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Captivate vs Iphone 4

I'm glad you picked a phone that worked best for YOU! The best phone varies from person to person and that's why options are such a great thing. :D

You are more than welcome to stick around the forums regardless of which phone you have as well. :)
 
i understand where your coming from, I kinda felt like going with the captivate was risky due to some of the problems it has. GLAD I took the risk because Im having pretty good luck with it, for me the iphone was never in the equation because Im more interested in android....
 
Both phones are great options.

Worst case scenario - you don't like the iPhone 4 as much as you thought you would in which case you can sell it and basically pick up a Captivate for free ;)
 
I can see why he would say "longevity." Android is coming out with a bigger, badder phone practically on a monthly, if not weekly basis whereas new iphones come out only yearly and there's no doubt that the iphone4 will get all the technical support for the next 2 years and who knows if the Captivate or any current Android phone will get the latest software for 2 years.

I think the iphone is a fantastic device and beautiful, but I couldn't have one for 3 reasons 1) Apple makes them 2) They are on AT&T and 3) I get bored too easily and I love being able to change my phone into infinite configurations.
 
Both are good phones. If it works for you that is all that matters really. I never left Blackberry for years. I had 4 Blackberry phones but the latest offering (Torch) was trash I thought so I was left in the same spot you were. I chose the Captivate over the iPhone since it fit my needs better or I liked certain things about it more - to each his own, as long as you are happy.

No reason for you to leave either. I am still a highly active member of Crackberry and I no longer use my Blackberry but I still like the community..

Enjoy the phone thx10538
 
I'm glad I'm not getting a ton of hate. Yeah, I just took some time today and decided that Android is still so young, really only in its 2nd true year of consumer adoption, that it still has a little way to go in my opinion. I know the limitations of iOS, but I also know the advantages. I love the bigger screen of the Droids, but the Retina Display is something else.

In the end, it came down to me, while being fascinated by Android, I think its just NOT quite there (on AT&T. I can't stress enough that its just because AT&T has good service in Alabama that I am stuck on it. I know that sounds weird, but I always have great service) for me. I think it probably will be there soon though. I just think it'll take a little bit more development from the Google side. Google has done a strange thing with Android, developing it so fast that phones can't keep up (and the Nexus One isn't on sale anymore). There's no phone on AT&T that offers the vanilla Android experience, and all the bloat ware really kills me. I know you can hack it off, but the xda kind of stuff is over my head.

While there are walls (with barbed wire and gun towers) around the iOS ecosystem, if you play along with what Cupertino has made, it is a pretty cool place. The Jailbreak community is also pretty impressive, and the iPhone is just so much more of a know quantity.

Plus, Android is just going to keep getting better, so by my next upgrade, I'm sure there'll be some amazing hardware
 
To be honest regarding the bloatware, I didn't Root and it doesn't effect me one bit. You really don't even notice it. I just installed LauncherPro and hid every AT&T app I don't want to use or see.

Some on Samsung's preloaded apps are pretty decent however.
 
I also bought the iphone 4 and thought it was amazing. I started wondering what I was missing out on though and took it back for the captivate, and boy was I missing out! I'm so glad I took back my ip4 for a captivate, the retina display has nothing on the super amoled!

I think one reason I like my captivate so much more is the fact I can change my home screen all the time, where as the ip4 is always the same boring icons.
 
I just got the Captivate and am in love with it. I came from the Tilt2, and there is just no comparison.

I played with the iPhone4 at the store, and I was truly bored with it. It looks and feels (as far as the OS) exactly like my 2 year old iPod touch. Which I loved when I got it, and about a month later discovered I had already done everything that could be done with it, even with it being jailbroken. I still like it, but use it strictly for what it is, a music player. It is just no fun to "play" with it anymore.

Another big factor for me choosing the Captivate over iPhone was that I like things that are unique. I went to a wedding a while back, and I am not kidding, 90% of the people there had an iPhone. I love a good trend, but I have always shied away from things that are too trendy. Once everyone has one, I just don't want it anymore lol.
 
Before I got my Capt. I played with my sister's iphone 4 and I just hated it, too expensive and way too over rated as with everything else with Apple. I got the Capt. when it was released in July and I love it! Glad I didn't get the iphone 4. Now my sis and my nephew are jealous of my Capt. :D
 
I'm a multi-platformist. I have an iPhone 4 and a Captivate.

