The OFFICIAL taking back the Captivate thread

[BobPaul]

Putting an apostrophe at the end of a word just because it has an "s" drives me nut's.

I think you mean "nutz".

 

[BobPaul]

Well I went looking for the info you asked about and found I was in error, that info was provided by a handful of users at various times in different threads. All of which read more into a statement than what was actually said. My Bad! BUT I went searching for the answer and I come to you with the Correct answer and further info to HELP us out in the GPS battle. This comes from "gadgetwidgets.com - Thank You"... So without further ado:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is the quote from the Samsung Mobile statement:

​

 

[plummy]

You stated this was on the side of the box, "...box he gave me said rev 1.1 on the side..." Are you talking about the white sticker that has the serial # and UPC # on it? Where on the sticker was the rev mentioned? So in your experience, you noticed you had more trouble with the rev 1.1 phone than your previous one. Did you know the DOB for the 2 phones? You can find this out by registering your phones on the Samsung web site. After you put in your info and serial #, the DOB will pop up under the serial #.

Gunny

yeah, i keep meaning to do that with the original imei, but i get too lazy once i get home to do all that.

the one i have now was manufactured 7/20. but since i ordered the first one 7/18, it was older than the second one.

and i was talking about the box having rev 1.1 written on the side, which i realize typically has nothing to do with the phone itself and is more likely something different printed on the box than the first run of boxes. however, iirc, the software version on the first was 2.1 whereas this one is 2.1-update1

i'm not saying i'm having more problems with this one. the screen is actually dimming to a tolerable level on its own and the darkest setting seems darker than the original phone i had when in a dark room (positive). the gps flat out isn't working whereas the first one it would lock maybe 50% of the time, but was a bit off of where i was. and there was an annoying lag the first couple hours, but it seems to have resolved itself and is at the speed the first one was at. (which could have easily been the user.)

 

[Infinite-t]

Well, since this is the "Official" take it back thread. I returned my captivate today. I had ZERO trouble returning it to Best Buy. I usually dont go to best buy because I dont like their prices, selection, or service, but when I first got the phone, my local Best Buy was the only place in my neighborhood that had them in stock. They also gave me the MSRP of 199 instead of BB list price of 229. The lady there said that about 75% of their origional batch of Captivates had been returned!

When I got there they had just recieved a shipment of iP4s and had 2 left. I was really temped to say "screw it" and get an iP4, at least it would have been the devil I know. But I exchanged it for another captivate. I really like the phone and wanted it to work. The lady there assured me that I would have ANOTHER 30 days (from today) to return it, so that sealed the deal and I figured, what the hell, I can give them another month. My other one had the obvious GPS problem, but also had blue tooth issues, music player problems, and some wierd problem FCing when the phone rang.

So here is hoping that this one will have less problems and that Samsung will do the right thing and fix, and support these phones...

 

[thindery]

The lady there said that about 75% of their origional batch of Captivates had been returned!

Wow that is amazing. Can you imagine the cost of Samsung getting back tens of thousands of phones? If it was a simple (or difficult) software problem then they would announce it and say they will get a fix out. Doing that stops everyone from even considering taking their phone back, it would me if I just heard that.

But they refuse to talk which makes me think they don't know how to fix it or it really is hardware. If the hardware case, they are trying to get every last of the bad ones into people's hands. A dilligent consumer will see the issue and get it returned. Your average consumer will keep the phone and have a busted phone for 2 years that Samsung never had to fix or what not.

 

[Infinite-t]

Just an Update: So far, My GPS is working fine (on my new captivate), Accuracy is 50 meters (which isnt great, but not that bad) we'll see how long that lasts. My last one did not work at ALL and i bought it the second day it was out. The fact that it IS working tho at least means the hardware IS working.. for now... and that it IS likely software related.

I hope that some of the other problems I was having are gone too.. At least I have another 30 days to find out!

Lets just hope that Samsung will keep up their side of the bargain and support this thing.

 

[c2k]

That is the kind of response you get from a level 1 tech, level 3 techs acknowledge there is a problem and they are working on it (as stated in the other 10 million posts about gps problems)

I came from the backflip. This phone is a work of art comparatively. It took Motorola 3 months to come out with a substantial update to fix the bugs that every single phone had, which there were at least 7 or 8 bugs. This phone has 2. AND its been out for 3 weeks, why is everyone in such a rush to run back and get another phone?

