This is nuts

[jas2k9]

I went to exchange my Cap for a i4. They had none - not really, they had one, can't let me have it until tomorrow.

Main reason for swap is that I never had a smart phone before, and I need to have a few days to compare - and the Cap has issues.

Battery drain is fast and furious
GPS issues
Heating up issues
Tough to mount/move music

I plan to get the i4 tomorrow, and test it for a week. Then, either keep it or swap for a new Cap (as I had originally planned to get earlier today).

Many here who hate the i4 (and I understand why), at least had one (an iphone) for a time - so they know what the other side has to offer - me I am new to the whole world of these things, my last 3 phones were all motorola razors, before that a nokia with no camera - so I am blown away by all of it.

That said, I REALLY LOVE THE SWYPE feature, and if I stay on the i4 side of the house, I hope the get it soon.

I understand that netflix has a deal with i4 - is there a comparable app for the Cap?

I want to have an interface as close to itunes for SYNCING my music as possible - is there one, that makes coping and moving and shuffling just that easy?

Oh, I learned how to use and play back videos on the Cap today - it was spectacular. And the GPS was freaking flawless this afternoon - what the heck happened? Using it cooked the phone and killed the battery but it was glorious.

The Cap is clearly in the lead at this writing, but I need to know - more than playing in the store if the i4 will meet my needs/wants and expectations.

If it had an Itunes like SYNC capability, I'd forgo the demo most likely if I knew the GPS was solved as an issue.

 

[acp]

netflix may be the best possible app for a phone, ever. I just don't think att could handle over a million people streaming movies on their network, which leads me to believe this will continue to be delayed. plus, any new users will easily exceed the new ATT data cap watching movies...

 

[skinien]

I went to exchange my Cap for a i4. They had none - not really, they had one, can't let me have it until tomorrow.

Main reason for swap is that I never had a smart phone before, and I need to have a few days to compare - and the Cap has issues.

Battery drain is fast and furious
GPS issues
Heating up issues
Tough to mount/move music

I plan to get the i4 tomorrow, and test it for a week. Then, either keep it or swap for a new Cap (as I had originally planned to get earlier today).

Many here who hate the i4 (and I understand why), at least had one (an iphone) for a time - so they know what the other side has to offer - me I am new to the whole world of these things, my last 3 phones were all motorola razors, before that a nokia with no camera - so I am blown away by all of it.

That said, I REALLY LOVE THE SWYPE feature, and if I stay on the i4 side of the house, I hope the get it soon.

I understand that netflix has a deal with i4 - is there a comparable app for the Cap?

I want to have an interface as close to itunes for SYNCING my music as possible - is there one, that makes coping and moving and shuffling just that easy?

Oh, I learned how to use and play back videos on the Cap today - it was spectacular. And the GPS was freaking flawless this afternoon - what the heck happened? Using it cooked the phone and killed the battery but it was glorious.

The Cap is clearly in the lead at this writing, but I need to know - more than playing in the store if the i4 will meet my needs/wants and expectations.

If it had an Itunes like SYNC capability, I'd forgo the demo most likely if I knew the GPS was solved as an issue.

I want to believe that the GPS is going to be fixed via a software update but I hesitate in assuming that it will actually be done. The official statement from Samsung says that they're looking into it.

You can sync using Microsoft's Media Player. It's pretty simple but not as nice of an interface as iTunes. There's also a free piece of software called DoubleTwist that syncs your non-Apple products to your iTunes library. It works, but it's slow at syncing - only really big deal for the initial sync.

As of now, I there isn't (and I haven't heard of) a Netflix app that allows you to stream to Android.

I had battery issues at first. The battery seemed to get stronger every day. Today, I pulled it from the charger at about 7 am and I'm at 65% left at 5:50 pm. There's also an app called Advanced Task Killer that you can configure to kill things running in the background - I've noticed when you reboot the phone, there are plenty of apps that try to start up and run in the background. It's awesome and can help your battery life. But I've noticed the battery just get better by itself too.

