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New member, new Captivate, ramblings...

DT

Android Expert
Jul 23, 2010
783
145
Vilano Beach, FL
Howdy folks!

Just picked up a Galaxy S (aka, AT&T Captivate) this morning, figured I'd share a few misc ramblings.

So far it's outstanding! The display is amazing, the color, contrast, and text is stellar. I've coming from a Tilt/8925 (WM6.5), but we also have an iPhone 3G in the house.

I had semi-considered upgrading to an iPhone 4, but I wanted something different, something more open vs. more of the same. I'm not much of a fan of the Apple ecosystem and I despise iTunes - I used Anapod and Media Monkey to sync up our old school iPod 80GB Classic just to avoid it. The file/media management for the Wifey's iPhone is a major bummer.

So far (with the exception of a couple of bugs I'll work out) it has exceeded my expectations. It's extremely fast, the amazing display, Android is stellar and lets me manage my files/media the way I prefer. The SuperAMOLED I just can't get over - the color/contrast (I did a little comparo vs. some DLSR source files and the preproduction is excellent). I'm also amazed at the off angle viewing - I mean you can almost go perpendicular!

I shot some video, looks great, shot a few pics of a little BooBoo and it correctly captured her overwhelming cuteness. :D

I installed the USB drivers and Kies app, so I was easily able to sync up my Outlook contracts and calendar. I also dropped on the update.zip and had the phone 'rooted' in about 45 seconds :) Thanks to the original poster for that, it should simplify a couple of things for me.

The GPS worked really well first time, I'd say I had sat lock in ~30-35 seconds and was zoomed into my street pretty quickly.


On a side note, I've got a couple of major applications that I'm looking at adding a mobile component to, and I'm thinking Android might be perfect. I did a pretty decent amount of Java years ago (client and J2EE server framework), and I've been plinking around with the SDK for a couple of weeks.

My only two issues, and one resolved itself:

1) The port field for the inbound email was limited to 3 numbers and we're on a 4-digit port. I wound up letting it auto-config, and it seems to be working fine. It's possible my mail provider is using the standard port again so it was able to configure itself just fine.

2) I was originally able to see the WiFi network, set the phone to WPA2, and get an IP, though I wasn't able to access anything outside the local network. Now when I turn on the WiFi, I get an 'unable to scan networks' message and no WiFi access at all. I did a complete hard reset and it seemed to come back, but after a couple of attempts to connect, I'm once again getting that message.

That's all for now, I'll report back in as I get more familiar and get more thinks tweaked!
 
[DT];1218149 said:
My only two issues, and one resolved itself:

1) The port field for the inbound email was limited to 3 numbers and we're on a 4-digit port. I wound up letting it auto-config, and it seems to be working fine. It's possible my mail provider is using the standard port again so it was able to configure itself just fine.

2) I was originally able to see the WiFi network, set the phone to WPA2, and get an IP, though I wasn't able to access anything outside the local network. Now when I turn on the WiFi, I get an 'unable to scan networks' message and no WiFi access at all. I did a complete hard reset and it seemed to come back, but after a couple of attempts to connect, I'm once again getting that message.

That's all for now, I'll report back in as I get more familiar and get more thinks tweaked!

Yes, I'm quoting myself :D

I did a full reset (especially at this point where I had very little setup). I've done this a couple of times - the WiFi gets flipped out and goes into the 'unable to scan networks' mode and then it doesn't seem to recover. I don't know if it's something I keep doing when I fiddling around with the WiFi settings.

Anyway, after the fresh start, I immediately went into the WiFi settings, configured everything manually with a static IP and it's been working fantastic!

Our PS3 needs a static IP as well (vs. our other devices) so it's something that's not isolated to just the Captivate.

I let the email configure itself this time around (I always tend toward manual) and it setup in seconds (especially via WiFi).

Woot!

Downloaded a ton of apps this morning - usual suspects like IMDB, Wiki, Netflix, DTV, etc., and also a few other "OS" type apps (again) like Ti Backup, BusyBox. Last night I also (not sure if that stuck or not) used ADB and MV'ed the AT&T poopware out of the way.

FYI, a full on reset (using the option under privacy) did not remove my root access!

I did a restore once I had Ti back up and running and I appear to have my contacts back, so that's a pretty handy little app!
 
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cool stuff man,


glad to hear you chose to try out Android. I love it when people keep an open mind towards technology, especially cell phones. I work for AT&T and I get nothing but customers who want the Iphone 4 just because its an Iphone. They literally call me and ask "are the problems on the I4 real? they are? ok...can I order one?"

Im just glad AT&T finally has a nice flagship android phone that is "future" proof so I can start selling my customers a better phone
 
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cool stuff man,

glad to hear you chose to try out Android. I love it when people keep an open mind towards technology, especially cell phones.

