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All things GPS

Is this a poll?

  • Yes, it looks like a poll.

    Votes: 42 26.3%

  • No, there is no way this is a poll.

    Votes: 31 19.4%

  • Why in the world is there a poll here?

    Votes: 87 54.4%
  • Total voters
    160
Another indication as to why I contributed post #24 above.

If any OP has something new and interesting to contribute, fine. Otherwise, suppose we all move on with more constructive stuff.
 
The Samsung Captivate forum has turned into a GPS pit of despair and gloom and it's not like people are posting new topics. References to Samsung's claim on GPS on Facebook has been posted 80,000 times already. What is different this time??? :confused:

Then the following debate is also the same. At this point, Samsung should fix GPS just to save this forum from descending into anarchy and destruction. :D

Can a mod just make a master GPS thread?
 
I'm against having a master GPS thread, simply because once new information does come out, it will get lost in the sea of complaints.
 
nybmx said:
capturepul.jpg
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Were you really that worried about us stalking you that you felt it necessary to erase street names? =P
 
George0211 said:
This argument is stupid, and excuse me for saying it, but it is.
A product is a product as a compilation of all the features advertised, not 1 main feature.
If you bought a car and the stereo system didn't work in it, you'd take it back to the dealer and you wouldn't accept the "This is a car, not a stereo system" argument from them. It simply doesn't make sense. Just because you don't care for a feature like GPS in your phone, doesn't mean that others don't use it either.
Majority of people who bought this device, myself included, wouldn't have bought it, if it didn't include the GPS.
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Thank you for calling my 'argument' (it isn't an argument, it's an opinion) 'stupid'. I won't return the favor regarding your opinion. The fact of the matter is my opinion is that I purchased a cell phone that has additional features. I own a GPS. I own a camera. I didn't buy the Captivate for those features. What I did buy it for it does very well. That is my 'stupid' opinion, YMMV.
 
emuneee said:
TReferences to Samsung's claim on GPS on Facebook has been posted 80,000 times already. What is different this time??? :confused:
Click to expand...

I must have missed the other references to Samsung's official statement on facebook. Every other thread I read (and I read dozens) claim that the most recent update is NOT the GPS fix or that Samsung claims the GPS fix is still coming in september. In fact the first threads that came out talking about the release didn't mention GPS at all among the list of items fixed in the update.

I was under the impression that by posting the official word from Samsung's Support site on facebook that I was adding a new piece of information that to the best of my knowledge had not been cited directly from Samsung.

I'm sorry if that wasn't the case. I really didn't mean to add another me to post. Mods feel free to close this thread.
 
nybmx said:
I don't know if I'm one of the lucky ones or if it's because my phone is less than a week old but my GPS is working great right now.
Here's my situation. I got the phone on the 21st. I tried apps like GPS test and the like and wasn't getting fast locks if any. In fact the first time I tried I honestly thought I had a defective device because I sat outside in a giant open parking lot for almost 7 full minutes without any activity whatsoever. When I did they would come and go constantly. I used My tracks to track me driving around town with pretty bad results. It showed me driving through houses and places where there are no roads.
On the day at&t released the update I pulled it manually OTA and it updated fine. My GPS now finds and locks onto up to 8 satellites in ~15 seconds or so. I've been using My Tracks for the last 2 nights while just going out for a drive. I drove on both main roads and tight side streets and it has tracked me flawlessly so far. (All results have been with "Use Wireless Networks" Off)

I'm posting some of my settings because I played around with them. I don't know how much, if any these effect anything but I'm gonna share some of the settings I remember touching just to be thorough.
supl.google.com
port 7276
SUPL Secure Socket: off
AGPS Mode: SUPL
Operation Mode: MS Based
Start Mode: Hot start
GPS Plus: Off
Use SkyHook: On
Use PC Tool: Off

Again I don't know if this is the typical situation of people claiming their GPS works fine in the first few weeks of ownership and then crapping out.
Also if it matters at all the second day after updating I rooted it, installed the voodoo lag fix 1.9, and removed bloatware. GPS seemed unaffected by any of those.
Click to expand...

+1 I put these settings into my phone on Saturday and my phone is still able to find and lock onto satellites quickly today with good accuracy * knock on wood :) *.
 
Time to update the official specs.

The Samsung Captivate:
Pros: 4" screen, fast processor, Android OS
Cons: No GPS
 
George0211 said:
A product is a product as a compilation of all the features advertised, not 1 main feature.
If you bought a car and the stereo system didn't work in it, you'd take it back to the dealer and you wouldn't accept the "This is a car, not a stereo system" argument from them. It simply doesn't make sense. Just because you don't care for a feature like GPS in your phone, doesn't mean that others don't use it either.
Majority of people who bought this device, myself included, wouldn't have bought it, if it didn't include the GPS.
Click to expand...


