Database Info

Buy Captivate now or wait!?

Hi,
I need some help to decide.
Should I buy this phone now or wait for later this year, or even maybe 2011(witch is to long time waiting).
Currently I own a Xperia X10(tired of this phone, no software update, captivate has way better screen) on Tmobile, and moving to ATT would be good I think.
Plan difference is not so big besides the cap limit on internet.
Please help, I will sell my Xperia X10, to have money ready for a new phone.
Thanks.

nj777 said:
Hi,
I need some help to decide.
Should I buy this phone now or wait for later this year, or even maybe 2011(witch is to long time waiting).
Currently I own a Xperia X10(tired of this phone, no software update, captivate has way better screen) on Tmobile, and moving to ATT would be good I think.
Plan difference is not so big besides the cap limit on internet.
Please help, I will sell my Xperia X10, to have money ready for a new phone.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well honestly it is really up to you. I don't think the community should decide for you. Would the possibility of having a non working GPS bother you? Would the possibility of having a phone that randomly shut down bother you? ( then you'd have to deal with AT&T warranty and such ) Those are some examples of problems that you should consider about. Samsung is known for having ****ty customer service and lack of updates. You see, the latest OTA update that we received were supposed to fix GPS problems... but it didn't... so... * shrug *
Don't get me wrong, I love my phone. It's just that samsung frustrates me at times because of their incompetence.

How about...would I if I were you...
I don't have the Xperia..but did have the Hero..and they are fairly close..
I look at it like this..as much as I loved my Hero with CM6 over clocked to 768mhz and all the themes and goodies...I wouldn't go back. I don't depend on my gps in my telephone to make my life easier..If you do..then you might want to wait..but..know this..You can copy Walmart's info from the web for the Captivate and go into a ATT store and walk out with one for $59.00.
As too the random shut downs..I'm running bare bones stock...I've had my phone on solid since last Thursday and have loaded and played 5 HD movies on it..talked for about 200 hours and sent about 30 text messages..and not one blip/fc/shutdown or anything else..Also..I told the sales lady I wanted one where it would do the 3 button recovery..She Googled it to see what I was talking about and said ok..no problem..Mine worked first time..but had to open the 7th box to get one that did for the wife.Both of ours works great..and the GPS isn't real bad..I lock on to about 8-10 sats under 10 seconds with mine..the wifes is about the same..
If it were me..Hell yes..I love this phone..
Mac

The leaked froyo sure is nice though. I haven't had any random shut down issues unless I let the phone stay on the charger to long and then it will only shut down when its sitting without being used.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Um, not to be a hater here but....
This was the only high end android device that ATT had. All the other phone s the carrier offers besides the Aria is a joke.
I feel very lucky that XDA and Design Gears is around or I would have a completely useless device. No way would I recommend this phone to John Q Public.
There are too many awesome devices out that work. Sure the screen is awesome and its fast as hell. But it is laden with bugs and took folks in this community to get it to run.
Couple that with Samsung's track record? I would recommend getting another device. Most likely an HTC.
Of course with all that being said... I love my phone and wouldn't trade it for any other on the market today...... Until the next shiny new device comes out.
With my phone using Cognition, because it just runs better.

avgjoegeek said:
Um, not to be a hater here but....
This was the only high end android device that ATT had. All the other phone s the carrier offers besides the Aria is a joke.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you meaning to tell me that the Moto Backflip is not a quality phone?! /sarcasm

Thanks for all your sugesstions,
A reply to second post: I am not looking for someone to pic a phone for me, I was trying to get information if there is a better choice comparable to Captivate and better than Xperia. And I didn't find any better device at this time or any confirmed device that would be available later. Sorry if I didn't express myself clearly.
As for Gps issue I know, trouth to be told I don't really use it so no big deal there, as for restarts and lag Captivate is not the only one doing that, my X10 does it to, I noticed it based on ever root or updates, mostly I think it's from incompatible software And hardware, even my Windows and Mac does that. My wife's IPhone 3GS does that too when using it too much and having to many apps xD.
So, are there any shortlly upcoming devices I should know? My google research didn't get far, maybe there is anyone with more information about it.
Thank you, I appreciet all your opinions

better but comparable to captivate, hmmm the g2 from t-mobile. thats about it. no other phone has the 3d procesing of a galaxy s. but some are faster at other things. the g2 is very fast across the board.
snapdragon htc phones have bad battery life, the aria has too small of a battery. i had one it had alot of features but the screen was too small and no battery life, its basically a hero with android 2.1. so other than the g2 that leaves motorola phones that are only on verizon and have less performance than the g2.
i like the captivate but i think i would also like a g2.

nj777 said:
Hi,
I need some help to decide.
Should I buy this phone now or wait for later this year, or even maybe 2011(witch is to long time waiting).
Currently I own a Xperia X10(tired of this phone, no software update, captivate has way better screen) on Tmobile, and moving to ATT would be good I think.
Plan difference is not so big besides the cap limit on internet.
Please help, I will sell my Xperia X10, to have money ready for a new phone.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would and did and don't have an ounce of regret. I have learned so much in the past few weeks which is empowering when it comes to choosing and flashing ROMS. My expectations from a $500 device that does so much is very low so I am rarely disappointed.
My GPS works to around 30 meters. Good enough. The Music player is phenomenal even through the stock buds.(and I normally use Westone 3s and ETY 4s) I have never seen such a customizable device and fool proof as well IF you take the time to really understand and follow directions
Read the later parts of long threads so you don't get into the middle error area where issues are resolved. Don't be afraid to ask questions after you look for an answer. It is a very friendly forum. Very few "self appointed forum cops"
I would not wait. get the JH6 and begin playing with ROMS and recovery. When the official 2.2 comes out you won't be afraid to burn a better cooked Cognition ROM of it later.
There will be bugs...There are always bugs......

i say get it, i went from the fuze to the captivate and im never looking back, couldnt be happier

