Why no class action for the GPS issues of this phone? - Captivate General

I dont get it... people wanted to sue Apple for a grip of death, but the captivate cant even use one of its main selling features - Navigation.
Ive tried 2 phones, 6 different ROMS, and my Navigation never keeps track of me. There is basically nothing I can do to fix the issue.
I mean dont get me wrong, this is just holding me over until the Motorola 2 core phone comes out but still... this is pretty unacceptable.

psufan5 said:
I dont get it... people wanted to sue Apple for a grip of death, but the captivate cant even use one of its main selling features - Navigation.
Ive tried 2 phones, 6 different ROMS, and my Navigation never keeps track of me. There is basically nothing I can do to fix the issue.
I mean dont get me wrong, this is just holding me over until the Motorola 2 core phone comes out but still... this is pretty unacceptable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been brought up many times before. The GPS issue is hit or miss really depending on the device. Mine didn't work at all at first but after trying out other roms and landing on Phoenix my GPS works better then it did and about as well I could expect from a phone. This is not the place to discuss Issues with Samsung or their policies.

Related

I think we are screwed for a GPS fix

Samsung claimed that they sorted out the GPS issue's and got it working right on the Epic 4G:
http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Epi...g-and-all-systems-are-go-article-a_12831.html
Yet when tested, the 4G cannot obtain good accuracy like other android devices:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3891/samsung-epic-4g-review-the-fastest-android-phone/10
So, while they may have improved the GPS lock time on the Epic (perhaps by correctly implementing agps?), they clearly haven't solved the accuracy and tracking issues.
Here is another link showing the Epic vs Captivate for GPS:
http://briefmobile.com/samsung-epic-4g-gps-test
The above video shows that the Epic locks much faster, but you can also see that it never obtains good accuracy (always has the blue circle), which means it will likely jump around in places with dense streets.
Since the Epic represents what Samsung considers to be a tested and working GPS, I think we are in big trouble. The GPS "update" that we have all been waiting for is just going to give us the same fix the Epic shipped with, which is clearly no where near the standard of today's smartphones. Maybe someday further down the road Samsung/Broadcom will be able to fix the accuracy and tracking issues, but it really seems doubtful at this point. That being said, I wonder what options we'll have to get a different phone from AT&T. I can't live with poor GPS performance for the whole 2 year contract I signed when I got the Captivate.
Maybe the longer it takes the better for us. We'll see.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
TheSopranos16 said:
Samsung claimed that they sorted out the GPS issue's and got it working right on the Epic 4G:
http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Epi...g-and-all-systems-are-go-article-a_12831.html
Yet when tested, the 4G cannot obtain good accuracy like other android devices:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3891/samsung-epic-4g-review-the-fastest-android-phone/10
So, while they may have improved the GPS lock time on the Epic (perhaps by correctly implementing agps?), they clearly haven't solved the accuracy and tracking issues.
Here is another link showing the Epic vs Captivate for GPS:
http://briefmobile.com/samsung-epic-4g-gps-test
The above video shows that the Epic locks much faster, but you can also see that it never obtains good accuracy (always has the blue circle), which means it will likely jump around in places with dense streets.
Since the Epic represents what Samsung considers to be a tested and working GPS, I think we are in big trouble. The GPS "update" that we have all been waiting for is just going to give us the same fix the Epic shipped with, which is clearly no where near the standard of today's smartphones. Maybe someday further down the road Samsung/Broadcom will be able to fix the accuracy and tracking issues, but it really seems doubtful at this point. That being said, I wonder what options we'll have to get a different phone from AT&T. I can't live with poor GPS performance for the whole 2 year contract I signed when I got the Captivate.
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Click to collapse
Getting a new phone through att after your 30 days up could be an pain in the butt. I could see att saying that the gps is working how its intended and wont let you out of your two year , and make you pay full price for a new phone like 500+ for an smartphone.
I agree, I doubt they'll offer any type of deal or discount on a new phone. Especially since it appears to be the whole Galaxy S line of phones and since over a million have already sold in the US. If they let 1 person switch phones, they have to let everybody and that will likely never happen.
Overall, I'm just really discouraged to see Samsung claim the GPS is fixed on the Epic and then have a review come in describing the GPS so poorly. It gives me little hope for a fix for our Captivates, especially not in any September fix they are releasing.
if epic 4g is fixed according to samsung then we're screwed indeed.
after trying the epic 4g gps fix zip file floating around, i saw the same locking performance issues. there is no way this device behaves as expected. i compared my captivate to g1, droid 1, nexus one and they all worked way better and quicker than the captivate.
for now i returned the captivate back to amazon. if they ever fix it i'll buy it again but im not gambling with my money hoping they fix this properly.
it's a shame it's got such a fatal flaw cause otherwise it's one of the best phones.
quit with the pessimism
just wait and see when the update comes out
What update? Everything points to jf7 having the "fix" if you want better buy a different phone because its obvious they are just trying to fix a hardware problem with software tricks. This can work to a certain extent but my guess is that the sgs will always have a somewhat inferior gps.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Everyone should learn two things from this.