These are both very nice. I've had each of them since the day they launched. In my opinion the true decision making factor is what you plan to use it for, and what your personal preferences are.

The iPhone is a nice compliment to my MacBook Pro as I originally used an iPod for music via iTunes. Then as iTunes and the Apple "entertainment" business evolved my music & video collection followed. As. Full portable compact multimedia device the new iPhone 4 is great. Yet the obvious is if this is your only phone you're locked into the closed dictatorial Apple Eco System. And _that's_ a discussion for another time & place. I'm not advocating for any brand or platform.

Enter the Android powered Cativate, now _this phone_ is my favorite hands down. Paired with my ThinkPad, it's one awesome setup. I greatly prefer the larger 4" display, even over the 4.3" of my Droid X. Sans the DX "camera bump" and physical buttons, the Captivate is sleek, light, and very nice to carry.

I greatly prefer Android's openness and flexibility. Although still a young OS, I'm finding Eclair 2.1 quite nice. In my case, I've not experienced any unacceptable lags or delays and it's been very stable. Going forward it's only going to get better. In fact my current thinking is that I may skip Froyo, keep enjoying mine the way it is, the buy a new HTC Desire HD with Gingerbread when they are released in just a few months.
 
I owned both these phones, even got the captivate when it first came out. I for one believe that the captivates screen is better than the iPhone 4 that I have now. I will also say while the iPhone is a more complete device, other than jailbreak, which I have not done, it's limiting and somewhat boring. I love both cameras and video. Gps is way better on the iPhone. Swype is way better than just typing and something I really miss along with being able to mess with settings and hardware. I think the captivate speaker phone and audio is better as well. iPhones simplistic interface is tough to beat right now. I have no complaints on the ip4 after owning its predecessors but I miss the captivate
 
Good luck with the iPhone. They are nice, but you just cant do anything with it....cuz SJ says so. I was in the middle of a cross county move back in june, and apple deactivated their beta 4.0 software over the air while I was in st louis. mine somehow got messed up in that, I was not running the 4.0 beta. They left me in the middle of the US with no OS. It would not restore. It was truly bricked. The apple store was no help, they wanted to charge me to replace it. I could not get anywhere with apple. I had to go to a different store once I made it to georgia and convinced the manager to replace it. They finally did. Shortly after that, sold the iphone and got the captivate. Im just done with apple. also, ive had the 2g, 3g, and 3gs, all of them had to be warranty replaced at least once, and the 3g was 3 times replaced.
 
So I've had the Samsung Galaxy-S Captivate for 3 weeks now, and I'm still on the fence with this as compared to the iPhone.

I decided to buy a new phone, and debated between the iphone 4g and the captivate. I"m impressed by the Captivate, and like the ability for a quasi-techno-geek (I used to be a C-Programmer many moons ago) to be able to tweak my settings,etc.
But here are what I consider the "upsides" and "downsides" after 3 weeks of configuring, and using.

I use this mainly for work email and to see what "neat gadgets/apps" there are.

upsides:
1. ability to control the user interface better - Widgets are really cool! Live wallpaper is interesting, albeit a little bit of a battery waster
2. ability to get programs that give me access to the O/S. Ok, I'm not a android programmer, but I do like a few apps that allow me to kill processes and see what is really going on under the hood. (Also allowing me to delete the AT&T apps that are "built into the phone".
3. Screen - a little bigger, and what appears to be better graphics
4. Integrated email (a wash - Apple has similar product)
5. Seems like the Android Market is easier for people to publish apps (but where are the good ones??)


Downsides
#1. Email- It has erased my email accounts twice this week. I tried loading K-9, but having problems integrating with the Exchange Server at work.
#2. App store - Apple has won this hands down - most commercial firms that I do business with have an "App for that". Which makes it easy to do business with them. I can't get a straight answer from many companies if they are going to do an android app. I miss "Words with Friends" and the AT&T Uverse app (go figure - AT&T doesn't even have an app for their own product) .

there doesn't appear to be as many robust apps out there for many of the things I was comfortable doing with Apple apps. I am a little wary about security related issues on android marketplace. Also you can't buy apps from other countries, as there isn't a US price equivalent - Granted - still new at learning this, BUT

#3. Intuitive GUI - iphone seems more intuitive in using it.
#4. Plug and play - with the iphone - i turned it on and it worked. I had to reconfigure my wireless network (guessed at that problem!) to get it to work with my home system. Then I needed to find a device driver to get the Samsung to plug into my Microsoft Windows 7.