If I were you, I will wait probably... X10 is a great device, but i dont know if they are going to release update... I will stick with X10, and change to a better phone next year... samsung is too ****ty, dont get ur hand with them if u can... also, dont even try to get att, they are ****ty too...
if u want, sell ur X10 and buy a vibrant...
im with att because they are the only carrier with rollover... and i have captivate because its the best android on att
Foxy Roxy said:
Well honestly it is really up to you. I don't think the community should decide for you. Would the possibility of having a non working GPS bother you? Would the possibility of having a phone that randomly shut down bother you? ( then you'd have to deal with AT&T warranty and such ) Those are some examples of problems that you should consider about. Samsung is known for having ****ty customer service and lack of updates. You see, the latest OTA update that we received were supposed to fix GPS problems... but it didn't... so... * shrug *
Don't get me wrong, I love my phone. It's just that samsung frustrates me at times because of their incompetence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tHe OTA update BRICK my phone, and att/samsung are blaming each other... they sucks...
Mac11700 said:
How about...would I if I were you...
I don't have the Xperia..but did have the Hero..and they are fairly close..
I look at it like this..as much as I loved my Hero with CM6 over clocked to 768mhz and all the themes and goodies...I wouldn't go back. I don't depend on my gps in my telephone to make my life easier..If you do..then you might want to wait..but..know this..You can copy Walmart's info from the web for the Captivate and go into a ATT store and walk out with one for $59.00.
As too the random shut downs..I'm running bare bones stock...I've had my phone on solid since last Thursday and have loaded and played 5 HD movies on it..talked for about 200 hours and sent about 30 text messages..and not one blip/fc/shutdown or anything else..Also..I told the sales lady I wanted one where it would do the 3 button recovery..She Googled it to see what I was talking about and said ok..no problem..Mine worked first time..but had to open the 7th box to get one that did for the wife.Both of ours works great..and the GPS isn't real bad..I lock on to about 8-10 sats under 10 seconds with mine..the wifes is about the same..
If it were me..Hell yes..I love this phone..
Mac
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you mind to share your gps configuration?

I am one of the few or possibly not so few people who did not really have any problems with my Captivate on the android 2.1 release, and actually the 2.2 recently leaked os either.
One thing people do not appear to keep in mind that these phone are closer to a PC now than ever before with pound for pound nearly the same power house operating systems on them. With such a customizable OS on a phone like Droid its bound to have some kinks as I think alot can agree on this, most operating systems do.
That said, its not unheard of for there to be lots of updates, firmware fixes etc, and the numbers in this forum who are posting may not seem to be all that many people when you consider that there are probably far more Captivate owners out there with no issues whatsoever.
What I am saying is that this phone may have some kinks for the people posting in here but it clearly is not every captivate owner having a problem. You can go to any other forums from other sites, and even manufacturers and read hundreds of posts about nearly every phone made with problems.
Do not let the people here steer you one way or the other, but heed the notices regarding possible issues. All the reviews for this phone are not that bad at all, and there are alternative phones, but keep in mind that any galaxy s phone will most likely have the same OS and some of the same kinks. All are samsung so.
imo this is a pretty damn decent phone, it is better than my iPhone 3gs was and I am glad I dont have that pos anymore.
The GPS on my phone is pretty fast to get a signal, it was on 2.1 and 2.2 android, but I do find it to be a tad bit sensitive. Gotta leave in stationary in the open the first lock, after that it appears to maintain pretty well, and i have put it through its paces, average for me in my location for a lock on is roughly 10-45 seconds depending on occlusion.
The phones default power saving scheme to be appears to be very aggressive.

My 2 cents
If I were you, I would keep the X10. I just left my ATT Touch Pro and upgraded to a Captivate. At first i was really excited about it. The screen size, brightness, slim form-factor of the phone were awesome. A week later I am looking at the phone going is this really that much better than my Touch Pro?
All I ever used my phone for were to make calls, emails, texts and spreadsheets. Doing the same on the Captivate was better in some area's and worse in the other. Exchange support is no where near where windows phones, but that is to be expected.
I don't have any GPS issues, random shutdowns or reboots or anything, the phone just works great. Yet I still have a little remorse.
Also when the 2.2 update does come out for this, expect this to be the last update they ever make. I have had a few Samsung phones and they NEVER release a lot of updates, very few actually.

jev3gs said:
Exchange support is no where near where windows phones, but that is to be expected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Imagine that.
To the op,
I bought the Captivate, it's not a Cappy, as my first smartphone. I have no regrets what so ever. I must also be outside the norm because I understand that it's a phone first, GPS is a luxury. It works fine for my tastes as well.
If you like to tinker, then you can't go wrong. There is a lot of support and great support at that here.

i would wait. i'm on my 3rd captivate due to either build quality issues, or gps that never fixes. i must just have the worst luck ever to have 3 phones with non working gps i guess. and for those that say its a luxury, yes to a degree it is. but you cant use poynt, places, weather apps, all sorts of things if the gps isnt working right. forget foursquare, twitter locations, geo tagging photos, etc. i depend on my phone for work, and gps is critical to me as my phone replaced my stand alone tomtom unit. and yes i know that its a phone not a dedicated gps, but i never had issues with gps with my iphone 3gs, i left that phone for other reasons however. i like the android os, like the form factor of the captivate, and really like some aspects of the touchwiz interface. but in comparison to some of the other android phones, we really dont have it all that good on ATT. no flash, no led notifications, the capcacitve buttons dont stay on very long at all, and a real lack of accessories for the device in general.
i know that you can root and use custom roms and such, but i just want my phone to work as is. 200 dollars up front plus the cost of the phone over the contract time is a lot of money to spend on a device that i have to void the warranty on in order to get it to do half of what its supposed to. i would wait and try a different phone. problem is i dont think att is too worried about getting any other android phones right now. I would almost get the aria over the captivate at this point. i wish we had a good top line android phone from motorola, or htc to compete with the captivate at this point.

