[Q] My 1st Android: used Captivate or Nexus S? - General Questions and Answers

I read the Captivate versus Nexus threads before posting here but most are quite old.
I'm anxiously looking for my first Android device. I need to keep cost down so I am looking for a used Samsung Captivate or used Samsung Nexus S 9020A for use on AT&T/Rogers. Used Captivate is around $100 less than used Nexus S. I know about 9020 versus 9023 and "A" versus "T". I might pay the extra money if it is worth it in the long run.
I understand the basic hardware differences between the two: external memory, external flash, NFC, Google updates. I will definitely root a Captivate, and may do so on in time with the Nexus S.
What I don't have is a good grasp of is reliability comparison. I've heard many Captivates have a GPS issue, which isn't my top priority now, but may become more important over time. Captivates floating around the used market could be quite old (1st gen).
I tend to keep my phones for a long time.
Which should I get?
Thanks in advance!

I would say Nexus S. It's free at some places with contract. I know the internal memory only seems like a bad thing but it's not really (I initially thought it was). I have a Photon and it also has an internal partition. I have my SD installed but don't even have anything on it. Everything is on internal and still have lots of room to add more "stuff". The nexus is easier to play with and of course early updates. On the other hand if you'd rather have more of a challenge rooting and playing around with your phone a capacitive could be entertaining as well.
Good luck!

Related

Captivate Owners!

I just wanted to know what made you guys buy the captivate? At first I was going to but the Aria but changed my mind at the last minute. I wasn't interested in the captivate because if the size of the phone, but I said "what the heck" and got it to try it. I had intentions on returning it, but as you can tell, it never made it back to the AT&T store....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Besides being an Android phone, screen size was the biggest reason I got it. Phones done good for me.
I dropped my aria two months after I purchased and busted the screen. $250 and a week later, I received my captivate from ebay. Im very glad I got the phone but I miss my stable cyanogenmod the aria had.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I bought it due to fairly good reviews on it and could do lot more than my old winmo phone. It had a great screen size and has high resolution.
I found the hard way that it had lot of delayed updates for it and gps issues as well. I still kept it because its far better than winmo. It was a deal that was hard to beat, for me.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Why? Simple. I waited for nearly two years for AT&T to release an Android phone that wasn't a total piece of crap. This was it. AT&T passed on the G1 and the N1 because they were too busy catering to the iPhone. Like I was really going to buy an HTC Lancaster?
I bought it for its potential. Stock this phone is meh, but with custom ROMs it is a Nexus S that gives up the front camera for an extra micro sd slot.
Sent from my Android using the power of my dreams.
i got it for the screen. at first i got an aria, great little phone, but once att dropped the $100 rebate i made the switch because with 2.1 the aria had too little storage for apps. yeah i went app crazy at first. and without 2.2 i could not do app to sd
also the cost of a large sd card vs the captivate having 14 usable internal + all the other features of the captivate it seemed like a no brainer. after i got the captivate i did have alittle buyers remorse though. the rom was meh. thee update made it better but it wasnt the update we were anticipating and by then i was already using a beta leak and utb.
i miss fm radio, the lazer mouse, the browser(text was always readable) and other things but removing the batery and sd card is a pain in the arse on the aria, and if you do it too many times the cover loosens up and the antennas can get poor reception.
on the captivate i enjoy flashing roms with little fear of bricking with the availability of odin3. the screen of coarse, the headphones, 46 gigs of storage, unbeaten graphics chip so far(hard to believe it holds that title this long) the camera, and the fact that nobody seems to know what the hell it is. but we all know about the gps issues samsungs delayed updates and various incompatabilities with proprietary samsung code like the wii mote app.
Screen size and because I found this phone to be the prettiest of any phone I've seen and android.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
the hardware was (is) incredible. turns out the software, not so much .
I have been all over the place with phones had never tried android before never was there a phone worth it on att to get and I didn't feel like getting an unlocked g2. This phone even with its issues is still a good and solid phone. Could use a few things like flash in the camera like its brother has. But the Nice size internal memory almost 16gigs for w.e u want plus a micro SD so your good for as lil a 2 gigs or as much as 32 more which is great. No fear or running out of room. Screen is really good just over all design it grabs a lot of attention
I got it because AT&T only had this or the aria as far as Android devices went at the time. Plus, gorgeous screen, super fast yada yada.. also promise of a update soon.
Starting to regret returning my iPhone 4 sadly.
1. Screen (super-amoled + size + vibrant color)
2. CPU
3. Best GPU performance in smartphone to date. The olympus and some of the coming Tegra 2's might change that.
i had an iphone 3g and was wanting to try something new so i wanted an android was going to get the aria but when captivate came out i bought this instead.
The release of my first choice, a Nokia N8 5 band UMTS world phone, was delayed so I bought the Captivate, my second choice. I almost didn't buy it because of the GPS issue. I like the Android OS and the super AMOLED display. I lucked into making the right choice.
I had the iPhone 3G and then the 3Gs, got burned out on ios, android was the obvious choice and the Captivate had top of the line hardware. GPS works fine, if you really need a reliable GPS then u really should get a standalone GPS device, and for music junkies get a stand alone mp3 player.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I'm not from the USA, but i like the device.
Runs great!
ninjuh said:
I had the iPhone 3G and then the 3Gs, got burned out on ios, android was the obvious choice and the Captivate had top of the line hardware. GPS works fine, if you really need a reliable GPS then u really should get a standalone GPS device, and for music junkies get a stand alone mp3 player.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't say that the GPS works fine. Maybe for you it does, but I don't think it's acceptable for my phone to thing that I'm in Philadelphia or Oakland or even Germany when I'm really in Southern California. There is a major issue with LBS on this phone and I can't wait to get rid of it. IF you don't care about location based services, this is an amazing phone. I love everything else about it.
I bought it for the screen and for Android. I was going to hold out for a bigger screen HTC phone to make its way to AT&T but my old phone died before that happened. I am not currently having the GPS issues. Just waiting for the upgrade to 2.2.
1. The only galaxy s phone on at&t .
2. The only phone with mkv and h264 high profile playback .
Extra reason 16gb internal plus can add 32gb micro sdcard which I did 48gb media awesomeness *drool*
I had an aria but i just had this feeling that i was going to regret it in two years, so i traded for the next up

