of my electronics and I'm on my 3rd Captivate.

1st phone: The ear speaker was defective.
2nd phone: Stopped taking a charge after a few days and would get really hot. Phone started acting really screw too. A new battery didn't fix this problem.
3rd and current phone: Works great except for the past few weeks I've been getting the random shutdowns.

 

[rubiconjp]

Actually Samsung sold 1 mil Galaxy S (Captivate and Vibrant) in the US in the first 30 days of sales.

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 (from all makers) sales figure stands at a bit over 117K in the first 30 days of sales.

To date, Samsung has shipped over 3 mil Galaxy S to the US.

 

[Gamble1177]

Actually Samsung sold 1 mil Galaxy S (Captivate and Vibrant) in the US in the first 30 days of sales.

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 (from all makers) sales figure stands at a bit over 117K in the first 30 days of sales.

To date, Samsung has shipped over 3 mil Galaxy S to the US.

And isn't out something like 5 million world wide? I would like to see samsungs failure rate statistics for the galaxy line though.

 

[shark974]

I too am mostly happy with my phone. Theres a few niggling issues but in the end it's pretty good. The screen is incredibly responsive and pretty. Looking at my friends Droid X from across the breakroom table each day as he pecks away at it, it's pretty apparant how much lower quality and washed out his display is at angles compared to mine.

My issues are: Slow boot, sometimes a certain choppiness to performing tasks on the phone, (not bad though), GPS isn't perfect but seems pretty good since JH7 and I dont really need it anyway. And the sometimes seemingly unresponsive/difficult capacitive buttons. I'd also love to see 2.2 Froyo already.

All Android phones seem to have certain issues though.

 

[rubiconjp]

And isn't out something like 5 million world wide? I would like to see samsungs failure rate statistics for the galaxy line though.

At the start of October, Samsung has sold 7 million Galaxy S phones worldwide. I am sure they are well on their way past 10 million Galaxy S worldwide at this time.

 

[s.m.knipe]

Speaking only for my part - that was not my point.

Yeah, I was just a little annoyed that your number (arbitrary or not, it is a practical example) was being treated rather flippantly.

 

[EarlyMon]

Yeah, I was just a little annoyed that your number (arbitrary or not, it is a practical example) was being treated rather flippantly.

Yeah, but that's ok too - nothing wrong with adults coloring a little outside the lines when they're frustrated and the topic's hot, and plus it takes time to socialize ideas.

Many thanks for helping to keep it cool - that's my number one thing at times like this.

 

[northernale1]

What's to understand? The problems aren't 100%. Some people are lucky and don't experience them. But a large number do. The lucky few don't invalidate the bad experiences of the others.

ummm,, and you know its a lucky few that dont,,, how do you know this??
as people are more apt to go onto a forum and bitch, then they are to come on and cheer,,

so in no way can you justify that statement,,,

 

[BookLover]

ummm,, and you know its a lucky few that dont,,, how do you know this??
as people are more apt to go onto a forum and bitch, then they are to come on and cheer,,

so in no way can you justify that statement,,,

I agree.

Untechie people who love their phones and have no issues don't visit the forums.

Techie people like myself seek out forums for the Tips & Tricks, etc., and then end up responding to problems.

I sought out my first forum because I suddenly had issues with my reception. 4 months great, then in month 5, after flashing an update, my reception stunk.

If my reception remained great, I would never have started visiting phone forums.

 

[ednygma]

Try telling those 10,000 that their problems are inconsequential and unimportant by raw numbers. Statistics are great so long as you are in a comfortable part of the bell curve...

To be fair, the original poster did not say that the 10,000 were inconsequential and unimportant. Statistically speaking, which has been brought up on this thread, 10,000 out of 1,000,000 is 1% which is, relatively speaking, a small number.

Even with that though, in customer service, no number is too small to be a problem therefore everyone's complaint/issue is important and should be addressed.