Anytime you buy a product and it has a feature, you expect it to work. To say it is a phone and has GPS but it doesn't work is alright is BS. That is like buying a car and when you take it home the radio doesn't work, the wipers don't work and the dealer tells you to live with it. I don't buy that one bit.
If MFG's can't make something work in a phone when they make it, they better just leave it out then.
I will say though that i have not had any issues with my Captivate.... especially since now I am not running the ESPN widget anymore. Man that always slowed down my phone like crazy!

eclypse3demons said:
I am one of the few or possibly not so few people who did not really have any problems with my Captivate on the android 2.1 release, and actually the 2.2 recently leaked os either.
One thing people do not appear to keep in mind that these phone are closer to a PC now than ever before with pound for pound nearly the same power house operating systems on them. With such a customizable OS on a phone like Droid its bound to have some kinks as I think alot can agree on this, most operating systems do.
That said, its not unheard of for there to be lots of updates, firmware fixes etc, and the numbers in this forum who are posting may not seem to be all that many people when you consider that there are probably far more Captivate owners out there with no issues whatsoever.
What I am saying is that this phone may have some kinks for the people posting in here but it clearly is not every captivate owner having a problem. You can go to any other forums from other sites, and even manufacturers and read hundreds of posts about nearly every phone made with problems.
Do not let the people here steer you one way or the other, but heed the notices regarding possible issues. All the reviews for this phone are not that bad at all, and there are alternative phones, but keep in mind that any galaxy s phone will most likely have the same OS and some of the same kinks. All are samsung so.
imo this is a pretty damn decent phone, it is better than my iPhone 3gs was and I am glad I dont have that pos anymore.
The GPS on my phone is pretty fast to get a signal, it was on 2.1 and 2.2 android, but I do find it to be a tad bit sensitive. Gotta leave in stationary in the open the first lock, after that it appears to maintain pretty well, and i have put it through its paces, average for me in my location for a lock on is roughly 10-45 seconds depending on occlusion.
The phones default power saving scheme to be appears to be very aggressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you are one of the VERY VERY few....5 million sold. The "issues" people are having are directly related to their expectations. I bought two..One to experiment with and one to use while giving my wife the N97. Once I realized they were both ok and I could not brick it I loaded froyo on both , gave her one and retired the N97......
I don't expect a $500 device to lock on to GPS within a minute with 10 feet of accuracy....a few minutes and 100 feet is ok and it EXCEEDS those expectations for me....at the end of the day it WILL get you home. I made some settings adjustments and dialed it in as best I could get it. I am confident Samsung will "fix" things that are broke.
I did not expect this phone to deliver the quality of natural lighting pics and videos it does.....bat my expectations.
There is no area where this phone did not at least meet my expectations.
But then again I took what the open device gave me.......did some leading and learning and MADE it what I WANT....not what ATT or Samsung wants. At least they gave me the choice to so, JB an Apple is a joke compared to what can be done with this OS. Been there done that..
My Nokia N97 cost the same and was 1/2 the device this is.....The iPhone is a toy compared to this OS and what can be done with it.
The people who are having issues usually are not following the directions SPECIFICALLY to do things. I know because I too have been guilty of missing a step here and there and panicking LOL
The carrier is fine...T Mobile's 3G is faster...Sprint 4G is faster...Verizon is Apple's sister in control freaky......The iPhone on Verizon will be a lock down on lock down But for those who want to press and play iPhone is perfect....fast and easy.
ATT is not the best nor the worst..they are what they are. You either stay wth them or leave...Simple choice. They give some and take some...

jev3gs said:
Anytime you buy a product and it has a feature, you expect it to work. To say it is a phone and has GPS but it doesn't work is alright is BS. That is like buying a car and when you take it home the radio doesn't work, the wipers don't work and the dealer tells you to live with it. I don't buy that one bit.
If MFG's can't make something work in a phone when they make it, they better just leave it out then.
I will say though that i have not had any issues with my Captivate.... especially since now I am not running the ESPN widget anymore. Man that always slowed down my phone like crazy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just saying it has "GPS" does not entitle it to be a good a GPS as a standalone! LOL It requires a phone to eventually lock on a satellite and get you to a destination. Which this phone does. I have Garmins in my cars. They SHOULD and do get immediate locks and tracking is perfect. They cost almost what this phone does. They don;t take video,pics, make calls...on and on.....
Some phones may have a real issue. But most of them have working hardware and SW is fixing many as well, It is just that people are fixing them themselves.....while waiting for an official fix. I fine very few posts where GPS does not work at all. More of people having to wait too long for a lock. That issue depends on so many factors it's silly to compare. Another brand may have a better GPS implimentation but be poor in other areas....
You choose a device based on it's STREGNTHS based on YOUR NEEDS...If you want a great camera you buy a Nokia N8, If you want geat GPS you buy a G2 or another camera with such.
It's not like this issues has been "hidden" I knew about it reading threads before I bought the phone but I also knew I could live without the GPS...and in all likelihood (as always) it would not be as bad as people claim......
It wasn't perfect..but it is not as bad as people claim either. It is exactly the same on both my Cappys.....when both are set the same and on the same ROM.

My two cents, get it now while you can still unlock it.
The 2.2 update will remove the file that gives you the codes for sim unlocking.

jev3gs said:
Anytime you buy a product and it has a feature, you expect it to work. To say it is a phone and has GPS but it doesn't work is alright is BS. That is like buying a car and when you take it home the radio doesn't work, the wipers don't work and the dealer tells you to live with it. I don't buy that one bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. It may not be "broken" but the quality is definitely "sub-par" IMO.
To the OP. If you can live without having quality GPS performance and willing to spend a few hours with ATT warranty department if Samsung releases a phone with a fix (if it is hardware) then I say get it now. That's my current plan. But I've never had much trouble with AT&T's warranty department.
Despite the GPS issues, the Captivate is still my favorite Android phone. One the few I've even liked.