First, buy a device based on what it does NOW, not what someone promises it can do in the future. This holds true for anything you may buy.
Second, buy a device based on its primary use. While having gps in a phone can be a useful and handy tool, the device is a PHONE first and should be phone centric when it comes to performance and features. This is the same thing I tell people who whine about camera performance, if you want a good camera, go buy one. If you want a good GPS, go buy one. Integrated devices are great but rarely can an all in one package best or equal stand alone devices.
With stock JF6 and supl settings it is dismal.
However i am running JH3 with the google settings and it is not super bad. Sure it goes out once or twice a ride, and i some times skip on roads... but it does get me to where i need to go with the navigation app.
I gave up on copilot because it wasn't working as well as the google nav.
The gps with current settings is below par... but livable for now... A fix of some sorts making it a little better would make me happy, but i probably won't buy another samsung phone because of the gps fiasco.
I am also running JH3 with the google settings. It is working ok. Used my iPhone4 on a recent trip and the gps got me off the track a few times as well. I don't know that there is the UberPhone that does everything well. It seems phones improve year by year in some areas but there is always one thing that does not work well. Evo 4G - Wifi issues, Droid X - low call volume etc.
l7777 said:
Everyone should learn two things from this.
First, buy a device based on what it does NOW, not what someone promises it can do in the future. This holds true for anything you may buy.
Second, buy a device based on its primary use. While having gps in a phone can be a useful and handy tool, the device is a PHONE first and should be phone centric when it comes to performance and features. This is the same thing I tell people who whine about camera performance, if you want a good camera, go buy one. If you want a good GPS, go buy one. Integrated devices are great but rarely can an all in one package best or equal stand alone devices.
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Click to collapse
there is a long standing precedent that a phone's gps is going to work and work properly. you can not seriously say the galaxy s line, as it stands, has an acceptable gps performance. not being able to get a lock or getting a 15,30,90m accuracy is bull crap. i can not think of a single phone that has gps performance that's worse than captivate's and there is a reason for it.
with all the location services and navigation software out there there is no excuse for it.
at the same place and time, i've directly compared the captivate (with combinations of all/any "fixes" out there) to samsung blackjack2, iphone4, t-mobile g1, htc nexus one and bunch of others. it's night and day difference man. samsung needs to fess up.
i want what i paid for.
Samsung
My last Samsung phone was an Epix: it was plagued by software bugs and the GPS never worked on most of the phones.
Samsung has much more riding on the Galaxy S phones than the Epix (the Epix always destined to be an also-ran, and never promoted by Samsung), so perhaps they'll do a better job. But I'm kicking myself now for buying another Samsung phone and waiting on another GPS fix.
GPS isn't a primary feature for me, so a minor lag is no big deal. Right now, the GPS on my Captivate is next to worthless.
I agree with Chudy. It is 100 percent not acceptable that a phones GPS will not work well. So much of what is available for Android relies on location: Navigation, GPS photos, Location based searches like Yelp or Places...just to name a few common ones. And lets not even start with the fact that the Compass is extremely jumpy, inconsistent and slow to react to changes in the phone's orientation.
That being said, as you can see from my initial post, even after they push the Epic's GPS fix to our Captivates, we are NOT going to be in very good shape...
TheSopranos16 said:
Overall, I'm just really discouraged to see Samsung claim the GPS is fixed on the Epic...
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Click to collapse
While I've read many times about "Epic and Fascinate" being good on GPS, I have not read anywhere that it is Samsung that says that.
Anyone else read that from Samsung?
I came to my Captivate from two years of iPhones, and I have to admit that the GPS is the only real downer to the device. In my opinion, it does everything better than my wife's iPhone 4 except GPS.
However, I rarely ever use GPS. Even when I go places I usually just look it up on the Maps app and remember the turns. That's how I've always done it, even with my iPhones.
So for me, it's relatively easy for this GPS problem to not really be too much of a concern. I would be much more upset if I relied on it like some members seem to.
I have to say, though: I would be much more upset if I were in my wife's shoes, paying the same amount for her iPhone 4 that I paid for my Captivate that may have better GPS performance, but is lacking in every other way compared to my Captivate. Even the mighty EVO has choppy 720p recording and a lackluster LCD screen. The Galaxy S excels in so many other areas, but falls on it's face when it comes to GPS.
I guess that I'm trying to say that the GPS doesn't bother me too much because I don't use it enough to allow it to. I have gotten frustrated sometimes when I open up the Maps app and the best I get is the 3200 meters circle...I really have to know my general area in order to get any use out of it.
Here's to hoping for a decent fix!
ewingr said:
While I've read many times about "Epic and Fascinate" being good on GPS, I have not read anywhere that it is Samsung that says that.
Anyone else read that from Samsung?
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Click to collapse
Nope. That language comes from a few blogers heard from samsung support CSR. We all know how reliable that was.
EPIC 4G definitely does not contain the final GPS fixes. Broadcom only gave Samsung the proper driver in late August (8/23 or around that time from what I heard). There is no way in hell EPIC 4G can contain that driver in time for 8/31 release. The firmware in EPIC is probably 1 month old (or at least couple weeks old).
