Help New owner, questions

[Andrewdroid]

Unlike a lot of others, I went straight from a fairly dumbphone... Moto Z6 (did a few 'smart' things, but pretty dumb overall), to this beautiful Samsung Einstein phone that makes me feel like a schmuck. My new phone is definitely smarter than its operator. Anyway, I have a lot of newbie type questions.

#1. AT&T didn't put any instruction book or whatever, is there some internet tutorial I can play with for android or samsung? When I google that, I get programming tutorials only.

#2. Recommendations on some kinda screen shield or very very thin case... cuz I know I will murder this thing with coins, keys or some other metallic demon.

#3. I synchronized Facebook and Google.. now there's a thousand contacts I don't want in my phone. If I hide them, I lose some people I want. Any ideas on how to delete multiple contacts? I can't find it.

#4. Please give me your list of must-have applications that everyone loves.

#5. I got my phone's "unlock code", put in a foreign sim, and seem to have "unlocked" it, but I think my foreign sim isn't registered anymore "SIM not provisioned MM#2 ". I dont care about the foreign sim, it's long been useless, the carrier definitely de-registered it. I just wanna know if it's unlocked for good now when I travel.

#6. One reason I got an android, was because I hated seeing my cousin constantly tied to big fat bloated itunes with his iphone. But it had some advantages that I think he could control some aspects of his phone through itunes such as load apps. Is there an android equivalent to this idea? I like using my computer better to find information on apps.

 

[Boldt]

Unlike a lot of others, I went straight from a fairly dumbphone... Moto Z6 (did a few 'smart' things, but pretty dumb overall), to this beautiful Samsung Einstein phone that makes me feel like a schmuck. My new phone is definitely smarter than its operator. Anyway, I have a lot of newbie type questions.


#1. AT&T didn't put any instruction book or whatever, is there some internet tutorial I can play with for android or samsung? When I google that, I get programming tutorials only.

You can download this in .pdf format - not sure if its what you are looking for but its all I ever found.

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c...GH-i897_ATT-Captivate_English_User_Manual.pdf

#2. Recommendations on some kinda screen shield or very very thin case... cuz I know I will murder this thing with coins, keys or some other metallic demon.

I use the BodyGlove case which is sleek while still offering protection. You can pick them up @ Best Buy, Att stores or online from Amazon, Daydeal etc. Its a fantastic case and will only be replaced if Otterbox makes something not "too" bulky.

Amazon.com: Body Glove Mirage Skin Cover for Samsung Captivate i897, Etched Black: Gateway

For the screen I went with Realook - also from Amazon.com and I like the screen protection very much. I have tried many others with my previous phones but this one wins hands down, crystal clear, smooth and cheap.

Amazon.com: REALOOK AT&T Samsung Captivate Crystal Clear Premium LCD Screen Protector 2 Pack: Gateway

#4. Please give me your list of must-have applications that everyone loves.

I have too many apps to list but some must haves or favs for me at least are:

Launcher Pro Plus - best launcher
Home Switcher - move between default and launcher pro
Fast Web Installer - see above
AppBrain - see above
Scanner Radio - kills time when i'm on call
Handcent - sms popups, reminders etc.
Gtasks - to do list with customized alerts
Beautiful Widgets - clock/weather widget
BattStatt - battery info
3g watchdog - data usage counter
barcode scanner - share your contacts, apps, and bookmarks via QR Code
Wheres my Droid - just got this one the other night but it works and might come in handy


#6. One reason I got an android, was because I hated seeing my cousin constantly tied to big fat bloated itunes with his iphone. But it had some advantages that I think he could control some aspects of his phone through itunes such as load apps. Is there an android equivalent to this idea? I like using my computer better to find information on apps.

You can get the appbrain app from appbrain.com or the market and also use download fast web installer (from market or appbrain) What this will allow you to do is browse apps from the PC then you can simply hit install to phone and it will send the app directly to your phone and install it. Works great and really makes it easier, for me at least.

I answered what I could. Hope others can help answer your other questions

 

[jopet216]

I'm a new noob to the android world myseld (previous 3G owner). I love the phone, but it's still a little buggy sometimes. People have had or have GPS issues with it, but after the last update mine seems to be working....so far. Heres the stuff I have on mine.

Case: Body Glove, but there's a nice one from seidio for $30
Screen protector: Got the SAGG, but plan on switching to realook when I decided to stop being lazy.

APPS
Advanced Task Killer: must have to save battery
Launcher pro: look around forums for tips
Beautiful Widgets
Barcode Scanner
K-9 mail: Its for my Yahoo mail accout. I've pretty much given up on checking it using the phone cuz it's so slooooooooooooow.
For google map navigation
Home switcher
Vingo voice
Pandora
Tripit
doubleTwist
Apps Organizer
AppBrain App Market: You'll get a lot of ideas here for what apps you want to have.
Word Feud
Angry Birds (beta)

Have fun with your new phone...

 

[Andrewdroid]

I've been having lots of fun with AppBrain and found some great ones by following random users. I'm mostly interested in Apps that do new things, not do things better...until I get used to the phone.
3G watchdog I think is good too watch ur 3G usage esp with the new at&t data plan,
Aldiko is a good e-reader,
Barcode scanner I love of course,
Classic snake, I'm partial to this cuz I used to get a 999 on nokia's during jury duty.,. and have it again soon.
GPS Status
JEFit... it's like a workout application, tells you how to do exercises properly
JuiceDefender, is like a battery saver thing.. seems good so far
Meebo I like as a good all-in-one instant messenger, maybe there are better but I don't know yet
My Tracks, tracks ur movement on GPS outputs to a file if you like. Hopefully I can use this to tag my photos from my SLR
NYCMate... this u won't need unless ur in the city, but it has subway maps and stuff
Pandora
Talk To Me -- it's a speech to speech translator... you speak to the phone in English and it translates into another language and speaks that one. So cool.. it's lke star trek or something

Vlingo Voice -- You can dictate text messages by voice, or emails, search google etc, it understands what you're doing -- you just say "Text Steve, "I'll meet you at 8 pm at 34th street and 5th avenue...." and it'll write the text message for you. Really cool.

Yelp is nice but the people are a bit too trendy with their reviews. Too many hipster reviews on it.

Anyway, I've been having fun discovering new things you can do with it. One thing I'm looking for is a way to synchronize or convert my itunes library for use with Android... seems like every way to do this is missing either my playlists or album art.