The few (again, not inconsequential or unimportant) that have issues are always the ones that you will hear from more so than those that have zero issues. Those with zero issues rarely seek out a forum to talk to others about how great their experience is. In contrast however, those with bad service/experiences quickly seek out avenues to express their views, find out if they are alone and seek advice.

Ask almost any business that deals with customer service issues and they will probably tell you that for every single bad experience it will drive that individual to tell 3-5 times more people than those with good experiences.

I am currently depating between upgrading to the iPhone4 or switching over to the Captivate on AT&T therefore I find all the viewpoints on this forum interesting and I thank you all for you valued input.

 

[sremick]

Untechie people who love their phones and have no issues don't visit the forums.

Techie people like myself seek out forums for the Tips & Tricks, etc., and then end up responding to problems.

Sure they do. This site alone is full of them... people asking about what cool software to get, or "Hey I just bought a ___________, what should I do first?" or they're looking for a specific app/game, or they have a question about how to do something.

And even if they do have a problem and that's why they came to the forum, it might be with something else even if they have a totally-working GPS. So it's still an accurate sampling to get an idea of how widespread the GPS issue is relative to other phones.

The fact remains that a vastly disproportionate number of people have problems with the GPS in the Captivate than other phones out there. This is proven alone by the amount of GPS-related noise for the Captivate relative to other models, in-addition to the numerous formal articles at various new sites, the class-action lawsuit being investigated, and so on. And using this sampling of forum members (being which doesn't imply that you even are having problems with your phone, or that those problems are GPS-related) several polls have demonstrated that those with working GPS are in the minority.

 

[BookLover]

Sure they do. This site alone is full of them... people asking about what cool software to get, or "Hey I just bought a ___________, what should I do first?" or they're looking for a specific app/game, or they have a question about how to do something.

And even if they do have a problem and that's why they came to the forum, it might be with something else even if they have a totally-working GPS. So it's still an accurate sampling to get an idea of how widespread the GPS issue is relative to other phones.

The fact remains that a vastly disproportionate number of people have problems with the GPS in the Captivate than other phones out there. This is proven alone by the amount of GPS-related noise for the Captivate relative to other models, in-addition to the numerous formal articles at various new sites, the class-action lawsuit being investigated, and so on. And using this sampling of forum members (being which doesn't imply that you even are having problems with your phone, or that those problems are GPS-related) several polls have demonstrated that those with working GPS are in the minority.

Somewhat agree. Somewhat disagree. A disproportionate amount of posters in the Captivate forum who have problems have problems with GPS.

It does NOT mean that most people have probs with GPS. It means that most people who already have probs, have probs with GPS.

Let's do this with numbers.

7,000,000 Samsung phones shipped (let's assume 1,000,000 active devices sold to English-speaking folks, all of whom can post to this forum, to be conservative).

Of those 1,000,000 - 10,000 post on this forum.

Of the 10,000 who post, 7,500 post becase they have probs. (The other 2,500 use this forum as a resource and have no probs).

Of the 7,500 who have have probs, 6,000 have probs with GPS.

So 6,000 out of 1,000,000 (0.6%) is NOT a disproportionate amount of people having probs with their GPS. 0.6%-0.75% [Less than 1%] error rate is practically flawless.

BUT, I would agree that 6,000 out of 7,500 having probs with GPS means that a disproportionate amount of the problems ARE with GPS.

And your articles and other data, and Samsung, all support that GPS *is* a problem. That is not disputed. GPS *is* a problem.

The dispute is how many problems equals "disproportionate". GPS probs are is not disproportionate nor are the problems with Samsung, in general. 0.6%-0.75% is practically flawless...If you go by the numbers.

 

[EarlyMon]

Please note, from - Samsung Working on GPS Software Fix Due September for Galaxy S Phones | Android Phone Fans:

Carla Saavedra, web product analyst for Samsung Mobile support, recently tweeted information about a software update Samsung is hard at work on to fix the GPS problems that plague the Galaxy S line of Android smartphones.

(emphasis on plague is mine)

It's a known problem.

How big is big is a interesting question - but doesn't change that this is a high consequence problem for those reporting it.