The new leaks of XFJM6 and JM7 showed some promise as these firmwares were produced after Samsung received the new driver.
Everyone is getting all worked up on pure speculation. Also note, if they had developed the patch on eclair, it would be out by now. It is more likely by the time the captivate was released all eclair development had ceased, knowing froyo was coming there was no point in doing a patch for it. I'll be happy to give them the benefit of the doubt till I have froyo. I doubt they want to tarnish the galaxy name before the tablets come out. That could prove quite costly.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I'm in agreement with you.
chudy said:
there is a long standing precedent that a phone's gps is going to work and work properly. you can not seriously say the galaxy s line, as it stands, has an acceptable gps performance. not being able to get a lock or getting a 15,30,90m accuracy is bull crap. i can not think of a single phone that has gps performance that's worse than captivate's and there is a reason for it.
with all the location services and navigation software out there there is no excuse for it.
at the same place and time, i've directly compared the captivate (with combinations of all/any "fixes" out there) to samsung blackjack2, iphone4, t-mobile g1, htc nexus one and bunch of others. it's night and day difference man. samsung needs to fess up.
i want what i paid for.
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Click to collapse
TheSopranos16 said:
I agree with Chudy. It is 100 percent not acceptable that a phones GPS will not work well. So much of what is available for Android relies on location: Navigation, GPS photos, Location based searches like Yelp or Places...just to name a few common ones. And lets not even start with the fact that the Compass is extremely jumpy, inconsistent and slow to react to changes in the phone's orientation.
That being said, as you can see from my initial post, even after they push the Epic's GPS fix to our Captivates, we are NOT going to be in very good shape...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you two completely missed the point of my post. If GPS is a critical feature for you, then you should return the device. There is no other option. Moaning and groaning about how poor it is will not push Samsung to fix it any faster if at all. Coming from HTC WinMo devices I can tell you that every one had the same complaint, video performance was terrible. The problem was that HTC didn't make use of the devices' video accelerator because they didn't include the proper drivers. Many hours were wasted with people signing online petitions and complaining that their four plus year old devices had better video performance but in the end, HTC did nothing. Thus, if the Galaxy S phones don't have a GPS good enough for you, you should return it and select a different phone. That's why you have a 30 day return policy. As for my own view on the GPS, it's not a garmin, but it'll get me where I want to be. GPS is nice to have, but I can read a map well enough to make it to my destination even if the GPS puts me one street over.
Yep, reading maps solo in the car while driving down an [email protected] 70 mph. Some of you people are complete idiots, seriously... The GPS doesn't work.if you think it does you're delusional or trying way too hard to be a galaxy s fanboy.
2 contents and they both basically have no gps.
Saying that is like trinh people to stfu if their phone refuses to let them get any type of data connection...
You can do that on your laptop or netbook, so why should it matter.
Stop posting idiotic crap.
The phones should not have ben released with this problem. It's unacceptable, and its not even hard to test and se the gps is awol...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

[POLL] Will this be your last Samsung phone?

I am done with Samsung after this. This is the second Samsung smartphone that I have owned where after sale support is HORRIBLE.
I was wondering how many people feel the same way.
Is the Captivate your last Samsung phone?
Most likely the last. If it weren't for the screen and snappiness after the lag-fix, it would probably have been returned by now. After the lag-fix I'm fairly impressed with the speed of the device, just wish the blasted GPS would work like it does for iPhone, HTC and Motorola users. I feel cheated. Downloading new apps from Marketplace is another point of weakness for those of us in the land where 3G is nothing but a dream. There is a problem downloading apps on the Edge network, sometimes they start downloading right away and other times you got to walk away from the phone for a few hours and it'll download when it feels like it.
My wife has the Rugby II from Samsung and I'll be darned if that thing won't last for days without a battery charge. Amazing how long it manages to live without a battery recharge.
Abso-freaking-lutely
I thought samsung had gotten serious when it said it wanted to be the #1 smartphone manufacturer and they promised a strong commitment to software updates since they knew that their name was garbage in this arena. Well I bought a Captivate on release day and its been nothing but trouble ever since. Random reboots, GPS that's non-functional, etc. Then finally 2 months later they release a supposed GPS fix, that 90% of the people cant even install on their phones and it doesnt even fix the GPS, mine works worse now than before. And on top of all that now my digital compass is unusable, it always points 90-180 degrees in the wrong direction. On maps its funny, I'm driving one direction and it points behind me or perpendicular to me. And dont even get me started on the completely pathetic battery life. 12 hours on one charge is completely unacceptable. Iphone4's that are using the same CPU/GPU get days on their batteries. The S-AMOLED screen looks pretty good (not as good as the retina display, but better than just about anything else) but it is a total battery hog.
I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wish I had just gotten the iphone4, its so much better, its not even close.
argolfermd said:
I am done with Samsung after this. This is the second Samsung smartphone that I have owned where after sale support is HORRIBLE.
I was wondering how many people feel the same way.