#5. Synch - I still can't conclude if there is a synch feature like the iphone has with the PC. Do I need to back up my device? What is Kies and how does it work ?? Where's the info?????

#6. Battery - I had the blackjack a few years ago - great product, but lousy battery. In fact when you bought it, you got 2 batteries.. AT&T should include a 2nd battery, just like they did with the Blackjack. I read one of the other carriers of the Samsung Galaxy S provides 2 batteries.
Battery Recharge time - Apple wins on this one as well - Recharges quickly. Samsung takes hours to get a full charge.


So I am trying my best to stay the course and stick with the Samsung Galaxy S, but as my time expires to be within the trade-in date, I'm still on the fence.


In my opinion - if you are someone very technical - this is a great phone. I won't recommend to my wife or friends (unless they are technology literate and love this stuff) , because just too many "issues".

Thoughts?
 
You can't go wrong with either. As an owner of both I will say I use my Captivate for my phone and my Iphone 4 for my Ipod. The iPhone is just so boring. After rooting and running custom ROMs on my Captivate it really outshines my iPhone in most things OS related. Hardware feature wise iPhone still has the edge with better GPS and camera functionality.

Both awesome devices though.
 
I find it hard to believe that anyone would knowingly buy an iPhone 4 at this time. It has glass front and back - so a case is required. One finger in the wrong place will cause dropped calls and major signal attenuation - again, making a case a requirement. Oh, and rumor has a hardware refresh in a couple months to fix the antenna design. iTunes is required, and to do anything similar to Android you need to jailbreak your phone. Jailbreaks run one to four weeks behind releases and even then the software packages by other devs take weeks or more to get updated (after the jailbreak) if ever.

Android is not perfect, but iPhone is missing basic functionality. If your phone has a PIN lock; you have to power on, swipe to unlock; enter your pin - just to see if you have any missed emails. There are no widgets and little customization.

I expect the iPhone to catch up soon - they hired a bunch of Palm guys, but I left my 3G for this, and have no plans to go back to a closed system.
 
alphadog00 said:
I find it hard to believe that anyone would knowingly buy an iPhone 4 at this time. It has glass front and back - so a case is required. One finger in the wrong place will cause dropped calls and major signal attenuation - again, making a case a requirement. Oh, and rumor has a hardware refresh in a couple months to fix the antenna design. iTunes is required, and to do anything similar to Android you need to jailbreak your phone.
Click to expand...

Rumor is BS. So is your statement that you need a case or one finger drops calls. Can it happen? Yeah I guess, but I've used my iPhone for 2 months before getting my Captivate with NO case and have not had a single issue.

It was a mountain made out of a mole hill. The iPhone 4 is a perfectly capable phone, stop spreading the bullshit. In fact my iPhone 4 gets better reception than my Captivate, and in fact my Captivate drops signal faster from holding it than does my iPhone 4.

I still prefer using my Captivate because the OS is just more fun to mess with, but as a phone, the iPhone is better for me.
 
Ferris23 said:
Rumor is BS. So is your statement that you need a case or one finger drops calls. Can it happen? Yeah I guess, but I've used my iPhone for 2 months before getting my Captivate with NO case and have not had a single issue.

It was a mountain made out of a mole hill. The iPhone 4 is a perfectly capable phone, stop spreading the bullshit. In fact my iPhone 4 gets better reception than my Captivate, and in fact my Captivate drops signal faster from holding it than does my iPhone 4.

I still prefer using my Captivate because the OS is just more fun to mess with, but as a phone, the iPhone is better for me.
Click to expand...

You are confusing rumor with fact.

So the hundreds of videos of "one finger" bridging the gap between antenna's as well as my friends demonstrating the same thing to me is BS? Consumer Reports and all the other testing by Tech sites was just made up and doctored?

The iPhone four was built with the design idea of form over function. It has a physical design defect.

I am sorry you don't agree, but accepting the truth is the first step to recovery.
 
alphadog00 said:
You are confusing rumor with fact.

