Attack of the Show is going to review the Samsung Captivate on G4 at 7p.m or (4.pm eastern) I predict they will give it a 4 out of 5 simplt because of flash..because thats what they gave to the Verizon version just because of the lack of flash...but who cares about flash? it deserves a five
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Just wanted to start a hard case review. Anyone got a hard case yet? Will seidio make one for this phone? How about screen protectors? I'm assuming the steinheil crystal for the regular galaxy s they have on the website won't fit?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI just got a Captivate on Tuesday and I thought I'd give my initial impressions and review of it. I noticed I couldn't find a lot of information about users going from the iPhone 3GS to the Captivate, and I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation, so what the heck. Here goes:
Why I Switched:
I'm no noobie to the iPhone/iPod touch OS. I was a 1st gen owner of an iPod Touch, and then I bought a 3GS last August. For starters, I was never "disappointed" in my iPhone. Everything worked as advertised: it was relatively quick, very reliable; it basically did whatever I wanted it to do. It was also one of the most polished devices I've worked with. However, being the power user that I am, it got boring. I jailbroke it, and while that was fun, I just wanted something more. Little things like changing my icons, or making my iPhone look different than everyone else's were things Apple didn't want me to do. iTunes was a PITA overall. I want to drag and drop stuff, not sync this and sync that and lose everything else that it overwrites. Quite simply, the phone was just too watered down for my likings. One of my biggest pet peeves about it was the home screen. You have the app icons and your dock. That's all. It was TOO simple.
I've been drooling over these high-end Android phones since mid summer when I realized how much more I could do with an Android phone. Too bad ATT didn't have any of them, that was, until the Captivate. Sure, touchwiz didn't look all that appealing (why on earth would I want to move from an iPhone to an Android, only to be greeted with an iPhone-like interface?), but overall, it still looked quite promising.
First Impressions:
AMOLED. Enough said. It is a gorgeous screen. The colors pop, it's perfect sized, I love it. The build quality was respectable too. It felt solid in my hand. I love the low profile look of it to be honest. Very sleek. After admiring the outsides, I delved into the beauty of Android customization. Finally, I could chose which apps stayed in my Application menu and which went to my homescreen. No more clutter, pure organization to MY tastes. I can put Widgets? This is great! Within 20 minutes of playing with my phone, I called my friend (who kept telling me to dump the iPhone for an Android phone) and said "Why didn't I get this phone earlier?". It was clear, I'd been converted. I knew that this phone was going to satisfy all the hungers that the iPhone had left me with. Needless to say, I've been converted. Goodbye IOS, hello Android
The Switch from IOS to Android:
The switch wasn't perfect though. It took time to get used to the Menu/Options capacitive button. I kept forgetting that I had to press that within each app to see that app's specific settings menus. The keyboard also felt a bit different, but I soon was typing close to the same speed. Also, Android doesn't feel as polished as IOS in some ways. Things are a tad clunkier, less smooth and fancy animations, etc. The browser is very "featureless" compared to Safari also. I miss the tabs style and overall fluidity of Safari. It seems to take 5 clicks to do what I could do in one in Safari. Most noticeable though, what's up with the stock SMS app? IMO, it's garbage. It felt so unpolished and undeveloped. By my second day, I downloaded Handcent SMS and configured that to my likings. That's what I love. I don't like something? Change it. It's Android, you can do that Despite these minor annoyances, I've grown accustomed to the phone in a matter of 2 days.
Last Words:
Am I happy with my decision, despite the road bumps? I certainly am. The phone is an eye-popper. I pulled it out to show my friends and they are like "Oh hey that's pretty coolOMG" as soon as I turn the screen on. I've certainly impressed quite a few people, Droid owners, and even some iPhone owners. There are still some things I prefer about my iPhone, but after using this phone, the pros of it definitely outweigh the cons. There is always room for updates and improvements to fix the minor annoyances.
Within the last two days, I've really fine tuned the phone to my tastes, something the iPhone wouldn't let me do. I've downloaded LauncherPro (which is fantastic), put some new widgets on my screen, downloaded the right apps. It's the little things that count, especially for me.