Is the Captivate your last Samsung phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my second samsung phone in 10+ years and my first smartphone from them
I'm actually complete opposite from you maybe because i haven't had any issues outside of the GPS and i'm more than willing to give them a chance to fix it. It's not like i'm using the GPS all the time for the fact that i live in nyc
If they can't fix the GPS to work like it should (like on the Nexus One, Droid, etc), then yes, this will probably be my last Samsung phone. They've screwed people over with the Behold too (atleast I think that was the phone).
HTC isn't known for great reception, but I loved my Nexus One and wish I wouldn't have sold it now.
Hardly. I've gone from an old Sammy flip phone, to the Blackjack, to the Jack, to the Captivate. Whole family is on Samsung's now, Flight, Impression, can't think of my daughter's at the moment. Love Samsungs!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
No, but only because of xda
If I had to rely on Samsung for support, then I would have voted yes. The JH7 update has been a fiasco. Without this forum and the dedicated work of designgears and clockworkmod, my phone would still be in an unstable state from the failed (at 100%!) installation. I'll be sending both of those guys some money to pay for the great support -- it's unfortunate that companies like Samsung and AT&T don't have a clue and can't provide the same level of service. Keep in mind that Samsung has full access to every detail of the hardware and software while our guys have done everything through reverse engineering. Incredible job!
Hurricane Andrew said:
Hardly. I've gone from an old Sammy flip phone, to the Blackjack, to the Jack, to the Captivate. Whole family is on Samsung's now, Flight, Impression, can't think of my daughter's at the moment. Love Samsungs!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never used a samsung smartphone before this one, but when I had regular flip phones, I wouldnt use anything other than a samsung, I loved them. Everytime Sprint came out with the newest samsung flip phone I'd run to get it, they are just excellent phones. Everytime I strayed from samsung to try a razr or LG, etc I always regretted it within a week and went right back to samsung. But I am utterly disappointed in this captivate. I am kicking myself everyday for not returning it within the 30 days to get an iphone. I kept holding out hope for fixes for most of its shortfalls and everyone keeps saying how open android is, well so far nothing. No fully functioning custom ROMs, no cyanogen, no AOSP, and you have to root and hack like hell to get any customization at all. Its no more open than the iOS, on that you have to jailbreak but then you can go to Cydia and there are thousands and thousands of apps and customizations you can load.
jason531 said:
If I had to rely on Samsung for support, then I would have voted yes. The JH7 update has been a fiasco. Without this forum and the dedicated work of designgears and clockworkmod, my phone would still be in an unstable state from the failed (at 100%!) installation. I'll be sending both of those guys some money to pay for the great support -- it's unfortunate that companies like Samsung and AT&T don't have a clue and can't provide the same level of service. Keep in mind that Samsung has full access to every detail of the hardware and software while our guys have done everything through reverse engineering. Incredible job!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! POTD!
I love my Captivate, but only because it isn't stock. If I had to keep my phone stock, I think my satisfaction levels would go way down.
DKirk said:
My wife has the Rugby II from Samsung and I'll be darned if that thing won't last for days without a battery charge. Amazing how long it manages to live without a battery recharge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do realize you're comparing a messaging phone to a smartphone right? No smartphone will consistently give you that kind of battery life with any kind of use.
Great Tech, GPS is ok at best./......my first android device, and i like it a lot.
I really like this phone, but if Samsung doesn't fix the GPS for current Captivate owners, I will never buy another Samsung product.
And, either way, I won't go with AT&T again either.
I had the iphone 3g, 3gs, and the iphone 4 for a few weeks. I also had a nexus one for a while. All great phones, all great GPS accuracy. I left my iphone 3gs for my Nexus One because of the voice to text, and the google navigation. The iphone 4 dropped almost all my calls. It went back fast. I went with the Samsung Captivate because it trumped my Nexus in a lot of ways. I did not expect this GPS issue when I purchased it. By the time Samsung had announced that the GPS issue was indeed an issue, I had already returned mine 3 times because the GPS would not lock. They announced a fix sometime soon in the future, so I stuck with it. I would gladly go with another android device if it was available for AT&T and was comparable to my Captivate. The only other device close is the Sony Ericsson X10. I am not going back to 1.6 and no multitouch.
Unfortunately this is the best Android that will work with AT&T's 3g network at the moment. Samsung built an awesome device, they just need to fix the GPS.
Yup, this is going to be my last Samsung phone.
Samsung is just too incompetent.
I had an HTC before this and it wasn't perfect and there were many vocal members that thought negatively about it. My fiance has an iPhone and is always complaining about it. When I look at Motorola threads I see lots of complaints.
I'm seeing a pattern here. No phone is perfect.
This is the best phone I've played with though. I rarely use GPS so that obviously doesn't affect my like/dislike of the phone. And from what I can tell most people are angry because of the GPS.
I can't honestly understand what the big deal is with GPS. Do people get lost that easily that they need to be looking at a GPS map every minute of the day? I'm sure for some jobs it could be a mandatory thing, but I'm just a little mystified at how many people are upset about GPS like their lives depend on it every day or something. Maybe I'm just lucky that I don't get lost easily, or can follow directions from mapquest?
I'm not trying to insult people with GPS issues, I just truly don't understand how so many people think the GPS issue is a deal breaker. Especially considering it will almost surely be fixed sooner rather than later.