[Q] Cheap AT&T Phones

Dear all, a long time lurker, reader, and occasional poster. I am about up on my 2 years with the Samsung Captivate. I have replaced every piece of software I could .. until it got unusable and now am pretty much stock ... but she is tired from the journey an is slowing down on me ... In particular, problems seemingly linked to hardware are annoyingly getting in the way - my Wifi is completely down and charging (on my multiple batteries is intermittently frustrating) and GPS never worked- ever. anyhow... I am starting to look for a replacement. The phone is in the way of me just functioning.
That said, I am not excited about the offerings, high or low, so I decided to lok for something cheap, cheerful, and reliable. Not the hottest, newest, flashiest (I really do not want a 4.8" screen!!) instead looking for some older, or lower end models.
The thoughts are:
1) Best Buy has Nexus S for FREE with contract - I am attracted to it, because it is a Nexus, but otherwise close to hardware specs of the Captivate.
2) ATT has Pantech Burst - dual core, LTE, on Gingerbread, from a budget manufacturer
3) Refurb iPhone4 - the non "S" iPhone can be had for $50 ... it is not exciting, but it works ...
4) Samsung Focus Flash - I have been planning to make the jump to WP eventually to try it ... the Focus 2 is coming out in a few days. I am nervous jumping into the frey before WP8 comes out.
Thoughts, feelings emotions? I feel the Nexus of the WP phone may be the safest bets, but people may disagree.
Thanks for the help.
dozyaustin said:
Dear all, a long time lurker, reader, and occasional poster. I am about up on my 2 years with the Samsung Captivate. I have replaced every piece of software I could .. until it got unusable and now am pretty much stock ... but she is tired from the journey an is slowing down on me ... In particular, problems seemingly linked to hardware are annoyingly getting in the way - my Wifi is completely down and charging (on my multiple batteries is intermittently frustrating) and GPS never worked- ever. anyhow... I am starting to look for a replacement. The phone is in the way of me just functioning.
That said, I am not excited about the offerings, high or low, so I decided to lok for something cheap, cheerful, and reliable. Not the hottest, newest, flashiest (I really do not want a 4.8" screen!!) instead looking for some older, or lower end models.
The thoughts are:
1) Best Buy has Nexus S for FREE with contract - I am attracted to it, because it is a Nexus, but otherwise close to hardware specs of the Captivate.
2) ATT has Pantech Burst - dual core, LTE, on Gingerbread, from a budget manufacturer
3) Refurb iPhone4 - the non "S" iPhone can be had for $50 ... it is not exciting, but it works ...
4) Samsung Focus Flash - I have been planning to make the jump to WP eventually to try it ... the Focus 2 is coming out in a few days. I am nervous jumping into the frey before WP8 comes out.
Thoughts, feelings emotions? I feel the Nexus of the WP phone may be the safest bets, but people may disagree.
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the nexus s but that is my opinion
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
dozyaustin said:
Dear all, a long time lurker, reader, and occasional poster. I am about up on my 2 years with the Samsung Captivate. I have replaced every piece of software I could .. until it got unusable and now am pretty much stock ... but she is tired from the journey an is slowing down on me ... In particular, problems seemingly linked to hardware are annoyingly getting in the way - my Wifi is completely down and charging (on my multiple batteries is intermittently frustrating) and GPS never worked- ever. anyhow... I am starting to look for a replacement. The phone is in the way of me just functioning.
That said, I am not excited about the offerings, high or low, so I decided to lok for something cheap, cheerful, and reliable. Not the hottest, newest, flashiest (I really do not want a 4.8" screen!!) instead looking for some older, or lower end models.
The thoughts are:
1) Best Buy has Nexus S for FREE with contract - I am attracted to it, because it is a Nexus, but otherwise close to hardware specs of the Captivate.
2) ATT has Pantech Burst - dual core, LTE, on Gingerbread, from a budget manufacturer
3) Refurb iPhone4 - the non "S" iPhone can be had for $50 ... it is not exciting, but it works ...
4) Samsung Focus Flash - I have been planning to make the jump to WP eventually to try it ... the Focus 2 is coming out in a few days. I am nervous jumping into the frey before WP8 comes out.
Thoughts, feelings emotions? I feel the Nexus of the WP phone may be the safest bets, but people may disagree.
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also vote for the Nexus S. But expect similar type of experience though. If you want it to just work like you said (but boring) iPhone 4 does that and does it really well. If it wasn't for itunes, i may consider it myself.
hope that helps.
-D