Now very upset about the CRaptivate

I took my sister to the AT&T store yesterday and bought her the HTC Inspire 4G. VERY nice phone. So while in the ATT store, the Inspire was on display at the back of the store. I took the liberty and installed GPS Test program from the market and let it run, just for the heck of it.
The damn thing locked on and saw 7 sats within 2 seconds, and got 9-11 sats within the next 5.
So I whipped out my CRaptivate, and ran the same GPS test program. Pathetic POS didn't even lock on to one. I had to walk outside in order to even see sats, and then it took an extra 30 seconds for it to lock on to anything. This is with Firefly 2.4, latest updates, GPS fixes, the whole 9 yards.
Now I see how bad this CRaptivate is. It took just one moment with that HTC to see the light.
The question is, I bought this POS back in October, as it was the only Android offering that was worth it at the time. After having all the problems I do with this phone, what can I do to get ATT to take it back so that I can switch to something like the Inspire??? Or is that a lost cause?

ajm786 said:
I took my sister to the AT&T store yesterday and bought her the HTC Inspire 4G. VERY nice phone. So while in the ATT store, the Inspire was on display at the back of the store. I took the liberty and installed GPS Test program from the market and let it run, just for the heck of it.
The damn thing locked on and saw 7 sats within 2 seconds, and got 9-11 sats within the next 5.
So I whipped out my CRaptivate, and ran the same GPS test program. Pathetic POS didn't even lock on to one. I had to walk outside in order to even see sats, and then it took an extra 30 seconds for it to lock on to anything. This is with Firefly 2.4, latest updates, GPS fixes, the whole 9 yards.
Now I see how bad this CRaptivate is. It took just one moment with that HTC to see the light.
The question is, I bought this POS back in October, as it was the only Android offering that was worth it at the time. After having all the problems I do with this phone, what can I do to get ATT to take it back so that I can switch to something like the Inspire??? Or is that a lost cause?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably a hardware issue IMO. Get it fixed.
For your ATT question i do not know, sorry.

41LY45 said:
Probably a hardware issue IMO. Get it fixed.
For your ATT question i do not know, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just very scared to attempt to get another replacement that has the random shutdown issue. This is my second phone; my first one had the problem, this one does NOT have the random shutdown issue, but the GPS is borked(?).
There are just so many problems with this phone, it's almost like I'm playing the lottery in trying to get a functioning one.

ajm786 said:
I'm just very scared to attempt to get another replacement that has the random shutdown issue. This is my second phone; my first one had the problem, this one does NOT have the random shutdown issue, but the GPS is borked(?).
There are just so many problems with this phone, it's almost like I'm playing the lottery in trying to get a functioning one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, refurbished phones.
I guess it's just up to one's luck.

41LY45 said:
Lol, refurbished phones.
I guess it's just up to one's luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, to be completely honest, the first 2 phones I got were NOT refurbished. There were brand new (got them exchanged retail at the store).

My GPS works fine it didnt before on stock rom but does now... software issue
sent with Captivate w/ Gingerbread 2.3.3

maxjivi05 said:
My GPS works fine it didnt before on stock rom but does now... software issue
sent with Captivate w/ Gingerbread 2.3.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be fair, I'm not saying that the GPS is not working at all with the Captivate. I'm saying that the HTC (and pretty much any other hardware) demolishes the Craptivate when it comes to that, and, pretty much everything else. I'm not interested in tweaking my phone forever to do what it should have done to start with. I mean, tweaking is fun, but to an extent. I don't want to be doing this forever. It has to come to an end somewhere, and that probably means for me different hardware.
This is the first and last huge mistake that I will have made with Samsung. I swear I will NEVER buy anything from them, and will do my utmost best to return this POS.

maxjivi05 said:
My GPS works fine it didnt before on stock rom but does now... software issue
sent with Captivate w/ Gingerbread 2.3.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notice you'r running Gingerbread 2.3.3; therefore, I would guess that the ROM was loaded very recently. Most Captivates' GPS works great right out of the box, or right after loading a new ROM. Post back how your GPS is working after the ROM has been installed for a month and you have been using it a lot.

Wow, very clever twist on the phone's name.
And thanks for the heads-up on the GPS issue. Never saw any other threads on it.
If you want to know if ATT will do something about it, ummm, why don't you ask them?

mfw my gps works perfectly and tracks my every move on pheonix 6.0

comdei said:
mfw my gps works perfectly and tracks my every move on pheonix 6.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. Working GPS vs. bleeding retinas. Nah, not worth it.

rbtconsultants said:
Wow, very clever twist on the phone's name.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very fitting.
rbtconsultants said:
And thanks for the heads-up on the GPS issue. Never saw any other threads on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the ROM and GPS fixes get the GPS barely usable compared to other phones that get GPS right. After using the Inspire for a few minutes, it's clear that the CRaptivate is highly flawed, even in its "fixed" state. Thanks so much to all the ROM chefs and devs working so hard on it; I can only imagine the pain they have to go through because Shamsung doesn't know how write software for shi*.
rbtconsultants said:
If you want to know if ATT will do something about it, ummm, why don't you ask them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will. I just wanted to get some input from someone who might have gotten them to successfully swap phones for them.

ajm786 said:
Very fitting.
All the ROM and GPS fixes get the GPS barely usable compared to other phones that get GPS right. After using the Inspire for a few minutes, it's clear that the CRaptivate is highly flawed, even in its "fixed" state. Thanks so much to all the ROM chefs and devs working so hard on it; I can only imagine the pain they have to go through because Shamsung doesn't know how write software for shi*.
I will. I just wanted to get some input from someone who might have gotten them to successfully swap phones for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They probably won't do much unless you're a super valuable customer to them. We all like to think we are, but lets face it, some customer are worth a LOT more than others, this is true for every business. Plus there's a reason they give you 30 days to try the phone, one month of use should be more than enough to know whether the phone suits your needs or not. Unless you're consistently spending like $400+ on your phone bill every month and haven't had issues in the past, I doubt they will do much other than warranty exchange, especially since you've had the phone for 5 months now. I must've been one of the lucky ones, never really had any GPS issues, recent flash to Cog 4.1.1 actually screwed it up for me for some reason (I blame the solar flares) and the GPS wouldn't increase it's accuracy from 4900 meters, but this was easily remedied by applying the GPS fix in SGS Tools.