And if people are upset about the update from Samsung not working... patience? I mean you're on the XDA forums posting, so you must have some experience here and know that when there's a problem with smartphones it gets fixed pretty quickly by the community you're a part of. So what's the rush to condemn Samsung for a buggy patch that'll probably be re-written soon anyhow?
This is my first Samsung phone. So far I'm pretty impressed. I had Apple 3G, RIM Blackberry Perl, Motorola Razor, Sony Erickson (forgot the model #) ect... So I had tried so many different brand in my years owning regular cellphones and smartphones. But so far, Samsung Captivate is the best among them all.
If Samsung would come out with a dual core or three core cpu, 4 to 5 inch monitor, front facing camera and 1080p video recording smartphone next year, I'll definitely get it...
I kind of knew that all OTA firmware updates from all major cellphone manufactures will have some kind of issues. That's why in the future, I will download the firmware and install the updates manually.
I agree with sschrupp. Ignoring the GPS issue, I've had no problems with this phone. I had iPhone before this, and I liked it, but not as much as I like this phone. Android satisfies the need to tinker and tweak (thank you XDA). The hardware is pretty darn good too. I get good reception here in the boonies of Kansas, the screen is gorgeous. ignoring GPS issues, I really like this phone.
sschrupp said:
I had an HTC before this and it wasn't perfect and there were many vocal members that thought negatively about it. My fiance has an iPhone and is always complaining about it. When I look at Motorola threads I see lots of complaints.
I'm seeing a pattern here. No phone is perfect.
This is the best phone I've played with though. I rarely use GPS so that obviously doesn't affect my like/dislike of the phone. And from what I can tell most people are angry because of the GPS.
I can't honestly understand what the big deal is with GPS. Do people get lost that easily that they need to be looking at a GPS map every minute of the day? I'm sure for some jobs it could be a mandatory thing, but I'm just a little mystified at how many people are upset about GPS like their lives depend on it every day or something. Maybe I'm just lucky that I don't get lost easily, or can follow directions from mapquest?
I'm not trying to insult people with GPS issues, I just truly don't understand how so many people think the GPS issue is a deal breaker. Especially considering it will almost surely be fixed sooner rather than later.
And if people are upset about the update from Samsung not working... patience? I mean you're on the XDA forums posting, so you must have some experience here and know that when there's a problem with smartphones it gets fixed pretty quickly by the community you're a part of. So what's the rush to condemn Samsung for a buggy patch that'll probably be re-written soon anyhow?
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Click to collapse
I agreed with you. No cellphone is perfect, especially when they are made in China or other asian places... they bound to have some kind of defect or it will not last more than one year...
Wow you guys are crazy
This phone has been great, the best I have owned in years.
So the OTA update didnt work for you because you modified your phone from the original state? Boo Hoo. You cant expect a patch to work for your modified rom when it was designed for stock
yes If i can find a nexus one under 400 bucks this thing is gone tonight. i could care less about GPS since (call me old fashioned) i just look at what street to take but the fact that i have to wait until october for froyo id rather deal with edge on at&t then eclair and no CM

Samsung? NEVER AGAIN

This is my second Samsung android phone, in both cases,
I wasn't satisfied with the way Samsung handles their customers,
the only reason I gave them another shot is because that
product looked promising.
My first galaxy I7500 ended up with 1.6 when samsung decided
they no longer working on it because it cannot handle android 2 (which drakaz proved that was a lie)
My second handset is their flagship, wtf? why should I flash this expensive pos all day long in order to get the advertised features working?
The same goes with my samsung T240 lcd screen and it's software which doesn't
support windows 7, one year old screen!
I'm tired of this company, I will never, ever, buy anything from them - gonna
swap it with dell streak at least they have western standards.
Samsung should kick some asses.
I don't know why you bothered coming on here, you want sympathy? The only feature this phone really has had consistent issues with is GPS which I think is overblown by the community as is.
Other than that, I really don't understand where you are coming from, or why you have felt like you've needed to flash the phone daily. Just because there is a new revision of the current ROM you're using doesn't mean you have to have it. If it works well enough just wait until the development cycle reaches a stable release.
I've had this phone for quite awhile now. I flashed unleash the beast for fun, and when 2.2 came out, I flashed that. I couldn't be happier, this phone can handle a lot. I do miss cyanogen, but that isn't sammies fault.
Please, outline your issues more clearly.
andoh said:
I don't know why you bothered coming on here, you want sympathy? The only feature this phone really has had consistent issues with is GPS which I think is overblown by the community as is.
Other than that, I really don't understand where you are coming from, or why you have felt like you've needed to flash the phone daily. Just because there is a new revision of the current ROM you're using doesn't mean you have to have it. If it works well enough just wait until the development cycle reaches a stable release.
I've had this phone for quite awhile now. I flashed unleash the beast for fun, and when 2.2 came out, I flashed that. I couldn't be happier, this phone can handle a lot. I do miss cyanogen, but that isn't sammies fault.
Please, outline your issues more clearly.
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Click to collapse
My main issue is the GPS, overblown? it's not working for me at all,
it's not usable, not when driving a car.