The gps still works if you use wireless networks. Accurate-not so much, but if you use navigation it still gets you where you want to go whether its accurate to 50 meters or 1500. Regardless, I know how to get to work, I know how to get to the grocery store, I dont need navigation for everyday use. Yeah, maybe I want to find a new place, so I open google maps. Oh, its accurate to 3000 meters, well if I search for pizza near me, its still in my area. But, oh no, I actually have to read directions! how horrible.

 

[aphexacid]

I was going to buy one, but i didnt from playing with it the first time i played with it. Complete signal loss from just holding it. That really killed it for me. Plus touchwiz is lame. Phone feels cheezy. Samsungs track record, and the fact that it will get no love in the community.

passsssss

 

[c2k]

I was going to buy one, but i didnt from playing with it the first time i played with it. Complete signal loss from just holding it. That really killed it for me. Plus touchwiz is lame. Phone feels cheezy. Samsungs track record, and the fact that it will get no love in the community.

passsssss

This phone has more love in 3 weeks than all the other android phones ATT has combined.

And the joy about you not liking touchwiz, you can change it!

 

[gunny5821]

People are complaining about the Captivate, but in all seriousness, if you have a brand new 2 year contract with AT&T and you want an Android Phone, I gotta say the Captivate is the Top Dog in the house. It is definately getting bumped up to the 2.2 OS sometime in Sept I do believe (Don't quote me though). I mean see for your self, here is what they have:

1. Samsung Captivate
2. Moto Backflip
3. HTC Aria
4. Samsung Impression

So I gotta say, the Captivate hits it out of the park. Anything else is just kicking yourself in the butt 1-2 months from now!

My 2 cents! Gunny

As I pointed out in this reply, I asked if you have a brand new AT&T 2 year contract and the phone, but you want to return it due to all of the issues, than which Android phone would you "SWITCH TO"? Simple question to a complicated situation. So folks what would you do:

1. Keep the Captivate
or
2. Return the phone and than get WHAT_______________?

Thanks ~~ Gunny

 

[jglass38]

People are complaining about the Captivate, but in all seriousness, if you have a brand new 2 year contract with AT&T and you want an Android Phone, I gotta say the Captivate is the Top Dog in the house. It is definately getting bumped up to the 2.2 OS sometime in Sept I do believe (Don't quote me though). I mean see for your self, here is what they have:

1. Samsung Captivate
2. Moto Backflip
3. HTC Aria
4. Samsung Impression

So I gotta say, the Captivate hits it out of the park. Anything else is just kicking yourself in the butt 1-2 months from now!

My 2 cents! Gunny

Excellent post. I was a lifelong Blackberry user that switched to an iPhone last year and when it came time to decide what to get this year and the iPhone was unavailable, I decided to give an Android phone a try. I am blown away by the Captivate and so is my girlfriend (she got one as well to replace her iPhone). It really feels so much more usable to me then my iPhone was. Some of the apps are genius (I love the Google Gesture Search), the screen is amazing and it is FAST. Can't wait to see it with 2.2. As far as the downsides, not too many. The battery life is not what I had hoped but nothing a couple extra batteries and the fact that I am always near a charger of some kind can't fix. The inability to label and archive my Gmail (and Google Apps for my business) sucks but you can't ask for everything. It doesn't matter how great of a phone a company puts out or how good the software is, there will always be a handful of people who love to complain. Fact is, no phone/software is 100% and if you are expecting that you should be prepared for a letdown. Rock on Samsung and Android....So far, I am happy!

 

[Android_J]

As I pointed out in this reply, I asked if you have a brand new AT&T 2 year contract and the phone, but you want to return it due to all of the issues, than which Android phone would you "SWITCH TO"? Simple question to a complicated situation. So folks what would you do:

1. Keep the Captivate
or
2. Return the phone and than get WHAT_______________?

Thanks ~~ Gunny

This is a simple answer. Take the phone back and get any myriad of Android phones on another carrier. If you signed up for a new 2 year contract and are within 30 days then you can take it back without ETF fees.

If you have to be on AT&T for some bizzarre reason, wait a few months and there will be a new crop of Android phones that will surely surpass the Captivate. At the very least they'll more than likely have a working GPS. If you absolutely can't wait and can't go to another carrier then there's HTC Aria and Sony Xperia X10. Or go with an iPhone.

 

[jmreed97]

This is a simple answer. Take the phone back and get any myriad of Android phones on another carrier. If you signed up for a new 2 year contract and are within 30 days then you can take it back without ETF fees.

If you have to be on AT&T for some bizzarre reason, wait a few months and there will be a new crop of Android phones that will surely surpass the Captivate. At the very least they'll more than likely have a working GPS. If you absolutely can't wait and can't go to another carrier then there's HTC Aria and Sony Xperia X10. Or go with an iPhone.