@ 6months you can do an early upgrade but you will extend the contract and pay a lot more for the new phone than the advertised contract price, that's probably the best you can do to get out of the captivate. or you can buy a phone outright.
sorry guy, my gps is as good as any phone i have ever owned but i do admit that the better htc phones are a bit better in that area. really my gps can lock with the same speed and accuracy as a droid x in the verizon store which has a metal roof, but the incredible does lock to 7meters while my phone and the motorola only lock to 30 meters. generally the hardware can get the job done as well as other phones. infact my iphone could not lock under a metal roof, or any kind of roof for that matter, it was incapable of navigation. the gps signal on the iphone 3g was bad for many of my friends as well so im not crazy. my friends also complain about there blackberry gps and other android phones.
my phone never had gps that couldn't lock but it also never tracked well and got a strong signal at the same time untill somewhat recently after a lot of finding what didn't work. it either tracked but lost signal under cloud cover and bridges or it locked but the positioning was all over the place. futzing around in lbs test mode never really helped untill i realized that it needed to agree with secgps.conf and jupiter.xml
the real issues with the galaxy s seems to be sensitivity to noise and every phone is a bit different. it can take a lot of experimentation to get it working, or it might never work.

Buy a TomTom... Case closed
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Crap, topic starter! you say that it locked INSIDE building? bull****! GPS ain't capable of working indoors. Oh, yeah - also count how much battery GPS is using on Inspire and on Cappy

ajm786 said:
Very fitting.
I will. I just wanted to get some input from someone who might have gotten them to successfully swap phones for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just depends if you have a reasonably justifiable hardware / software issue, and how assertive you are. Demand a phone that has that basic capabilities advertised, and get it warrantied.
Meanwhile, ask for an adjustment on your bill. Go up 2 or 3 levels of Customer Service with your complaint, and tell them how many phones - how many times this has occurred.
I've done it at least 4 times in 6 mos - had them let me demo a Windows 7 phone for free for a week - had 200+ USD credited to my account - gave the Win 7 phone back no charge - Replaced my Refurb Captivate with a Brand New one with 12 Mos. Factory Warranty. Replaced it again. Free.
Some days you get the Bear - Some Days the Bear gets you... When it comes to Customer Service - YOU PAY THEM. Get the Bear.

Yuna said:
Crap, topic starter! you say that it locked INSIDE building? bull****! GPS ain't capable of working indoors. Oh, yeah - also count how much battery GPS is using on Inspire and on Cappy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
speak for yourself
i am inside a solid cinder block office building and i can get consistent locks on 8-11 satellites.
Outdoors is 10-12 with usually all or occasionally all but 1 locking.

opcow said:
Hmmm. Working GPS vs. bleeding retinas. Nah, not worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats an easy solution.
Flash firefly or supernova then flash blackfroyorogers thems over it. Both have GPS as good as or better than phoenix and blackrogersfroyo theme tones down the colors to very neutral black and grays.

I have an old Captivate....it works perfectly.
Other than the original 2.1 software that came with it, every ROM I have used has excellent GPS performance.
I have no random reboots on any ROM, not even with CM7. I suppose this means there is some type of hardware issue. All directions have been followed to a tee when reflashing.
I am a huge Samsung fan in general, and I love the Captivate hardware...but to be honest I wouldn't look to them first for a phone. HTC has the better track record for updates. Thankfully the xda and dev community rocks.
I couldn't imagine being on a stock 2.1 for all those months...

[Q] skyrocket tethering without root

Just got the "skyrocket" with AT&T absolutely impressed with the download speed in northern jersey more than7mbs. is that because the LTE is up here without an official announcement. I use to get nothing more than 1-2 mbs.
Now my main question is (are):
Can I tether for free without rooting?
Can I do that wirelessly?
Also would want to just using usb cable for one pc and pdaNet software so wifi signal would not show on my pc, is that possible?
Thank you.

You can share your phone's internet connection with your PC or laptop, yes. But to properly do so, you have to root it. You can use Super One Click to do that. Once rooted, you can download tethering apps from the Market...

Thank you BKALAAS
My main concern was HOW would I go about to do the tethering without rooting?
If I have to root, shouldn't be a specific program for the skyrocket or just use Superclick as you suggested.
Thanks again

What kind of phone do you have? HTC phones support this by default with the WIFI router tool and there is an tethering option by default to. This option is, as mentioned by bklaas2, available through the standard internet sharing option in android when you connect your usb cable. But please tell us which phone you have and more importantly, which OS

Hi, I have the just the just released today Samsung galaxy skyroket.
I am looking to tether data from AT&T wireless provider to my pc. preferably without unlocking with and without cable.
I the phone has gingerbread 2 3 5, kernel version 2.6.35.11
Thank you

dell4320 said:
Just got the "skyrocket" with AT&T absolutely impressed with the download speed in northern jersey more than7mbs. is that because the LTE is up here without an official announcement. I use to get nothing more than 1-2 mbs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did the icon said "4G LTE"?
can you do another speedtest?
if it' 7mb again, i getting this phone too!
i'm in San Francisco bayarea, no LTE.

I suggest to root with superclick. And then install a tethering app
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Thank you,
I will wait till someone could figure out a way for tethering without rooting the phone, thank you, The thank you btton on your profile not working.
Also for the person asking abot the LTE, it only shows 4g, no LTE, getting a speed from 3 to 8 mega bit per second which is something I was not getting on the other phones.

