If You Could Go Back In Time Would You Buy The Captivate Again?

[xnoctis93]

I have a few friends who were saying they want to switch to phones such as the htc desire hd, etc, and I have many friends who say once you use Samoled, you can never look at a phone the same way again. Just out of curiosity to those who own/owned a captivate, are you happy with your decision to get the Captivate? If you could go back in time, would you still buy this device, or perhaps go with another device?

 

[George0211]

Short answer no, I would not buy the Captivate again.
As great as this phone is or could be, if I knew what I know now a couple months ago, I would either go with the HTC Aria, since I had to stay with AT&T.

 

[Dennis_Bham]

Yes, I would buy the Captivate again. I wanted to stay with at&t, and I wanted a powerful Android phone with a large, bright screen. The Captivate remains the best choice for me. The only thing I find disappointing is the GPS. The pluses greatly outweigh the minus IMO.

 

[darkrequiem]

I agree with Dennis in the above post! I too bould still buy the Captivate....the fixes will come.

 

[ZDroid1]

I would stay with the Nokia 5800.

Works with at&t. 10 dollar unlimited data. A functioning GPS. Flash camera and front camera. No contract.

No iOS. No Android. No Win 7. I'm spending way too much money on this thing.

 

[vbnyc]

If I was in the market for a mobile internet and entertainment device then yes I would buy it again, but as a phone and communication device the answer is no.
Microsoft and apple spend millions on user friendly interfaces and study the intuitiveness of their products. Google obviously does not. Any geek engineer can develop a 'feature' without regard to the bigger picture at hand.

 

[nyydynasty]

one quick answer:

yes i would

 

[Snow_Fox]

lol considering paying full price for one.

There are GPS fixes if you root it from what I hear.
I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty.

Everything i hear about this phone is generally positive.

I really don't even view it as "communication" device to be honest.. I am beginning to think mobile phones are a life style...

If I absolutely needed the gps features, I would not rely on hacks and be looking else where.. However, if I can get a functional gps working through hacks for "as needed" purposes thats cool. If not I've got my garmin.

There will always be a "better device" around the corner..

and While I understand and respect the opinion on microsoft and apple investing more to make a "better user experience"... I must admit, that while I don't own a captivate or iphone, and I've never touched WinMo..

I must admit, I picked up and played with my girlfriends BACKFLIP, more than I touch my moms iphone 4.

Android is open source, I have found that the level of customization means the balls in your court in a lot of respects as far as "ease of use" goes.

Although I have heard a complaint or two about button scheme's changing or not being uniform throughout different apps that are put out there by even google.. I have had no major problems with any android device I've had the pleasure of toying with.

I still wish we had better coverage for sprint in my home town, after playing with an evo for hours at a time in my former place of employment.

Oh well... I think a lot of people must have never used blackberry... I could never fix a problem on a blackberry to save my life when customers have one.. I can at least find workarounds on android. Sure they aren't as "smooth" as it "just working" but, man on blackberry.. your just SoL and well being completely honest, I find work arounds for pretty much everything I want to do, sooner or later.

 

[Chew]

I've had frustration after frustration with this phone, including numerous times where it'll freeze up and I can't answer an incoming call before it goes to voicemail.

I'm sure the fixes "will come", I just don't think Samsung should've released a phone that had sooooo many problems on release day.

I would NOT of bought the Captivate had I known.

 

[Snow_Fox]

I've had frustration after frustration with this phone, including numerous times where it'll freeze up and I can't answer an incoming call before it goes to voicemail.

I'm sure the fixes "will come", I just don't think Samsung should've released a phone that had sooooo many problems on release day.

I would NOT of bought the Captivate had I known.

I'm not trying to argue you down or anything but, have you looked around for user created fixes?

*I AM NOT DEFENDING THE PHONE* (for some reason when I suggest this some people get agitated.) I would check out XDA and post what your problems are asking for some possible solutions.

I can only speak for myself but, These days, its not so much what "condition" a product arrives in but, "can I fix it". (In terms of software at least..)

 

[robhs]

I would not get this phone had I known of the problems and the apathetic attitude of AT&T and Samsung towards fixing them. I really love this phone, but the problems with it are inexcusable...especially considering the $500.00 price tag, plus tax.

That is no way to treat your customers.

 

[LMaxwell]

Easy answer is, In a heartbeat. I have no regrets about this phone.

 

[dmp316]

I think i would still buy it. but not at full 199 price. I wish i would of looked at amazon 1st

 

[Chew]

I'm not trying to argue you down or anything but, have you looked around for user created fixes?

*I AM NOT DEFENDING THE PHONE* (for some reason when I suggest this some people get agitated.) I would check out XDA and post what your problems are asking for some possible solutions.

I can only speak for myself but, These days, its not so much what "condition" a product arrives in but, "can I fix it". (In terms of software at least..)

Sorry, but I'm of the "I shouldn't have to root my phone just to get it to receive calls" philosophy.

 

[RedRyno]

Yes, I love this phone...

 

[rubiconjp]

Yes I would get it again. My old iPhone was freezing up more, even with iOS 4.0. I think all the manufacturers rushed out their latest superphone to try and garner as much market share as possible, including Apple.