I have the same opinion.
I bought this phone so I wouldn't have to carry a phone, a camera, a GPS, a notebook or netbook. I need to have the funtionality of all of those devices, and I bought the Captivate because AT&T and Samsung advertised that it would. If I didn't have that need, I would have bought a MUCH less expensive phone that had a marginal version of those features tacked on as extras. The Captivate was BUILT to be all of those things.

It is unreasonable to expect anyone to settle and have the "well it is just a phone" attitude. It may be just that to some, but it will never be that to me (and I suspect, a LOT of other people).
 
lordhamster said:
This post is different because: rather than quoting a rumor thread in another forum about some Euro-Version of the phone, or spewing hearsay from some AT&T rep... it has an actual screenshot from SamsungSupportUSA about our actual phone, claiming they have released the long awaited fix.

Next question please.

Disclaimer.
People voicing displeasure over a device you happen to own should not be construed as a personal attack against you, your purchase decisions or your your intelligence. Please do not take any anger directed at the phone manufacturer personally.
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I think the point is, that all these various GPS conversations could happen in one or two threads. There's no need to start a brand new thread every time we find something new out about the GPS.
The mods should really be merging all these.
 
reinbeau said:
Thank you for calling my 'argument' (it isn't an argument, it's an opinion) 'stupid'. I won't return the favor regarding your opinion. The fact of the matter is my opinion is that I purchased a cell phone that has additional features. I own a GPS. I own a camera. I didn't buy the Captivate for those features. What I did buy it for it does very well. That is my 'stupid' opinion, YMMV.
Click to expand...

It became an argument the second you argued someone else's "flawd opinion" (re-read your own statement).
Again, if you purchase a car, that has certain "features" and they don't work, you're going to return that car or demand it gets fixed.
If you want to carry 3-4 different devices on you, instead of 1, good for you, I personally, don't understand why anyone would buy a "smart" phone to use it as a regular phone, but that's your perogative.
 
George0211 said:
It became an argument the second you argued someone else's "flawd opinion" (re-read your own statement).
Again, if you purchase a car, that has certain "features" and they don't work, you're going to return that car or demand it gets fixed.
If you want to carry 3-4 different devices on you, instead of 1, good for you, I personally, don't understand why anyone would buy a "smart" phone to use it as a regular phone, but that's your perogative.
Click to expand...
Let's see, the post I quoted ended with 'don't you think?', and I proffered my own opinion. The argument here isn't coming from me. But I'm obviously in a minority (although I know I have company in that minority). I will continue to use the best device for the purpose intended - I've got a big purse ;)

To me the Droid phone is a developing platform, it's fun to learn, it'll get better with time, but none of it, as far as I'm concerned, is a deal breaker - other than the phone function.
 
I'm glad I didn't get blamed this time around for starting another thread regarding GPS or Samsung's inability of fixing an issue. With that said, folks who continue to claim GPS is not important should stop reading these posts. I paid good money for this phone, believed Samsung would produce a good fix and last week found out I was taken for a ride by Samsung.

If you really want to help the community, help us complain to Samsung that this phone is busted then we can all be happy that a phone with lots of potential will once and for all live up to its specs. As for those claiming that the GPS works, please get your facts straight. The phone loses lock, period, you can prove this by giving it to a 10 year old kid and letting him/her go for a walk. Also, if I have to constantly tweek the GPS settings to get a working phone then that confirms even more that this is broken right out of the box. 90% of settings recommendation posts are a waste of time and 100% of folks who do post them have no clue what they actually do. More in line with, keep throwing it up, something will stick and I'll claim victory approach.

Facebook, Twitter, AndroidCentral, AndroidSpin, Phandroid, AndroidAndMe, CNET, Endgadget, Gizmodo, and the list goes on have all stated that the entire Galaxy S line is busted. I'm willing to bet my next paycheck that the Galaxy Tab is busted too. As for the video showing the phone locks to more sats or sees more sats, that just a 1 minute video. Use it and you'll find out how bad it is. Yesterday I needed to visit a new location, fired up Google Nav and told it the location, took 10 mins to lock and lost lock like 4 times while driving. Yeah, GPS is fixed alright. Samsung products will no longer have a place in my house, they'll have to pay my mortgage if they want me to buy another one. So please, stop bashing the rest of us who work hard for our money and want to have a product that can work as advertised.
 
Cuerbo said:
I'm glad I didn't get blamed this time around for starting another thread regarding GPS or Samsung's inability of fixing an issue. With that said, folks who continue to claim GPS is not important should stop reading these posts. I paid good money for this phone, believed Samsung would produce a good fix and last week found out I was taken for a ride by Samsung.
Click to expand...
For me the problem is that everyone who has something "new" or thinks they do; they start a new post.
The OP started this thread then added his post to at least one other thread. It's entirely unnecessary.
Virtually all, if not all of this GPS talk could be and should be done in one thread.
 