Go ahead and root it, you can always go back. Ultimately all your doing is unlocking phone to have it do what you want. You'll have access to more apps and utilities on the market.
The only way I know to do what you're asking is with PDAnet. They charge a 1 time fee, and it works pretty well.

netnerd said:
did the icon said "4G LTE"?
can you do another speedtest?
if it' 7mb again, i getting this phone too!
i'm in San Francisco bayarea, no LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also get these speeds on just 3g in washington.
The current 3g networks are capable of these speeds. LTE would be much faster, I would hope anyway
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium.
Radio: 26.13.04.19
Rom: Bindroid RHD 2.3.5 v2.1
app for checking ril. RILInfos_1.1.apk

You will have to root
ATT charges extra for both unltd. data and tethering for general retail. (I have a corp. discounted account, and somehow still have unltd data, but I had that since before the change - I threatened to leave with the other 2 lines if they didnt I couldnt keep it - I dont have tethering since that was a feature that came later.)
At first tethering was free if you could do it. That was true even in the time of flip phones. With the right cable, and understanding of how the devices worked with each other, could do anything from upload media to (with the right drivers) set up a dial up connection in XP using the phone as the modem. GPRS was not fast, it was only practical in limited applications. 3G in general changed that. Once the average user was able to do their variety of average things, which really does use a lot of bandwidth, not like heavy torrent user, but still, enough if they use it often, carriers started making the software to support charging for the ability. The problem is that each phone has to do it differently since they dont have easy ways to delineate; carriers arent allowed to look at the data to truly know what it came from, even based on protocol alone, you cant tell anymore. So now they are slowly working out ways to lock down their devices, which come from too many manufacturers. Some of whom just dont get it. Really. (*cough* HTC)
I have been using the Samsung Captivate for a little over a year, which in itself is a small miracle, I mean, a YEAR, actually 14 months!
The reason why is that the hardware is great. This is the unbrickable phone! And I don't mean through handy gadgets, or ripping the phone apart and doing microsurgery, I mean no matter what stupid thing you do playing with roms, including pulling the USB cable out mid-process, the core BIOS is still fine 99% of the time. Whats more, is that when the phone first came out the tethering was totally open, and ANY user could just use KIES to get online. Soon after that a firmware update for the phone included the pieces necessary to charge to tether. Then I started trying the different ROMS, or was it before? I use Serendipity 6.3 because it seems to be the only thing that works reliably, and doesnt look like crap. Which is really a shame! But it is the lightweight ROM with root access, and innate tethering, and honestly, I never wanted anything else but some angry birds. Ok so the google platform, and my exchange account had to all work too. Serendipity it was, and no, could never seem to get 7 working well.
The thing is, I dont like having even to use another app to tether, which is a bit ideological. I basically refuse to pay more to use the phone when its connected to my computer. I dont want to compromise in any way on this, and using an application that is not the phone's OS uses other resources when it otherwise would not (RAM + CPU = battery use = ). And because ehh, Samsung/Att bloatware isnt that cool, custom boot ROMS are. Although no gf ever thought it was that cool waiting for me to get one of them on... Well I would be annoyed if that was a compromise, but who would want to go look at leaves anyway? #Winning!
Seriously though, to me it comes down to its has to be simple, and I dont want to charge my phone 8 times a day for simple! Have you guys seen the size of this screen! Thats not even practical. Id hate to walk around with that in my pants. But since I am due for an upgrade, Im just going to wait until the thanksgiving sales to see if anything else comes out (which I doubt). Looking at the Skyrocket, it's a beast. For one thing this phone has "4G speeds delivered by HSPA+ (with enhanced backhaul)" which means it can go REALLY REALLY fast like 1-2mb/s not mbps, Mb down. Thats like little fios in my pocket! and theres a 1850 mAh battery stock (better if your going to make me carry around a small table top!) which there really is no way around with a 1.5ghz dual core, 1gb or RAM and a WVGA screen.
Personally I really liked the concept of smaller handset with a tablet/netbook to dock in, but apparently I was alone there. And HTC just doesnt make nice devices, sorry, but Samsung is just a much larger company, and it seems the better motorola phones are still coming out for V so for Att, Samsung it is.. At least they're easy to root.

[Q] Is a G2x worth it if forced to use a stock build?

My company is moving our mobile devices to a security software called MobileIron, which among other things is able to detect and block out rooted phones. I searched xda to see if anyone had experience with MobileIron, but not many results.
Anyway, I had narrowed my next phone purchase down to the G2x, but now I'm wondering if I should reconsider, since I'll be forced to use a stock build as I need to have it connected to work.
Any opinions on using the G2x "as is"? Presuming anyone here still remembers when theirs was stock

jdmarano said:
My company is moving our mobile devices to a security software called MobileIron, which among other things is able to detect and block out rooted phones. I searched xda to see if anyone had experience with MobileIron, but not many results.
Anyway, I had narrowed my next phone purchase down to the G2x, but now I'm wondering if I should reconsider, since I'll be forced to use a stock build as I need to have it connected to work.
Any opinions on using the G2x "as is"? Presuming anyone here still remembers when theirs was stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO, whatever you do, do not get a G2x if you plan to use it stock. With custom ROMs however, it can easily compare to the Galaxy S II, and beat (IMO) the Galaxy Nexus, seeing as the GPU is outdated and that the highest stable clock speed I've seen on it is 1.35 (whereas some G2x users have been able to clock up to 1.66/1.7, it is rare though.) and normally clock at 1.56-1.6. Why does your carrier care about rooting? Seems like horse**** to me.

Root detection is listed:
http://www.mobileiron.com/en/multi-...pOjA7czo2OiJyb290ZWQiO2k6MTtzOjQ6InJvb3QiO30=
"Security
Password policy Encryption policySilent enforcement in the background Remote device lock, unlock, and wipe Root detection Lost device location"

You can unroot a custom rom... Most of these corporate packages detect the presence of the su binary.

