All Things GPS

[Robinelli]

Ok so here is my theory. When I drive the gps is fine although when we come to a stop, especially a long stop due to traffic, the gps whigs out. As long as we are moving it is fine. I believe that is why many people have trouble getting satellite location from their home or desk.
In other words the gps does bit work well o and sometimes not at all) when the phone is stationary. This isn't too big of an issue as most people will use their gps while driving.

 

[Robinelli]

Ok drove 7 hours today from vacation-home. GPS only cut out once, and I restarted it and it came back up fine. My cell tower connection however, sucked! I had no ability to make phone calls or use data for a good portion of the trip. My husband's blackberry (also Tmobile) had reception almost the entire time. I finally had to shut off my phone and restart it to get my phone to pick up the towers. I also had one black screen event on the way home. I'm going phone shopping tomorrow to see if I can find something I'd rather have.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Ok drove 7 hours today from vacation-home. GPS only cut out once, and I restarted it and it came back up fine. My cell tower connection however, sucked! I had no ability to make phone calls or use data for a good portion of the trip. My husband's blackberry (also Tmobile) had reception almost the entire time. I finally had to shut off my phone and restart it to get my phone to pick up the towers. I also had one black screen event on the way home. I'm going phone shopping tomorrow to see if I can find something I'd rather have.

this entire time I thought you were a man...until u just mentioned your husband, hehe.
Well it sucks to see you go. I have some bad news also, I just used my phone for the first time today without a screen protector. The second I got my phone, I peeled off the factory screen protector and applied a new one before dust settled. Anyways today was my first time seeing the screen naked, and to my shock I saw something disappointing. Underneath the glass there appears to be residue from some sort of chemical processing. It only in the middle part, forms strange strings and swirls. And no I'm not taking about the grid pattern on all capacitive screens.
here is the crazy part, it appears there is a finger print under my glass, cant tell though, going to have someone else look at it tonight. Some man or woman in Korea must have not been wearing gloves. Ugh..... you don't see it unless the screen is off and you till the screen, I wont care as long as they fix the GPS. Just annoys me a little bit.

 

[MaxPowers]

I have the problem where the GPS doesn't work, I try a fix, think it is magically fixed, then I drive around and yes, it shifts around when I stop, and then it just stops working. very frustrating because Samsung is holding off on announcing an updates, so I don't know if I need to get rid of this phone before the 14 days or not. Unfortunatly, I am locked into the account with Tmo that I just started because of the way I started it apparently. (I called and asked, they said no remorse period when you apply a corporate discount) Or else I would go to sprint. Tmobile has no good phones, and now that the N1 is gone.... where am I to go?...

 

[Robinelli]

LOL samv. I am a chic. Hence the wonder woman avatar

 

[VegasTouch]

LOL samv. I am a chic. Hence the wonder woman avatar

Well, the avatar could just be some dude thinking WW is Hot. I know i did in her day...lol. I assumed you were a guy as well as these types of forums are just mostly guys, but its all good.

Anyways, the only other T-Mobile phone id have other than this one is the MyTouch. I dont like the HTC HD2 much. The MyTouch dont have the beautiful screen and i really dont need that keyboard but it has some good functions as we have discussed already. And, well i dont know, i havent messed with the new Garmin phone so i cant say. It just didnt feel very solid to me but you never know. It wasnt working in the store when i went and i cant understand why these places dont have a lot of working phones.

Ive been in two AT&T stores because i want to check out the iPhones display and they have ZERO working phones in there. I told them if it werent for the iPhone and its rep, they would'nt sell shit in there with a bunch of dummy phones.

 

[Robinelli]

I had the my touch for 2 weeks. It was a great phone. Mine whigged out. I think it may have gotten water damage though from charging it on my bathroom counter while showering.
That is interesting about the at&t stores.

 

[Robinelli]

on a separate note I've gotten spoiled to this 4 inch screen and may not be happy with anything smaller!

 

[SamsungVibrant]

I have the problem where the GPS doesn't work, I try a fix, think it is magically fixed, then I drive around and yes, it shifts around when I stop, and then it just stops working. very frustrating because Samsung is holding off on announcing an updates, so I don't know if I need to get rid of this phone before the 14 days or not. Unfortunatly, I am locked into the account with Tmo that I just started because of the way I started it apparently. (I called and asked, they said no remorse period when you apply a corporate discount) Or else I would go to sprint. Tmobile has no good phones, and now that the N1 is gone.... where am I to go?...

