Continuum available on Verizon website

[TRSN]

anyone heard if it will hit the stores today as well? Rep at Verizon store told me it would be in stores on the 18th. Then again, this was the same sales person that when I asked why it was preloaded with Bing, she told me "because it is a Samsung". Huh?

 

[djfrost]

i call my local VZ store and the rep told me that they would have it next week. to call back next wednesday...

 

[BumbleBbee]

I called today and the store said they had it. Went to a different store and they either didn't have it or wouldn't let me see it, so I then went to the store that said they had it...they pulled out a plastic non-working display :-/ UGH!

On top of that, I knew more about the phone than all of the employees at BOTH stores. Quite frustrating.

HOWEVER, just holding the plastic toy....it felt nice. I love my Fascinate, but the Continuum feels much better in the hands. The screen is so much notably smaller though. I really was hoping to see the second screen/ticker in action though. Guess I'll have to wait. They tell me I can see it on the 18th. *sigh*

 

[BumbleBbee]

BTW...Does anyone know when the Continuum MIGHT get 2.2? I have the Fascinate and have been following everything on that, but just thought I'd ask on this one....

 

[TRSN]

I got to play with the Continuum for 10 minutes this afternoon.

I called a local VZ store this morning, and they told me that they had one on the floor, but none in stock. So, I headed down to check it out. When I got there, the Continuum that was there earlier was no where to be found. However, after a bit of being pushy, I was escorted to the back room where I had some time with the phone.

My initial reaction, after a short 10 minutes with it:

* Screen is very narrow, borderline too narrow
* Phone is a bit longer than my current Sprint Epic
* Screen was every bit as beautiful as my Epic
* was able to download Google Maps from market, but could not get a GPS lock ( I assume because of my location within the building)
* felt a bit to light, probably because I am used to the solid feeling of my Epic (almost felt too much like a plastic toy)
* Ticker was very cool. I think that will be a great feature
* Couldn't get over Bing being stock and no google search (could really be a show stopper)


I am fed up with Sprint service, but absolutely love my Epic. I cannot find another phone that comes close to all the features and quality.

I would give the Continuum a B rating, mostly based on the noticeably narrowness, the cheap feeling, and having Bing.

Wish I came away loving it, so I can dump Sprint tomorrow, but it just didn't happen.

 

[BumbleBbee]

I got to play with the Continuum for 10 minutes this afternoon.

I called a local VZ store this morning, and they told me that they had one on the floor, but none in stock. So, I headed down to check it out. When I got there, the Continuum that was there earlier was no where to be found. However, after a bit of being pushy, I was escorted to the back room where I had some time with the phone.

My initial reaction, after a short 10 minutes with it:

* Screen is very narrow, borderline too narrow
* Phone is a bit longer than my current Sprint Epic
* Screen was every bit as beautiful as my Epic
* was able to download Google Maps from market, but could not get a GPS lock ( I assume because of my location within the building)
* felt a bit to light, probably because I am used to the solid feeling of my Epic (almost felt too much like a plastic toy)
* Ticker was very cool. I think that will be a great feature
* Couldn't get over Bing being stock and no google search (could really be a show stopper)


I am fed up with Sprint service, but absolutely love my Epic. I cannot find another phone that comes close to all the features and quality.

I would give the Continuum a B rating, mostly based on the noticeably narrowness, the cheap feeling, and having Bing.

Wish I came away loving it, so I can dump Sprint tomorrow, but it just didn't happen.

I have the Fascinate (The other Galaxy S phone at Verizon) and I love it! From what I've read, the Epic is very much like the Fascinate, except the Fascinate doesn't have the slide out keyboard. As frustrated as I get with Verizon sometimes, I have to admit, I think it's the best carrier available.

After reading so much about the Continuum in various articles and forums (and on the Verizon site), one think i would point out, in case you were not aware, is that the Continuum only comes with an 8GB micro SD card; the Fascinate comes with a 16GB micro SD card. I can't wait to get my hands on a working demo Continuum!!! I'm not sure I want to go down on screen size, however, I really like that the Continuum has a dedicated camera button.

If you like your Epic but think the Continuum might be too small, check out the Fascinate. Here's an older article that compares the phones. http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-galaxy-s-phones-compared-spec-showdown/

 

[TheBoz]

I was at my local Verizon store last night using their in store demo. I must say when I first saw the phone, I really like the display at the bottom it is what caught my eye. I am one who turns their phone on to check the time or weather, sports updates, etc so having this feature at the bottom really appeals to me. The screen looked nice and it wasn't heavy like the first droid, my current phone. I was tempted to put in an order for one...

However... as I looked deeper into the phone's details, I realized it had Bing as its stock web browser which I just do not like and the fact that they did not ship it stock with Android 2.2 was a real turn off. I mean my original droid has Android 2.2 and they couldn't release this will the latest software? I didn't get that. I see a lot of potential with this phone but was very disappointed with some of the decisions made for its release.

Costing $199 with a $100 rebate seems a little high compared to the other new phone available for the holidays. I was also looking at the Droid Pro, which comes stock with 2.2 and cost less ($179 w/$100 rebate) and has all the stock Google apps I have come to love on my first droid phone.

All in all I will probably not get this phone because I shouldn't have to wait for 2.2 on a brand new phone and Bing isn't my desired search engine.