It works for the first time and then the performance decreasing, Tried everything - Stock Rom, froyo, I9000 roms, cog roms, jupiter fixes, the "secret" gps settings,
everything - driving my car on 35 mph and it shows 0.
The phone itself has great potential,good hardware specs, blazing fast, it can run many applications at the same time, pretty good battery awesome screen and it looks good, but it's not enough for premium product, if you ask me.
We don't even know if Samsung is going to fix it, maybe they'll release the fix
with a new product.
Not here to get sympathy, just saying we don't deserve that kind of treatment,
Samsung is not apple, and we're not blind followers.
Update: Just before I flashed it back to stock rom and selling it
I gave my cappy one last shot - Cog 2b5 with jupiter 6 without touching lbs settings -
well, it works outdoors, I'll take it for a ride around the block with my car and see
how it goes today, tomorrow and one week from now.
I still hate Samsung though.
damn.. i just paid my Captivate at ebay.. now i'm seeing this..
anyone want to protest this?
The GPS issue is not overblown. It has been, and continues to be, a huge issue with this phone.
dptnl said:
This is my second Samsung android phone, in both cases,
I wasn't satisfied with the way Samsung handles their customers,
the only reason I gave them another shot is because that
product looked promising.
My first galaxy I7500 ended up with 1.6 when samsung decided
they no longer working on it because it cannot handle android 2 (which drakaz proved that was a lie)
My second handset is their flagship, wtf? why should I flash this expensive pos all day long in order to get the advertised features working?
The same goes with my samsung T240 lcd screen and it's software which doesn't
support windows 7, one year old screen!
I'm tired of this company, I will never, ever, buy anything from them - gonna
swap it with dell streak at least they have western standards.
Samsung should kick some asses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "XDA MAN" will shut down your post here in the next hour. I started something similar yesterday and I got all kind of responses like you and didn't know this was on the official "not talk about list"
I am as aggravated as you. If they do not get it together with the updates soon for this phone, I am gone also.
Palmetto_X said:
I am as aggravated as you. If they do not get it together with the updates soon for this phone, I am gone also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't let the door hit you on the way out!
I agree, GPS is definitely not overblown. Samsung really shouldn't have let this get out of product testing without functional GPS. If Samsung treats Galaxy S users as poorly as they treated Behold II and i7500 users, and we don't get updated past 2.2, I'm never buying another Samsung ANYTHING in my life.
dptnl said:
This is my second Samsung android phone, in both cases,
I wasn't satisfied with the way Samsung handles their customers,
the only reason I gave them another shot is because that
product looked promising.
My first galaxy I7500 ended up with 1.6 when samsung decided
they no longer working on it because it cannot handle android 2 (which drakaz proved that was a lie)
My second handset is their flagship, wtf? why should I flash this expensive pos all day long in order to get the advertised features working?
The same goes with my samsung T240 lcd screen and it's software which doesn't
support windows 7, one year old screen!
I'm tired of this company, I will never, ever, buy anything from them - gonna
swap it with dell streak at least they have western standards.
Samsung should kick some asses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been buying Samsung products since the mid-80s and have had positive experiences all along. Sorry you are having bad experience but its been good for me for 20+ years.
LK89 said:
damn.. i just paid my Captivate at ebay.. now i'm seeing this..
anyone want to protest this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I protest. This person is a whiner. I have a house full of awesome Samsung electronics. My Captivate works just fine.
LK89 said:
damn.. i just paid my Captivate at ebay.. now i'm seeing this..
anyone want to protest this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you're giving up on navigating capabilities - Don't buy that phone, just don't, it has really pool gps reception and we don't know if samsung can or
will fix it some day, they don't give a #$$# about us.
Besides that, the speaker volume is pretty low.
If you don't need the GPS feature, you may find this phone awesome - I need
this feature and that's why I'm so pissed off.
gdanko said:
I protest. This person is a whiner. I have a house full of awesome Samsung electronics. My Captivate works just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, really mature, I'm just a whiner, my 700$ phone (yeah we don't have at&t contract here) gps doesn't work, and I'm a whiner because your house
is full of awesome samsung products.
All the other posts about broken gps that were posted by other whiners, all the
tech blogs posts, everything, it's all one big conspiracy.
Even this one as well:
http://www.lieffcabraser.com/cases.php?CaseID=335&gclid=CMDK_oDNkqQCFd9n5Qod5W-7LA
Really mature, what are you, 12?
There's a chance GPS will work on bicycle, since sometimes it works
when i mount it to my car's front windshield.
Okay, I personally like samsung and think that the GPS issue is overblown, but that's just my take on it. Ever since I flashed froyo my gps has been dead-on within seconds. I think I can safely compare it to my tomtom. I loved my samsung katalyst when I had T-Mobile, and I love this phone as well. And as for flashing constantly, I think you just have the "flashing disease" Which I also have.
And if you want a phone that won't "frustrate" you, go buy an iphone. Maybe you can jailbreak it and do something snazzy with the icons.