I came to this phone from an iPhone 3G. I loved my iPhone but I got sick of it. There so many instances where I would wish my iPhone could do something but it was restricted - no customizing. The OS is too plain and doesn't give you much freedom. The Captivate was a HUGE relief from that, and I haven't even experienced a rooted phone yet. The widgets alone make the OS fun to mess around with.

The ONLY thing I think the iPhone does better is the Cut/Copy/Paste interface. There's also hardware differences (the camera flash and front-facing camera on the iPhone).

 

[jas2k9]

Skin - you are a prime example of what I am saying - you had the iphone so you are smart phone savvy, I am not. I therefore don't know what it is that I am missing - when you say "There so many instances where I would wish my iPhone could do something but it was restricted - no customizing. The OS is too plain and doesn't give you much freedom."

For me the iphone - ideally with swype would be perfect - what is it you wanted that you did not have - or now do have?

I am no too concerned with the dual cameras or the flash - nice to haves for me. I do want a functional GPS, a decent phone, and an insanely easy music interface and back up app - ideally.

Games and other stuff would also be great - but are secondary to the things mentioned above.

Seeing how well the gps performed this afternoon - well it was like saying this is what it could be if....

 

[Terry S]

I want to have an interface as close to itunes for SYNCING my music as possible - is there one, that makes coping and moving and shuffling just that easy?

I downloaded doubletwist on both my computer and my phone. You first have to sync the doubletwist on your comptuer with your itunes to transfer all your files than sync it with your phone. Works really well and is very easy.

 

[A.VOID]

Tough to mount/move music

Prepare for the absolute worst piece of software ever developed.

iTunes!!! It never sync's correctly, it will constantly delete things you put on when you try to sync it. It's slow, it's bloated, etc, etc

If you think moving music was tough on the Samsung ... HAHA ... You have ZERO control with Apple.
Apple controls everything you do.

 

[Intervenient]

Prepare for the absolute worst piece of software ever developed.

iTunes!!! It never sync's correctly, it will constantly delete things you put on when you try to sync it. It's slow, it's bloated, etc, etc

If you think moving music was tough on the Samsung ... HAHA ... You have ZERO control with Apple.
Apple controls everything you do.

Maybe for you, but I've had no trouble with iTunes. Well, I should say I've had no trouble with iTunes on my MacBook. iTunes on my Windows machine was always a little tricky to work with, but I'd never say I had zero control.

 

[emuneee]

Yea iTunes on Windows blows.

 

[Uzza]

The bottom line,

Is that Apple wants to make as much money off of you as possible.

and Google wants to make as money off of your experience as possible.

They both want money, but for Apple to make money it must restrict your movements. Google doesn't care what you do, as long as it can follow behind you to make that cash.

Most of the restrictions that Apple places include things they would like to charge for, the BEST example of this is Google Maps. It was unthinkable to offer turn-by-turn navigation completely free; dedicated GPS devices were (and are) still the norm, and the few smartphone apps are generally extremely expensive. It took a while for Iphone to embrace Google Maps, they did it because they were forced to do it.

Cut Copy Paste, Itunes ect ect..The list goes on.

For the less savvy user, Iphone will always be great..but for anyone who demands more control (even over the home screen!!!) you gotta go with Android.

 

[skinien]

Skin - you are a prime example of what I am saying - you had the iphone so you are smart phone savvy, I am not. I therefore don't know what it is that I am missing - when you say "There so many instances where I would wish my iPhone could do something but it was restricted - no customizing. The OS is too plain and doesn't give you much freedom."


For me the iphone - ideally with swype would be perfect - what is it you wanted that you did not have - or now do have?

I am no too concerned with the dual cameras or the flash - nice to haves for me. I do want a functional GPS, a decent phone, and an insanely easy music interface and back up app - ideally.

Games and other stuff would also be great - but are secondary to the things mentioned above.

Seeing how well the gps performed this afternoon - well it was like saying this is what it could be if....

Its mostly customization stuff. Don't get me wrong, the iPhone is a great phone but it doesn't allow you to customize your experience.

Also, I should point out that the app store is better on iPhone too. There are many more apps for the iPhone, but I don't really care too much about apps.