The smartphone is the first thing i pick up in the morning, and the last thing i put down at nite before shutting my eyes. It is my most used gadget, more so than my iPad, more so than my laptop, when I am not coding on it.

So on ATT, there's really only 2 choices for me - iPhone 4 and Capti. Steve Jobs and his control and arrogance - no thanks!

 

[qwertyaas]

Yep. I had chances to swap for an iphone4 but opted to keep the captivate each time.

 

[RedRyno]

After having that super AMOLED 4" display, my next phones going to need have breast to beat it...

 

[Cuerbo]

I would buy another Android phone but not a Samsung one, that's for sure. Have to agree with other posters here, between the GPS and the other few annoying issues, they all add up to one buggy phone at times. The original reviews didn't do much to expose these, that's why you can't trust them and I jumped in thinking it would be worth it. Now that I've switched from Android to IOS, I don't mind giving up the 4" S-AMOLED anymore. The fact that I can sync my apps, music, etc. with iTunes and with my other Apple devices is a breeze. Not only that, if I get an iPad or additional iPhone in the future I can share these apps/music without paying extra for them. Unlike Android, if you own more than one device, you have to buy everything double at the moment. I think once Android matures to these levels I wouldn't mind giving them a try again.

As for buying a phone and having to rig it to make it work, that was a big disappointment. You expect things to work out of the box and not spend days/weeks trying to find the ideal hacked ROM to deliver what the manufacturer should have delivered in the first place. So in short, if I could go back, I would not have bought a Captivate or maybe even an Android for that matter.

 

[Boldt]

Before buying this phone I knew about all the problems and even after reading about it here for a few days I still bought it - guess I am not that bright. It has some quirks but I have managed ways around them for the most part. I'd do it again, in a heartbeat.

 

[Cuerbo]

I think a lot of it has to do with what an individual is willing to put up with. I wasn't looking to tweaking my phone 24/7, for the most part, was looking for something that worked out of the box. If Samsung would have been more responsive with their updates and more upfront with the GPS issue, I probably would have kept the phone. But after a while, started to get concerned and not seeing any improvements after the update in late September, decided to move on. Phone has a lot of potential, maybe the next generation of it will have all these issues solved and perform to expectations. Again, I put emphasis on the end user, since we all have different expectations and/or tolerance levels.

 

[Dreddi]

I would have bought the captivate a long time ago.

 

[Snow_Fox]

I think a lot of it has to do with what an individual is willing to put up with. I wasn't looking to tweaking my phone 24/7, for the most part, was looking for something that worked out of the box. If Samsung would have been more responsive with their updates and more upfront with the GPS issue, I probably would have kept the phone. But after a while, started to get concerned and not seeing any improvements after the update in late September, decided to move on. Phone has a lot of potential, maybe the next generation of it will have all these issues solved and perform to expectations. Again, I put emphasis on the end user, since we all have different expectations and/or tolerance levels.

Well, I'm not saying I don't understand it but, the problem is you bought a phone expecting a phone.

I am looking for a captivate and expecting a computer. Being a serious comp user, as soon as I reinstall an os (don't buy comps anymore).. I Immediately begin tweaking big time. I download 7-zip, flashget, pidgen, windows live, steam, eclipse, fire fox , +++++ more.

While I don't know if I'm in the minority of people.. but, I want a phone for productivity purposes to some degree.. I can't stop moving.. I always have to be doing something.. so to me I view it as a way of maybe looking up things as needed, if I have a question not having to wait till I get home to google it.

A lot of people out there just want a 'nice' phone.. but, at the end of the day they want a phone.

I want something that has pc power.

 

[reinbeau]

I really enjoy learning on the Captivate, it's a gorgeous screen - but keep in mind I have no reference here, this is my first Android phone. I'd buy it again in a minute so far, what shortcomings it has I can work around.

 

[Endoran]

That's a tough question. I am in the boat that once you go smoled you can't go back. However, if I could go back (to before the smoled) I would keep my iphone 3gs for another year and wait for the next generation or two of phones to come out. I would then decide on winmo7 or android. Never apple again. I'm mainly saying this because my 3gs worked fine and I didn't really need a new phone. I just wanted to get away from apple so bad. Plus, I agree that Samsung does not treat its customers right. They knew about the Galaxy S lines' problems before any US version was released and did nothing. Sure you could argue that US carriers are to blame as well and I would agree...but to a lesser extent. I like android and I like the captivate. But I would have rather saved some money and grudgingly stuck with apple for another year. Honestly, android (on the captivate) feels like a beta build to me. Google seriously needs to be the provider of updates. Not only for obvious reasons but also for security reasons. I hate how we have android but we have to wait and see if Samsung deems us worthy and blesses us with an update (for those of you who think I'm talking about froyo [see below] I'm not, I'm looking at the big picture here - what happens after we get froyo...hmmm?). It's like having a popsicle and having to wait for a letter from your uncle, who lives in another country, to give you permission to eat it. By the time the letter comes your popsicle is melted on the floor and the new shipment of popsicles are in the freezers. Updates should not be optional. Updates should not be in the hands of manufacturers. Samsung should be banned from creating any piece of software. Period.