TerryMathews said:
You can unroot a custom rom... Most of these corporate packages detect the presence of the su binary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's other information which can be read for security purposes which would disable the phone from being used on the network and/or with email, etc.

They would have to furnish me a phone. The one I own, is mine to do as I see fit, but that is just me.

jdmarano said:
My company is moving our mobile devices to a security software called MobileIron, which among other things is able to detect and block out rooted phones. I searched xda to see if anyone had experience with MobileIron, but not many results.
Anyway, I had narrowed my next phone purchase down to the G2x, but now I'm wondering if I should reconsider, since I'll be forced to use a stock build as I need to have it connected to work.
Any opinions on using the G2x "as is"? Presuming anyone here still remembers when theirs was stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had the g2x for about a week, I played around a bit and installed some rom's and kernels to try them out. But at the end of the week I am back to the stock rom with a custom kernel. But then again I have always enjoyed the vanilla look for android.

WindowLicker09 said:
I have had the g2x for about a week, I played around a bit and installed some rom's and kernels to try them out. But at the end of the week I am back to the stock rom with a custom kernel. But then again I have always enjoyed the vanilla look for android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True I am on stock, but with root you can freeze or remove the bloat from T-Mobile making the phone a litter snapper.

GTWalling said:
True I am on stock, but with root you can freeze or remove the bloat from T-Mobile making the phone a litter snapper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point, I was trying to remember why I rooted the phone in the first place. It was ALL of the bloatware, ridiculous.

jdmarano said:
My company is moving our mobile devices to a security software called MobileIron, which among other things is able to detect and block out rooted phones. I searched xda to see if anyone had experience with MobileIron, but not many results.
Anyway, I had narrowed my next phone purchase down to the G2x, but now I'm wondering if I should reconsider, since I'll be forced to use a stock build as I need to have it connected to work.
Any opinions on using the G2x "as is"? Presuming anyone here still remembers when theirs was stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO The g2x isn't a good "stock" phone.... If you can't even root it then forget about it, never mind install a custom rom.... Random shutdowns, sod, poor call quality (for me on the wind version) outdated operating system.... go with something that is awesome "out of the box"
If you can find a work around for the security app then go for it.
Just my 2 cents..
Pin it to Win it.

My company subsidizes the purchase of the device and the plan. However, part of the deal is no-rooting; and as pointed out by Core Memory, if the MobileIron product detects rooting the phone is disabled from email access, which thereby nullifies the subsidy.
I'm going to be on the T-Mobile family value plan (no longer a fan of post paid plans), so I need to buy the device outright and the G2x has everything I want and more for a reasonable price. I've just been a bit concerned about the problems with the stock rom; and would prefer to root it anyway. Of course, it would present for some interesting testing to see how far I could get rooting the phone without being detected
Thanks to everyone for the helpful input!

Its a great phone overall, just has horrible battery life. You should consider a 3500mah battery if it has to be stock, its definetly provided me double to triple the battery life I got on stock.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

I don't know what people are complaining about. I'm still running stock. I am rooted, but I actually haven't done anything with the root. Same for my ex-wife. Neither of us have experienced freezes, random shut downs, boot loops, and no issues with GPS locks (only takes between 2 to 5 seconds on a bad day).
I will tell you this, though...battery sucks on wifi, lol. If I have it turned off, my phone can go for a good day and half on light usage. But as soon as the wifi kicks on, bye-bye battery life, lol.
I'm sure there are better phones out there, i'm just giving you my experience. This phone seems to be a "hit-and-miss" type of phone. You might get a problem free phone, you might not. I'm guessing we don't have issues since we bought ours after all the updates, maybe? Either that or we both just got lucky, lol.

matrix0886 said:
I don't know what people are complaining about. I'm still running stock. I am rooted, but I actually haven't done anything with the root. Same for my ex-wife. Neither of us have experienced freezes, random shut downs, boot loops, and no issues with GPS locks (only takes between 2 to 5 seconds on a bad day).
I will tell you this, though...battery sucks on wifi, lol. If I have it turned off, my phone can go for a good day and half on light usage. But as soon as the wifi kicks on, bye-bye battery life, lol.
I'm sure there are better phones out there, i'm just giving you my experience. This phone seems to be a "hit-and-miss" type of phone. You might get a problem free phone, you might not. I'm guessing we don't have issues since we bought ours after all the updates, maybe? Either that or we both just got lucky, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wifi saves my battery at home... isn't trying constantly to get a better signal... if you disable your 3g and just use wifi you will get better battery in theory unless you don't have a wofo connection and its scanning that will eat battery nom nom
Pin it to Win it.

I've been stock since I purchased my g2x and I love it. Its an awesome phone stock or with a custom rom.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

IRASadPanda said:
NO, whatever you do, do not get a G2x if you plan to use it stock. With custom ROMs however, it can easily compare to the Galaxy S II, and beat (IMO) the Galaxy Nexus, seeing as the GPU is outdated and that the highest stable clock speed I've seen on it is 1.35 (whereas some G2x users have been able to clock up to 1.66/1.7, it is rare though.) and normally clock at 1.56-1.6. Why does your carrier care about rooting? Seems like horse**** to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. G2x with stock rom=potentially (though not necessarily definitely) one of the worst phones you'll ever have to use in your life. 2.3.3 solves most of the problems it had out of the box. Mine on 2.2 simply would get an SOD (screen of death) anytime I tried to turn the screen on. Even on 2.3 stock, some people are still reporting random reboots, SODs, and boots that can't be achieved without re-inserting the battery. No fun at all if you get a bad phone that got past crappy QC.
But G2x with flashed rom=arguably one of the best bargains you can get. Rocking mine with EB rom and Trinity Extreme Edition, overclocked to 1.58ghz and undervolted.
One glaring weakness: Horrid battery life. Get an extended battery. I got a 3500mah battery with a replacement door for $9 on fleabay. Phone is twice as thick, but the battery life has increased dramatically.