 

[t-readyroc]

for the less savvy user, iphone will always be great..but for anyone who demands more control (even over the home screen!!!) you gotta go with android.

qft.

 

[Shelbster]

jas, if you have the time, try to come back here and update as to your thoughts on the iphone 4 v. the captivate. I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

 

[redvolvo77]

As far as moving music from the comp to the cappy, i've found that itunes agent works great for me. I came from the 16gb iphone 3g and am much happier with the cappy so far.

 

[jas2k9]

Prepare for the absolute worst piece of software ever developed.

iTunes!!! It never sync's correctly, it will constantly delete things you put on when you try to sync it. It's slow, it's bloated, etc, etc

If you think moving music was tough on the Samsung ... HAHA ... You have ZERO control with Apple.
Apple controls everything you do.

No offense, I don't have any of the problems you note - and I have had multiple ipods. I set them up and off I go, plug it in to charge or whatever and it takes care of any changes - with no needed input from me, no need to mount unmount, tell it what to do - nothing, just plug it in and in the AM take if off - has worked well for me since forever.

That is the ONLY thing - at this time that I know I would want in terms of ease of use in an iphone or Android phone. I don't want to tell the phone to mount a card, then plug it in and tell the computer mount or recognize or whatever and then go through 4 or 5 more steps, just plug it in and go.

See, yet again, here is a difference between us - you had the luxury - good or bad, still a luxury of knowing more about the phones than I, and knowing what's good or bad about each.

 

[jas2k9]

jas, if you have the time, try to come back here and update as to your thoughts on the iphone 4 v. the captivate. I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

That is my plan - no underlying goals or intents, just a novice user who wants whats best for a novice user.

Tell you this much - if iphone had swype, I think I would be done with my search.

If my Cap had fully functional GPS, better battery life, no overheat, and a decent interface for music - I'd be done too.

 

[jas2k9]

For anyone keeping score at home AM update.

Takes forever to charge in the car.

GPS this AM took about 5+ minutes to lock on, then lost signal mulitple times - yesterday afternoon spot on today, after lock (or 2nd or 3rd or lock) spot on.

Question on google maps traffic layer - is it accurate, updated continously, or simply predictive? I had several AM rush hour full stops in HWY that were yellow on maps, and 1 area where were travelling at about 35mph and it was red on maps.

I am assuming it's predictive based on historical data?

Beginning to REALLY love the phone, still taking it in so that I demo the iphone, but unless the iphones really impresses, I suspect it will go back - but one who has never had one needs to use it to really get the feel for it - and that can't be done fiddling with it in the store.

 

[DT]

Yea iTunes blows.

Edited for better accuracy

 

[Loremonger]

My advice: Keep the Captivate for most of the month, and if you're still unsatisfied, go ahead and return it. You might as well give it a fighting chance.

You can using Double Twist for free:http://www.doubletwist.com/dt/Home/Index.dt
You can also sync with iTunes using TuneSync: TuneSync Sync Android™ with iTunes over Wifi for Windows or OS X. It's a paid app, but if you buy it and don't like you can return it within 24 hours for a full refund, something you definitely canNOT do on an iPhone.

They're working on the GPS issue. With brand new devices, I'm sure they will deliver. Samsung promises update for Vibrant and Captivate GPS issue | Android Atlas - CNET Blogs

Froyo will help with battery drain (end of September, or sooner if you are willing to root and flash a custom ROM).

It kind of sucks that they released the device with these issues, but in a perfect world, you wouldn't need a bumper to keep your signal on an iPhone, either.

Also, consider this: http://androidforums.com/samsung-ca...e-have-exchanged-their-captivate-new-one.html

 

[sremick]

iTunes' issues were one of the reasons I refused to get an iPhone/iPod [1].

Between its (and the iPod/iPhone's) limited support for file formats, and sync issues where it'd refuse to sync files that were appearing (and playing) fine within iTunes... I knew I didn't want to deal with that nightmare.

Working with a friend's iPhone, I tried to put a DVD onto it. I figured getting the file format correct would be the hardest part, so I researched heavily to make sure ever aspect about what I converted it to was correct. Sure enough, it imported and played in iTunes just fine... but despite an entire night of trying every trick in the book, it refused to sync with the iPhone. I eventually gave up.