Umm they told you no remorse period when you get corporate discount on your bill? I'm sorry that doesn't sound legit. I'll ask my sister tonight, she is an attorney, not sure how much she knows about consumer rights though, but that doesn't sound right. I would ask to see that in writing. Also you can always call, ask the corporate discount to be removed, then cancel, if thats their excuse. As long as you haven't gone over your states remorse period, I don't see why having a corporate discount would matter. Don't just take their word for it, you went into a contract and if you were under the impression that you had a remorse period, then ask them where it states corporate discounting voids that remorse.

 

[VegasTouch]

I just rebooted mine. The sreen wasnt timing out and going off. Have it set for 1 minute. Lets see if that works. It was down to 10% battery life.

 

[VegasTouch]

All good now!

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Engadget blasts Samsung. Here is the article:
http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/08/02/wheres-the-gps-fix-for-the-samsung-vibrant-and-captivate/

Quick rant: I find it interesting that all these sites like cnet, Engadget, and Gizmodo, none of them discovered this issue during their initial reviews. These people, for example Bonni Cha from CNET had the phone before everyone else. Why do we visit their sites, listen to their reviews, if all they do is give a generic review after using the phone for 5 mins. Everytime I listen to cnet, and purchase something they reviewed, I end up regretting it, because they miss so many things in their reviews. Bonnie Cha and the rest of the reviewing gang on these tech sites, get your shit together. This is what you do for a living. UGH... end of rant.

Samsung Is posting updates to the GPS problem on their twitter site, incase you missed it, here is the link.
https://twitter.com/Samsungservice/status/19861814931


Final Rant:
If you have one of these phones, and your GPS is not working also, yet you have not dialed 611 on your phone and let t-mobile tech support know, then you are a part of the problem also. Samsung is being very cocky and trying to say this problem is isolated only to a few users. Just read their responses. Or they try to say you need to go outside for the GPS to work, no shit samsung, when I'm driving my car it is outside. Please, every carrier around the world is reporting problems with GPS on Galaxy S phones. So again, if you own this phone and are having problems, dial 611, let technical support at t-mobile know.
Then call samsung or visit www.galaxyshelp.com, register your product and let samsung know directly.

One more thing, if your GPS works 50 percent of the time and you think this isn't an issue, wait till winter rolls around, the clouds come out, and your phone wont pick up GPS at all.

thanks for listening

 

[kbohip]

Final Rant:
If you have one of these phones, and your GPS is not working also, yet you have not dialed 611 on your phone and let t-mobile tech support know, then you are a part of the problem also. Samsung is being very cocky and trying to say this problem is isolated only to a few users. Just read their responses. Or they try to say you need to go outside for the GPS to work, no shit samsung, when I'm driving my car it is outside. Please, every carrier around the world is reporting problems with GPS on Galaxy S phones. So again, if you own this phone and are having problems, dial 611, let technical support at t-mobile know.
Then call samsung or visit www.galaxyshelp.com, register your product and let samsung know directly.

One more thing, if your GPS works 50 percent of the time and you think this isn't an issue, wait till winter rolls around, the clouds come out, and your phone wont pick up GPS at all.

thanks for listening

You're right about letting T-Mobile know. I'll be calling them tonight. Today I decided I'm taking my phone back. I think something is seriously wrong with it. All of my apps are now closing as soon as I open them, I'm getting blank screens that lock up the phone for 20-30 seconds (didn't Samsung supposedly fix that problem) and now the phone itself is having problems with reception at my house where it never did before. I got two phone calls today that on my end I couldn't understand the caller at all. Completely unacceptable for a phone costing this much money. My old $50 Samsung pay as you go phone worked better than this.

 

[robo21]

Interesting, I have not had any issue worth complaining about with my Vibrant. I have to wonder if there is some drastic unit to unit QC issue. As a matter of fact, I'm so happy with this device I wouldn't consider anything less.