The Cap is a fine device. It's not the best and definitely not bug-free, but it's a great device. I went hiking with my friends last weekend and my GPS worked just fine. My friend's Motorola Droid's GPS didn't work. +1 for Cap, -1 for Droid. Now hush while I try to get 3 stars on every level of Angry Birds.
shiftylock said:
Okay, I personally like samsung and think that the GPS issue is overblown, but that's just my take on it. Ever since I flashed froyo my gps has been dead-on within seconds. I think I can safely compare it to my tomtom. I loved my samsung katalyst when I had T-Mobile, and I love this phone as well. And as for flashing constantly, I think you just have the "flashing disease" Which I also have.
And if you want a phone that won't "frustrate" you, go buy an iphone. Maybe you can jailbreak it and do something snazzy with the icons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want an Iphone.
Yeah, I like flashing, I admit, but it get tedious when
you can't solve basic feature that should come out of the box.
Dell Streak maybe, but only after investigating it's problems deeply, if any,
if not, I will wait, it sure won't be samsung again, they lost one customer for good, seems like I'm not the only one got frustrated from their products
according to this thread.
RexEscape said:
The Cap is a fine device. It's not the best and definitely not bug-free, but it's a great device. I went hiking with my friends last weekend and my GPS worked just fine. My friend's Motorola Droid's GPS didn't work. +1 for Cap, -1 for Droid. Now hush while I try to get 3 stars on every level of Angry Birds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I could enjoy playing games after knocking my head on the steering wheel
because I lost my gps reception and got lost, stuck inside a traffic jam
driving the wrong way.
+1 for angry birds though (I found Raging Thunder 2 addictive as well).
Aside from the battery needing to be drained a few times to get actual battery life from the phone, i've had no issues. Second day i owned it, loaded 2.2, GPS works faster than my 3GS ever did and now rooted with cognition-I may end up keeping this phone afterall.
Also, CM6.1 looks promising.
Not to say the streak is bad, i'm sure it's also a good phone but I wouldn't expect the kind battery life i want. The only thing that would make me return my captivate would be if the Desire HD is announced state side.
Using stock JH7 and GPS works fine. Not great but fine.
And even at that it works way better than my Touch Pro 2 did, and thats an HTC device
(I dont trust most custom roms at the moment because in my experience they introduce more bugs than they solve)
Since some of you guys report your GPS works properly, I started wondering,
maybe the cappy's navigation capabilities are better inside the u.s?
I don't see any reason why, beside the ntp settings inside gps.conf,
which, I've changed to europe and verified the replay time.
Anyways, didn't have good reception inside my car, so
I flashed it to back Eclair, again, I-9000 jg8 this time with reorient 1.3
(pain in the ass), GPS worked pretty good outdoors,
gonna take my car for a spin around the block again.
see what I'm talking about? this is the second rom flash I did today, I'll
keep you updated, maybe it will help for those who live in europe/asia/middle east.
If it will work good who knows, maybe I can try installing cognition 2b5 over this one, instead over the stock, see if it helps somehow.

[Q] Used Captivate - What to look for?

I'm looking at picking up a used Captivate. It looks like its in good shape. What should I look for in checking it out, besides the normal things like wear and tear and water damage.
Its rooted and unlocked and running a non-stock ROM, which is fine with me as I'll likley replace it with something else.
Beyond that, is the Captivate a good choice? Need an affordable Andriod phone for AT&T that I can do wifi tethering amount other things.
Check for naked pics, then send them to me.
Mostly just check for physical damage, functional gps, see if it has any weird random shutdown issues.. maybe ask for some sort of grace period if it turns out to have severe problems.
You got it, any pics on there of his junk are on their way to you.
Thanks for the feedback. So how would I know for sure about the shutdown issue unless it does it when its in my hands? I suspect I'd just need to take the guys word for it?
Is the GPS a common problem on these phones? I seem to remember talk of galaxy phones having GPS problems, but don't know the current state of this issue.
The guy is asking $175. That seems like a good deal for an out of contract phone right?
Thanks
Good deal right there.
Sent using smoke signals.
from my understanding, gps is not good on stock rom. but once you change to custom rom, it's very fast. im getting sat lock within 10 sec on continuum rom.
Just out of curiosity, does this thing have a compass? So when you're navigating it knows which way you are going relative to the phones position. This is something I miss from the old iPhone.
compass? of course it does. though, you wouldn't usually have it face north when navigating. i would think you would want it to point straight ahead, so that it's easier for you to navigate. No?
Sorry not about nagivating to north, but rather to have the phone know what direction its pointing. On the old iPhone I loved that whatever position I was holding the phone I could hit the compass button when looking at a map and it would spin the map around to match the actual direction I am facing
Honestly I hate the iPhone but I really do miss that feature. Here's a vid of what I am talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAXMCixBObg
Given the random shutdown issue with these phones, I would be very wary of buying one used with no warranty. At a minimum, check to see if the IMEI is within the range of the affected phones. That's no guarantee since people with newer phones have had the problem, but you might use that info to get a better price.
General things-any cosmetic issues, software errors-that sort of thing. For 175$ you cant beat the price.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using XDA App

I Havent even received the phone yet and im already contemplating returning it

Hi,
So.. Reading all these posts about this phone Im already contemplating returning it even though it hasnt arrived yet.
