My exchanged Vibrant works FAR better than my first one.

[kbohip]

I exchanged my two week old Vibrant for a new one on Monday because of the problems that has arisen with it on Saturday night/Sunday. I had some ongoing problems with the old one such as :

GPS not working.
Bluetooth not connecting and even freezing up my car stereo while trying to pair!

Then last Saturday night things went downhill fast. My phone started giving me black screens that would freeze up the phone until I pulled the battery. Then my apps started having problems. I would open an app and they would work for 1 second, then immediately shut off and go back to the home screen. I was getting major lag when I tried to do anything. Even opening the contacts list took 10-20 seconds.

The problems got worse into Sunday with lock ups every hour that required a battery pull to get the phone working again. Texting started to get really laggy as well. I decided to exchange the phone for another in the hopes that I got a lemon.

I'm happy to report that all of the problems except the GPS have gone away. My Bluetooth now pairs seamlessly every time with my car stereo. This phone has NO lag compared to the old one. All of my apps work as they should, and texting is as fast as it should be on a phone of this caliber.

The best improvement has been battery life though. This phone so far has been outlasting my old one by a large margin. Yesterday, after being on for 16 hours, my phone still had 52% charge remaining. My first phone was down to 20 or 30% by this time. Similar usage for both phones. I also noticed today that the phone stayed at 100% for over an hour, and after 6 hours of usage, it's still at 88%. I should note that the exact same apps are running on this one that I had on my old phone.

Needless to say I'm very happy with my latest Vibrant. I really think my old one had a serious hardware issue. The GPS still doesn't work right, but I'm now happy enough to wait for Samsung to hopefully fix this. If you are still within your 14 day return period and having major problems, I'd definitely recommend exchanging your phone for another!

 

[krichek]

Glad to hear it! I think the few folks that are complaining (aside from the GPS thing) really should try and get a replacement. When you have one that works as it should it is totally amazing!

 

[Robinelli]

Awesome!

 

[kbohip]

Glad to hear it! I think the few folks that are complaining (aside from the GPS thing) really should try and get a replacement. When you have one that works as it should it is totally amazing!

I'll say, the difference so far has been amazing. I can't wait for 2.2 to hit this phone! I'm sooo happy I didn't hold onto my first (now known to be defective) Vibrant.

 

[kbohip]

I forgot to mention something else. The GPS troubles with this phone are definitely a known problem. Having said that though, the only way I knew the GPS was not working right was to use a GPS app like GPS Test. I have to say that for the couple of times I've used Google Maps to navigate me around town, this phone worked excellent as a navigation aid. As a matter of fact, it worked better than my Pioneer AVIC navigation unit in my car.

I'm guessing the gps issue will only affect Google Map navigation while driving through a poor cell coverage area?

 

[presence06]

If I have my phone for say 30-60 days and major problems arise, will T-Mobile replace my phone or am I SOL?

 

[kbohip]

If I have my phone for say 30-60 days and major problems arise, will T-Mobile replace my phone or am I SOL?

Yes, they'll replace it under warranty, but like the guy at the phone kiosk at Costco told me, it will be replaced with a refurbished phone instead of a new one.

 

[presence06]

Yes, they'll replace it under warranty, but like the guy at the phone kiosk at Costco told me, it will be replaced with a refurbished phone instead of a new one.

Even with the $6 insurance I pay each month it wouldn't be new phone? Lame.

 

[DroidDoesReveiws]

Yes, they'll replace it under warranty, but like the guy at the phone kiosk at Costco told me, it will be replaced with a refurbished phone instead of a new one.

They may send a new one. I had to exchange three g1s and each one they sent was brand new. And, the vibrant is so new that I don't think they have too many refurbed ones..

 

[pantlesspenguin]

I'm experiencing some of the same problems, namely battery & the "black screens of doom" freezing the phone until I pull the battery. If I do an exchange (I'm out of my 14 days), will they just exchange handsets or do I have to bring in EVERYTHING that came in the box? Also, will they exchange it there in the store or do I have to have a 2nd one shipped to me?

Thanks!

 

[kbohip]

I'm experiencing some of the same problems, namely battery & the "black screens of doom" freezing the phone until I pull the battery. If I do an exchange (I'm out of my 14 days), will they just exchange handsets or do I have to bring in EVERYTHING that came in the box? Also, will they exchange it there in the store or do I have to have a 2nd one shipped to me?

Thanks!

You'll have to bring the box in along with everything that came with it. As far as whether or not they'll exchange it for you after 14 days I don't know. They did tell me at my Costco that it was a good thing I brought mine in on the 14th day as otherwise I'd have to deal with T-Mobile directly on the issue. The strange thing is on my Costco receipt it says 90 day returns are allowed for cell phones.

 

[xrussx]

I'm experiencing some of the same problems, namely battery & the "black screens of doom" freezing the phone until I pull the battery. If I do an exchange (I'm out of my 14 days), will they just exchange handsets or do I have to bring in EVERYTHING that came in the box? Also, will they exchange it there in the store or do I have to have a 2nd one shipped to me?

Thanks!

They will refer you to customer service. You will get a warranty unit shipped to you.

 

[litza06]

i just started having signal issues!!

 

[robo21]

Glad to hear it! I think the few folks that are complaining (aside from the GPS thing) really should try and get a replacement. When you have one that works as it should it is totally amazing!

It is totally amazing!

 

[SamsungVibrant]

You'll have to bring the box in along with everything that came with it. As far as whether or not they'll exchange it for you after 14 days I don't know. They did tell me at my Costco that it was a good thing I brought mine in on the 14th day as otherwise I'd have to deal with T-Mobile directly on the issue. The strange thing is on my Costco receipt it says 90 day returns are allowed for cell phones.

What the hell, costco said that? Its suppose to be 90 days phone return or phone exchange through costco. the 14 days just locks you into contract. wtf! call another costco, or ask for a manager.

 

[kbohip]

What the hell, costco said that? Its suppose to be 90 days phone return or phone exchange through costco. the 14 days just locks you into contract. wtf! call another costco, or ask for a manager.

Oh it was way more than just that. Since the phone's price had gone up to $489.99 since I bought mine at the apparent price mistake of $249.99, the manager looked at me with a straight face and told me I'd have to pay the difference in tax which worked out to be around $17.00. When I protested he told me it was state law! HAH! I told him I'd do no such thing and that on an exchange you go off of the price I paid for it.

Yea, it was a really fun experience. It took me almost an hour to get the phone exchanged. It was worth it in the end though.

 

[chocobosandwich]

I can get a vibrant for $100 cheaper on ebay but I am not sure if those even have warranties. Do you need a receipt from an official vendor? If you call customer support to get an exchange for a second hand or even a sealed new in box vibrant you got off ebay, what would happen?

 

[llblwskydrgn]

I can get a vibrant for $100 cheaper on ebay but I am not sure if those even have warranties. Do you need a receipt from an official vendor? If you call customer support to get an exchange for a second hand or even a sealed new in box vibrant you got off ebay, what would happen?

I would like to know about this as well since I purchased my phone from a person and not a store.

 

[Robinelli]

I forgot to mention something else. The GPS troubles with this phone are definitely a known problem. Having said that though, the only way I knew the GPS was not working right was to use a GPS app like GPS Test. I have to say that for the couple of times I've used Google Maps to navigate me around town, this phone worked excellent as a navigation aid. As a matter of fact, it worked better than my Pioneer AVIC navigation unit in my car.

I'm guessing the gps issue will only affect Google Map navigation while driving through a poor cell coverage area?

I drove for a couple of hours through an area with NO cell coverage and my GPS still worked fine (on my replacement phone).