So the hundreds of videos of "one finger" bridging the gap between antenna's as well as my friends demonstrating the same thing to me is BS? Consumer Reports and all the other testing by Tech sites was just made up and doctored?

The iPhone four was built with the design idea of form over function. It has a physical design defect.

I am sorry you don't agree, but accepting the truth is the first step to recovery.
Click to expand...

Do you own the phone?

If you are in a very low signal area and sit there with your finger over the gap for an extended period of time then yes it can drop a call, but not always and again it's only really a problem in poor signal areas. If you just use the phone normal like I do then it's a non issue. Just like when I am in a low signal area and pick up my Captivate, it also drops signal. Should I make a video on that?

I'm not just making all of this up to promote the iPhone (I couldn't care less, just annoying when people who don't have the phone scream it's faulty when I haven't dropped a call with it yet), just speaking from experience using the phone without a case.

Like I said, I own the damn phone, I would know if it really was an issue. I'm sure it is for some, but not for the majority.

I have nothing to accept, I enjoy the iPhone 4 and the Samsung Captivate, it's about the reality of the problem in that it's really a non issue for the majority of iPhone users.

The loudest voices are people like yourself here to promote an Android agenda.
 
Man, I just dont understand the mentality of many here... It's like a war.. we are better than you, we can do this, you cant do that, etc... and if you "bad mouth" someones PHONE you may have well just wizzed on their grave...

IT'S JUST A PHONE GUYS.

But, to add constructively to this conversation;

I came from iPhone 3g. I was thinking about getting the iPhone4, but they just weren't in stock. Then the Captivate came out so i thought I would give it a try. I am glad I did, I really like the openness of the OS and being able to make it look and act how I want it too. Despite some of the glitches, bugs, and somewhat less than user friendly operations, I haven't looked back. I really hope that Samsung/AT&T keep developing and supporting these phones! There was a bit of a learning curve relearning how to use the Captivate/Android system, but now that I am used to it, I love it. I would have like to had a FFC, voice command, and more apps, but Im learning to addapt.

On the other hand. My wife has an iPhone4. She has had some issues with it since she got it. She would drop calls, hang up with her cheak, and the phone would slip and slide around on its glass back. But a week ago she got her FREE skin for her phone. She no longer has problems with the phone sliding around, and doesnt kill calls by shorting the antenna. Just the other day, she updated to 4.1 and she no longer hangs up with her cheek. I know she would NOT have the patience to learn to transfer music and video to the Captivate phone. She would not like to have to muss around getting email hooked up, contacts working, visual voicemail, etc. on the Captivate. She would NOT like not being able to dock her phone in her alarm clock, her truck, her office etc. She would NOT like not having voice command and being able to "tell" her phone to call someone, or play a certain song. Now that she has gotten her free case, and the proximity sensor is fixed, this is the perfect phone for her. She can plug it in, sync, and go. She can buy her music, podcasts, etc on the go. She can dock with her truck, her clock, her office computer, etc.

My point here is they are both pretty damn good. They both have their upsides and downsides. What you like/want is just a personal prefference. I like Android because I like F-ing around with it, she likes her iPhone because she doesn't have to F around with it.
 
I had a Captivate for over a week, it had so many issues it was stupid. Had they been able to GUARANTEE that the GPS (and other things) would be fixed in my 30 day window, I would have gotten another one - no question.

The bigger screen is nice, Swype is terrific.

I can do 'stuff' - frankly - so what?! I can make my home screen look different - whoopee - I want it to work - I want it ALL to work as promised, mine did not, I got an iphone 4. FOR ME (AND ONLY ME, as far as I am concerned), it simply works.

I sync my music, I buy whatever apps I want, and it all JUST WORKS!

I have NEVER dropped a call - EVER (I have only had it about 2 months now), and it has been in a case for ONLY 1 month. My XM radio loses signals more than the phone - I was not able to get a signal on the point of Isle of Palms, SC, that's it, other than that spot IT. JUST. WORKS.

If the Captivate, had functional GPS, better battery, did not eat my data memory, and host of other issues - I'd have kept it. It failed - there I said it.

In roughly 18 months, I expect that both phones of the time will be sufficiently better that our arguments will be reduced.
 
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