Change the scroll speed between screens? Check
Change app icons on the dock? Check
Change the amount of docks? Check
Fine tune the look of the phone to your preference? Check
The list goes on and on. It's these little things, along with the big things, of course, that drew me towards the Captivate (Android) and away from the iPhone.
Is the Captivate for you:
Very simple:
Do you want a powerful phone with games and apps that you can customize to nearly any way you want it? Get the Captivate
Are you a power user? Get the Captivate.
Do you want a phone with games and apps, but didn't understand half of the stuff I talked about in the previous sections and don't want to deal with all the technical mumbo jumbo? Get the iPhone.
Last, I thought I'd finish it off with a list of pros and cons if you don't feel like digging through all of the information above. Also, I missed some smaller stuff that I figured I'd just toss on this list.
Pros
The AMOLED screen is amazing
Customization
Very open (compared to the iPhone)
Camera is very good for a cell phone (video and pictures)
Feels solid in hand
Customization
Battery life is close to my 3GS (with a couple of hours of "hard" usage, I'me at 20% by the end of the day)
Customization (getting the hint?)
The notification bar is awesome
Lockscreen (I like the puzzle pieces and music integration)
Cons
Some parts feel unpolished compared to the iPhone (browser, SMS)
Touchwiz (it's good for what it is, but it's a bit sluggish and much too iPhone-like)
Facebook (the app is very underdeveloped coming from the iPhone)
My phone turned off by itself today while it was in my pocket, here are some information. The phone is also not rooted, no launchers have been used, and is currently using TouchWiz. Purchased from AT&T Premier website on August 27th 2010
Delivered to me September 1st 2010
Manufacturing Date - August 2nd 2010
Battery Manufacturing Date - Not checked
Apps installed before shutoff experience:
Dictionary.com
Fandango Movies
The Moron Test Lite
WordUp
Google Voice
Speedtest.net
Barcode Scanner
Ninja Kaka - Fruit Dojo
Drop Block DEMO
Hella Umbrella Beta
PapiJump
Jewels
Unblock Me FREE
Smooth Calendar
GPS Test
1 Day/Night before I experienced the shutoff, the following were installed:
- Used my own wallpaper jpeg instead of one from the Captivate's stock wallpaper folder
- Beautiful Widgets
- AppBrain App Market
- Fast Web Installer
- Angry Birds Lite Beta (APK FILE, USED ANDROID CENTRAL'S SIDELOADER MACHINE)
- Paper Toss
I've had my phone for exactly 1 week, and after reading all the horror stories of people experiencing the random shut offs, I thought I was lucky up until now. I love this phone a lot despite the obvious GPS issues. Does anyone have any idea on what may be causing this? Hardware or Software issue?I would hate to exchange it for another with AT&T since I've become so attached to it.
I picked up a gadget guard (full body) for 13.97 from eBay user jusage. You can also order it from iPhone, iPod, Cell Phone, Cases, Screen Protectors, Shields, Covers by Invisible Gadget Guard.
So I received this, steamed up a room for 10 minutes and then made a little bit of a solution (water and a drop or 2 of dish soap) I then began the process to apply it. Trust me, this isn't easy to apply. The video makes it seem easy but it is actually pretty hard. Now as of now the screen has some soap/water bubbles that are under, but it was pretty easy to squeegee out the big air bubbles. I finished that, but then it slid off again so I had to reapply. After this, I went to the battery cover and I put it on. The back was really easy to apply, I just put it on right onto place and it fit perfectly. The bottom of the back was fairly simple to put on because it runs a little bit small. Now the camera one comes attached to the sides and I tried to put it on. It was WAY to big. The hole for the camera was pretty big, but the sides went way over and just didn't fit at all. Then I tried to put the front cover (over the 3.5 and the bottom) and it just didn't fit at all. The actual product itself is okay ( I honestly hope that the bubbles go away) and it isn't to resistant. It is just about the same feel of the invisible shield.
Overall- I would recommend several other products over this. Personally, I would choose the invisible shield over this. It is much easier to put, and just a better product (the invisible shield is what I mean). I would also suggest the screen protector's from AT&T because I have put them on my past devices. So would I buy this case again? Probably not...