I disagree with the one thread, I don't want to look at 20 pages to find an answer. Sorry, that just doesn't cut it. If the forum is going to be anti-venting, then I see folks leaving from here rather quickly and going to other friendlier places. Do we need a GPS section, probably. But let me tell you, there are other useless posts that don't get flagged as much as GPS ones. Last night I posted about USB issues again after the update, no longer get prompted even when having the phone configured to do so. One poster replied saying I create a post for anything and everything.

If this is how things will be around here, I'll make sure to contribute and/or participate elsewhere. A lot of folks here are disrespectful to those concerned with GPS issue, find that to be upsetting. Also the comments about this is a phone and not a GPS, seriously, is 3rd grade talk. If read the phone's specs, GPS is part of this device and it shoud work like it does on other phones. Am I expecting it to perform like a $700 Garmin, no, but at least provide the basic point A to point B functionality and lock within a 1 minute or 2 not 20. Your signature kinda points to what I'm saying here, we are all in this together and like me, you have a defective product as well. Maybe you just want to game and watch movies, I understand but I want to use all capabilities and unfortunately, GPS ain't working for me.
 
I didn't get the update (running Cognition), but as I understand it, you don't have to use the dialer code to get into LBS Test Mode any longer. Now it's a shortcut you can add to the home screen, right? Could this be the "GPS Update" they were posting about. (And if so, it probably would have been better not to say anything.)
 
Prim8 said:
I think the point is, that all these various GPS conversations could happen in one or two threads. There's no need to start a brand new thread every time we find something new out about the GPS.
The mods should really be merging all these.
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There is a section for in the Samsung Captivate Guide sticky of the main forum called "Anything GPS Related" that links to some valuable GPS dedicated threads. I think the mods would like to direct GPS issues towards those, but until people see a big fat GPS sub-forum/sticky, we will continue with the multiple GPS threads. Maybe the mods are just wanting to keep things uniform throughout all the forums? I can imagine not wanting to start a sub-forum or sticky for everything, but I doubt this is going away until it's 99% fixed for everyone. Or *shudder*, it DOESN'T get fixed for the majority. I've never been moderator, but man, I would think it would be nice to have a coffer to chuck all these threads into.
 
How is 20 pages any different than 20 threads? 20 different threads is harder to follow and harder to avoid if you want to avoid the conversation.
This isn't about not venting, it's about signal to noise.
I don't care if 1000 people make 100000 posts in one thread about GPS. Even though I don't feel I have the problems or they aren't as bad for me as some people make them out to be I'm still interested in following the situation. It's much harder to do if people keep creating new threads every 20 minutes.
 
Wait a minute, two posts up, you have an EVO and are complaining about Captivate folks frustrated with Samsung and their non-working GPS. Go figure.
 
reinbeau said:
Let's see, the post I quoted ended with 'don't you think?', and I proffered my own opinion. The argument here isn't coming from me. But I'm obviously in a minority (although I know I have company in that minority). I will continue to use the best device for the purpose intended - I've got a big purse ;)

To me the Droid phone is a developing platform, it's fun to learn, it'll get better with time, but none of it, as far as I'm concerned, is a deal breaker - other than the phone function.
Click to expand...

Then why are you even on the Android forums, are you just trolling? If you don't care what works and what doesn't then why are you on a forum that thrives on discussion of bugs, fixes, mods, etc.?

I am not sure that anyone else in this forum would agree with you that the only thing they expect to work on this phone is the phone. If you feel that way, quit trolling the forums and buy yourself a dumb phone from 1973 that made phone calls. Martin Cooper may have one you can buy.
 
I work at Sprint and it should come as no surprise that we watch this forum very closely and use it to help identify key issues and complaints so we can research and provide fixes. The GPS issues being reported are no exception. There is a lot of discussion about specific scenarios/habits that may make this issue more prevalent. If any of you are willing we'd love to have answers to some of these questions. I know some are simple so don't be too hard on me. Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far.

[FONT=&quot]1. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Is Wifi turned on and in use when the problem occurs?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Do you have both the Network Assisted and GPS Location options checked in the Location settings?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Is the customer using the device outdoors with a clear view of the sky to allow a GPS Satellite location?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Which application(s) are you using for location when the issue occurs?
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]5. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Are you seeing an error message (i.e. Searching for GPS Location, Unable to Locate) or a specific behavior on the device?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]6. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Are you seeing this behavior while stationary or are you moving or both (i.e. in a car, tram, train)?[/FONT]
7. Does the issue occur in one specific geographic location but not in others? (i.e. home, work, other?)
 
 
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