 

[floepie]

OK, I'm using an app called GPS Status, a very nice little tool. I have turned off cell assistance for GPS location. I am indoors. There is 1 sat lock out of 12 viewed. Error is hovering around 23 feet with ONE locked satellite. Location in Google Maps is truly accurate to within 23 feet.

There is simply no way only one satellite can be fixed while all other remain only "in view". To triangulate to within 23 feet, you would need at least 5-6 satellites to be that accurate. Further, and to top it off, the one satellite that is reported as having been fixed (locked)? Well, it is the one that has the LEAST amount of signal strength according to the histogram of reported satellites in view.

So, while no doubt there appears to be problems, I believe that the GPS must be using more than only 1-2 satellites as reported by the various GPS test apps out there.

 

[Robinelli]

Engadget blasts Samsung. Here is the article:
http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/08/02/wheres-the-gps-fix-for-the-samsung-vibrant-and-captivate/

Quick rant: I find it interesting that all these sites like cnet, Engadget, and Gizmodo, none of them discovered this issue during their initial reviews. These people, for example Bonni Cha from CNET had the phone before everyone else. Why do we visit their sites, listen to their reviews, if all they do is give a generic review after using the phone for 5 mins. Everytime I listen to cnet, and purchase something they reviewed, I end up regretting it, because they miss so many things in their reviews. Bonnie Cha and the rest of the reviewing gang on these tech sites, get your shit together. This is what you do for a living. UGH... end of rant.

Samsung Is posting updates to the GPS problem on their twitter site, incase you missed it, here is the link.
https://twitter.com/Samsungservice/status/19861814931


Final Rant:
If you have one of these phones, and your GPS is not working also, yet you have not dialed 611 on your phone and let t-mobile tech support know, then you are a part of the problem also. Samsung is being very cocky and trying to say this problem is isolated only to a few users. Just read their responses. Or they try to say you need to go outside for the GPS to work, no shit samsung, when I'm driving my car it is outside. Please, every carrier around the world is reporting problems with GPS on Galaxy S phones. So again, if you own this phone and are having problems, dial 611, let technical support at t-mobile know.
Then call samsung or visit www.galaxyshelp.com, register your product and let samsung know directly.

One more thing, if your GPS works 50 percent of the time and you think this isn't an issue, wait till winter rolls around, the clouds come out, and your phone wont pick up GPS at all.

thanks for listening

Well, SamV, What is your current decision on keeping the phone? Are you waiting it out? I checked out some phones today, and I am undecided. I wasn't really blown away by anything.

I walked into the..... Apple store... There I said it... I am an Apple virgin so I have not yet developed that keen sense of hate many android users have LOL. I put my phone next to the IPhone4. I liked the bright white on the IP4 and also, the smaller pictures appeared much clearer than on Vibrant. However, larger pictures were very similar in their appearance. Later I played with the Droid X and had the same experience. The screen on the Droid X also being white vs blue tint and having better thumbnails but not better large pic quality. I appreciated the flash on the droid x camera but the pics did not seem any better than the vibrant which was odd. I liked the metal frame on the Droid X, but I didn't like the clunkiness of it. Being a girl, I would've preferred smooth lines. I also didn't like the layout of the Droid X at all. I also noticed the Vibrant was much more touch sensitive than the IP4 (I preferred the Vibrant a lot in this area). I liked the bigger screen on the Vibrant. I liked the Vibrant's lighter weight. I like the inherent ability to easily muti-task with android (tx in large part to the 4 buttons). So basically, I decided I wanted to stay with Android but I am not sure if I prefer a Droid X or Droid Incredible over the vibrant. The Droid Incredible is just a tad small for me now, I think! So that's my very basic comparison of the 3 phones I looked at today. I'm going forum hopping now to read about the Droid X and the Incredible and see if it's worth switching to one of them. Right now I am not sold.

 

[Robinelli]

Ok. I have a new crush. The EVO. I haven't looked that closely at it because it is sold out everywhere and it had lackluster reviews in the forum. But I started looking at it more closely today (the specs that is) and I started salivating and really wanting it! I am thinking I will likely stick with this phone for now though. I wish I could have two phones like some people do. The Vibrant could be my g/f and the EVO the OW (yes, I know I'm a girl LOL).