 

[BumbleBbee]

I was at my local Verizon store last night using their in store demo. I must say when I first saw the phone, I really like the display at the bottom it is what caught my eye. I am one who turns their phone on to check the time or weather, sports updates, etc so having this feature at the bottom really appeals to me. The screen looked nice and it wasn't heavy like the first droid, my current phone. I was tempted to put in an order for one...

However... as I looked deeper into the phone's details, I realized it had Bing as its stock web browser which I just do not like and the fact that they did not ship it stock with Android 2.2 was a real turn off. I mean my original droid has Android 2.2 and they couldn't release this will the latest software? I didn't get that. I see a lot of potential with this phone but was very disappointed with some of the decisions made for its release.

Costing $199 with a $100 rebate seems a little high compared to the other new phone available for the holidays. I was also looking at the Droid Pro, which comes stock with 2.2 and cost less ($179 w/$100 rebate) and has all the stock Google apps I have come to love on my first droid phone.

All in all I will probably not get this phone because I shouldn't have to wait for 2.2 on a brand new phone and Bing isn't my desired search engine.

I agree...waiting for 2.2 is a downer, but it didn't stop me from getting the Fascinate. I had the Droid (1) and used 2.2 briefly before getting the Fascinate. It was nice, but really, the only things I miss about 2.2 is the Chrome to Phone app and Flash (I like to watch South Park...LOL)

Getting the Fascinate was awesome though. This phone is 10x better than the first Droid, in my opinion. It's totally worth the $199. I think the Continuum will be well worth it as well. But a word of advice, since the Continuum only comes with an 8GB card, make sure you keep the card from your Droid if you get it.

As far as Bing goes...I hate Bing...A LOT!!! What I did though was just remove the widget and I just go straight to the browser to do a search. I have my browser home page set at Google, so I hardly ever interact with the Bing on my Fascinate. There are ways around it, and they're not that complicated.

Also, I played with the Droid Pro while waiting in the store yesterday. Nice phone, and unlike the other MOT Droids, it has a nice keyboard. Totally reminds me of the Blackberry (although I'm not a Blackberry fan) but with the Droid UI. If I wasn't so much into the media usage of my phones (I watch a lot of movies and TV.com while exercising and such), the Droid Pro would be nice. Just not a good fit for me....it all depends on what you want/need your phone for.

All in all though....Seriously, The Galaxy S phones are great phones. I definitely suggest you take a closer look at them.

 

[TheBoz]

I agree...waiting for 2.2 is a downer, but it didn't stop me from getting the Fascinate. I had the Droid (1) and used 2.2 briefly before getting the Fascinate. It was nice, but really, the only things I miss about 2.2 is the Chrome to Phone app and Flash (I like to watch South Park...LOL)

Getting the Fascinate was awesome though. This phone is 10x better than the first Droid, in my opinion. It's totally worth the $199. I think the Continuum will be well worth it as well. But a word of advice, since the Continuum only comes with an 8GB card, make sure you keep the card from your Droid if you get it.

As far as Bing goes...I hate Bing...A LOT!!! What I did though was just remove the widget and I just go straight to the browser to do a search. I have my browser home page set at Google, so I hardly ever interact with the Bing on my Fascinate. There are ways around it, and they're not that complicated.

Also, I played with the Droid Pro while waiting in the store yesterday. Nice phone, and unlike the other MOT Droids, it has a nice keyboard. Totally reminds me of the Blackberry (although I'm not a Blackberry fan) but with the Droid UI. If I wasn't so much into the media usage of my phones (I watch a lot of movies and TV.com while exercising and such), the Droid Pro would be nice. Just not a good fit for me....it all depends on what you want/need your phone for.

All in all though....Seriously, The Galaxy S phones are great phones. I definitely suggest you take a closer look at them.

The problem is when you get an upgrade once every 20 months and are dropping $300 on a phone, you want to make sure you are getting your money's worth. Right now Samsung has done a poor job of making this phone worth that kind of money.

Outdated operating system?
Bing search engine and maps on an Android based phone?
Locked ticker API?
Over priced compared to other phones?

As they say on ESPN... Come on man =) Sure there are works around for these kind of things but the point is I shouldn't have to when I am spending that kind of cash. I am sure the Galaxy S is great phones but this one should have been thought out better and appears to be released too early.

Just one mans opinion...

 

[BumbleBbee]

The problem is when you get an upgrade once every 20 months and are dropping $300 on a phone, you want to make sure you are getting your money's worth. Right now Samsung has done a poor job of making this phone worth that kind of money.

Outdated operating system?
Bing search engine and maps on an Android based phone?
Locked ticker API?
Over priced compared to other phones?

As they say on ESPN... Come on man =) Sure there are works around for these kind of things but the point is I shouldn't have to when I am spending that kind of cash. I am sure the Galaxy S is great phones but this one should have been thought out better and appears to be released too early.

Just one mans opinion...

And everyone's entitled to their opinion ;-) Personally, I think the Fascinate is tons better than any of the Droids. Yeah, give and take a few features...and the GPS issue is the worst of it. But really, it's not that bad. And as for the Bing stuff...like I said, I hate Bing, but it hasn't been a thorn in my side since I bought the phone. I don't even see it or use it. I don't think it should be on an Android phone, but I also don't think it's the issue everyone's made it out to be. Oh, and one more thing....phone is only $200 ;-) I think 20 months is a long time to wait, however, if the manager I spoke to is correct (and you never know...it's 50/50 in my opinion! LOL) The main phone on the line can upgrade after one year, just won't get whatever extra discount you would've gotten if you waited the 2 years (new every 2 deal).