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Ok, time to return the Craptivate. Again.

Hi guys, finally registered and stopped lurking. So, im thinking im going to go for another return @ at&t. Seeing as I returned my 1st one because of the GPS issue, Im thinking I cant claim the same problem? Anyone have any advice on the subject?

Also, my phone is rooted, is that an issue?

Thanks for any info in advance, and heres hoping that they get these buggers fixed. SOON.
 
Are you only having problems with the GPS? If so and you don't want to wait for an update than I would say return it and get a different phone. To my knowledge, the GPS issue is a widespread issue for the Captivate. I could be wrong, though.

Yeah, it's very widespread. Samsung has even released a statement. If GPS is the OP's only problem, I'd suggest just keeping it and holding out for the update (unless GPS is a dealbreaker and he gets a different device).
 
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Haven't really understood returning the phone because GPS isn't working. I've had to exchange twice so far for different issues and none of the phone handle GPS any better. If you apply some of the fixes it makes it work just fine for now. Samsung is coming out with a fix but this is a very widespread issue. It's the Captivate, the Vibrant, and the Euro Galaxy S. It's not phone specific, meaning returning does absolutely no good. Unless you're going with a different device.
 
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If your phone is buggy, I would just say something like "it shuts off by itself intermittently". More likely than not, they won't stare at the phone for a while to prove it. I exchanged mine yesterday just because I felt something was draining the battery a little too much. My GPS worked on my initial phone after messing around with the settings. Since I got my new phone, the GPS worked instantly with perfect accuracy. Also, I have noticed a much better usage of the battery. The battery from my first phone was dated early June, my exchange was dated July 10th. The phone seems a little snappier too. My initial Captivate was purchased the first day of release right when the store opened.
 
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Because we paid for a phone that's supposed to have a GPS. And we want it to work. To the OP: I absolutely think you can claim the same problem. I would bet the 3rd one will have the same problem, so I might suggest you just return it and wait. That's what I'm doing. When the GPS problem is fixed, then I'll buy the phone again. Unless another one comes out I like better ;)

I'm not going to sit back and wait, and exceed my 30 day return policy thing, just to figure out there may not be a fix. I'd rather be safe than sorry.
 
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Because we paid for a phone that's supposed to have a GPS. And we want it to work. To the OP: I absolutely think you can claim the same problem. I would bet the 3rd one will have the same problem, so I might suggest you just return it and wait. That's what I'm doing. When the GPS problem is fixed, then I'll buy the phone again. Unless another one comes out I like better ;)

I'm not going to sit back and wait, and exceed my 30 day return policy thing, just to figure out there may not be a fix. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

1. I understand your points and agree - for the most part.
2. My friendly suggestion, though, is to wait 'til just before the 30 day period expires if the GPS issue is your primary (only?) reason to return the phone since there's still the possibility that an OTA fix may arrive prior to then.
 
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I returned mine because I paid for a supposedly upper end phone with GPS. I didn't want to screw around for 30 days hoping for a solution when the phone has basically been out in Europe long enough for Samsung to either solve the problem or at least admit that a problem exists. And, another device may come out in the meantime that doesn't have deal breaker issues like the GPS problem of the Captivate.
 
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2. My friendly suggestion, though, is to wait 'til just before the 30 day period expires if the GPS issue is your primary (only?) reason to return the phone since there's still the possibility that an OTA fix may arrive prior to then.

That's a very logical suggestion - and I agree. Or to add to that, swap out a phone or two if you ARE having problems within your 30 day period. If they still don't have the fix by the 29th day, take it back then and wait for a fix. Reminder: when you get a replacement device, that does NOT reset your 30 days. The 30 days is 30 days from original purchase, not from device exchange date. :)
 
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Seriously. Why do so many people care so much about the GPS?
yea no kidding!

Because we paid for a phone that's supposed to have a GPS. And we want it to work. To the OP: I absolutely think you can claim the same problem. I would bet the 3rd one will have the same problem, so I might suggest you just return it and wait. That's what I'm doing. When the GPS problem is fixed, then I'll buy the phone again. Unless another one comes out I like better ;)

I'm not going to sit back and wait, and exceed my 30 day return policy thing, just to figure out there may not be a fix. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Didnt you already get rid of your phone? and yes, we did pay for a phone that's supposed to have GPS. I dont know about yours, but mine actually does and it seems to work just fine for whatever GPS uses Ive put it through.
 
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I strongly believe in the word "balance." On one hand it makes no sense to knee-jerk and rush off to return a phone before the 30 days are nearing unless your instrument has an obvious, somewhat isolated manufacturing flaw that would be readily addressed by an exchange. On the other hand it makes no sense to live with a device that has become important in many people's lives if it doesn't serve your needs or has unaddressed flaws.

That said, there is an exception, and it's rooted in the word "principle." If you believe that a company or its CEO has exhibited irresponsibility, all rules are out the window. Show your displeasure at any time by not supporting their arrogance or condescension.
 
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Seriously. Why do so many people care so much about the GPS?

1) It's a significant advertised feature of the phone. We're entitled to have it work properly, even if there are some consumers who don't care about it.