No, while I've never had problems with stock G2x many have and it just isn't worth the risk. If you're looking for an old cheap phone then I would consider the MT4G or even the G2 if you're looking for a stable stock ROM. Both phones are fast as they are as well.

[Q] anyone have the verizon version of the edge?

I just wondered if anyone had the Verizon version, what it was like? Did they overdue it with bkoatware and has anyone tried to root it yet?

I do. No root.

kieso said:
I just wondered if anyone had the Verizon version, what it was like? Did they overdue it with bkoatware and has anyone tried to root it yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pretty much the same bloatware as any Verizon released Samsung device. There is no root yet.

No root same Bloat as all vzw and Samsung device except now Facebook is not able to be uninistalled it's a system app now

OK thanks for the info. Is anyone having any issues with it? I was trying to wait for the nexus 6 but I got a glimpse of the edge and it really got my attention so I'm going to verizon tomorrow to get one if its in stock.

If you're wanting something to root I would honestly steer you towards the Nexus. It doesn't look like a root for our version will be coming out anytime soon, if at all. I love it like it is for sure though and it is a tough battle if you just want a solid phone.

kieso said:
OK thanks for the info. Is anyone having any issues with it? I was trying to wait for the nexus 6 but I got a glimpse of the edge and it really got my attention so I'm going to verizon tomorrow to get one if its in stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the phone at launch and haven't had any issues with it so far. I had a nexus 6 that I purchased from T-Mobile and was using it on Verizon for a while. I returned it within the return window. Battery life was horrendous, random app crashes, it took a couple of minutes to pick up signal, no multitasking, and no simultaneous voice and data. I'm sure the simultaneous voice and data will be on the Verizon edition since they can push Advanced Calling 1.0 to it. I'm in no way trying to say that you should get the Edge over the Nexus. Just sharing my experience with both phones.

slimc84 said:
I got the phone at launch and haven't had any issues with it so far. I had a nexus 6 that I purchased from T-Mobile and was using it on Verizon for a while. I returned it within the return window. Battery life was horrendous, random app crashes, it took a couple of minutes to pick up signal, no multitasking, and no simultaneous voice and data. I'm sure the simultaneous voice and data will be on the Verizon edition since they can push Advanced Calling 1.0 to it. I'm in no way trying to say that you should get the Edge over the Nexus. Just sharing my experience with both phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, advanced calling does have simultaneous voice/data with advanced calling built in. sucky thing is that if you don't elect for the advanced calling 1.0, you can't use the simultaneous voice/data, despite having that feature on the note 4. i've been through hell recently because advanced calling doesn't work with verizon's caller id app, but in order to have simultaneous voice/data, you HAVE to have the advanced/HD calling. went round and round with tech support about this for an entire day, only to have to factory reset and i'm still in the process of getting things backed up/restored AGAIN. barely had the phone for 4 days, at one point i couldn't even dial out because so many people had messed with my account and reset network settings... but anyways. lesson learned-- the HD calling is free. take advantage of it, and utilize a third party caller id app. (recommendations welcome, btw)

Don't forget the Dev edition is coming as well, if you're buying off contract.

Thanks for the info. I just got it yesterday and so far I'm loving it. I love the multiwindows. It's much better since my S3. I'm sure root will come along sometime. I'd really like to have the mod for using the earpiece as an extra speaker

I picked mine up yesterday on edge.. Ended up adding another line and doing a SIM card swap in order to keep my unlimited data. Now I have an extra phone lol with one gigabyte of data on it. Basically sharing that with my tablet as well which stays coupled to me on my wifi tether. So far I am really liking it and do not seem to need to root. Being I am on an older unlimited plan the tether of course was wanting me to pay but there is an app for that lol wifi tether working strong. As of now no need for root but would always love the option hopefully someone will come along and take this device under their wing. I am having an issue with the CNN side ticker not updating itself just showing it as loading. Everything else seems to be working rock solid and I'm loving the camera. Definitely a different phone if you're looking for something different. I was tired of the same old same old was going to get a g3 but that is basically like my s3 with better specs of course but I opted to stay with Samsung. Brighter screen and I actually kind of like some of the TouchWiz options. Does not seem to be bogged down to bed with bloatware as this thing has three gigs of ram and a super fast processor seems to sale right on through everything. Now we just need someone to start some topics under the Verizon edge section.
Sent from my SM-N915V using XDA Free mobile app

Picked mine up the day they released it. The sales guy told me I was the first (and only one) to pick it up all day - which was a real shame, IMO.
I love this thing. This is my first venture into the phablet world and am enjoying it.
Just waiting for root....

I'm not trying to be a downer but as it seems nobody is working on note 4 vzw root as I have one of thoes as well I don't think we will get it anytime soon if ever would love it but no exploits have been found to bypass bootloader to achieve root

jolly_roger_hook said:
I'm not trying to be a downer but as it seems nobody is working on note 4 vzw root as I have one of thoes as well I don't think we will get it anytime soon if ever would love it but no exploits have been found to bypass bootloader to achieve root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy with it the way it is now but I know within a year I'll wanna root and try out different Roma if we get to that point. I'm also awfully tempted to buy the gear S

jolly_roger_hook said:
I'm not trying to be a downer but as it seems nobody is working on note 4 vzw root as I have one of thoes as well I don't think we will get it anytime soon if ever would love it but no exploits have been found to bypass bootloader to achieve root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the AT&T Samsung Note 4 forums. There seems to be multiple people working on it. Also, just because developers are not posting in the forums, it does not mean that nobody is working on it.

slimc84 said:
Check the AT&T Samsung Note 4 forums. There seems to be multiple people working on it. Also, just because developers are not posting in the forums, it does not mean that nobody is working on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said it seems not that nobody is