So...Would you recommend the 7" tab?

After reading a few reviews for the tab various websites complain about the apparent stuttering or lag when doing basic activities and all have different minor complaints. So my questions to the xda community are:
1)Would you recommend somebody buy this tablet for £200? If not what would you recommend?
2)Any complaints about the physical components of the tablet? - the screen matters to me the most tbh.
3) Do the custom roms fix any software related complaints you have of the device?
Thanks in advance!
I'm quite happy with the device, for the price. Sure you can better tablets for more and worse ones for less.
screen is fine, lag doesn't bother me too much though. I just wanted something to work out the box with no messing about as my partner wanted to use it a lot. If it were just for me I would be more tempted to mess about with roms and rooting.
For sure. I had 4 other 7 inchers before this one. I've had mine a month or so I guess and I'm happy with it. If I wasn't I would have surely returned it. I'm quick to take things back.
Plus, there's some kick ass development going on for this tablet.
For the price.. yeah, especially if you bought it at Costco. I just wish I could get a 4g version that works with T-Mobile.
Only reservations on recommendation is cause I would wait for the nexus tablet to do a comparison first.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G with Beats Audio using Tapatalk 2
Probably. For the pricepoint I think it's still the best option on the market for the moment.
It'll also depend which phone you're coming from for a reference point as far as expectations. For the vast majority of phone devices out there the performance on this feels just as responsive. If you're using a Galaxy S2 device though it does feel a step down from that. Likewise the screen (while higher res) is definitely no AMOLED when it comes to wow factor. The slightly older Plus flavor of this tablet gives you that, but at an additional cost. For this price I think the screen's fine.
My biggest complaint is the memory card issue. And that really is a larger Android issue not specific to the device itself. You can put a 32GB card in. But it's essentially useless as far as most apps are concerned as most are programmed to only see the much smaller internal SD card. If you root there's ways around that, but it's frustrating that you have to do so. Most nicer Android devices now have both internal SD with an option for external SD so Android needs to start accounting for that at the system level.
Thanks for the replies, may hold out until google i/o before purchasing though.

Is this a good phone to buy?