2) This is a "smartphone" and part of what makes it "smart" is that it's location-aware. Many apps use your location info provide better information: from local weather that updates depending on where you are, to a list of nearby restaurants or motels, to phone book lookups that sort based on closest-first. It's tons easier to perform searches that are fine-tuned based on a place and be able to skip the "place" field altogether, because the phone knows already. Not to mention mapping and driving directions, which is tremendously handy and got me out of a pickle just this past Saturday.

While I respect that some of you don't use GPS, please don't give those of us that do a hard time. I imagine there are people who don't use voicemail, but it should still work for the rest of us. If this phone had a front-facing camera, I wouldn't use it but if it didn't work I'd fully-sport the rally cries for it to be fixed.
 
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You need to be patient. And if the GPS issue is the only thing that's been of concern, it's not sufficient cause to refer to the device as "Craptivate."
yeah but a gps issue, lag issue, pausing black screens, and a music player that skips when you attempt to load a program is sufficient cause....ok well maybe not but i completely understand some people dissatisfaction with this phone. I feel like samsung threw this phone together without looking into the hardware besides their screen. The gps and lag issue together are inexcusable, I mean how do you miss these things? They just wanted to be able to dip their toes into the summer rush for android and sway some people from the droid x, droid inc, and evo.

My friends will tell you, and I'll admit, I am anti-apple. Last year, I returned my zune hd for an ipod, and my apple friends got a laugh. i don't want to have to return my captivate for an Iphone 4, but samsung is pushing me....Ok well now I would never get an iphone, but i don't blame other people who want to stick with at&t for trading in their captivate for an ip4. The evo and droid x are ruled out for a lot of people including me because they are too big. Also I don't want the droid or droid 2 because I don't see the need for hardware keyboards. Even the first thing advertised on the sprint epic 4g website is swype which seems counterproductive. Keyboards just add bulk. So the only other phone that can really compete is the droid inc other than the galaxy s phones when you're looking for small, non-keyboard phones with screens atleast 3.5". Phones below 3.5" tho, I have used and would prefer a keyboard.
 
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yeah but a gps issue, lag issue, pausing black screens, and a music player that skips when you attempt to load a program is sufficient cause....ok well maybe not but i completely understand some people dissatisfaction with this phone. I feel like samsung threw this phone together without looking into the hardware besides their screen. The gps and lag issue together are inexcusable, I mean how do you miss these things? They just wanted to be able to dip their toes into the summer rush for android and sway some people from the droid x, droid inc, and evo.

I totally agree with that, they wanted to get the phones out into market. Samsung really dropped the ball on this one , if there arent any fixes for the known problems , will be last samsung phone i will ever buy.
 
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I totally agree with that, they wanted to get the phones out into market. Samsung really dropped the ball on this one , if there arent any fixes for the known problems , will be last samsung phone i will ever buy.
yep, sammy kept their nice amoled screen production for themselves. But atleast the gps on the new lcd droid incs will lock on immediately and the phone will be way snappier. Also its getting froyo definitely by the end of the month. I feel like samsung really did htc and verizon dirty by not supplying enough amoled screens. It's absolutely ridiculous for htc to have to switch the manufacturing of their phones. Think about it, it took this long just to get the lcd screens out. How long would it have been if they were still doing amoleds?

I don't blame verizon for holding off their fascinate launch and letting the droid x and droid inc get some sales in. Droid inc probably missed close to a month of sales because of the delays. The economics and business that is going on right now is pretty obvious.
 
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yep, sammy kept their nice amoled screen production for themselves. But atleast the gps on the new lcd droid incs will lock on immediately and the phone will be way snappier. Also its getting froyo definitely by the end of the month. I feel like samsung really did htc and verizon dirty by not supplying enough amoled screens. It's absolutely ridiculous for htc to have to switch the manufacturing of their phones. Think about it, it took this long just to get the lcd screens out. How long would it have been if they were still doing amoleds?

I don't blame verizon for holding off their fascinate launch and letting the droid x and droid inc get some sales in. Droid inc probably missed close to a month of sales because of the delays. The economics and business that is going on right now is pretty obvious.

If i were on vzw why would i even look at the fascinate , the screen isnt enuf for me choose fascinate over droid x. Droid x has an functional gps, and will probably get froyo before the galaxy s phones will get it.

It has been three months since original galaxy s phone came out and they also had gps issue and there has been no fix. Sounds like to me samsung will get around to it when they have time. They are more concerned about getting into all the carriers it can. I am not going to wait few months for them to maybe fix the gps issue.
 
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They are more concerned about getting into all the carriers it can.

I think this is actually the best reason to be hopeful for a fix--Samsung has put this handset out there on every US carrier, and their reputation as a mobile phone manufacturer could not be more firmly tied to the success of the Galaxy S.

If anyone else is rooted and knows their way around a bit, you might try this solution. It involves deleting some files and editing some others, so do it at your own risk. I've tried every fix I've found, and this is the only one that seems to have done anything. Right now I've got a 10m fix from 6 of 8 satellites in my living room (according to GPS Status, free in market), where before I could never get any fix at all in my home. Here's hoping the improvement lasts.
 
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