who's keeping thier phone?

[rbcamping]

I have been on the phone with Tm, and Samsung several times regarding the same issues everyone else is having. I have a deadline date to return this phone undamaged for a full refund. which happens to be this Monday.

I need a definite answer in order to keep it and without that answer I wont risk being stuck with a phone that does not work.

I put this phone next to my old G1 (inside the house) with wifi turned off and fired put the satellite test and the G1 saw 10 satellites and locked onto 8 in less then thirty seconds. The Vibrant saw 12 satellites and locked on to 1 for a few seconds and then lost it and it took 1 to 2 minuets.(wifi on or off no difference)

I believe that this issue is a hardware issue and Samsung is trying to figure out a way around it with software, which will most likely fail. Can we say G4.

I hope I am wrong, and if I am I will just buy the phone again if its fixed.

In the mean time I will have to use the Motorola. cliq that I just got for free. and try and get TM to cancel my new contract.. This is going to be interesting.

 

[rahuldang]

i love tmobile and this phne but way too many bugs for me. even after numerous factory resets on different replacements, same thing. i really really hate to say this, but im going to at&t for the iphone. i know i know, at&t caps data at 2GB and their plans are more expensive, but i dont use too much data anyways (always on wifi) and i get a student discount on my monthly bill. but for the time being, i still have the vibrant

 

[rocketragz]

i love my phone. no bugs. gps works. battery has improved. i'm not returning it.

 

[VegasTouch]

Im keeping mine. I dont have any issues. Only issue i was having was with bluetooth but after a factory reset, that fixed it. I was having a problem with it connecting consistantly.
Works good now.

 

[Wendimn]

I am going to tmobile tomorrow. My camera is awful but everyone says their's is great. If tmobile can't fix it..I am returning it

 

[yummytyson]

i love my phone. no bugs. gps works. battery has improved. i'm not returning it.

same here

 

[yummytyson]

btw, how do I know how many satellites my phone has connected to?

 

[mttfrog13]

and i get a student discount on my monthly bill. but for the time being, i still have the vibrant

Thanks I didn't know about that discount. I am ordering my samsung captivate on saturday. I was going to buy the phone through amazon for $90 so the total for two years paying $90 for the phone and two years of bills at $80/month would be $2010 before taxes. Paying $200 for the phone now and $70 with my 16% discount would be $1880 before taxes. Thanks, you just saved me $130.

They also have the $25 off your order, but there is no free activation like on amazon which is $35 when u order from att.

Question tho, would I be able to order the phone from amazon for $90, and then still get the 16% discount? This would save me $240 total

 

[rahuldang]

yeah just get the phone and then call at&T or go to the store and u should be able to apply it there. or just do it online.

 

[dissident75]

Definitely keeping mine. No issues for me at all.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Thanks I didn't know about that discount. I am ordering my samsung captivate on saturday. I was going to buy the phone through amazon for $90 so the total for two years paying $90 for the phone and two years of bills at $80/month would be $2010 before taxes. Paying $200 for the phone now and $70 with my 16% discount would be $1880 before taxes. Thanks, you just saved me $130.

They also have the $25 off your order, but there is no free activation like on amazon which is $35 when u order from att.

Question tho, would I be able to order the phone from amazon for $90, and then still get the 16% discount? This would save me $240 total

At&t gives students a 15 percent discount? Really? Where do you apply? All universities or just your school?

 

[mttfrog13]

At&t gives students a 15 percent discount? Really? Where do you apply? All universities or just your school?

Your school has to be in the program. All you need is the .edu email address. The site just went down for maintenance.

https://www.wireless.att.com/business/authenticate/

 

[spiz]

The GPS problem is not a hardware problem. There is a fix over at XDA, which points to it being a software problem... or more-so a coding problem that will more than likely be fixed.

But if you don't trust it, return it and wait to see if it gets fixed. Your G1 will hold over for a few more weeks.

 

[perpetual]

I'm keeping mine. No problems for me at all. As some if you mentioned the battery seems to be getting a lot better. We have three vibrants without any issues.

 

[movieaddict]

i love mine more then my gf...LOL

 

[cigar3tte]

btw, how do I know how many satellites my phone has connected to?