The main reason is the LCD bleeding mentioned by everyone. All the other battery inconsistencies, reboots, shutting down, wifi, whatever are all software and will be updated and fixed after all this is a new phone and as early adopters its part of the risk. BUT..... The LCD is a hardware issue, they purchased defective LCD screens and now they are going to have to sell all the units already manufactured before they make a batch with better LCDs.
Therefore, If I put so much money down on a phone, I dont mind the software bugs which can be fixed, I do mind hardware problems.
That being said I havent even received my phone yet but it does seem like returning it and waiting for the sensation would be a safer bet dont u think?
johnnyp500 said:
Hi,
So.. Reading all these posts about this phone Im already contemplating returning it even though it hasnt arrived yet.
The main reason is the LCD bleeding mentioned by everyone. All the other battery inconsistencies, reboots, shutting down, wifi, whatever are all software and will be updated and fixed after all this is a new phone and as early adopters its part of the risk. BUT..... The LCD is a hardware issue, they purchased defective LCD screens and now they are going to have to sell all the units already manufactured before they make a batch with better LCDs.
Therefore, If I put so much money down on a phone, I dont mind the software bugs which can be fixed, I do mind hardware problems.
That being said I havent even received my phone yet but it does seem like returning it and waiting for the sensation would be a safer bet dont u think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your into rooting and customizing the sensation might have a locked bootloader. also your phone might not have those issues. you could be sending back a perfect or close to perfect device. this is the first batch so you have to expect the worst. you can always return if you have issues.
This is going to be my first android phone so what is rooting and locked bootloader?
johnnyp500 said:
This is going to be my first android phone so what is rooting and locked bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh okay. rooting is like jailbreaking a iphone. it opens your phone up to bigger and better things. a bootloader is basically security. without being able to unlock that you wont be able to use custom roms, and tweaks to make the phone better than what it is.
When do we know the second batch of phones hit the stores?
bighulk666 said:
When do we know the second batch of phones hit the stores?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love to know that too since i returned mine a couple days ago and am waiting to get another one
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1062748 This poster said they received their phone and it was manufactured 4/29/11 and have not had a single bad issue thus far and everything is working better than before. Mine have been manufactured in early April, so perhaps this is an indication of a fixed batch of sorts.
See my thread of love thread. Manufacturer date of 4/6.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
IMO this phone rocks... As suggested by @ScooterG check out his thread about "thread of love". And another thing sometimes internet and blogs hipe things. Most of the ppl use their phones for 2-3 yrs and they see no problems in it. I know some ppl who still do not know what is FLASH and why some websites do not work with iPhone?? But only advice i would give you is, don ever trust everything you read. Try it yourself... Once you get the phone check things out like battery, reboot issue, freezing issue, lcd bleeding. If you think that ur phone is not good enough, return it.
One more thing i wanna tell you is, about LCD bleeding i agree that some ppl have really bad issues, but as far as the regular use is concerned minor lcd bleeding is unnoticeable. PPL check lcd bleeding by going in the dark room and opening black wallpapers or some app on their phones, now tell me one thing are you ever going to keep looking at black screen on your phone??? NO. You are going to watch videos, play games and do regular stuff. So use your phone like you are going to use for daily use and see if you encounter any problems.
About the Sensation and Galaxy s II, I loved both the phones, but then I realised that I want to root my phones and install custom ROMs on it. I don't think any of these 2 phones will be as easy to root and install custom ROMs on them as G2X. On top of that updates come fast for stock android phones for sure...
This is all my point of view. Read and think. Decide on your own.
I read all the good, bad, and ugly here before buying my G2x (replaced my beloved Nokia N900). Oddly, I had just the opposite reaction than you did. All the chatter here gave me a huge amount of confidence that whatever I didn't like about the G2x -- I could change with a little root magic and some apps.
And so I did. I'm very pleased.
I was a religious crackberry user(used iphone 1st gen and 3g too), then switched to a hd2(first unofficial android phone running gingerbread), then g2 now with the g2x. Be honest with you, the lcd bleeding is not noticable. I'm very happy with it so far.
The LCD bleeding is pretty minor. You really have to be in a completely black room with the screen showing black to notice it.
There are some extreme cases but I think they are rare, even for here.
I suspect the battery issues are a result of what people are installing or doing on their phone. From what I've read, "I've exchanged it 5 times and they all have battery issues"... tells me they are installing an app that eats battery or they are leaving games running in the background or something.
We do know the battery driver is wonky but the developers are working on a fix.
My phone lasts from 8am-midnight on my normal usage which consists of:
Several phones calls, frequently texting, playing WordFeud and Kingdoms Live (both online games) several times throughout the day, Push Exchange email (I get like 80-100 emails a day), I usually look up my horoscope once a day, I also have Push Gmail emails going, and Twitter, Facebook, and a weather widget that updates every 15minutes.
I also use google maps + gps, Google Voice Search, etc. periodically throughout the day also.
That's a ****load of usage ^ I would love to know how your getting that. I'm texting and idling my phone and I don't even get my phone to have that much usage

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