Feel- 7/10
Applying- 3/10 (pretty hard to put on well)
Look- will keep you updated
Look in the sun- will keep you updated
I thought it might be useful to create a thread to suggest apps in. The nature of the forums will determine if this is a good idea or not by whether it gets stickied or buried. I'm new to Android and we're all new to the Captivate (sans Galaxy S owners). I suggest that we keep to 4 simple posting guidelines to make this thread as useful as possible. You can add material, but give us these as a minimum guideline. If you can, update your post if your experience changes after you post. 1. 1 app per post. The idea is to give a single post that gives at least a basic review of a given app. Not a 10 thread "discussion". just a single post. Please dont repeat app reviews. We can start a thread for individual apps. 2. Please only review apps you have personally installed and used a bit. Not "some guy you know", not "this friend of mine", not even "I knew this alien once who...". Personal experience, with the app, on this phone only. 3. Please avoid commenting on other posts. By definition, this isnt a "right or wrong" thread and if the posting rules are followed, at least 1 person had those actual, literal results. 4. If you can give a very brief description of what type of user you are (heavy, lite, etc) and what kind of environment you're in most of the time (Inside office, driving, etc), this will help others adjust your experiences based on their environment and usage.
View 4 Replies View Relatedwell a couple of questions actually. So first is it possible to only view pictures taken by the camera when I press the review button in the camera app? for example, not only do the pictures I take come up but also pictures of wallpapers and other saved images located in different folders show up. I also wanted to know if it was possible to have the take picture button be moved to the hold button.
View 1 Replies View RelatedI rooted my captivate thinking that i could install apps that are blocked on my phone, like Sirius XM, WiFI tethering.....even after rooting the programs are still being blocked and i cant install them. am i missing something? im new to android and had an iphone that i jail broke. im confused on what rooting actually.
View 8 Replies View RelatedSo I painfully watched my Cappy's battery door crushed under my friend's car as one of their "harmless" joke. Now there's not a single site on the internet selling these doors, and I'm desperate. I found dummy/display Captivates though, so I was just wondering if anyone knows if the dummy battery door can replace the REAL door by any chance?
View 8 Replies View RelatedHow Do I Sync Captivate "Memo" to MS Outlook 2007 "Notes"? Is there an app? Can I just do it through Google (have already sync'd mail and calendar; contacts are sync'd via export/import)?
View 4 Replies View RelatedI got AT&T Samsung Captivate i897 (2.1 Eclair). I unlocked and rooted my phone. I was using simple free phone earlier which doesn't require data plan but after two weeks I bought samsung captivate, AT&T added $25 data plan. I got my phone from AT&T store where my friend works so he took my data plan out of the plan for now but he said they will find out and add into your plan again. Also, He said that they recognize by your IMEI number. My question is: Is there anyway I can change my IMEI number? I was thinking to use my simple free Nokia phone's IMEI number and use it for Samsung Captivate so AT&T thinks that I am using Nokia phone.
View 4 Replies View RelatedAfter running three updates this morning. I started getting a weird light effect when I unlock my phone. It happens at the top of the screen just to the right below the battery. It's a quick yellow glow then it disappears until my phone is locked then unlocked again. One of the updates had to do with my weather widget [Weather & toggle]. Anyone seen or heard of this?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI have an unlocked captivate. I have a German T-D1 pay-as-you-go sim that I've used many times in unlocked GPS phones. Now I have an AT&T captivate and wonder whether GPS or other apps will work. Does GPS require a data plan to work? If so I'll have to figure out whetted I can add this to my T-D1 plan. This will also answer my question about whether using the Captivate for navigation in the US needs a data plan to work.
View 3 Replies View RelatedI rooted my Captivate tonight and I know how the superuser icon with android skull and crossbones. However neither Super Manager or ASTRO will allow me to uninstall the crap ware on my phone. Is there something I'm missing? I followed all the steps at XDA. So far I've tried to remove YPMobile, ATT Navigator, and ATT Maps. Any suggestions? I tried searching this on google and this forum but didn't come up with anything.
View 8 Replies View RelatedAre there any external lights on the Captivate that let you know you have email or a message or battery charge is complete, etc?
View 8 Replies View RelatedHow to make camera up & down instead of sideways?