I'd like to know this as well. Is it only that the Vibrant can tell how many satellites are locked? I have a Nexus One but I'm curious.

 

[rbcamping]

I'd like to know this as well. Is it only that the Vibrant can tell how many satellites are locked? I have a Nexus One but I'm curious.

just go to the market and install the free GPS app. I believe there are two that are pretty good. I have the one called GPS test.

 

[fujitsujeff]

I'm on the fence. I love the camera, swype, screen, but the problems seems to be overwhelming the good, and factory resets do not work. The phone is in need of a definite firmware update. Here are the facts:

1) GPS is definitely an issue with the phone. It takes forever to lock your position and is not accurate even during navigation. XDA fix works, but everyone needs to realize the GPS should not have to use your wireless networks to aid in location. If you had a G1 before upgrading, you will find your GPS will locate you EVEN WITHOUT CLICKING USE WIRELESS NETWORKS. this is important because if you are driving in a place where you have no T-mobile service momentarily, your GPS should still be able to track you.

2) LAG LAG LAG ... I left the G1 because of Lag and i thought a phone with a faster processor would make a world of difference, however the phone lags. Android Market at times takes forever to load (possibly a google problem rather than phone), at times, phone just freezes, sometimes screen gets hung up on a black screen

3) other minor problems which are not really a big deal is battery indicator displaying incorrectly, phone bars displaying incorrectly, and the Social Network Software Syncing Contacts (unclear if this is a samsung server problem or issue with social network)

 

[jkcheng122]

just go to the market and install the free GPS app. I believe there are two that are pretty good. I have the one called GPS test.

Is the satellite supposed to be able to get a fix while I'm indoors? I'm currently using settings from the XDA posted fix.

 

[fujitsujeff]

Is the satellite supposed to be able to get a fix while I'm indoors? I'm currently using settings from the XDA posted fix.

yes

 

[kbohip]

I'm definitely keeping this phone, bugs and all. Of course for me it's different. I came from using a Motorola Cliq XT running Android 1.5 to this. In car speak I went from a '95 Cavalier to a '10 Subaru WRX Sti.

 

[Robinelli]

I am on the fence. It truly depends on if the gps holds up. I am over my 14 days so that could play a part. I don't really want anything else, so that also plays a part. I may keep it until project emerald and then ebay it. We'll see.

 

[rbcamping]

I found this on another forum and if it is true, its what I feared as the worst scenario.

quoted from XDA
I could be wrong, but I suspect that there is a hardware problem. The GPS chip reportedly is new, a combo chip from Broadcom that handles Bluetooth, FM and GPS, as well as media processing. That Broadcom design, which is supposed to offload some of the GPS processing from the phone's CPU to the combo chip, could have internal problems. Or Samsung could have designed the surrounding circuit wrong. Or the manufacturing QC could be flaky. The symptoms reported from testing different Galaxy firmware versions indicate that Samsung engineers may have been trying to work around some inherent problem in the hardware by buffering, interpolatation, etc., of the GPS outputs. And the reported symptoms come and go mysteriously over time. If the underlying output from the new chip is unreliable, no software miracle can truly fix it. But Samsung might succeed in faking out most of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, with a software workaround.

I am not so sure that Samsung will really be forced to make this good in the marketplace with a recall. So far, as a PR matter, the manufacturer is amazingly unscathed by the GPS fiasco. Search Google news and you will find only a couple of minor online trade-press articles that even mention the Galaxy GPS defect. And all the lazy "reviewers" never really get past the first impressions and gee-whiz over the screen. They don't get out and do real field tests of GPS apps. (I agree that, absent the GPS problem, the phone is stunning. But a defective GPS on an Android is a deal breaker. GPS is core functionality that has to just work.)

It looks like it is a hardware issue and that the chip that they are using is of poor or inconsistent design, this would explain why some phones seem to work and others do not.

Mines going back!

 

[walkingtree87]

same here

mine works great too no bugs. im keeping mine

 

[SamsungVibrant]

I'm 99.9 percent sure i'm keeping it, maybe i'm over confidant that the GPS problem is software based. Crossing my fingers and saying a prayer to the GPS gods everynight.