Just called AT&T and they said no to extending the remorse period. Also, customer service said there were no known issues with the GPS (I know they aren't tech support but still).

So... I have until the 21st to decide. I was an early upgrade so I will have an ETF of $110 if I leave AT&T. So I will either go with the Aria or maybe jump ship for Verizon, pay the $110 and get the Droid X. Decisions, Decisions...

 

[gunny5821]

This is a simple answer. Take the phone back and get any myriad of Android phones on another carrier. If you signed up for a new 2 year contract and are within 30 days then you can take it back without ETF fees.

If you have to be on AT&T for some bizzarre reason, wait a few months and there will be a new crop of Android phones that will surely surpass the Captivate. At the very least they'll more than likely have a working GPS. If you absolutely can't wait and can't go to another carrier then there's HTC Aria and Sony Xperia X10. Or go with an iPhone.

I had not heard anything about the Sony X10 (being released on the 15th), so I went over to Engadget for a review that they had done. Well I will NOT be getting this phone I can tell you that. It has more bugs than you can shake a stick at! Plus it is running on Android 1.6, can you say, UGLY! They stated that Sony has said it will upgrade sometime, sometime? That means maybe never in my book! So NO, I will not be going down that road, but thanks for the suggestion. The only phone I may look at is the Blackberry Toch that comes out on the 12th. The problem is, if I wanted to spend $200.00 for a phone (Yeah disability Income. Not as rich as many of you are, so I must justify my expenses), I would have grabed the IP4. Alas, I cannot justify that expense. So I waited and shopped. The Captivate was also at $199.99 when it hit the streets, but Wirefly.com last week dropped the price down to $49.99 with Free Shipping, Waived Activation, Free Bluetooth headset and 50% off for a case. This was a deal I simply could not pass up, and I'm glad I didn't! This phone does everything I need and want. Are there a couple of bugs, sure, show me a NEW phone that doesn't, heck look at the Droid X. Check out that user forum, our forums complaints pale in comparison. So yeah I'll hold out for my 30 day window and see where things are than, but today, I'm sticking with the Captivate!

Just my 2 cents folks... By the way, I was not aware of the fact, that if you signed up for a new AT&T 2 year contract that you could return the phone and cancel the contract with no adverse effects. I thought the 30 days only applied to the phones and accessories and the contract, well it is a contract and you have it for 2 years minimum. SO CAN SOMEONE CLARIFY THIS POINT PLEASE.....

Thanks for the assistance and input, much appreciated!

Gunny
USMC Retired/Disabled

 

[Android_J]

Service Cancellation & Early Termination Fee
Call the number on your invoice/receipt to cancel your service. You may cancel service within 30 days from the activation date to avoid the applicable early termination fee (the "Early Termination Fee" or "ETF").

Taken directly from AT&T's website. Pretty much all service providers have an evaluation period where you can return the phone and cancel service. Still have to pay usage fees for that month but that's expected. AT&T Returns Policy - Wireless from AT&T.

As for Droid X complaints, can you link me to them? The one issue I see is that it has a low volume speaker. This has already been addressed by Motorola and a software update has been confirmed. Samsung can learn something from Motorola here. I don't see anywhere near the amount of issues as seen with the Galaxy S phones, disregarding the typical Android complaints that span all the phone models such as choppiness and lag.

 

[gunny5821]

Thank You for the AT&T link, was totally unaware of that, again, THANKS!

Some of the complaints:
1. Poor Battery Life
2. Random Shutdowns
3. Slow, Slow Slow, many get stuck at reboot
4. Bad Wi-Fi Speeds
5. Bad volume, low speaker volume
6. Display Screen bugs
**Just let google search for you and you'll see what I see.

I just did a random search for issues on a droidx forum and google search. So my point is, every phone has issues, especially the new ones hitting the street. Everyone who buys a new launch product should be aware of the possible issues that a new electronic device can carry, especially one with new hardware and an OS that is pushing upgrades out about every 3 months.. Again, just my 2 cents.

 

[NaplesBill]

Service Cancellation & Early Termination Fee
Call the number on your invoice/receipt to cancel your service. You may cancel service within 30 days from the activation date to avoid the applicable early termination fee (the "Early Termination Fee" or "ETF").

Taken directly from AT&T's website. Pretty much all service providers have an evaluation period where you can return the phone and cancel service. Still have to pay usage fees for that month but that's expected. AT&T Returns Policy - Wireless from AT&T.