Long story short, I hard bricked my Evo 3D because I flashed the boot image to the wrong partition by not properly editing the updater-script when trying to port Jellybean (very developer NOOB move even though I'm not one by a long shot). So I'm thinking about buying one on Amazon to tie me over until my upgrade next year, because right now, my parents' only option (until I get the money) is to let me use a Blackberry, its torture (-_-)... I've read up on this and I am thoroughly impressed with the specs given it was released in 2010, plus it has ICS Officially. So I just have a handful of questions!
1. How is the Developer scene here? Is it still very active?
2. How good are the 3G speeds on this (I'm not getting 4G)
3. How is battery life
4. Is the phone easily breakable (this determines if I buy a case or not upon my ordering)
5. Can I still have me an awesome gaming experience? I am the Asphalt 6 and Shadowgun type of guy, so gaming is a must.
6. How quickly can someone fill up that 512MB space? and has someone made script that moves the WHOLE app to an external SD or repartitioned the space to give 1GB space?
I'll be sure to add more questions should they come up...
Now I have read that this has no SD card slot, and this would have been a problem. But as of recently, I have become a cloud kid. My Music is on Google Play Music, I have a couple of Movies and TV Shows on my SD Card but I can put those on my box cloud storage, that means that I can use all 16 GB for Game caches and the few movies and shows I frequently watch.
I just want to know your opinion, and the pros and cons of the phone, alongside the questions I asked. Thanks in advance!
Developer scene is still pretty solid. Expect an additional boost in a few weeks when Jelly Bean arrives. 3G speeds and reception should be decent so long as you have a decent provider, it is more dependent on them than on the phone. Battery life is mediocre, though you can pull off 4 hours of screen time a day with a little bit of effort (and compromise). It is generally a pretty stubborn phone. It won't break straight off the bat, but being plastic it will tend to scratch easily from rough surfaces. The screen can take a fair bit of abuse so don't be scared about the lack of "gorilla glass" branding, plus it's curved which is both great to touch and means it's less prone to scratched glass. I've found a case to be good due to the phone being slippery, but have since decided to use it without one. If you intend to root the phone i'm sure the gaming experience will be a good one, and likely even more so with jellybean - though there are certain games that won't even install (some tegra and tablet based games i think, i don't game that much on the phone so don't take my word on this).
As for storage, you have 16GB in the phone classified as "sdcard". It is built in and non-replaceable, with no external sdcard slot. It is partitioned primarily into /system, /data and /sdcard. /system holds the android operating system and is plenty big enough even for development purposes. /data is approximately 1GB and holds the data for apps only, so you have 1GB worth of apps which you can keep installed on the phone. The /sdcard partition is around 15GB and formatted as FAT32, so you can throw all of your music, photos, videos and sd2ext (built in, not a seperate app) apps here, so any larger games would be thrown onto the sdcard if you choose so, generally giving plenty of room. The only drawback for me, personally, is the lack of room for music - but you seem to have yourself sorted there.
And as i said above, if you really want to get every benefit from this phone it should be unlocked and rooted. It loves being free. Otherwise it's just a Galaxy S.
Harbb said:
Developer scene is still pretty solid. Expect an additional boost in a few weeks when Jelly Bean arrives. 3G speeds and reception should be decent so long as you have a decent provider, it is more dependent on them than on the phone. Battery life is mediocre, though you can pull off 4 hours of screen time a day with a little bit of effort (and compromise). It is generally a pretty stubborn phone. It won't break straight off the bat, but being plastic it will tend to scratch easily from rough surfaces. The screen can take a fair bit of abuse so don't be scared about the lack of "gorilla glass" branding, plus it's curved which is both great to touch and means it's less prone to scratched glass. I've found a case to be good due to the phone being slippery, but have since decided to use it without one. If you intend to root the phone i'm sure the gaming experience will be a good one, and likely even more so with jellybean - though there are certain games that won't even install (some tegra and tablet based games i think, i don't game that much on the phone so don't take my word on this).
As for storage, you have 16GB in the phone classified as "sdcard". It is built in and non-replaceable, with no external sdcard slot. It is partitioned primarily into /system, /data and /sdcard. /system holds the android operating system and is plenty big enough even for development purposes. /data is approximately 1GB and holds the data for apps only, so you have 1GB worth of apps which you can keep installed on the phone. The /sdcard partition is around 15GB and formatted as FAT32, so you can throw all of your music, photos, videos and sd2ext (built in, not a seperate app) apps here, so any larger games would be thrown onto the sdcard if you choose so, generally giving plenty of room. The only drawback for me, personally, is the lack of room for music - but you seem to have yourself sorted there.
And as i said above, if you really want to get every benefit from this phone it should be unlocked and rooted. It loves being free. Otherwise it's just a Galaxy S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And my decision was solidified with the acquisition of jellybean. I can get a gnex experience for the most part without having to shell out so much money. I just need a gaming device (I'm going to buy chainfire for the coupe of tegra games I want) and an entertainment hub. I will buy a case asap, probably a ballistic case, an some other stuff, thank you so much
Sent from my Full Android on SMDKV210 using xda app-developers app
One more thing to point out though, if you end up getting the 4G version (the only CDMA version, which i think is what Sprint uses) it may take longer to get JB and I can't comment on CDMA networks 3G. It will be approximately on par with most other phones running on the same network, though.
ognimnella said:
I just want to know your opinion, and the pros and cons of the phone, alongside the questions I asked. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Nexus range is the first to get the Jelly Bean update, so it's certain that Google is paying extra attention to it.
As a friend of mine (also owning a Nexus S) pointed out, the development activity is one of the best out there.
In terms of performance, I was happy with it in 99% of time, you can't pretend the same performance as a quad core phone but overclocking the phone at a safe 1200mhz makes it significantly faster.
All in all, it is a very good phone for the price you pay.
Good luck and let us know if you decided getting the phone.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app
Harbb said:
One more thing to point out though, if you end up getting the 4G version (the only CDMA version, which i think is what Sprint uses) it may take longer to get JB and I can't comment on CDMA networks 3G. It will be approximately on par with most other phones running on the same network, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am aware of Sprint and their inability to push updates properly, so it's expected. I will be rooted and running a slim ICS Rom anyway
, so I can just install JB after they get the update it in rooted Rom style.
whoisrikk said:
The Nexus range is the first to get the Jelly Bean update, so it's certain that Google is paying extra attention to it.
As a friend of mine (also owning a Nexus S) pointed out, the development activity is one of the best out there.
In terms of performance, I was happy with it in 99% of time, you can't pretend the same performance as a quad core phone but overclocking the phone at a safe 1200mhz makes it significantly faster.
All in all, it is a very good phone for the price you pay.
Good luck and let us know if you decided getting the phone.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a little excited yesterday and decided to do research on some other phones that could be possible contenders, but this phone takes home the crown. My parents said that because I broke the phone, I cover the expenses. So I did the math.
If I get a galaxy nexus now:
I have to buy out my contract ($100), and then buy the phone ($150) = $250
If I buy a galaxy S III now:
I have to buy out the contract (same) and buy the phone ($200) = $300
if I buy this phone:
But it from Amazon ($150) and transfer my number (free) = $150
The numbers say it all. I will get this phone . Plus, I want a nexus 7, so I need to save as much money as I can. I will wait until next year to get my upgrade to the gnex
Sent from my GTablet using xda app-developers app