View 2 Replies View RelatedNoticed since I work in a rather quiet environment. During office hours I need to keep it on vibrate mode. When the phone vibrates during a call, it causes a severe rattling noise when the phone is in my hands or if the bottom is not resting against a hard object. Removing the battery compartment cover and repeat, and the rattle is non existent. With the battery cover on, the rattle can be diminished by pressing firmly on the top section of the cover.
View 1 Replies View RelatedDoes anyone know if the Captivate will easily sync with my Outlook Calendar without having to go through Google? Just to confirm, this is a personal calendar not corporate.
View 13 Replies View RelatedLooking for ideas. Since this is fairly new to me, I like to have several styles to play around with and didn't want to purchase Beautiful widgets or something similar just yet.
View 22 Replies View RelatedThe Swype Keyboard on my wife's Captivate is not working correctly. The SYM button and the one to the left of it are blanked out - meaning they are just black boxes and clicking/pressing them does nothing. She has had to switch to the default keyboard and she hates it.Any idea what is going on and how to fix this?
View 12 Replies View RelatedI have a Captivate that I just brought today.....and everything works just fine except the Contacts App. When I launch the Contacts App the screen is blank and nothing to click on to add a contact.
Is something wrong with just the app or phone? Has anyone experienced this?
I am having an issue with my M3U playlists.
I use the default Samsung media player, Isyncr and Itunes. Although I have also used the Doubletwist Player (not the desktop software) and had the same issue, I just prefer the Samsung default player mainly because of the lock screen app.
Here is the issue.
First, I sync my playlists with Itunes using Isyncr, all of the songs come over great, art and tags, everything is perfect. It also creates M3U playlists on my phone. I double checked that everything is there.
Then when I unmount, media scanner scans my SD card (which takes way longer than it should) and it deletes all of my playlists. Now a little research on XDA forums tells me that this is because anytime the media scanner scans a playlist and can't find all of the songs from that playlist, it assumes it is an old playlist and deletes it. The problem is that when I look through the M3U files, every song referenced in the list is on the card...they are all there, yet it keeps deleting them.
Does anyone know of a solution to make it stop deleting my playlists?
Umm first time I tried hooking my Captivate up to my computer, and It says "device driver software unsuccessfully installed..
View 3 Replies View RelatedI was looking at my upgrade options and total pricing with regard to the Captivate. When I added the phone as an upgrade, not only did it not make me choose a data plan, it didn't even give me a choice to pick a data plan (at the moment I have just minutes and texts). Is this an error on the ATT system or you can get the phone and the data plan is only set up once you use the phone?
Because what I am thinking is upgrading 2 lines on my family plan - my line with an iPhone which requires data when you purchase the phone, and the Samsung on the line that will not get Data. I will only use one phone (the Samsung on my line) and sell the iPhone brand new in box. Will that work or will ATT realize when I only have one phone in use on my plan even though I 'upgraded/renewed' two lines?
Had my phone reboot today at 3:15 pm cst, and it being the first i was hoping that is was a gps update but it does not work any better. anyone else's captivate reboot today?
View 3 Replies View RelatedIs it possible to watch videos on xfinity or espn3.com on the captivate? Im able to access the comcast and espn3 websites but when i click on the episode or video it doesnt load. do i need another media player?
View 2 Replies View RelatedHas anyone been able to install the Gameloft games NOT on the marketplace on a Samsung Captivate?I know how to get around the sideload issue, but when you buy games on their site the purchase is device specific and AT&T is not in the list.
View 7 Replies View RelatedI know that some people were able to do this with the Nexus One. So has anyone (who has gotten it early) done the same?
View 13 Replies View RelatedI unlocked my Captivate a few days after the unlock came out and have been using it flawlessly for the last month or so. Well, my extra batteries came in last night so I kept taking the batteries in and out, powering the phone on and off. Then I used the new battery 'til it died and when I turned it back on, the SIM lock was on again. So I had to go through the process this morning again to unlock it. Tip: don't power on and off your unlocked Captivates too much/frequently. It'll lock up again!
View 4 Replies View RelatedIf any of you own an uncloaked captivate, and also have a T-mobile phone, and you don't mind testing let me know. I want to confirm my fix, that popping in an active T-mobile sim card with data plan, will allow an unlocked Captivate to get a 3G signal. No software or root required, it is actually very easy. If you are willing to volunteer, let me know.
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