And that sort of public statement from Samsung indicates that its size of occurrence is enough for them to have measured it - and responded.

Just 2 cents.

(PS BookLover - got called away before hitting Submit button, wasn't trying to talk over you.)

 

[EarlyMon]

I am currently depating between upgrading to the iPhone4 or switching over to the Captivate on AT&T therefore I find all the viewpoints on this forum interesting and I thank you all for you valued input.

Welcome to the forums - and thanks for that excellent post.

I'd just like to chime in and say that even when a newer phone has issues - Android is just way cool, and my iP4 friends are now looking it after playing with mine, while others have already switched.

See also: http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/187594-all-things-gps-19.html#post1951946

Your mileage may vary - but Android is just good stuff.

 

[calsax]

To jump back into the statistical part of this: In electronics, an acceptable number of failures is a decision that can only be made by the manufacturer. In my field (medical devices), at my company, a failure rate of 10,000 per million of a critical component would be unacceptable, and would probably lead to a recall. I don't consider GPS as a critical component in a phone. Howevery, many people obviously do. So, in my mind, the failure of the GPS is a critical failure that should be immediately addressed by the manufacturer. This in no way affects my love for my Captivate. It is by far the best communications tool I have ever owned. If there were to be a recall, I would probably refuse to send mine back, since the GPS is not critical to me. However, I do believe it is something that Samsung (or AT&T) should address, or should have addressed.

 

[BookLover]

To jump back into the statistical part of this: In electronics, an acceptable number of failures is a decision that can only be made by the manufacturer. In my field (medical devices), at my company, a failure rate of 10,000 per million of a critical component would be unacceptable, and would probably lead to a recall. I don't consider GPS as a critical component in a phone. Howevery, many people obviously do. So, in my mind, the failure of the GPS is a critical failure that should be immediately addressed by the manufacturer. This in no way affects my love for my Captivate. It is by far the best communications tool I have ever owned. If there were to be a recall, I would probably refuse to send mine back, since the GPS is not critical to me. However, I do believe it is something that Samsung (or AT&T) should address, or should have addressed.

Yes, I agree. My stats were just to say that the problem isn't as huge in the big picture as this forum magnifies them to be.

While the failure rate may not be disproportionate, GPS is an important feature of the phone for many. Myself included. I made sure my GPS worked before my 30 days were up. Had it not, I probably would have returned it and kept my old WinMo phone, who's GPS was quite reliable. However, I always had to do a lot to get it working (GPS Test etc).

I don't trust AT&T to release software upgrades on time or at all. So I wouldn't have waited and hoped for a fix. I would have gotten another phone or just settled for ol' reliable and wait to use my upgrade on something else.

 

[jdk2]

Carla Saavedra, web product analyst for Samsung Mobile support, recently tweeted information about a software update Samsung is hard at work on to fix the GPS problems that plaguethe Galaxy S line of Android smartphones.

I'd offer that the vast majority of Galaxy S phones have the gps problem though most people don't notice it or don't utilize it to its full potential, thereby skewing any formulative results.

It isn't something Samsung would even comment about were there not any real problem. I believe their engineers know that the problem exists across the entire Galaxy S line and don't know what to do to fix it cheaply and easily.

 

[rubiconjp]

Welcome to the forums - and thanks for that excellent post.

I'd just like to chime in and say that even when a newer phone has issues - Android is just way cool, and my iP4 friends are now looking it after playing with mine, while others have already switched.

See also: http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/187594-all-things-gps-19.html#post1951946

Your mileage may vary - but Android is just good stuff.

After 1.5 years on the iPhone, and about to upgrade to the iPhone 4 last July, I paused before hitting the auto-upgrade button due to Steve Jobs' arrogance with the antenna issue (as well as Flash and iron grips on the apps). My switch at the time was mainly a "political" vote against Apple's and Jobs' arrogance.

Since then, I see why Android is popular (1300% increase in sales in one year) - it's just good stuff... would never go back to Apple now, even if Jobs decides to play nice!