As for Droid X complaints, can you link me to them? The one issue I see is that it has a low volume speaker. This has already been addressed by Motorola and a software update has been confirmed. Samsung can learn something from Motorola here. I don't see anywhere near the amount of issues as seen with the Galaxy S phones, disregarding the typical Android complaints that span all the phone models such as choppiness and lag.

You may want to look at all the complaints about Moto Droids and encrypted bootloaders. Not to mention the whole efuze debate.

 

[jas2k9]

Gunny - I took mine back, prepared to try another. The ATT guy suggested (after we talked a while) that I try his last iphone 4. It's no where near as fancy, it just works - out of the box.

GPS dead on.
itunes - yes I guess some hate it, but it works - load the s/w sync music and photos - done.
battery - as of now phone on since 0630 now it's 2035 - did more with it today than a normal day, a lot of music, several games, 30 minutes of surfing, some texts, and it's at 58 % - blue tooth was on the entire time.

It's not a Captivate, but it is - for me, in the DC burbs flawless. In fact used it for live traffic on the way home today - in order to get around the massive parking lot called 395. It took at least 30 minutes off the commute -because I got a lock at the press of a button - no waiting.

 

[TDQuiksilver]

This thread really reminds of a good line in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back:

"The Internet has given everybody in America a voice. For some reason, everybody decides to use that voice to bitch about movies. "

Substitue movies for Samsung in this case.

 

[jas2k9]

Is that what you think people are doing - I don't see it. I might if they don't have a fix, but more and more issues are springing up. Certainly some are user error, and clearly some are not. They come here to learn and make the fixes that they can make, then hope that some fixes are here for things they can't fix.

You see this as bitching? I see it as hoping to learn and move forward.

But, hey, I am glass half full kind of person.

 

[Android_J]

Some of the complaints:
1. Poor Battery Life
Same as Captivate.
2. Random Shutdowns
Same as Captivate.
3. Slow, Slow Slow, many get stuck at reboot
These issues were on rooted phones. Problems arising from hacking aren't really valid.
4. Bad Wi-Fi Speeds
Bad Wi-Fi connection with Captivate, so essentially similar.
5. Bad volume, low speaker volume
Addressed by Motorola already.
6. Display Screen bugs
Motorola *and* Verizon have already acknowledged this. Will replace small batch of phones that were affected.
**Just let google search for you and you'll see what I see.

My comments in red above. Items 1,2 and 4 seem to be common issues among all Android phones. Item 3 is self inflicted. Items 5 and 6 have been addressed. Seems that Verizon and Motorola actually listen to their customers.

You may want to look at all the complaints about Moto Droids and encrypted bootloaders. Not to mention the whole efuze debate.

I don't think these are valid complaints as it relates to rooting the phone. For someone that just wants a non-hacked Android phone this is a non-issue.

 

[jessejlt]

Taking mine back by the 15th -- have already ordered the Droid X.

 

[mongstradamus]

Taking mine back by the 15th -- have already ordered the Droid X.

I was contemplating the droid x but verizon is twenty dollars more an month so thats kinda of a deal breaker for me . i dont like the solid hardware android buttons other then that droid x looks really good

 

[bbtheory]

Well, I feel as if I gave the Captivate a fair trial and it is going back today. I actually am on my second Captivate and both of the phones I have had shut off randomly. The first one I went pretty hog wild with (rooted, lagfix, etc.) but the second is bone stock, and it still shuts off.

I don't know what the cause of the random shutting off is, and I have read the threads regarding the shutting off both here and at XDA. I think this is the biggest issue with this phone. Regardless, the shutting off is a dealbreaker as it will cause me to lose time and money with missed calls and messages.

I doubt I will ever try another Samsung phone. I am also a bit wary of trying another Android phone but I liked the experience so much with the Captivate I probably will. I will likely have to switch carriers to do so.

I find it truly sad that this hardware was released in the state it is in. Forcing customers into beta testing is no way to improve a product. The shutting off combined with the GPS issue means this phone should be getting way more negative attention than the iphone4 with antennagate, this thing is a bonafide piece of junk.

 

[GalaxyS609]

glad mine doesnt have any of the problems everyone else is having. Doesnt randomly shut off, no lag, battery life has always been good and now its excellent, got facebook to sync and my GPS works to the point where I havent noticed any issues for what I use it for.

good luck with your future phone endeavors. Personally love Samsung products, my monitor, printer, DVD burner, TV and now my phone are all Sammys with no problems.