I'm really technology agnostic. I just generally pick the best tool that accommodates my (and my wifes) and/or my client's needs.

I'm a big car fanatic too, and I tend to select - using the same kind of logic - specific models vs. getting hung on a single manufacturer.

The main reason we wound up with an iPhone is we wanted something with a good display with a nice, simple gallery type application, and I kind of wanted to fool around with one. I wasn't really for/against an Apple product, but as a specific cell model, it is (was) perfect for the wife.

Being in technology I of course had some issues with the closed management model, I did JB one time but that actually introduced a few funky issues (incorrect battery reading, lockups, etc.)

Pretty much all my development is based around MS solutions, .NET in a web-based Enterprise type environment, though we sit a couple of products on Oracle as well. Still, I figured WM was kind of a dead end at this point and Mobile 7 is a yet-to-be-seen, coupled with the fact I really like quite a bit of the Google products/platform (I use Chrome almost exclusively). Again, kind of "best of" choice in my mind!

Looking forward to getting more out of this phone and getting into a little development too!


How did you get Kies to work so easily? I've got my phone rooted and Kies (+doubletwist) don't want to see the phone. Doubletwist will access the sd card I have in it, but that is it.

Hmm, not sure. I installed the USB drivers first, then Kies - I've had my machine setup to mount a couple of different phones/devices as 'mass storage' devices so I'm not sure if I had any existing drivers that may have helped.
 
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MarcMaiden said:
Im just glad AT&T finally has a nice flagship android phone that is "future" proof so I can start selling my customers a better phone

@MarcMaiden

I was checking out the Captivate the other day at the AT&T store after returning my iP4. I was initially psyched about it but then got scared off after a little research -- seeing the problems some users are having (esp. with GPS & WiFi). Even users who can get GPS lock are having accuracy problems and long lock times (I'm a heavy GPS user so this concerns me). I'm probably gun-shy due to my iP4 experience and am hesitant to buy anything right now that has potential hardware issues (I'm hoping these are all software issues of course). In your opinion as an AT&T employee, and with Samsung's track record, are you fairly confident these issues will be addressed in a timely manner?

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I'm relatively platform-agnostic myself, having had blackberries, iphones, etc. in the past (no androids yet). I'm a programmer and into learning new tech, so that's not an issue.

Thanks for any advice you have. Also thanks to the OP for posting your experiences -- good stuff.
 
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good question...its hard for me to answer that because Samsung has never really made any high end smart phones aside from a few Windows Mobile phones...Something that may give you a little comfort is that Samsung makes the processors and the screen for the Iphone series, so the quality is there.

as for software updates, I am very confident that samsung will release its first software update soon, especially because they are moving forward with their new high end android phone series "Galaxy S"

I have been using the captivate for a few days now, and I have not ran into any of the problems that I see posted on the forums.

I was laying in bed in my house and phone was able to get a super accurate (the right house number and everything) lock on me with in seconds so I had no problem there.

as for battery life, the Live wallpapers that come default on the phone drain your battery super quick so taking those off and putting a standard wallpaper makes your battery last super long. My phone lasted 2 days of full use.

Another battery/problem save is an application called advanced task killer. It kills all tasks in the background when you are done using everything. It saves ram, battery, and future problems.

I have been using android since the Moto Droid on verizon came out so I am not new to using these devices right

As a future developer, I think you will find android to be a great way to start. My friends and I have been working on Android apps at the engineering school I go to, and the Android developer community is full of nothing but good people who are willing to help.

My advice: Try the phone out! It is the best phone (aside from the I4) you can get on AT&T right now and for a while. I have no worries about samsung and timely software updates. Since all the phones they are making are running the same UI, Im sure updates will roll out fairly quickly.

you can PM with any questions about your AT&T service or phones if you wish


@MarcMaiden

I was checking out the Captivate the other day at the AT&T store after returning my iP4. I was initially psyched about it but then got scared off after a little research -- seeing the problems some users are having (esp. with GPS & WiFi). Even users who can get GPS lock are having accuracy problems and long lock times (I'm a heavy GPS user so this concerns me). I'm probably gun-shy due to my iP4 experience and am hesitant to buy anything right now that has potential hardware issues (I'm hoping these are all software issues of course). In your opinion as an AT&T employee, and with Samsung's track record, are you fairly confident these issues will be addressed in a timely manner?

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I'm relatively platform-agnostic myself, having had blackberries, iphones, etc. in the past (no androids yet). I'm a programmer and into learning new tech, so that's not an issue.

Thanks for any advice you have. Also thanks to the OP for posting your experiences -- good stuff.
 
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