Trade

I might trade my Galaxy Nexus for the Q, Is it a nice phone?
I love(d) it. I still have it sitting there in bricked form while I use my 3rd Samsung Epic circa 2010 with CM10.1 circa Dec 2012.
It really was leaps and bounds over the Epic as far as processing power and raw computing. But I dont have LTE in my area yet decent WIMAX coverage so I like using the Epic for 4g. Plus I like the functionality of CyanogenMod over the Moto interface. CM10 is in the works for the Q so I am just waiting for that I guess before I unbrick it. Or LTE coverage. I got the phone for $40 so I'm just letting it sit. Its funny how I will suffer with inferior hardware to use a superior interface, but thats where I am right now.
The Q is easy to brick and the programming is not as friendly, plus its not a widely adopted phone so the development community is going slow. And thats not to say it needs development. Its pretty close to stock Android but Moto limits some niche features that, again, I like having in CM.
That being said, it is the premier QWERTY phone with the premier chipset save for maybe 1 or 2 other phones in existence. Games are great, everything runs great. Everything you would expect from a top tier phone. The unlockable bootloader deal from Moto is great, sorta groundbreaking. If you have LTE go for it. If you run off of WIFI mostly go for it.
My only real complaint about the phone is the internal memory and how they designate their memory, its confusing, and that the internal memory situation is severely lacking; I would run out of space on internal memory and get "low memory" notifications when doing things like streaming amazonmp3.... another reason for cyanogenmod is the reformatting of all the memory so you can run apps off memory card.
Thats just my $.02 fairly big time noob but I can totally root and recovery and add custom roms to my Epic and enjoy its functionality everyday. If you like QWERTY phones which actually can increase efficiency for some brain types then its the #1 phone to get.
I recently went from the Galaxy Nexus to a Photon Q I bought off craiglist in mint condition for 100 bucks. I've always had a fascination with the droid slider line and wanted to try the photon q. My honest opinion is the only thing I like more about the photon is the reception and build quality and the keyboard is nice for emails but the camera and screen are better on the nexus.
Switched back to the nexus tonight. I missed the nicer screen but mostly being able to ROM of and what not. I'll sell the photon on Craig's or keep it as a spare

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