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Help Is my new Captivate defective?

giani

Lurker
I just got my Samsung Captivate yesterday from N1 Wireless. It is unlocked (going to use it on T-Mobile without data, wifi only) and came already updated to Gingerbread 2.3.5. This is my first smartphone (android or otherwise) so I don't have much of a frame of reference here. I spent a while this morning learning my way around the phone and have a big problem with it.

At random intervals, often after just a minute or two of use, the phone becomes unresponsive, the screen goes black, and after a few seconds it goes to the lock screen. It appears to be rebooting without showing the (annoying) AT&T and Galaxy S animations. This is every couple minutes or less, making the device totally unusable.

I have been researching the issue, and it looks like some people are experiencing similar phenomena after updating to GB. Does this sound like a software issue, or is this thing defective? I have just a few days to return it so I need to know soon what the best course of action is. I tried taking the battery out and back again to no avail. After doing some reading here I was considering a factory reset. Anyone have an alternative worth trying?

I am reluctant to try rooting and flashing a custom ROM while I still have the option of returning it and buying something else, but I really wanted this sucker to work. It seems like a better fit for my needs than the Exhibit II that I was also considering.
 
Good thing I didn't wait for a reply...

Just an update for anyone in a similar situation. This was indeed purely a software issue with the stock gingerbread that came with the phone. After a factory reset that didn't fix the problem, I took a chance and flashed stock Froyo 2.2 using the Heimdall one-click file detailed here:
[AT&T][UCKB2]Heimdall One-Click -Total Stock- **now with or without root - xda-developers
It took several attempts and soft bricked the device after the first failure. After finding a USB port on my computer that the phone finally liked, it worked like a champ and got me to stock 2.2. The reboot issue was gone but WiFi wasn't working. A quick factory reset later and all was well.

I have since rooted and look forward to wiping out the AT&T bloatware and trying out some custom ROMs.

I'd like to thank everyone that replied and helped me. I'd LIKE to, but well... yeah...
 
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