 

[spiz]

I posted this at XDA as well, but people, please know that this is on top of Samsung's priority list right now. I have a very reliable source that has confirmed this. For those that may doubt, people like 2FR3SH know that my sources haven't been wrong yet in regards to the Vibrant. So just trust me, this is being worked on nonstop and a fix will be here soon.

If you're wondering why this needs to be fixed in the first place, it's simple. T-Mobile demanded the Vibrant's release date be moved up multiple times (more times than the public even knows about) in order to compete with the iPhone4 and Droid X. In doing so, they forced Samsung to rush and this just happens to be one of the things that was missed in the process.

So be patient, it's coming.

 

[VegasTouch]

I posted this at XDA as well, but people, please know that this is on top of Samsung's priority list right now. I have a very reliable source that has confirmed this. For those that may doubt, people like 2FR3SH know that my sources haven't been wrong yet in regards to the Vibrant. So just trust me, this is being worked on nonstop and a fix will be here soon.

If you're wondering why this needs to be fixed in the first place, it's simple. T-Mobile demanded the Vibrant's release date be moved up multiple times (more times than the public even knows about) in order to compete with the iPhone4 and Droid X. In doing so, they forced Samsung to rush and this just happens to be one of the things that was missed in the process.

So be patient, it's coming.

While im not doubting they are working on it, i cant buy the reason it is messed up. It is teh same phone as Captivate and the same phone as Epic which isnt coming out till Aug 20th and Fascinate hasnt announced a dtae yet. Will those be different if they come out with 2.1?

Somehow i doubt it.
The GPS isnt even a issue for me. It has worked good as far as loading and driving. But i did install the findmyphone app and tried it out and once it said my phone was two blocks away and the next notice i got said it was two houses down.

Could be a bit more accurate.

As for the DroidX...i havent used one but that thing is too big for my taste. I like my 4" screen a lot, but i wouldnt want to go any bigger as a whole on the phone. I dont want a brick in my pocket. But it does seem like a good phone. Just dont care for Verizon.

iPhone is a real good device but will cost you a lot more just to have it and it isnt customizable at all like Android phones are. Im loving Twitter(i use tweetcaster) on my Vibrant. Get notices right away for more than one account and gives you a lot of options and i had to turn on the app to get any with iPhone and then had to read thru a bunch at once.

 

[spiz]

While im not doubting they are working on it, i cant buy the reason it is messed up. It is teh same phone as Captivate and the same phone as Epic which isnt coming out till Aug 20th and Fascinate hasnt announced a dtae yet. Will those be different if they come out with 2.1?

There are different teams within Samsung that work on each individual line of the Galaxy S because of the demands from the different carriers.

It is the same phone, however there are enough differences to make them different phones, which makes this reasoning completely viable.

T-Mobile had this phone pushed up multiple times, causing Samsung to rush. It was a mistake that they missed, and they're working to correct it.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Well, SamV, What is your current decision on keeping the phone? Are you waiting it out? I checked out some phones today, and I am undecided. I wasn't really blown away by anything.

I walked into the..... Apple store... There I said it... I am an Apple virgin so I have not yet developed that keen sense of hate many android users have LOL. I put my phone next to the IPhone4. I liked the bright white on the IP4 and also, the smaller pictures appeared much clearer than on Vibrant. However, larger pictures were very similar in their appearance. Later I played with the Droid X and had the same experience. The screen on the Droid X also being white vs blue tint and having better thumbnails but not better large pic quality. I appreciated the flash on the droid x camera but the pics did not seem any better than the vibrant which was odd. I liked the metal frame on the Droid X, but I didn't like the clunkiness of it. Being a girl, I would've preferred smooth lines. I also didn't like the layout of the Droid X at all. I also noticed the Vibrant was much more touch sensitive than the IP4 (I preferred the Vibrant a lot in this area). I liked the bigger screen on the Vibrant. I liked the Vibrant's lighter weight. I like the inherent ability to easily muti-task with android (tx in large part to the 4 buttons). So basically, I decided I wanted to stay with Android but I am not sure if I prefer a Droid X or Droid Incredible over the vibrant. The Droid Incredible is just a tad small for me now, I think! So that's my very basic comparison of the 3 phones I looked at today. I'm going forum hopping now to read about the Droid X and the Incredible and see if it's worth switching to one of them. Right now I am not sold.