My Captivate? Just converted to H.264/MP4 first shot, copied over via USB drive mount, worked immediately.

[1] Disclaimer: I actually do have an old iPod Mini I used to play with, but I put RockBox onto it.

 

[jas2k9]

My advice: Keep the Captivate for most of the month, and if you're still unsatisfied, go ahead and return it. You might as well give it a fighting chance.

You can using Double Twist for free:Sync Android, PSP, BlackBerry, Pre: doubleTwist with Amazon MP3
You can also sync with iTunes using TuneSync: TuneSync Sync Android

 

[jas2k9]

iTunes' issues were one of the reasons I refused to get an iPhone/iPod [1].

Between its (and the iPod/iPhone's) limited support for file formats, and sync issues where it'd refuse to sync files that were appearing (and playing) fine within iTunes... I knew I didn't want to deal with that nightmare.

Working with a friend's iPhone, I tried to put a DVD onto it. I figured getting the file format correct would be the hardest part, so I researched heavily to make sure ever aspect about what I converted it to was correct. Sure enough, it imported and played in iTunes just fine... but despite an entire night of trying every trick in the book, it refused to sync with the iPhone. I eventually gave up.

My Captivate? Just converted to H.264/MP4 first shot, copied over via USB drive mount, worked immediately.

[1] Disclaimer: I actually do have an old iPod Mini I used to play with, but I put RockBox onto it.

Thanks for your input and advice. I have had 2 ipods, the first was the first one they made that was a candy bar, the second was the original ipod touch, my daughter had an earlier ipod, a classic. We have had 3 other candybars, then the small square one, followed by they next candy bar model, and a 3rd? gen ipod touch.

NONE OF THEM - no shit - have had problems with music from limewire, itunes store or cds, or Amazon. Have not tried to get music from anywhere else - and the 2 touch units have been flawless with pictures as well.

And all I had to do was install itunes and plug the things in, an answer a few questions - that's it - honest.

When android works this way - it will fully succeed, in the meantime it seems to succeed with people on other merits, but it won't be 'the iphone killer' until it is as easy to use and free of major flaws (gps for example).

Again, I LIKE my captivate, but I am not willing to assume it's better than an iphone or assume that it will be fixed. I am also not willing to assume that the iphone is the answer to my wants/needs - I am fully prepared to take it back if I need to.

 

[sremick]

NONE OF THEM - no shit - have had problems with music from limewire, itunes store or cds, or Amazon. Have not tried to get music from anywhere else - and the 2 touch units have been flawless with pictures as well.

And all I had to do was install itunes and plug the things in, an answer a few questions - that's it - honest.

When android works this way - it will fully succeed

With Android, you plug it into the computer, and drag and drop whatever music/movies/pics/etc you want on it. If you can copy a file, you can load it on Android.

What could be easier?

And you're not limited to what restricted few file formats iTunes wants to let you transfer. It doesn't even have to be a media file. Want to transfer a text document? MS Word? PDF? No problem.

Not only that, but Android can play far more media formats than an iPhone.

If you really want an iTunes-like software-assisted "synchronization" setup (which is actually far more-complicated), you not only can have that on Android but you have your choice of software to accomplish that. Doubletwist is a popular choice. But most people don't want that extra level of complexity to the process of just copying a file from A to B.

Plus there's always the option to load the Amazon MP3 app on your Android phone and directly-download your music purchases over the air. Try doing that with your iPhone.

iTunes is the ruthless OCD bipolar schitzophrenic hypocritical and temperamental gatekeeper between you and the contents of your iPhone. If iTunes doesn't want you having the file on there, or it's just having a bad day, you don't get to put the file on your iPhone. Period.

Android is "drive G:". Do with it what you will.

 

[jas2k9]

Very interesting reading. Odd - to me, that I have never, ever had issues or problems. For the Cap, I downloaded isync - it was not easy, it was a pain in the butt, compared to simply plugging the freaking wire in and walking away.