Hey Robinelli. Well my stance all along has been that this is a software issue, and I should just wait it out until they develop a fix. I also strongly believed that this GPS problem is on every phone, and those that are not exerpiencing it just happen to be at the right location at the right time. I considered my phone perfect, other than the GPS issue, and didn't want to take the chance of exchanging it, in fears I might get a phone with more issues other than just the gps, such as bad pixels.

Well my viewpoint is changing a little. I saw my screen naked for the first time yesterday, i've had a screen protector on it the day I got it. With the naked screen I noticed some kind of chemical residue underneath the glass, it causes weird strings and swirls. Then my phone started over heating. Today I think was what really worried me, my phone did a really strange awkward reboot, second time now in 1 week. I'll describe what it did:
The screen became unresponsive, wouldn't respond to any of my touch, and appeared to be frozen. Then the phone went completely dead, black screen. I assumed it turned off, but when I tried the power button, no response. Just sat there like a dead brick. Then mysteriously, it started up at the screen where it does sd media scan, it was scanning the media cards as if it had just rebooted. So the crazy part, if the phone did infact reboot itself, it did it all in secret behind the black screen. I never saw the t-mobile boot-up logo, nor the fancy rainbow colored S.

So before I just had gps issues, now I'm having weird reboot, and some awkward residue under my screen. Just curious anyone else have this residue under their screen? Its visible if you have the screen off, and tilt the screen under various lights.

All in all, I think this is a great phone. Because of the new problems I discovered, I think I should do an exchange. However, I want to wait to see what Samsung says about the GPS. If its not software, and instead dreaded hardware, then I rather exchange it for a Vibrant with the fixed hardware.

Just a quick note. You mentioned the EVO. Please consider not just the phone but the carrier. I don't know how long you have been with t-mobile. T-mobile truely is great at responding to the needs of their customers with kindness. Last thing you want when you are frustrated is a rude customer service rep. Also the Evo has itself suffered build issues, caps on its frame rate, and its a chunky phone. I think the vibrant, although dimension wise similar to the Evo and Droidx, still has a very functional quality to it. Very light weight, thin, and sexy.

I think you should call t-mobile and ask them to extend your remorse. When you call 611, say "cancellation." Speak to someone in retentions.
I truely think this might be the best phone for you, so see if they will extend your remorse until this mess is sorted out.

Last thing, I kind of hate the silence on samsungs twitter, wish they would post another update, something like "its software guys, dont worry," or something to reassure us. I'm starting to change my mind and think it might be a hardware problem... I hope not!

 

[Robinelli]

Yes, I think you are right about the EVO. In theory it is a good phone. I've been over at the EVO forum a while lurking tonight and have decided it has too many problems.

As for the black screen.... YES, I have also been experiencing the black screen of death. It happened to me once on my old phone and has happened to me at least 2 times now on my new one. Two of those times I was running GPS and my phone was plugged into the charger and my battery was low. I think one of those things contributed to it. Or maybe all of them. I can't recall what was going on the 3rd time, but I am pretty sure my battery was low.

I'm not going to AT&T. I just can't bring myself to do it. I wasn't happy with the customer service at Verizon, actually, either. But they supposedly have great coverage. IDK. I think I am settling. I may just deal with the issues the Vibrant has until something else comes out. It's still a great phone over all. I'm just not sure I prefer the Droid X (which when I put it back to back against the Vibrant they were the same size). Ok, so I actually don't really like the Droid X thinking about it now. The Incredible was nice, but it seemed just too petite to me now. But it would certainly make a better pocket phone. Meh.

 

[Robinelli]

I'm obviously thinking out loud here LMAO!

 

[VegasTouch]

Hey Robinelli. Well my stance all along has been that this is a software issue, and I should just wait it out until they develop a fix. I also strongly believed that this GPS problem is on every phone, and those that are not exerpiencing it just happen to be at the right location at the right time. I considered my phone perfect, other than the GPS issue, and didn't want to take the chance of exchanging it, in fears I might get a phone with more issues other than just the gps, such as bad pixels.

Well my viewpoint is changing a little. I saw my screen naked for the first time yesterday, i've had a screen protector on it the day I got it. With the naked screen I noticed some kind of chemical residue underneath the glass, it causes weird strings and swirls. Then my phone started over heating. Today I think was what really worried me, my phone did a really strange awkward reboot, second time now in 1 week. I'll describe what it did:
The screen became unresponsive, wouldn't respond to any of my touch, and appeared to be frozen. Then the phone went completely dead, black screen. I assumed it turned off, but when I tried the power button, no response. Just sat there like a dead brick. Then mysteriously, it started up at the screen where it does sd media scan, it was scanning the media cards as if it had just rebooted. So the crazy part, if the phone did infact reboot itself, it did it all in secret behind the black screen. I never saw the t-mobile boot-up logo, nor the fancy rainbow colored S.

So before I just had gps issues, now I'm having weird reboot, and some awkward residue under my screen. Just curious anyone else have this residue under their screen? Its visible if you have the screen off, and tilt the screen under various lights.

All in all, I think this is a great phone. Because of the new problems I discovered, I think I should do an exchange. However, I want to wait to see what Samsung says about the GPS. If its not software, and instead dreaded hardware, then I rather exchange it for a Vibrant with the fixed hardware.

Just a quick note. You mentioned the EVO. Please consider not just the phone but the carrier. I don't know how long you have been with t-mobile. T-mobile truely is great at responding to the needs of their customers with kindness. Last thing you want when you are frustrated is a rude customer service rep. Also the Evo has itself suffered build issues, caps on its frame rate, and its a chunky phone. I think the vibrant, although dimension wise similar to the Evo and Droidx, still has a very functional quality to it. Very light weight, thin, and sexy.

I think you should call t-mobile and ask them to extend your remorse. When you call 611, say "cancellation." Speak to someone in retentions.
I truely think this might be the best phone for you, so see if they will extend your remorse until this mess is sorted out.

Last thing, I kind of hate the silence on samsungs twitter, wish they would post another update, something like "its software guys, dont worry," or something to reassure us. I'm starting to change my mind and think it might be a hardware problem... I hope not!

I wouldnt wait for Samsung to say anything. I would just get a new phone. And if that one has issues, get another. I dont have any residue and havent put a screen protector on it yet. Havent put anything on it yet.

I do think EVERY phone has its issues for some reason. iPhone has had many too. Just wish we could get these big companies to make a phone RIGHT before they release it to the public and stop worrying so much about every dollar by being first.

You wanna be first? Make the best phone that nobody has to take back and you will steal a lot of customers from Apple.

 

[VegasTouch]

Yes, I think you are right about the EVO. In theory it is a good phone. I've been over at the EVO forum a while lurking tonight and have decided it has too many problems.

As for the black screen.... YES, I have also been experiencing the black screen of death. It happened to me once on my old phone and has happened to me at least 2 times now on my new one. Two of those times I was running GPS and my phone was plugged into the charger and my battery was low. I think one of those things contributed to it. Or maybe all of them. I can't recall what was going on the 3rd time, but I am pretty sure my battery was low.

I'm not going to AT&T. I just can't bring myself to do it. I wasn't happy with the customer service at Verizon, actually, either. But they supposedly have great coverage. IDK. I think I am settling. I may just deal with the issues the Vibrant has until something else comes out. It's still a great phone over all. I'm just not sure I prefer the Droid X (which when I put it back to back against the Vibrant they were the same size). Ok, so I actually don't really like the Droid X thinking about it now. The Incredible was nice, but it seemed just too petite to me now. But it would certainly make a better pocket phone. Meh.

In short, Verizon has the best PHONE coverage if you want your phone to work. Too expensive though. AT&T has the best & fastest data. Making phone calls suck and so do their plans for having an iPhone. Not sure if it sucks to have a Captivate or not.

T-Mobile is a steady eddie and now has the best 3G and ive never dropped a call except for when i was in the basement at the hotel i work at right now which uses Verizon as their main service and has extra antenna's to get it strong.
Dont have them for T-Mobile so i lose service in the basement when im in the EDR. T-Mobile has the best customer support going.